THE TRUTH THE WAY HE SEES IT
which is truly sad.
Buried in yesterday's first Note was the promise to
reprint, verbatim, an especially earnest and passionate -- I forgot to mention
bracing and beautifully written -- email I received on the subjects of Senator
Obama, his coverage in the mainstream media, and his treatment here at TWM. The
email, to which I have so far only responded with praise and thanks and a
request to reprint it, comes from a good friend and former student, someone I've
known and liked and respected the hell out of for more than ten years now. I'll
respond to him privately -- and perhaps also publicly -- later this weekend, but
for now, because I was so riveted by its momentum and so energized by its
honesty, because it is far and away the best of its kind I've yet received, and
because I thought it deserved a far wider reading than just my narrow little
focus, I wanted to offer it here, uncut and uninterrupted, for your
consideration.
Enjoy...
I've held my tongue for awhile, but I wanted to share my thoughts with you on Barack Obama.
I completely get what you've been saying about the media's coverage of Senator "Breath of Fresh Air" (that's my favorite of your nicknames, by the way), but I disagree with your recent take on The New Yorker cover.
Your reader, Mr. R, wrote, "The cover is an obvious satire -- at least obvious to the presumed sophisticates that take The New Yorker every week, or, as is my tradition, every visit to the doctor."
That, on its face, is absolutely true. But didn't the 2004 election, and the way our government operated in the years after 9/11, show us how impressionable the people living in this country are? George W. Bush shoveled bullshit about weapons of mass destruction, and we totally bought it by re-electing that prick. And once he touted home ownership as the key to our continued economic growth and greased the wheels to allow everyone with a pulse to obtain a loan for a $500,000 house, we bought it. And once he told us that he needed to grossly encroach on our human rights in order to protect this country, we fucking bought that too.
The bottom line is that there are a lot of stupid motherfuckers living in this country, but even worse, they are scared to death. Scared of losing their homes, scared of losing their jobs, scared of getting on airplanes, scared of going to school. Magazine covers like The New Yorker, while intended for folks like you and me, get into the hands of fear-mongering news organizations like...oh I don't know....ALL of them, and they plant the seeds in the heads of our impressionable fellow citizens and cause them to do stupid things, like vote for John McCain.
I can understand the counter-argument -- well, how is it fair for the media to deify Barack Obama every chance they get? Well, I guess my simple answer is because the primary goal of these organizations is to sell more magazines and newspapers, and quite frankly, Barack Obama is a guy who moves paper, because people fucking love him. Yes, I wish Time and Newsweek ran more articles that explained differences in each candidate's approach to key issues, but they don't -- they talk about Obama's NCAA tournament bracket and the restaurant McCain's daughter went to with Heidi Montag. And while it's a shame that things such as how handsome Barack is or how John McCain's wife looks like a drugged-out whore with a terrible hairdo are the reasons some people choose their next President, it's the fucking truth.
Which is truly sad. Because here's the truth the way I see it.
I can't stand to live in this country anymore if a person who intends to continue the same policies as our current President is elected as our new President. And I'm not the only one that feels that way -- I imagine you feel that way too. And when I listen to Barack Obama speak, I hear a man who is optimistic about my future because he speaks about doing something that's different than what is happening now, which, quite frankly, is all I need to hear. I need Barack Obama to be elected, because I don't want to be at war anymore, I don't want the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer, and I don't want someone to tell me what's best for me anymore, the way George Bush does every time he speaks about why he didn't do something that is very obviously in the best interest of the public but did not benefit his billionaire friends. (Let's ignore the fact that I'm being naive on Barack Obama's, or any Democratic candidate’s for that matter, ability to truly make a change, but that's a different story.) Because that's what has happened in the last eight years -- we've stopped being able to think for ourselves anymore, and have become a society of citizens who have been trained to act based on fears conveyed to us by our government.
Which is why your indictment of the media is perfectly fair, and why I share your opinion. I am outraged by the behavior of just about every single news organization in this country.
But haven't we beaten this to death? And shouldn't I be concerned that your blog, which is based in a key election state, may be communicating the same impressions that you yourself may not want the impressionable minds of Pennsylvania folks who have fallen on hard times to read?
I guess this is where I'm confused sometimes. I'm pretty certain that there is no way in hell that you would vote for John McCain. I know you well enough to be sure of that. But are you telling folks that we should consider not voting for Barack Obama because too many people love him and the media takes advantage? You haven't said this explicitly, and I don't imagine you will, because if Barack Obama had a face that didn't look good on a magazine cover (Ryan Malone's post-Finals face?), I imagine you would be giddy about the notion of an Obama presidency.
