I've been reading Al Gore's "Assault on Reason" lately. It's a hard read, being non-fiction and kinda wordy. But it has me thinking. Thinking about things I've only heard snippets of in the past; thinking about topics I normally avoid, thinking again about suspicions/opinions I've long held.
In a way over-simplistic nutshell, the book examines how we the people are getting our voices stripped away, our choices made for us. The government, in cooperation with the media, is turning us away from being thinking, reasoning individuals that have a rightful say in the goings-on out in the world and herding us towards vacuous, non-questioning, non-thinking existences.
It's alarming to realize that the average american citizen, who used to be able to make his/her voice heard and facilitate change with h/h vote is regarded today as little more than a sheep to be led by the nose, a vessel for the media to pour its paranoia into, a commodity to be purchased by a 30-second backstabbing political ad.
Gore comes down hard on our Fearless Leader, charging that he used faith as a springboard to send us into war, to the point of telling members of Congress that he is "divinely guided" and that God does, in fact, take sides. Faith has become dogma, not to be doubted, never to be questioned unless you want to lose your job. Threats and coercion are the specials of the day in our nation's capitol, supported by the extremists of the political media who spout venom at
those godless "Liberals" who dare to stand up and speak out. Open discussion and debate over current issues appears to be AWOL; "My Way or the Highway" seems to have taken its place.
I don't consider myself liberal or conservative or even remotely political, but I have questions that I'd like answered:
1. What the fuck are we doing over in Iraq?
2. Has George W. Bush ever had a psych evaluation?
3. Did no one make any connections between Nixon's close staff members (Dick Cheney comes to mind) and Bush's?
4. How in the world can we make up for 3 or 4 TRILLION dollars' debt? Can anyone even conceive of that much money?
5. Why are there so many "haters" in the political media? Is it the person, or the job itself?
I haven't finished the book yet; I'll probably have more to rant on when I do. TTFN!
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Time Flies...
12 years ago
2 Comments:
I think it is wonderful that you are asking hard questions. More of us need to. But any respect I had for Al "I invented the internet and I'm going to save the planet" Gore and his opinions of Bush ended when I saw that the President's house in Crawford, TX, is the greenest thing you can imagine. Rainwater collected in a cistern under the house that heats and cools it, all that stuff. Very environmentally friendly. Al's house, meanwhile, is heated by natural gas and uses 20 times more energy in a year than the average American home. And he expects ME to sign his 7-point pledge? Don't think so.
And the public has ALWAYS been considered voting sheep. It's why the electoral college was invented. The landowning founding fathers didn't think they could 'trust' the common man with the actual vote.
Am I correct that he's still not running for election in 2008? Humph. I'm mad at him. When he starts campaigning for presidency again, then I'll listen.
But you're/he's right, about a lot of things, as you say!
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