(R) Kraft Foods
Every day it seems to get harder and harder to blog comments about the current political climate, until I read the news, related commentary and postings from "Average" Americans. Although I have never commented about any individual Letter to the Editor in our local paper, I was struck by the tone of a letter published in today's edition of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The letter reminded me of a recent conversation I had with a Professor of Political Science at TCU in Texas. According to the good professor, he is often accused of citing "Liberal Facts." When asking folks what they mean by "Liberal Facts" he is often told "You know, those facts liberals always use." Facts are liberal? Can there be "Conservative Facts" too? Can there be "Fat Facts" or "Thin Facts?" "Tall ones, skinny ones..." Sorry, almost broke into song there.
My point is that facts, although "Factual" are somehow avoided by people when their minds are determined to ignore the reality they portray. According to The Merriman-Webster's Dictionary, facts are defined as; "the quality of being actual: actuality." So facts are in a sense, reality. Then why any argument when they are used? Is it because the evidence establishing the facts are still in question? Perhaps. But what is the basis for disputing facts that are indisputable?
Which brings me to the point of today's blog. According to a local Letter to the Editor entitled "Nonsense About Romney" the letter writer makes several points. One is that "If the former governor (Romney) were not in compliance with the IRS, the Obama campaign machine would've swamped the airwaves." Nice pivot for the letter writer. This issue about Romney is not about failing to file tax returns, it is his failing to disclose them to the public, and the Obama camp is swamping the airwaves about that failing. A fundamental refusal to accept the fact of the argument is by itself a mis-characterization of reality, something that is happening far too often in today's political discourse. There are too many "disconnects" from actuality.
The second point the letter writer makes is not about any distortions made about Romney (her original complaint in her letter) but pivots further to cite Obama's failings, like "our dismal unemployment rate." I thought I dealt with that fallacy yesterday (apparently she does not read my website) that economists continue to identify Congress as the real culprit for this problem and not Obama.
She then goes on to claim that Obama is to blame for "the high cost of gas." Apparently the letter writer never heard the GOP rallying cry "Free Markets." She then goes on to claim Obama is at fault for her "dwindling retirement savings." According to CNNMoney, in December, 2008 the Dow closed at 8141.09. As of this writing, the Dow Index sits at 12,862.42. According to Zillow, the Internet predictor of Home Values, home prices in our area are up over the values assessed in late 2008. What happened to her retirement savings? Perhaps she made poor investment decisions? Why is it that folks seem to want everyone else to become personally responsible for their lives, yet blame Obama when things for themselves don't turn out like they had planned? I bet she believes in cutting entitlements too, as long as she gets to keep hers!
She then claims Obama is "usurping legislative branch powers." Huh? Once again, the fact that Obama ( or any other president) has exercised his powers pursuant to Article II of the Constitution does not seem to phase this woman. Facts and reality just seem to mess up her belief system. She goes on to write (and I love this one) that Obama engaged in "the mindless squandering of taxpayer money on undeclared military intervention in the Libyan civil war." Apparently she is not aware that Obama has authority as Commander In Chief to act as he did, but more importantly, GOP leaders including McCain and Boehner were calling for Obama to put ground troops into Libya (which would have not only cost more money, but American lives as well)! And don't bring up the War Powers Act..I deal with that in my new book too! She then blames Obama for the "exploding federal debt" (also controlled by Congress under Article I of the Constitution) and "the failed stimulus plan" (which the non-partisan CBO has repeatedly stated was a success, albeit limited, but surely not a failure).
The point again is the inconvenience of knowing facts when making political argument. The letter writer did not prove she had a grasp of facts but instead proved she limits her exposure to political news from ideologically oriented media. It is okay to establish herself to be a Conservative Ideologue, except she fails to recognize that by doing so, she loses credibility. Anyone who becomes a political ideologue does so. Why? Because they ignore actual facts in doing so. Not "Liberal Facts", but simple, ordinary FACTS. Far too often in today's political climate, folks are being persuaded to not believe in facts, but instead in political narratives on both sides of the political spectrum that are void of facts. Far too often Americans are engaging in fake political discourse based upon untruths stirred heavily into the Kool Ade they drink (apologies to the actual makers of Kool Ade, I remember consuming gallons of it in my youth)!
My point is that facts, although "Factual" are somehow avoided by people when their minds are determined to ignore the reality they portray. According to The Merriman-Webster's Dictionary, facts are defined as; "the quality of being actual: actuality." So facts are in a sense, reality. Then why any argument when they are used? Is it because the evidence establishing the facts are still in question? Perhaps. But what is the basis for disputing facts that are indisputable?
Which brings me to the point of today's blog. According to a local Letter to the Editor entitled "Nonsense About Romney" the letter writer makes several points. One is that "If the former governor (Romney) were not in compliance with the IRS, the Obama campaign machine would've swamped the airwaves." Nice pivot for the letter writer. This issue about Romney is not about failing to file tax returns, it is his failing to disclose them to the public, and the Obama camp is swamping the airwaves about that failing. A fundamental refusal to accept the fact of the argument is by itself a mis-characterization of reality, something that is happening far too often in today's political discourse. There are too many "disconnects" from actuality.
The second point the letter writer makes is not about any distortions made about Romney (her original complaint in her letter) but pivots further to cite Obama's failings, like "our dismal unemployment rate." I thought I dealt with that fallacy yesterday (apparently she does not read my website) that economists continue to identify Congress as the real culprit for this problem and not Obama.
She then goes on to claim that Obama is to blame for "the high cost of gas." Apparently the letter writer never heard the GOP rallying cry "Free Markets." She then goes on to claim Obama is at fault for her "dwindling retirement savings." According to CNNMoney, in December, 2008 the Dow closed at 8141.09. As of this writing, the Dow Index sits at 12,862.42. According to Zillow, the Internet predictor of Home Values, home prices in our area are up over the values assessed in late 2008. What happened to her retirement savings? Perhaps she made poor investment decisions? Why is it that folks seem to want everyone else to become personally responsible for their lives, yet blame Obama when things for themselves don't turn out like they had planned? I bet she believes in cutting entitlements too, as long as she gets to keep hers!
She then claims Obama is "usurping legislative branch powers." Huh? Once again, the fact that Obama ( or any other president) has exercised his powers pursuant to Article II of the Constitution does not seem to phase this woman. Facts and reality just seem to mess up her belief system. She goes on to write (and I love this one) that Obama engaged in "the mindless squandering of taxpayer money on undeclared military intervention in the Libyan civil war." Apparently she is not aware that Obama has authority as Commander In Chief to act as he did, but more importantly, GOP leaders including McCain and Boehner were calling for Obama to put ground troops into Libya (which would have not only cost more money, but American lives as well)! And don't bring up the War Powers Act..I deal with that in my new book too! She then blames Obama for the "exploding federal debt" (also controlled by Congress under Article I of the Constitution) and "the failed stimulus plan" (which the non-partisan CBO has repeatedly stated was a success, albeit limited, but surely not a failure).
The point again is the inconvenience of knowing facts when making political argument. The letter writer did not prove she had a grasp of facts but instead proved she limits her exposure to political news from ideologically oriented media. It is okay to establish herself to be a Conservative Ideologue, except she fails to recognize that by doing so, she loses credibility. Anyone who becomes a political ideologue does so. Why? Because they ignore actual facts in doing so. Not "Liberal Facts", but simple, ordinary FACTS. Far too often in today's political climate, folks are being persuaded to not believe in facts, but instead in political narratives on both sides of the political spectrum that are void of facts. Far too often Americans are engaging in fake political discourse based upon untruths stirred heavily into the Kool Ade they drink (apologies to the actual makers of Kool Ade, I remember consuming gallons of it in my youth)!
We Shall Never Forget!
On another issue, I find it shameless the International Olympic Committee ("IOC") will not allow a 60 second moment of silence in memory of the Israeli Athletes and coaches brutally kidnapped, terrorized and murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. According to the IOC, the Games are not supposed to be "politicized." This position ignores the reality that that President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, the US Senate, Mitt Romney, the German Bundstag, Parliaments of Canada and Australia, 140 members of the Italian Parliament along with 50 members of the British parliament have all demanded such a moment of silence. Why wont the IOC back down and allow it?
Because of pressure from 46 Arab and Muslim nations opposing it. They obviously don't want folks not old enough to know that 40 years ago, 8 Palestinian terrorists entered the allegedly secure Olympic Village in Munich, murdered and kidnapped Israeli Athletes and coaches demanding the release of over 200 fellow convicted Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails. They don't want to be reminded that the spirit of the Olympics was broken by Arab terrorists demanding Jewish blood in return for the freeing of convicted killers of innocent Jews in Israel. They don't want folks to remember or know that three months after the Games, terrorist hijacked a German airliner demanding the release of the surviving Olympic murderers in exchange for the lives of air passengers. They simply want the World to forget the terrorizing murderous campaign the Arabs engaged in 40 years ago. Why the Arab opposition? They know the truth will hurt their current attempts to be portrayed as victims in all conflicts raging in the Middle East. This Arab rhetoric flies in the face of the reality as shown daily in violence on the Arab Street in Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Morocco and Lebanon. Such violence is not Israel's fault.
Shame on the IOC. We will never forget the victims, their families, or the loss of the Olympic Spirit the Arab terrorists brought upon the 1972 Games, the very same Spirit that will never be rekindled as long as the IOC refuses to remember the truth and properly memorialize the senseless murder of the Israeli Athletes and coaches in Munich.
Because of pressure from 46 Arab and Muslim nations opposing it. They obviously don't want folks not old enough to know that 40 years ago, 8 Palestinian terrorists entered the allegedly secure Olympic Village in Munich, murdered and kidnapped Israeli Athletes and coaches demanding the release of over 200 fellow convicted Palestinian terrorists from Israeli jails. They don't want to be reminded that the spirit of the Olympics was broken by Arab terrorists demanding Jewish blood in return for the freeing of convicted killers of innocent Jews in Israel. They don't want folks to remember or know that three months after the Games, terrorist hijacked a German airliner demanding the release of the surviving Olympic murderers in exchange for the lives of air passengers. They simply want the World to forget the terrorizing murderous campaign the Arabs engaged in 40 years ago. Why the Arab opposition? They know the truth will hurt their current attempts to be portrayed as victims in all conflicts raging in the Middle East. This Arab rhetoric flies in the face of the reality as shown daily in violence on the Arab Street in Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Morocco and Lebanon. Such violence is not Israel's fault.
Shame on the IOC. We will never forget the victims, their families, or the loss of the Olympic Spirit the Arab terrorists brought upon the 1972 Games, the very same Spirit that will never be rekindled as long as the IOC refuses to remember the truth and properly memorialize the senseless murder of the Israeli Athletes and coaches in Munich.
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