For a short moment in time, the Tea Party captured our imagination. With wonder we said, THIS is what a grassroots movement looks like! THIS is what a small government organization looks like! And now it’s over.
Not to say that the Tea Party is losing influence. It continues to be influential and will probably continue to become stronger. But that is how it dies. When did this turn into an entity that collects millions of dollars in donations? When did it grow things like political strategists and alliances? How did the Tea get taken over by the Party?
By becoming more than a grassroots movement it fails its origin and becomes another member of the establishment. There are good things and bad things about this.
On the up side, it would be exciting to have a strong national movement that was all about small government. The Tea Party’s momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing down. In fact, as more people become educated, they join in the snowball. The threat it now poses to incumbents might force big-government Republicans to temper their ways and start voting like their constituents expect them to.
On the down side, large political organizations inevitably become corrupt, so there you go, Tea Party, your first step into hell. It seems that powerful people will stop at nothing to commandeer any threat to the establishment, so as this movement becomes bigger and more centralized, the less we will be able to trust it to represent us. Like the other two major parties, the more power this has, the more its power base will seek to entrench itself. Finally, it has positioned itself as a dependent arm of the Republican party, and has no influence on the liberal half of America.
The Tea Party was significant. It served to show those of us who believe that America is a haven for the free are not alone. It threatened and even toppled several of our ugliest incumbents. It also served to ignite the passion of liberty in previously apathetic people. More than anything else, it showed people’s true colors. Those who have hated it love power, they love debt, irresponsibility, backroom deals, entitlements, controlled economies, and manipulation. Those who have supported it have come from many different places, but generally we want decentralized government, free enterprise, and accountability for the horrible actions our government has taken recently.
As the Tea Party lives on you will see it engage in the very deceptions it originally opposed. They all do, eventually, and it’s sad. You will watch a grassroots movement be co-opted by those it set out to topple, and become one more power grab for the very rich. If it becomes powerful, they will make it permanent and divisive.
It’s sad. That’s the America we live in. Let’s continue working to take it back.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
NPR Digging its Own Pit
Lately NPR fired one of its political correspondents, Juan Williams, for making what they considered an offensive remark. This created a firestorm. Here is my reaction to it.
The most important point that can be made about the whole scenario is that it was news about the news. If you rely on me for your opinions and something happens to me, you will care about that something because I will care about it. That is exactly what is happening here. Fox, NPR, MSNBC, and everyone else along the spectrum are bouncing up and down because they get to talk about themselves. If I were NPR, as soon as this dies down, I’d fire someone else.
There has been a lot made as to the nature of his comment. Those who find it offensive simply view the world in a very different way than I do. But perhaps the biggest problem is that we don’t see “Muslim” the same way.
There are American Muslims. These are tolerant people who are content to live and let live. They are no less dedicated than their Mideastern counterparts, but they are less likely to strap on bombs and commit suicide. These are not the people that would cause fear in an airplane.
Middle Eastern Muslims are. These are the people who killed thousands of American civilians in one day by flying planes into buildings. These people celebrated when we died. They are not tolerant. They are not okay with you believing differently than they. They hate Christians, they really hate atheists, and they believe in eternal reward for killing you. If Juan or any other American finds themselves on a plane with people who dress to identify themselves as this type of person and feels fear, that would be perfectly normal.
We use the term “radical Muslim” to describe those kooks who want to kill us. I move to change our vocabulary. Let’s start using “Muslim” to describe that person since the majority of Muslims across the world believe along those lines. Then we’ll say “American Muslim” for the nice tolerant people who have devoted their lives to Allah.
Middle Eastern Muslims aren’t sympathetic toward you. Juan William’s gut reaction was informed and educated.
Let’s talk about prejudice for a moment. It is prejudice to refuse to fly Muslims because of what some of them did. It is NOT prejudice to feel a little hesitant when you do. Prejudice is behavior. I can feel and even think anything I want. You can’t call me a bigot until my behavior follows. Every human has tendencies toward prejudice. That’s not a problem until you act.
A more salient point: favoring a certain race/religion/gender over another is just as bigoted as the opposite.
William’s comments were made on Bill O’Reilley’s show, and anything said on it must be taken with a pillar of salt (I wanted to say “grain of salt” but grains of salt got offended.) (Lot’s wife was fine with it.) For NPR to punish him for something spoken beyond their hallowed airwaves is foolish.
