Friday 30 June 2017
How did we become a nation so divided? - Old Lange's Rant of the Day
Many pundits are asking how America become so divided on political grounds. How did we get to the point where our two parties can barely be civil to each other. Where long-standing friendships, even marriages, dissolve over who one partner voted for.
The
answer is clear and simple. Our news media have specialised in telling us that
the other side are stupid, mean/profligate and anti-American. They have
told us that our politicians, whether of left, right or centre, are self-serving, corrupt and debauched. Civil servants, religious leaders and
business people are incompetent, venal and also debauched
They have put selling ads before the
good of their country, then told us that the world is a more dangerous place
than it actually is. They have fanned every conflict they can find – even
imagined ones – to create the maximum heat and the minimum light. They
have tried to convince us that our neighbours are out to get us. They have manufactured "fake news" to tell us what we want to hear , rather than what actually is.
The sad thing is: a many Americans
have bought the line these hucksters are selling. We have been convinced
that the “other side” are not fellow Americans with different ideas, but are
the ruination of life as we know it, if not evil incarnate.
“Radical right,” “socialist left,” “reactionary,” “liberal ” – and all the other buzz words designed to
divide us – are hammered at us so incessantly, it is little wonder that
we are divided.
President Trump is one of the worst victims/culprits in
this: He sees anyone who disagrees with his merest whim as wrong, nasty and out
to get him. He tweets incessantly about how bad all Democrats (even though he was supposedly elected to represent them) are and how fake the news media are.
The Donald, having drunk the Kool-Aid that our news media are selling, has become quite simply the most divisive president since
Jefferson Davis.
Interesting: The lead-in headline is, "Muslim Victims Of Horrific Acid Attack Blast Police Response." It is designed to make Brittons think that their police are doing something badly or wrong. This is a theme constantly hyped by the Huffington Post; the paper does everything it can to create division and promote conflict and to denigrate the police.
To be fair, in this case they do have a news peg, in that one of the victims thinks he should get special treatment because of his ethnicity - or at least that other ethnicities get better treatment than his ethnicity does. That is reaping the whirlwind of "diversity policy." Focusing on differences, rather than celebrating what we have in common, leads to intolerant comparison.
True! They just keep REPORTING his sexist attacks, not trying to hide them or defend them.
That is surely bias.
PS: I think thy meant "the media are"
MPs call for Government to seize control of Kensington and Chelsea Council
MPs call for Government to seize control of Kensington and Chelsea Council
Not a bad idea. The government should take over ALL councils that installed this cladding.
# posted by Had It in Holland Park @ 21:00 
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