Friday, August 24, 2012

I say, the sky is blue!

I’ve been following another blog in which there was a posting titled " I Give Up!", which is written by a Mari Meehan. I have not been a poster on that blog yet, but I may become one.

I, for years, have been trying to follow the news (TV and newspaper) to stay up with what’s going on in the world. Well, several years ago an interesting thing happened to me. I got so upset at the world situation that I stopped watching the news. This lasted for several weeks, but I fell back and started again and then it happened again. This is happening more often as time goes on and I’m upset about it. I mean I’m just a normal guy and would like to stay informed. But, when I do I just get more and more upset while watching. My wife in-turn gets mad at me for getting mad at the world. The upcoming Presidential Election really gets my goat!

From my perspective it just seems that there is so much wrong with the current state of affairs that it’s kind of impossible to know where to start. I mean, the Government, the Environment, Corporations, everywhere you look it just seems like We The People are losing the battle Big Time. A good friend of mine has recommended that at our age, it’s just too late and we need to focus more on our personal circle of friends, events, and environment. Kind of, control what you can and leave the rest alone and enjoy life.

While on one hand that sounds good, it’s kind hard for a person that is interested in the world around us. So how do I accomplish inner peace while paying attention? Good question.

So I’ve been thinking about this lately and have decided to post one single issue or thought I’ve been having. Maybe over time I’ll put more here, but for starters… The Sky is Blue.

For the most part, this is a true statement. Of course there are the northern lights, the red/orange sunsets, but the sky itself tends to be blue, because of its water content. This is a fact and is verifiable. That is the crux of this post, fact and verifiable.

Our press, be it TV, newspaper, Internet or whatever media you choose, was given the challenge by our countries founders to be the balance to check what our Government is saying and doing. Hence, our Governmental check and balance; which has been the way for decades. One of the best examples of this is the downfall of Richard Nixon as a result the Watergate Scandal. Two “investigative reporters” for the Washington Post were at the heart of those events. I put that term ‘investigative reporters’ in quotes because this type of reporting seems to have become a thing of the past. If the press had the clout that it use to have, the world situation and our own country would be a whole different place.

But, that was yesterday so let’s look at today in contrast. When was the last time that you heard a politician say something as if it’s the truth and then following that, have the press verify it as being a true statement or not. It seems to me that if our politicians knew that their statements were going to be verified that a lot more truths would come out of their mouths. You see, if they were to speak an untruth this news could be made public. Guess who would lose the battle?

I know this might sound like a simplistic approach, but hey it's a start.

But, it seems that our politicians can say just about anything they want and never be called on it. And to make this worse, if they say the same thing enough times the general public will begin to believe it and therefore it becomes the truth.

By the way, this goes for any political party out there. These statements are NOT meant to be construed as being in favor or against any party or person. I think they’re all guilty!!

Any thoughts?

8 comments:

Mari Meehan said...

Hi Tommy,

I'm glad you've been coming to visit Dogwalk. I don't mind if you don't agree with my political leanings though they tend to fluctuate a lot. A lot of my readers don't agree with me but I welcome their input as long as it's civil. I'd like to think we learn from one another - it's important to me to know how others think and even more - why they think as they do!

As for your question about the link - I'm not sure how it works either! ; )

Ray said...

Hi, Tom -

Even though I'm in Canada and you're in the U.S.A., we have very much the same kinds of problems with our media and our governments.

It seems like the spin-doctors have taken over, and that's because there's a popular misconception out there that if a lie is repeated often enough, it will be taken for the truth. But there's only one truth, if we can get to it.

Rather than tuning it all out and letting the other guys have their own way, I'd encourage you to send emails to your favorite media sources like the newspapers or whatever, and counter the spin-doctors with some unspinning
of your own. It will maybe make you feel better, and it will encourage others to express themselves as well, and that's got to be a good thing.

Tommy said...

Ray said "I'd encourage you to send emails to your favorite media sources like the newspapers or whatever"

Actually, that's not a bad idea Ray. Might not do any good, but it certainly can't hurt. I'll start putting my list together.

FYI, second post deleted. :-)

Mari Meehan said...

Part of the problem as I see it is a biased media. It's well known they lean left - pratctically fall over actually.
What I try to do is listen to representative reporting from several sources - for instance FOX for the right, MSNBC, Nbc and Cnn for the left. CBS and ABC lean left too.

Then there is print media. If you can find a true reporter - one who is actually objective you're lucky. Most follow the leanings of their papers - again, New York Times - left. Wall Street Journal - right.

I end up going to the Economist or the Financial Times yet they too are slanted toward the left but not as bad as our press.

Sorting it all out isn't easy.

Tommy said...

Mari, interesting and you bring up a good point here. Again, or still, I'm so confused; there's right, left, democrat, republican, concertive, liberal, tea, and many other nouns to describe "them all". Sometimes, I have NO idea who stand for who or what. Maybe that's part of the plot to confuse us all.

I "tend" to listen to ABC, but that's not all the time. Mari, I'd be interested in your thoughts or insights on the BBC and NPR.

Mari Meehan said...

Britain is a left leaning and so goes their media - BBC. NPR is government funded. Need I say more?

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Yeah, I find it much more rewarding to focus on literature, film, art, philosophy and such.
Politics is so ephemeral anyway. Doesn't last. Not worth our attention.

Tommy said...

EO, on one hand I might agree with you, but on the other. These politicians make the decisions, which the rest of us have to abide by. And they're getting richer along with their friends, while the rest of us are getting poorer.

All I'm trying to suggest here is that they be made to tell the truth so that "we the people" can make a rational decison on teh important things, like who our President will be.