Anyway, that was all I had to say. I really do enjoy your hammering of the media on many issues, but at the same time I'm tired of repeatedly being made to feel that I should consider not supporting Barack Obama due to the looniness of the hype surrounding him.
I guess when it comes to reading your blog, I am impressionable that way. But there's a reason for that -- it's because I always believe what you say.
Enjoy...
I've held my tongue for awhile, but I wanted to share my thoughts with you on Barack Obama.
I completely get what you've been saying about the media's coverage of Senator "Breath of Fresh Air" (that's my favorite of your nicknames, by the way), but I disagree with your recent take on The New Yorker cover.
Your reader, Mr. R, wrote, "The cover is an obvious satire -- at least obvious to the presumed sophisticates that take The New Yorker every week, or, as is my tradition, every visit to the doctor."
That, on its face, is absolutely true. But didn't the 2004 election, and the way our government operated in the years after 9/11, show us how impressionable the people living in this country are? George W. Bush shoveled bullshit about weapons of mass destruction, and we totally bought it by re-electing that prick. And once he touted home ownership as the key to our continued economic growth and greased the wheels to allow everyone with a pulse to obtain a loan for a $500,000 house, we bought it. And once he told us that he needed to grossly encroach on our human rights in order to protect this country, we fucking bought that too.
The bottom line is that there are a lot of stupid motherfuckers living in this country, but even worse, they are scared to death. Scared of losing their homes, scared of losing their jobs, scared of getting on airplanes, scared of going to school. Magazine covers like The New Yorker, while intended for folks like you and me, get into the hands of fear-mongering news organizations like...oh I don't know....ALL of them, and they plant the seeds in the heads of our impressionable fellow citizens and cause them to do stupid things, like vote for John McCain.
I can understand the counter-argument -- well, how is it fair for the media to deify Barack Obama every chance they get? Well, I guess my simple answer is because the primary goal of these organizations is to sell more magazines and newspapers, and quite frankly, Barack Obama is a guy who moves paper, because people fucking love him. Yes, I wish Time and Newsweek ran more articles that explained differences in each candidate's approach to key issues, but they don't -- they talk about Obama's NCAA tournament bracket and the restaurant McCain's daughter went to with Heidi Montag. And while it's a shame that things such as how handsome Barack is or how John McCain's wife looks like a drugged-out whore with a terrible hairdo are the reasons some people choose their next President, it's the fucking truth.
Which is truly sad. Because here's the truth the way I see it.
I can't stand to live in this country anymore if a person who intends to continue the same policies as our current President is elected as our new President. And I'm not the only one that feels that way -- I imagine you feel that way too. And when I listen to Barack Obama speak, I hear a man who is optimistic about my future because he speaks about doing something that's different than what is happening now, which, quite frankly, is all I need to hear. I need Barack Obama to be elected, because I don't want to be at war anymore, I don't want the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer, and I don't want someone to tell me what's best for me anymore, the way George Bush does every time he speaks about why he didn't do something that is very obviously in the best interest of the public but did not benefit his billionaire friends. (Let's ignore the fact that I'm being naive on Barack Obama's, or any Democratic candidate’s for that matter, ability to truly make a change, but that's a different story.) Because that's what has happened in the last eight years -- we've stopped being able to think for ourselves anymore, and have become a society of citizens who have been trained to act based on fears conveyed to us by our government.
Which is why your indictment of the media is perfectly fair, and why I share your opinion. I am outraged by the behavior of just about every single news organization in this country.
But haven't we beaten this to death? And shouldn't I be concerned that your blog, which is based in a key election state, may be communicating the same impressions that you yourself may not want the impressionable minds of Pennsylvania folks who have fallen on hard times to read?
I guess this is where I'm confused sometimes. I'm pretty certain that there is no way in hell that you would vote for John McCain. I know you well enough to be sure of that. But are you telling folks that we should consider not voting for Barack Obama because too many people love him and the media takes advantage? You haven't said this explicitly, and I don't imagine you will, because if Barack Obama had a face that didn't look good on a magazine cover (Ryan Malone's post-Finals face?), I imagine you would be giddy about the notion of an Obama presidency.
Anyway, that was all I had to say. I really do enjoy your hammering of the media on many issues, but at the same time I'm tired of repeatedly being made to feel that I should consider not supporting Barack Obama due to the looniness of the hype surrounding him.
I guess when it comes to reading your blog, I am impressionable that way. But there's a reason for that -- it's because I always believe what you say.
Posted: Sat - July 19, 2008 at 09:22 AM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM