[quote=Allan from Fallbrook][quote=briansd1]Excellent commentary, eveadropper. I love it that you consider different issues, such as eduction and economics when looking at politics.
Thank you for taking the time to write complete answers.
The problem with blogs and the Net is that we have become scatter-brained and just want headlines and simple answers.
The Net is about brevity because people don’t want to read long articles as they jump from page to page. I will read long articles, but I’m not good at writing long comments.
I’d love to hear more of your opinions on what’s fueling the bitterness and anger in politics these days.[/quote]
Brian: I will give you credit on this one. Every once in a while you post something that just nails it, and this is it. Excellent post, and it encapsulates a lot of my frustration with the “Post Fact World” we live in. Not enough time to delve into issues, or respond completely (or even coherently sometimes), all while dealing with the vitriol from those who don’t agree with your viewpoint (and I’m as guilty of this as anyone).[/quote]
Thanks, Brian. I’m not so concerned about the brevity of the net. After all, if someone brings something up that grabs my interest, but doesn’t elaborate much on the topic, I always have the option (if not the time) to go in search of more information myself. In fact, I really like the web for that reason. Wikipedia gets a bad rap, especially from educators (and I understand where they are coming from). But for an intelligent and high-achieving student, consulting with Wikipedia can give them an idea of what avenues to explore in a complex topic, and of how much weight should be given to certain aspects of the information they’ll locate.
No, what concerns me about the web is the amount of stuff that is totally fabricated, and the fact that a very large percentage of the population automatically assumes that it is true, and unquestioningly accepts it. But what really chaps my butt is not only the degree to which this false info is spread around by people who heartly endorse its supposed veracity, but that people who represent themselves as respected journalists use this stuff as “proof” in order to support their own opinions, and confirm their validity. It’s the equivalent of a gigantic chain letter.
For instance, I read an outrageous claim about the healthcare bill on an extreme right-wing blog. It was presented to the readers as gospel truth because it had been taken from an extensive analysis of the bill that had been performed by a well-respected highly intelligent individual who had worked in the “healthcare area”. I went in search of the original bill, and when I compared his “analysis” with it, it was immediately apparent that the author was neither intelligent or experienced in the health-care field. It was one piece of “conspiracy evidence” after another…absolutely absurd….written by a Joe-the-Plumber type named Peter Fleckenstein, who described himself as an “entrepreneur”. Yet, almost immediately, the right-wing blogs were full of this asshat’s claims, presented as “think tank-generated evidence”. To this day, I’m still seeing this shit used to scare the crap out of the average American, who apparently cannot perform 30 seconds of due diligence to check the validity of the info before forwarding it to someone else who needs to be frightened. Fleckenstein’s analysis, in one form or another, appears on virtually every well-known right-wing website, and quite a few left-wing ones. This, apparently, was enough to convince a U.S. Congressman of its validity, and he continues to use it to “educate” his constituents in speeches and in mailings.
This has been going on for so long, during which time the left, the Dems, and the mainstream press did nothing to call these liars out on their blatant violations of one of their sacrosanct Ten Commandments. Over time, they’ve taken it as society’s blanket tacit approval of their tactics, and believe that they have license to lie as blatantly and outrageously as they like. And our God-fearing, Bible-thumping leaders continue to present the lies as the truth.
