News Bulletin: Pistorius has PTSD. That is a fact. One that
can be diagnosed by a doctor or a panel of doctors. It is a portion of the
picture surrounding Pistorius and his trial for killing his girlfriend. That is
also a fact. He killed his girlfriend. That fact is not in question.
The question before the court is whether Pistorius
intentionally killed his girlfriend. Or was it unintentional, an accident?
That is the question. It is well that the question be
clearly defined so we can understand the news as it is happening or will become
settled later as decisions are made. In other words, once the court makes a
decision, a new fact will have been made. We paste that datum into our mental
file of this news item concerning Pistorius and his girlfriend’s death.
Nowhere is it written that you and I need to have an opinion
on this. We do not need to determine in our own mind that Pistorius is guilty
as charged. That will be done for us by the court.
The news media treats this story as an important one that we
all have to be informed about. I actually don’t care. I think it is tragic that
the girlfriend died, and died in the manner described in court proceedings.
Hideous. Nightmarish, really. That is equally true for Pistorius. An
international athlete, well off financially, well respected prior to this
incident, and for all intents innocent until proved guilty. I hope he is found
innocent. I like the guy. I want him to be innocent. I want this nightmare to
be just that – a nightmare of bizarre circumstances. And then let the guy go on
with the rest of his life.
Why bring this up? Because the Pistorius case is emblematic
of most media items where readers are encouraged to become involved in the
story. The coverage dangles guilt or innocence before the public. In my mind
this is gruesome. And calculated to attract ratings to the story whether in
print or on electronic media.
I consider myself a consumer of news. That means I read it,
process it, and stash it away for future use, or maybe to the scrap heap over
time when the story has no lasting meaning.
I do not consume the news to pruriently watch the demise of
someone’s life due to tragic circumstances. That is not my business.
Polls are reported frequently. Essentially the media is
asking this question: “What does the public think about this issue?” They pose
the specific question and conduct polls on it to determine how the public
thinks on a topic under controlled questioning. The problem is: does the public
have the information necessary to make a sound opinion or conclusion on the
topic under discussion? Most likely not!
Then why do the poll in the first place? If it were truly
performed to determine how the public feels about a specific topic and then
follow that emerging opinion over time, the poll might have purpose.
Credibility is another matter entirely.
Many topics simply don’t matter for following emergent public opinion.
Like the Pistorius case, it doesn't matter what we feel really; what matters is
what the court concludes the facts are in fact facts!
How well the public perceives a politician is performing
his/her job, may be of interest, but the truth is the public almost always does
not have the facts to determine an accurate perception. Oh they have perceptions!
But are they worthy of consideration at any specific time?
Recently a poll was reported on MSNBC. The poll asked which
president of the US
was the worst since World War II. The answer was a mixed bag: Obama gathered
40% of the vote; George W. Bush received
39%. Too close to matter. But the truth is something else.
First of all who conducts the poll is important in having
faith in the reported results. In this case no polling authority was cited. So
we don’t know the motives of the polling organization, or if their hidden
agenda manipulated the polling process and analysis. NOTE: I did not find this poll reported
anywhere else. Even in the nightly network newscasts. That should tell us
something about the poll itself!
Second, the respondents simply do not have the facts to
determine an appropriate answer at this point. Life is a continuum of time. So
is history. All history. What happens
does so because of specific causes/effects/results. Even then all of that needs
appropriate analysis to determine what the data mean.
How well a person performs a job requires a host of
information that most of us do not have. Thus conclusions are of little value,
especially early on in the experience.
More appropriate to be polled is this question: “How well do
you think world events reflect on America today?” The perception
would greatly be upset at the chaos of world news. And all of it affects how America
functions and is perceived. That is quite normal. Who the President is at the time is no
reflection on his/her job performance.
To wit: price of oil and the effects on gasoline pump prices
have little to do with a President’s performance. It has much to do with long
term policy which does affect pump prices. These policies would include
maintaining an oil energy foundation rather than an active policy of
discovering new and plentiful fuel sources. American policy on this issue is
rooted in polarizing politics. President Obama wants diverse energy resources.
The thinking behind this policy is a strategy to de-emphasize oil as the
primary energy source and lower price pressures on all energy as a result.
Congress generally does not agree with this not for any scientific purpose but
rather on political and economic grounds. Who benefits from higher gas prices?
The oil companies and stockholders. Uncle Sam doesn't benefit from higher
prices because such companies are increasingly tax exempt or buffered by
Congressional agreements on tax matters affecting oil companies. George W. Bush
was one such President who kept this policy alive; so did others with ties to
the oil industry, or political ties carried into the White House because of
election promises provided behind the scenes to secure campaign funding.
So current energy policy is not in the interests of the
American people or economics. It is a political scam perpetrated by narrow
interests. This should be eliminated. It is unhealthy both for people and the
planet.
International relations are another area of chaos. During
George W. Bush’s 8-year term, huge numbers of American diplomats resigned over
White House policies. They were wrong headed then and the diplomats simply
could not stomach them. So they left their cherished careers to maintain their
intellectual honesty.
The problem was then and is now that highly trained and
developed diplomats had to rebuild sensitive international relationships to do
their job effectively. This takes time. Lots of time.
President Obama has been rebuilding the infrastructure of
diplomacy destroyed by Mr. Bush. This is the root cause of Benghazi
and lots of other hot spot troubles America has experienced in recent
years. While it is true these occurred on Mr. Obama’s watch, they were
inevitable happenings caused by boneheaded mistakes made in the previous
administration. Historians know this now. And will gather information which
will prove it incontrovertibly in future years.
I could go on and on. I could include how Clinton rebuilt the national economy and paid
down the national debt by enormous amounts AND created a surplus Federal
Government budget. Then George W. Bush destroyed that to buy a future term in
office. Two wars (expenses off-budget, but still cash sucking) plus huge tax
cuts combined to create a deficit of $3 trillion with annual deficits totaling
$1.5 trillion or more unless other expenses were eliminated for future years.
Living with that legacy was a major problem for Obama. But
he did it. He restored stock market values to double Bush’s. He brought back
private employment to pre-recession levels. But he also maintained smaller
government employment at all levels throughout the economy. These are not all
good numbers in my mind. But fans of smaller government ought to be pleased
with Obama on this score. But they say not!
So much for facts. So much more about political media
manipulation. Too bad for us, too. We
simply do not get the sound bite news broadcasts that matter. Only the ones
that cloud our intelligence.
Only you can do something about that. Please prove that America is up
to the challenge. Think. Learn. Then vote. Intelligently.
July 8, 2014
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