9/29/2009 5:16:00 PM Letter: Hateful words as political rhetoric will seal our fate
Editor:
Repeating falsehoods you know to be untrue in order to further a hidden political agenda is not exercising your right to free speech. The experts have a technical term for it.
It's called lying.
Misinformation is one thing; ignorance, forgivable. "Disinformation," is a deliberate, calculated, viral attempt to deceive in order to achieve a broader strategic goal.
It isn't just about getting some "black helicopter" wing nuts whipped into a paranoid froth; it undermines our very democracy.
Yesterday, I glanced at a supermarket tabloid declaring ominously that Obama has a "secret enemies list," and is scheming to "silence" his critics.
Wouldn't line the cat box with that.
Now this paper sees fit to yield more precious column inches to letters citing "death panels" and other thoroughly discredited notions.
Meanwhile, hyperactive cartoon brats - Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh, et al - stamp their little feet; continue to shout fire in a crowded theater, then charge a hefty fee at the exits, while Rupert Murdoch collects his percentage. Melodrama and eye pops are no substitute for reasoned discourse.
As P. T. Barnum would put it, "This way to Egress."
Substance abusers (reformed or otherwise) always seem to be leading the lynch mobs. That notorious Irish drunk, Senator Joe McCarthy (aka, "Tail Gunner Joe"), is spiritual deadbeat dad to the likes of Beck and Limbaugh - adept fabricators and fabulists in their own right - who learned their craft by covering their tracks to the liquor locker or medicine cabinet with a facile fairy story. Why should they impose their 12-step on-air anger management talk therapies on the rest of us? Out of their fevered deliriums, cognitive dissonance, and loud, twisted, boozy hallucinations are the Gates of Hell flung wide.
You can bet they'll be out-of-town when the real misery starts.
Under the law, one who incites another to pull the trigger is equally culpable. The Associated Press reports a sudden ammunition shortage. Nine billion rounds (that's nine thousand millions) have been sold this year alone; sufficient lead to depopulate 30 Republics this size. A census worker, found hanging from a tree, the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, might well be a harbinger of things to come.
As you sow, so shall you reap, we are told.
Ironic that Beck professes a Christian faith. One wonders if he has already nailed down his routine for his Judgment Seat gig, his hands stained with lives cut short by random violence, set off by a mouth like an assault rifle with the serial numbers filed off. I picture him waiting, mumbling an alibi to himself; all the while, wishing he could have a stiff drink.
Standing elbow-to-elbow with suicide bombers who turn children into angels.
I see parallels. Hateful words leveled Germany's Weimar Republic, when a sawed-off wannabe artist with a bad haircut and funny mustache started a firestorm with his rhetorical box of matches.
In the beginning was the Word. If we are a little more cautious about which ones we use (or don't), and more charitable about the other guy's motives, perhaps we can avoid another meltdown.
The one before started with broken windows; it ended with gas ovens. If we don't start treating each other with civility and respect, taking politically-motivated web-fueled hearsay with a grain of salt, we may find history repeating itself.
Is something burning?
John Lockway
Cornville
Reader Comments
Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Article comment by:
JL
I want to thank DPG for illustrating my point so eloquently.
Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Article comment by:
Carl Nye - Jerome
Congratulations to John Lockway for what I consider the best articulated letter in a very long time. And, I agree with him.
Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Article comment by:
DPG
Hypocrite.
Posted: Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Article comment by:
john b
The sad truth is that lying will work on stupid people who refuse or can't find time to find out the truth. The democrats did a pathetic job of telling their story and gathering opposition. Its hard to believe with 45 million uninsured that a campaign could not be put in place.Obama was cleary outmaneuvered and showed his lack of understanding of the process and how the republicans are only interested in a very small group of people and big business.When the bill was falling apart being seem on the golf course is just stupid.When you really need support from your own party to be thousands of miles away trying to get the olympics to your home town is sad. The rookie learned a lession i hope ,that the people of the republican right are a sad collection of humans that care nothing about other people and should be treated as such.
