Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Whatever Happened to Trust, but Verify?


Over the past two years, beginning with the start of the General election, I have watched with disgust the reactions of citizens to derogatory statements and prevarications by political pundits and elected officials. Slanderous behavior seems to be the norm when it comes to addressing the issues of the day and referencing Joe Wilson’s behavior is a good example.

The South Carolina Republican left little doubt that he will reject House Democratic leaders' demand that he stand on the floor and apologize to other lawmakers for his "You lie!" shout during Obama's address to Congress last week.

The rules of Congress forbid Joe Wilson’s outburst. Congress has a legitimate right to demand that Joe Wilson stands on the floor of the House and publicly apologizes for his behavior, but the Congressman from South Carolina has refused. As it turns out, Congressman Wilson and conservatives at-large believe that the President truly was lying about the provisions of the proposed health care bill. Joe Wilson has not, to date, given any reason for his beliefs and therein lays the problem.

Currently, every Republican elected official and pundit has voiced opinions adverse to every position undertaken by this Democratic administration. Many of the adverse positions, which have been presented without any factual evidence to substantiate the position taken. Some representatives of the Republican Party are making statements that are easily refuted with published facts, but those advocating and supporting these statements do not seem to care that they are exaggerations or outright falsifications. Republican scare tactics come in numerous declarations, among them:

· A False Appeal to Women’s Fears - Republican-leaning group claims health care legislation could lead to 300,000 deaths from breast cancer, but uses old statistics, faulty logic and false insinuations.

· 30 Million Uninsured Republican pundits maintain that this figure includes illegal aliens. We are made to understand that those individuals that lost their jobs for whatever reason were insured under health care plans provided by their employers.

· How Many Protestors - We’ve often observed an odd quirk in the behavior of political partisans; they tend to exaggerate even when they could make their point without doing so

· Twenty-Six Lies about H.R 3200 - A notorious analysis of the House health care bill contains 48 claims. Twenty-six of them are false and the rest mostly misleading. Only four are true.

The Republican Party has an agenda to destroy any chance of a Health Care bill from coming to the floor. In personal statements by various elected officials in the Republican Party, to that effect the national has divided along party lines regarding Health Care reform. The arguments for and against this bill have created an atmosphere of animosity that has farther divided the country. Add to that the brandishing of loaded concealed weapons and you have the beginning of a deterioration of civility brought on by insane reactions to everything that the Republican Party stands for today.

It is indeed unfortunate that conservatives have taken to believing everything mentioned by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. These two individuals are known hardcore drug abusers. While it can’t said that the aforementioned are continuing to indulge in the use of illicit drugs, one should, knowing of the past indiscretions, exercise some caution in taking every word of these individuals as the gossip truth. The oxymoron is that the ranting of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck is believed and written documents refuting their rhetoric are ignored.

Statistics show that hardcore conservatives share a few common factors that collectively are disturbing. Most staunch conservatives are White and have little use for big government; listen to radio talk shows as the leading choice of getting the news, and exercise a high morality. Their elected officials and chosen pundits, however, have not exhibited these morality values in the past nine years, but that fact has not stemmed the adoration of the staunch conservative to continue to believe the untruths fed to them.

The public, in particular the conservative Republican, has accepted a trend that requires some soul-searching. We have to hold our elected officials accountable, not by believing a radio commentator, but by becoming informed through a thorough investigation of the facts and the rhetoric. We owe it to ourselves to be informed!

Contradictions, with regard to the facts, have not changed the minds of staunch conservatives! Conservatives label written documents depicting the truth as lies promulgated by the liberals. Conservative party officials mislead their constituents and find great joy in doing a disservice to the American public. True patriots of this country will follow the Reagan motto… “Trust, but verify”.

1 comment:

  1. Glenn Beck Sees Negros.

    Negros to the left of him.

    Negros to the right of him.

    Negros in front of him.

    Negros behind him.

    Hmmm....It would appear to me that Beck and his ilk have a problem with black people.

    Have you ever heard of a guy named Lou Pritchett? He is a former executive with the Proctor and Gamble Company. He has a REALLY BIG problem with black people. In an open letter to the president of the United States, this asshole wrote:

    "You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support."

    Lou! You caught us red-handed!! His education was funded by Democracy Now, The American Communist Party and Ed Asner. Call it a hunch, but I have a funny feeling that the very thought of a successful, upper class black man doesn't sit too well with you. I'm not far off the mark, am I? Not that it's any of my business, but who the hell paid for your education, Lou?

    Lou Pritchett sees Negros everywhere, too, and he doesn't like what he sees.

    At this moment, Joe Scarborough is on the tube criticizing Jimmy Carter for stating the unavoidable truth that much of the oppisition to Barack Obama is based on race.

    "Carter has been clueless since 1977."

    Actually, the former president is spot on.

    There's a Negro in the White House! Oh, Mammy! Pass me mah smellin' salts 'fore Ah faint!

    http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

    Tom Degan
    Goshen, NY

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