“Clinton’s lie was far more serious -and she hasn’t been criticized enough for it. If Cheney claimed he’d come under fire when he hadn’t, there’d be no end to the media’s relentlessness! To claim that you had to sprint to dodge bullets when you didn’t- we’re veering into pathological territory here, something far more serious than a faulty memory.”
This is absolutely ridiculous. Clinton’s lie didn’t send American soldiers to their death, Iraqi children to shoddy orphanages and boatloads of money into Halliburton, KVM and Blackwater’s pockets. I’d like to see Andres Martinez spend at least one minute per article on sourcing and accuracy. Way to go Washington Post, more garbage I can use to clean my BBQ grill.
This was my response to the dueling 3 A.M. ads I’ve seen everywhere, who seem to forget about popular sovereignty and that it’s ‘We the People’ getting screwed every time they get in bed with a lobbyist.
In his April 4 (Martin Luther Kink, Jr Day) op-ed column on the Wall Street Journal’s online edition, Juan Williams seems to reveal who he thinks should be President. Himself. Juan Williams for President.
As the nation tries to recall the meaning of Martin Luther King today, Mr. Obama’s campaign has become a mirror reflecting where we are on race 40 years after the assassination. Mr. Obama’s success has moved forward the story of American race relations; King would have been thrilled with his political triumphs.
But when Barack Obama, arguably the best of this generation of black or white leaders, finds it easy to sit in Rev. Wright’s pews and nod along with wacky and bitterly divisive racial rhetoric, it does call his judgment into question. And it reveals a continuing crisis in racial leadership.
What would Jesus do? There is no question he would have left that church.
This philosophy student (since a philosophy Ph. D is where expert territory begins) knows that we all agree Jesus would have left that congregation. Are the parishioners ALL hate-filled racists? Should they all leave the church? Why aren’t they? Should we hate them? Again, Mr. Williams has not done enough research to a) see what Rev. Wright actually said or b) see what Jesus would actually do.
Also from the story, “Mr. Williams is a political analyst for National Public Radio and Fox News.” He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. Juan Williams masquerades as- political expert, biblical scholar, columnist…what else Mr. Williams? I’m not some distant, uneducated figure. I have a degree in political science and education. As a colleague, Mr. Williams, you’re wrong too often to be given a forum.
I’ll probably have enough of this to keep me going for a long time, but this information is not court-worthy. Fox, MSNBC, CNN, ABC- they aren’t required to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. They give you some information. They may evoke your knee-jerk response and then end the stream of information at that point. You can rest assured you’re never getting the whole story. If you look closely, there are plenty of signs:
One sentence sound clips. If you form an opinion on a single sentence, you should really hate everyone you ever meet, they’ve all said something. Seriously, if these statements were the only words in a day’s sermon, of course I’d leave that church. If you watch
and
you get the whole story, a better view of a guy much like someone you know, but the person you know isn’t one of the nation’s top biblical scholars. A former US Marine and Navy Corpsman. 17 minutes to the entire story.
Comparatively:
I’d suggest two tips for getting better, more honest and accurate information during the 2008 election is to trust social news sites, they reflect what the people trust and find interesting, and on politics, it’s often different than what you’d find on the news. Even if it’s just seeing parodies and everyday Americans’ response to politics, it’s more informative than letting Hannity or Olbermann shape your opinion.
At least using the internet, you can watch a different topic, or see the words from the horse’s mouth. Barack Obama’s ‘A More Perfect Union’ speech, a 37-minute response to the coverage of an apparently “racist” and “unAmerican” pastor is fast approaching 4 million views. The speech the conservative pundits ignore when they assure us “he still hasn’t adequately addressed that issue.” I’m not saying Obama is the way to go for anyone, I’m saying network TV isn’t the place to shape that opinion.
Digg.com – My favorite social news site. Some information is mislabeled or not as well sourced as it should be, but then again neither is cable news.
YouTube.com – Search the candidates, the people you hear about being related to them, the comments made in context.
Ultimately, political decisions should always be made based on the information you have, I just fear for my country when every source I find (cable news, radio, newspapers) are having a partisan smear-fest and have no qualms about distorting facts because their viewer bases are generally loyal and don’t have wondering eyes. The internet should be your source of information, I’d suggest watching Big Brother instead.
unastronaut* 