The Media-Dangerous Allies of Evil

The Media-Dangerous Allies of Evil

Our era of political correctness has erased all sense of common sense.  We appear to want to cleanse our past by pretending that it didn't exist and that our personal and shared history is not what taught us lessons but that somehow we collectively became better people by pure grace.  This pretense is a very dangerous thing and is somehow reminiscent of the Soviet Union where people could disappear from history books and photographs because having to admit what they stood for was not convenient to the new political forces.

It is an unsavory reality that we were a slave nation. Not only did portions of our nation embrace and relish slavery but those same factions were willing to fight a war to defend that practice, disguised as a war to defend state's rights. History has engraved the results of this reality with more than a century of consequences including discrimination, abuse, murder, resentment, social inequity, poverty, crime, stigma and struggle. The revolution that was the Civil War caused an evolution within our society ... one that is STILL in the process transforming us.We are all living with evolving standards whether we choose to recognize it or not. The most recent victim of this charade of pretense is Paula Deen.

I do not know Paula Deen other than through her presence within the media as a chef and a proponent of cooking with ingredients that are shunned in today's search for healthy alternatives. When I have seen her in public she has been witty and lighthearted. Using the "n" word is ugly and demeaning but it's use alone qualifies one for the title of insensitive but not necessarily a racist.

Most of the deposition has to do with the reality of running a business with a family member, of the jealousies and nit-picking that occur in any organization, common behaviors that when put under a microscope appear very damning but are an everyday part of learning to live in community. We have all done or said things we are not particularly proud of but our character is defined by how we act and react to the lessons those moments teach us.  And one of the most important lessons we should have learned by now is to get the facts before we jump to conclusions.  I have no idea if the accusations made against Paula Deen Enterprises, her person and her brother are correct. I do know that the lawsuit and the deposition are two different things and that if we are to judge the veracity of the lawsuit by the treatment being afforded the deposition we must proceed with great caution.

The deposition itself is quite long, 145 pages of actual discussion...most media pundits probably wager that not many people are going to invest time in reading the whole thing and will be perfectly happy to accept their choice of excerpts as gospel and a trustworthy reflection of Paula Deen's statements and character. Well, I read it and frankly, I find the lawyer's behavior and the media's handling of the report more reprehensible than what she admits to saying. Click here to read it yourself... Paula Deen Deposition. I can faithfully say that the lawyers were trying very hard to entrap her and that the media has done a bang up job of misrepresenting the facts.  The maelstrom of inaccuracies and unjust consequences of those inaccuracies should be a lesson to us all on how dangerous the media has become. No matter what side of the debate they decide to attack, once the media decides to embrace showmanship rather than truth they become dangerous allies of evil.  And to those who wish to refer to the accusations made against her which are not reflected in the deposition but are the basis of the law suit, please be reminded that those are accusations.  The accusations are what the party demanding $1.5 million in damages alleges.  Remember the adage, "Innocent until proven guilty?"  That is what is supposed to happen in a court of law, not on television.

Regarding her use of the "n" word...very little, if any, coverage has been given to the following excerpt: (Page 23)
PD:  "But that's just not a word that we use as time has gone on. Things have changed since the '60s in the south. And my children and my brother object to that word being used in any cruel or mean behavior" (Emphasis mine)


Or this excerpt when asked if using racial slurs constitutes harassment:

(At the bottom of page 81)

PD    …. If you were doing it against a Jewish person and constantly talking about – bad mouthing Jews or lesbians or homosexuals or Mexicans or blacks, if you continually beat up on a certain group, I would think that that would be some kind of  harassment.

Lawyer:  Okay

PD          I don’t know.  We don’t do that--I don’t know.

And the whole issue of the Plantation style wedding...oh please!  The lawyers gave the whole thing the 'slave' connotation, not Paula Deen.  What she said was that she had really respected the level of  professionalism provided by a staff of waiters at a Southern restaurant she and her husband had eaten that recreated a by-gone era. I surmise that she was referencing the famous Southern gentility.  The lawyer then went on to create the analogy and the impression that what she was after was to glorify slavery.

(Top of Page 130)

PD:  Well, it -- to me, of course I'm old but I ain't that old, I didn't live back in those days but I've seen pictures, and the pictures that I've seen, that restaurant represented a certain era in America.

Lawyer:  Okay.

PD:  And I was in the south when I went to this restaurant. It was located in the south.

Lawyer: Okay. What era in America are you referring to?

PD:  Well, I don't know. After the Civil War, during the Civil War, before the Civil War.

Lawyer: Right. Back in an era where there were middle-aged black men waiting on white people.

PD:  Well, it was not only black men, it was black women.

Lawyer: Sure. And before the Civil War -before the Civil War, those black men and women who were waiting on white people were slaves, right?

PD:  Yes, I would say that they were slaves.

Lawyer:  Okay.

PD:  But I did not mean anything derogatory by saying I loved their look and their professionalism.

Throughout our nation there are myriad examples of historical re-enactments...Civil War battles, gunfights in Western Towns, Medieval Jousts, Colonial villages, and yes, Southern Plantations. And here's a news flash!  Those re-enactments pertain to a time when all things were not morally consonant with today's standards. 100 years from now I suspect there will be re-enactments of things we take for granted but that will offend the sensitivities of those of the future."What?  You mean our ancestors actually executed citizens?"

Paula Deen deserves to hear voices of common sense.

      

 

The Marketing of Hope

Does Barack Obama need another commentary from a Blogger? Not really. But I can't help myself. As I read the myriad collection of sage ponderances on his candidacy, pro and con I cannot help but think that everyone is missing the point.

Oh, really? What do I see that others do not? How arrogant of me! How presumptious! Well, maybe it is just a tad presumptious, but I have the advantage of a perspective that is perhaps fresher than that of many pundits. Sometimes I feel like a modern day Rip Van Winkle; returning to the United States to discover that so much has evolved differently than one would have expected. Of course, unlike Rip separation by sleep is not the issue. While aware of the controversies and the punditry going on it was always from a perspective of an outsider looking in.

Even from that vantage point there developed a perspective of the sad demise of confidence. The American people have lost confidence in so many things throughout the years. We are skeptical about just about everything. We no longer believe what is told to us. We can't believe what major companies tell us because look at what Enron and others have done with our willingness to believe. We can't trust bankers because look what their greed has done to the housing industry. We have lost trust in our priests, our teachers, the safety of tomatoes and jalapeños, cranes, bridges, tunnels, vaccinations, health insurance, hurricane insurance, and emails from Nigeria wanting to make us millionairs. We certainly can't trust what the government tells us because (now here the list is too long so I've just chosen a few examples) they really did conduct experiments on innocent people in Tuskegee, voter registration really was tainted in the South, they really did support Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, he really did have an affair with THAT woman, there really weren't any weapons of mass destruction, there really wasn't any sniper fire to duck from ... Like the elephant in the room there is mass awareness of the death of confidence but everyone is just tip-toeing around the cadaver, hoping no one will have the audacity to mention the rotting carcass in the corner.

Along comes Barack Obama and he speaks to the the vacuum of ideology that this skepticism has created. We WANT to believe in the American Dream; we WANT to have hope in ourselves, in our government, in our future but THEY keep doing things that make it hard to keep the faith! He verbalizes ... and does it so well ... what so many of the American people want to hear and believe. He speaks to our collective need to once again believe that those in power can use the power for the greater good not just for their personal greater power. There certainly IS audacity in hope when the tangible evidence diminishes hope and doom and gloom is the message of the day on every possible communication venue.

His oratory inspires, uplifts and upholds the aspirations not just of our own people but of people around the world! Obama's recent International tour; certainly the first time the International scene has been used as stumping ground for US voters, has thrust the viability of his candidacy upon the citizens of other nations. As reported by William Kristol in the New York Times the chief editor of Der Spiegel's foreign desk stated, " Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessaeule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States." Pretty impressive, eh? 200,000 Germans were wowed by a young candidate for president! But, why is a candidate for the highest office in the United States campaigning in Europe?

So what is the point that I think others are missing? Simply put, I fear that we are too eager to fill the void that the death of confidence has left and that we are getting carried away by euphemisms, oratorical flourish and our yearning for a return to the days where we believed what we were told. There is something to be said for experience. Idealism is only as good as the means by which it is implemented. Having great ideals and being effective are two very different things. "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage" wasn't a quote from Roosevelt but from Hoover in 1928. Those living in "Hoovervilles" learned how unreal the idealism of Hoover economics turned out to be.

Like many others...I WANT to believe but there is a funny feeling in my gut that tells me something just isn't right here. Something smacks of too good to be true.

Hmmmmm.

Conservative or Liberal?

So, here I am in Texas...living close to Austin which is touted as being a liberal oasis in the vast conservative spaces of this gigantic state. I thought it would be important to be in a liberal community since I have always thought of myself as liberal. Why? Well, because I believe in the individual's right to the pursuit of happiness and too many of the things which bring happiness are rejected by the conservatives. It's that simple. My view of conservatives is one of a group of unhappy people bent on making others as unhappy as they are, assuaged only by the pursuit of capital gains. They believe themselves to be the anointed ones, in sole possession of the truth religious or otherwise. They are either sincerely convinced that any deviation from their interpretation of the truth is a sure and just road to Hell or they are equally convinced that strict adherence to the appearance of sincere passion for limiting the choices of others is a sure path to success.

Being Liberal has always meant to me that one was willing to live and let live...to embrace that one person's pursuit of happiness is not equal to another person's but that each individual is guaranteed the right to pursue whatever flavor of happiness they see fit. In the recognition of the individual's right to an opinion or belief that may be dramatically different from one's own lives the sweetness of loving your neighbor as you love yourself, of being willing to help others when they are in need of help because rather than passing judgement on others' choices one need simply acknowledge a real and present need.

All pretty much theoretical because quite frankly the application of the labels had never been applied in real life U.S. political nowness until the present election year because I lived outside of the continental US and my understanding of these labels had never been put to any test.

Never having been much of a fan of labels to begin with, the dizzying aspect of trying to label an individual's conscience based on an ever moving target defining political parties seems insane to me. Theoretically. But come November I will be entering a voting booth to participate in the election of our next President so like it or not I had better get a grip on some of these labels.

I have been exposed to many different views of what Liberal and Conservative means since returning to the States. Sadly, the most verbose and voluminous array of definitions come from the ultra conservative media. How is it that the liberals have allowed the conservatives to define them? It offends my ideals that liberal is equated with leftist, socialist or communist. It is offensive to hear that to be religious you MUST be the Religious Right, or that if you are liberal you are invested in losing the war in Iraq. It is nefarious, to me, to have the "spin-sters" tell the world that my choice in political direction makes me un-American and a danger to the future of the nation. I am awed by the conclusion that anyone who fears that the collective effects of man's presence on Earth may endanger the safety of the planet is by definition a "Whacko". For the first time in humanity's existence we have had the knowledge to understand that climate change is happening, whether it is of our making or not, but trying to do something about it is apparently a communist plot of the new world order. This is very unreal to me.

So help me out. Here are some of the things I believe in...where would you put them?

1. I believe that matters of conscience cannot be dictated by laws. Taking a life is not a matter of conscience, but determining when life starts...at conception or latter IS. Approving the RIGHT to an abortion does not mean that I approve OF abortion. It means that I approve of one's right to make a mistake. Either a mistake by getting pregnant or a mistake by eliminating the pregnancy. Apparently that makes me a liberal.
   
2. I believe that parents should actually relate to their children rather than simply being related to them; they should be involved in their lives, shape their choices by helping them understand the consequences of their actions and allowing them suffer the consequences when the need arises. Apparently this makes me a conservative.


3. I believe that the best case scenario for #2 is one loving mother and one loving father. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Life happens. But the consistent factor is LOVE. One loving mother or father is better than none, and two loving mothers or two loving fathers is better than a dysfunctional mother and an incompetent father. Apparently this makes me a liberal.


4. I believe in being personally responsible for one's decisions and one's choices in life. A drinker or a smoker must be accountable for the sum of their choices. A thief, whether it is money, credit or identity that is being stolen should suffer the consequences of the crime committed. Equally, a hardworking, dedicated individual should be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Apparently, this makes me a conservative.


5. I believe that the state of an individual is not always attributable to the sum of their choices. Children are born into dysfunctional families and become dysfunctional students out of no fault of their own. Families are split apart by financial difficulties borne of illness, overall economic downturns and other situations that are not of their making. These people, who for all I know could be me someday, deserve access to tools that will allow them to survive, flourish and renew. Apparently this makes me a liberal.


6. I believe that mistaking lack of motivation and neediness for true need creates a weaker individual who in turn creates more weak individuals. Many people in need are only victims of their own choices and decisions and should be held accountable for those choices. Apparently that makes me a conservative.


7. I believe that those who are enriched by the labor of others should share their good fortune proportionally based on the effort, capital invested, creativity, etc. that created the wealth. Apparently this makes me a liberal.


8. I believe that entrepreneurs take risks that employees do not and that Capitalism provides greater reward for greater risk. Income derived from employment requires little more risk than the continued success of the employer. And while no employee should be taken advantage of, neither should any employer be unfairly exploited just because they may have more capital than their employees. Apparently, this makes me a conservative.
   
9. I believe that Capitalism and Greed are not synonyms but that too often they have become fused and confused , aided by the jargon of talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh who manipulate the concepts to equate Capitalism with an American right to waste and excess; as if this is somehow a trait to be applauded and lauded as patriotic. Apparently this makes me a liberal.


10. I believe the forefathers were bent on creating a community of faithful who could worship God as they saw fit. As such, belief in God was an important element that guided the hands, hearts and minds of the creation of our nation. Re-writing history to pretend that separation of Church and State somehow was meant to provide freedom FROM religion or to deny the reality of its import in our communal beginnings is foolish and wrong. Apparently this makes me a conservative.


11. I believe that the world we live in today is a very different place than it was at the time of the framing of the Constitution and that the spirit of the meaning of freedom of religion has only changed enough to allow embracing ALL of humanity's various ways of worship. Inclusion vs. exclusion. Apparently this makes me a liberal.


12. I believe that the concept of the "majority rules" is the backbone of democracy. If the decision of the majority somehow offends the sensibilities of the minority it is up to the minority to use the tools of reason and education to affect the decision but not to impose the will of the minority on the majority. Apparently this makes me a conservative.


13. I believe that government should provide its citizens with national safety and security including protection from any collective means of spreading harm from forces of power; internal or external. Apparently this makes me a liberal.


14. I believe that citizenship is not to be taken lightly; it requires sacrifice and understanding of our government's structure underscored by the history that created it. I believe that it is the responsibility of each citizen to feel passion for their country, for the process that gives it continual life; to discern between politics and public service. I believe that Patriotism is not a collection of words but a series of actions and I believe that the further we drift from the origins of our nation, the more the world grieves for us because the world has benefited from our success. What does that make me?

Confused. That much I know.