Monday, January 24, 2011

Just Say NO to Orchestrated Outrage

[Originally posted to Facebook on January 24, 2011]

Regardless of what is eventually discovered about Jared Loughner and the Tucson Massacre, the only good thing to come of all this is the discussion of why the state of our politics and media is what it is. It is neither a "right wing" problem nor a "left wing" problem. It is the fact that neither the politicians, nor the media who cover them, have any motivation to be civil, because we've turned outrage into a form of entertainment. WE are the problem. As soon as we add, "...but The Right/Left is more to blame", we've undone any good we tried to do.

Jon Stewart said, "As I watched the political pundit world, many are reflecting and grieving and trying to figure things out. But it's definitely true that others are working feverishly to find the tidbit or two that will exonerate their side from blame or implicate the other, and watching that is as predictable, I think, as it is dispiriting."