April 8, 2010
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It’s getting scary!
The “low information” U.S. citizens, those who fail to check the sources of who and what they hear and continually fail to see the difference between opinions and facts or between entertainers and real journalists, are really very frightened. This group is so scared (“scared shitless” according to one of my friends) that they have become dangerous. The political discourse has become hateful with people so filled with rage that they threaten the lives of our elected officials and their families with physical harm and even death because they disagree with the voting record on certain bills or opinions on some issues. Some politicians are themselves guilty of encouraging the rage.
We could learn a lot from those giant packages of crayons. They are a lot like people: some are sharp, some are pretty and some are just plain dull. Some have really weird names, and all are different shades and colors, but they all manage to be together in the same box.
Comments (16)
haha…that is funny about the crayons:) Unfortunately you will find low information people all around the world. Sometimes the people who are most open minded are the ones who actually aren’t exposed to a lot of tv and biased media, they’re the innocent people who live in the small towns around the world and treat strangers with curiosity, kindness, and interest versus hate, rage, and fear.
Ah. Yes. I’ll be the midnight blue crayon and you can be burnt umber and we can invite some violet or one of those new ones – mac and cheese, and remember where 3 or more are gathered in my name… What happened to the Christians in the conservative camp? But this was to be expected. No one can distinguish need from want anymore either.
The latest episode of NPR’s “Left, Right, and Center” addressed just this issue. It was a fascinating discussion.
Great analogy. You are on the mark with that one.
“This group is so scared (“scared shitless” according to one of my friends) that they have become dangerous.” Dangerous? To whom? And to which “group” are you referring? Political desent has always been a part of the process, from all political parties. In my younger years I was a Democrat, born and raised under Richard J Daly and his political machine in Chicago. It was the thuggery and dirty tricks played by the Democrats that turned me away from the Democrat party. In all fairness I have witnessed some of the same from a few Republicans but by far not nearly as much. I have lived under many Presidents, both Democrat & Republican. I have found some good and bad in all of them. However, never before have I feared for my country until our current President came along with his group of thugs and crooks. “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Depotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their security.” ( from the Declaration of Independence )
@gargantuangirl -
I went to a lecture by educator/author and director of Factcheck.org Kathleen Hall Jameson on how the media is used to shape political opinion, etc. She said the most reliable sources for unbiased reporting are NPR radio and PBS television news programs.
@murisopsis -
We tried to raise all three of you girls to be open minded but critical thinkers and to ask questions…..and best of all to see the beauty of all colors and to be respectful of all creeds. You all turned out well.
@christao408 -
@ZSA_MD -
I think you two and I agree on these matters. I hope more people will start to open their hearts and minds and rejoice in and celebrate our diversity.
@thundertigers_1 -
Fox News, hasn’t reported all the dangerous activities and threats of the right wing fringe loonies. I suggest you get more unbiased sources….NPR and PBS and the Christian Science Monitor are good. So sorry you are scared of our president, but I understand. Bush and Cheney worried me for 8 years.
@Gma_Joyce - FYI, I get my information from many sources on the computer, radio, TV and the newspapers. To limit myself to a single source would be cheating myself of many opinions and facts. As often as possible I go to OFFICIAL sites for facts, not any site affiliated with a political leaning. I’ve always called a spade a spade; when I feel a Democrat makes a good point , I say so and give that person credit. If a Republican spins the facts and misleads, I say so and have the correspondence in my file to prove it. But let’s be honest here, there are “fringe loonies” on both sides of the political aisle.
@thundertigers_1 -
I would be interested in seeing a detailed list of your sources and if those sources document their sources. Why not post it on your Xanga site? As a genealogist, I’ve been made aware of the difference between fact and opinion (or family tales). It is sometimes difficult to use critical thinking when we are hearing opinions that echo our own. There is a lot of cognitive dissonance going on at the present time in the minds of the “birthers” and “tenthers” and those who refuse to acknowledge the fact that our freedoms have not been taken away by this new president and administration and that taxes have gone down not up this past year for most people. It is interesting to witness how the repetition of falsehoods by politicians finally take root and are seen as “facts” by the uninformed willing to support those who work against those poor boobs own best interests. By the way, do you EVER check the non-partisan website factcheck.org? They accept no donations from any corporations or political parties in order to maintain their independence, etc. I don’t always like what they say, but they also call a spade a spade and go even further and explain why they do so. I keep a shortcut to it on my desktop. Another good one is politifact.org or .com.
You’re a nice lady and I respect the fact you stand up for what you believe in. As for my sources, there are many, it just depends on the subject matter. But, since you asked, here are but a few…..USA.GOV, Congress.Org , FactCheck.Org, MyFlorida.com, Taxfoundation.Org and Learnaboutliberty.com. I also rotate what I watch on TV in order to get several views. Yes, I watch FoxNews but I also watch CNN and CBS and CSpan. I especially like to watch the Sunday morning talk shows. I try to keep an open mind on EACH issue and draw my own conclusions after I do my research. As I have said before, every President has had good and bad ideas. I took Bush and former Senator Martinez to task over their spending and immigration policies. I take Obama to task over his “wealth redistribution” policy and the mandate to make every citizen purchase health insurance or be fined. I take all Congressional persons to task over earmarks that are not Constutionally allowed. In a nutshell, I’m against BIG government and their intrusion into our lives.
@thundertigers_1 -
Are you against the recent Supreme Court decision regarding corporations’ now being given the right to unlimited spending for political advertisements?
@Gma_Joyce - No, I agree with the decision. Critics of this decision, including President Obama, Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) keep talking about the supposed “danger” of huge corporate expenditures in our elections. But, why aren’y they concerned about huge union contributions? Because “big union money” goes almost exclusively to members of the Democratic Party in the form of direct contributions — and any money that those same unions now spend on independent political advocacy will also benefit the Democratic Party almost exclusively. Certainly labor unions should be included as “special interest groups,” but liberal activists don’t like including labor unions in that category. According to data covering the 10,000 top contributors for the 2008 election cycle, provided by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, the combined contributions of all the transportation, general trade and public sector unions are slightly more than three times the combined contributions these groups report for donations from the stereotypically “big money” interests, like “Oil and Gas” and “Tobacco Companies and Tobacco Product Sales.” For all of the concern shown for the poor, misinformed shareholders who supposedly must be protected from the evil decisions of their corporate overlords to spend money on political advocacy, no one seems concerned about the members of unions, particularly those members in states without right-to-work laws who have no choice but to belong to a union. Their union bosses spend members’ dues on politics in much larger amounts than individual corporations do. And most corporate PACs split their contributions between the two major political parties much more evenly than unions.
@thundertigers_1 -
I figured you would be for that decision even tho’ many conservatives have spoken out against it. Here are some facts you may NOT have come across in reaching your decision from Laura Chapin’s article on this:
“According to the Center for Responsive Politics, business and corporate interests accounted 70.8 percent of the total U.S. political contributions in 2007-2008, while only 2.7 percent came from labor. Political Action Committees (PACs) show a similar disparity: 69.5 percent from business, 15.7 percent from labor. The center does issue this caveat: ‘CRP uses employer/occupation information to categorize donors, and because just about everyone works for a business, contributions from members of labor unions and ideological groups are often classified under business.’”
“Still, the gap is big enough that it’s clear corporations have both the will and the ability to vastly outspend unions. And yes, this includes ’527s’–tax-exempt organizations that engage in political activities. Republican-leaning 527s spent almost $13 million in 2008, Democratic ones about $8.3 million.”
“If the GOP and its corporate allies have their way, you can kiss the will of Colorado [and the rest of the country's] voters goodbye. And no, the fact that the Supreme Court ruling would potentially lift the limits on union contributions doesn’t make things equal. The checkbook for corporations dwarfs that of labor. It’s not a level playing field in any sense of the phrase–corporations versus unions is like the Texas Longhorns going up against an NCAA Division III team.”
“And at least that contest would involve real persons.”
I HAVE FERNS TO PLANT AND OTHER GARDENING TO DO SO AM DONE DISCUSSING. IT’S BEEN FUN AND NEITHER HAS CHANGED THE OTHER’S OPINIONS. BUT THE FACTS ON THIS ISSUE ARE WHAT THEY ARE. I WANT TO MARRY A CORPORATION NOW SINCE CORPORATIONS ARE NOW DEEMED TO BE PERSONS…AND MAMA SAID IT’S AS EASY TO FALL IN LOVE WITH A RICH PERSON AS A POOR ONE!
Enjoy working in the garden. Til next time, take care.