Anyone who has had a family member in recovery will recognize this phrase, and as I watched the media's manipulation of last week's presidential primaries, I couldn't help but think it aptly applied in that case as well.
Have we become a nation of co-dependents who believe everything we hear without questioning the agenda or the pathological state of the pundit who's uttering it? It may be that we are so beat up by nearly eight years of completely unsubstantiated statements out of the White House, "Mission Accomplished", WMD's, etc., that we are unable to decipher fact from fiction.
Ever since KPBS gave me the opportunity to become a Citizens Voices blogger, I've felt the responsibility to investigate the source of everything I read, or hear on TV, whether it's on John Stewart or CNN or Fox. That often means researching the writer, and then the writer's affiliations, and finally, who's behind those affiliations. I can get lost in Googleland, just trying to track down the back-stories.
Trina Boice
May 16, 2008 at 03:07 AM
Hi Candace,
How would you feel about an Obama-Edwards ticket? If Obama gets the nomination, who would you like to see as his VP?
Ann Boutelle from San Diego
May 17, 2008 at 11:59 PM
Candace,
Well said! From your mouth, etc. Many of us do not listen to the "jackals" anymore because they are so stuck in the fear-mongering and hate-filled buzz and spin. They are stupid, predictable, thoughtless, and lacking in skills needed to put forth reasoned argument. Ethically they are bankrupt.
It is my wish that MOST of us would stop listening to the drivel. Won't ever happen BUT wouldn't it be a great day if, after a primary, the haters and spinners and their corporations received call after call, e-mail after e-mail, letter after letter telling them to just SHUT UP already! Telling them that MOST of us are now turning them off. That MOST of us will now discuss, debate, reason, argue, and listen to less biased folks. That we will think and talk it out and weigh the issues and see who has the better ideas.
Isn't that a basis for the American Dream?
Thanks for your writing.