I love NPR. While my friends let their brains fry on Radio from Hell or Chunga and Mister, I enjoyed the enlightenment and intellectual stimulation of Morning Edition. I always recognized a liberal bias but I was okay because it wasn’t overt. Now it is. Now NPR cannot claim they are an objective news organization. They put politically correct above honest reporting. They have a bias toward Muslims that is both unwarranted and unacceptable by objective news standards.
NPR has dug their own pit. It’s sad. Do they have the right to fire Williams? Sure they do. They’re not Congress—the First Amendment can’t restrict what they do. Further, Williams is a millionaire and a big-government liberal. If he has less of a platform to speak on I’m just as happy about it. Unfortunately now he’s at Fox making even more money.
But do you see the problem? They created news, then they reported news, and you listened. You cared. And they can do it with any issue out there.
In summary, Williams’ firing was a self-serving act by a news organization, and it benefitted everyone involved. NPR showed their true colors both as a puppet for the liberal viewpoint and a human resource disaster, colors which taint their high-quality productions. Williams’ remark was a natural response of anyone so hated and hunted as we Americans are. Finally, we need to change our vocabulary, because it’s not the minority of Muslims we need to fear; those in the minority are our friends.
The most important point that can be made about the whole scenario is that it was news about the news. If you rely on me for your opinions and something happens to me, you will care about that something because I will care about it. That is exactly what is happening here. Fox, NPR, MSNBC, and everyone else along the spectrum are bouncing up and down because they get to talk about themselves. If I were NPR, as soon as this dies down, I’d fire someone else.
There has been a lot made as to the nature of his comment. Those who find it offensive simply view the world in a very different way than I do. But perhaps the biggest problem is that we don’t see “Muslim” the same way.
There are American Muslims. These are tolerant people who are content to live and let live. They are no less dedicated than their Mideastern counterparts, but they are less likely to strap on bombs and commit suicide. These are not the people that would cause fear in an airplane.
Middle Eastern Muslims are. These are the people who killed thousands of American civilians in one day by flying planes into buildings. These people celebrated when we died. They are not tolerant. They are not okay with you believing differently than they. They hate Christians, they really hate atheists, and they believe in eternal reward for killing you. If Juan or any other American finds themselves on a plane with people who dress to identify themselves as this type of person and feels fear, that would be perfectly normal.
We use the term “radical Muslim” to describe those kooks who want to kill us. I move to change our vocabulary. Let’s start using “Muslim” to describe that person since the majority of Muslims across the world believe along those lines. Then we’ll say “American Muslim” for the nice tolerant people who have devoted their lives to Allah.
Middle Eastern Muslims aren’t sympathetic toward you. Juan William’s gut reaction was informed and educated.
Let’s talk about prejudice for a moment. It is prejudice to refuse to fly Muslims because of what some of them did. It is NOT prejudice to feel a little hesitant when you do. Prejudice is behavior. I can feel and even think anything I want. You can’t call me a bigot until my behavior follows. Every human has tendencies toward prejudice. That’s not a problem until you act.
A more salient point: favoring a certain race/religion/gender over another is just as bigoted as the opposite.
William’s comments were made on Bill O’Reilley’s show, and anything said on it must be taken with a pillar of salt (I wanted to say “grain of salt” but grains of salt got offended.) (Lot’s wife was fine with it.) For NPR to punish him for something spoken beyond their hallowed airwaves is foolish.
I love NPR. While my friends let their brains fry on Radio from Hell or Chunga and Mister, I enjoyed the enlightenment and intellectual stimulation of Morning Edition. I always recognized a liberal bias but I was okay because it wasn’t overt. Now it is. Now NPR cannot claim they are an objective news organization. They put politically correct above honest reporting. They have a bias toward Muslims that is both unwarranted and unacceptable by objective news standards.
NPR has dug their own pit. It’s sad. Do they have the right to fire Williams? Sure they do. They’re not Congress—the First Amendment can’t restrict what they do. Further, Williams is a millionaire and a big-government liberal. If he has less of a platform to speak on I’m just as happy about it. Unfortunately now he’s at Fox making even more money.
But do you see the problem? They created news, then they reported news, and you listened. You cared. And they can do it with any issue out there.
In summary, Williams’ firing was a self-serving act by a news organization, and it benefitted everyone involved. NPR showed their true colors both as a puppet for the liberal viewpoint and a human resource disaster, colors which taint their high-quality productions. Williams’ remark was a natural response of anyone so hated and hunted as we Americans are. Finally, we need to change our vocabulary, because it’s not the minority of Muslims we need to fear; those in the minority are our friends.
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