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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Greater Wasteland



I am tired of the blather in all forms of media – especially the Internet – where accusations and just plain BS are put out daily.  Thanks to our Constitution we are allowed free speech which is vital to a free society.  But, as with any right, it is subject to misuse by those who have an agenda which is contrary to the truth.

No President or Congress has ever gotten it right all of the time.  The same applies to anyone or any group who has policy making authority.  To slander and accuse for the purpose of destroying the credibility of that authority is just plain wrong!  Misinformation, either due to intent or ignorance, is dangerous.  There are so many in our society that do not take the time or effort to check out sources, and in many cases that information is difficult or nearly impossible to disprove.

Our government was divided into the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial in order to provide for checks and balances.  This was to ensure that each branch is disallowed total power.  When one branch seems to get it wrong, it is not a conspiracy, but a case of many disagreeing with the decision.  If the majority of the populace disagrees with the performance of our government, then it is our responsibility as voters to fix it by electing competent persons to replace those who do not uphold our values.

When Newton Minow was chairman of the FCC, he said in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters on May 9, 1961 that television was a “vast wasteland” based on inane programming.  That is still true today, but the Internet is even a greater wasteland of stupidity and ignorance.