I will never cease to be amazed by the stunning lack of introspection among Americans. It would be hilarious if it weren't so utterly sickening. All too often, I see people make comments that show that they really don't know what they're talking about. That, or they just haven't thought about it enough to actually hear what they're saying.
Come on. Who in their right mind would seriously advocate the nuking and killing of millions of innocent civilians? Yet we hear that all the time, both from ordinary Americans, commentators (mostly on Fox News) and even some of our elected officials. They seem to think, through some mysterious logical process, if we kill millions of people, our image among the collective world would improve, everyone would love us, and all our problems would be solved.
Then there's the near-mantra of the left- if we just get the government involved, everything will be fine. (Of course, Republicans also do this, but the left is a far more vocal proponent, mostly because they'll get reelected for it. Republicans won't.) Somehow, if we only had more Federal control over local life, the country would come back from the brink, we'd all be prosperous, and America would once again be all peachy keen.
And Americans are only too willing to continue to fall prey to rhetoric of that sort. What I don't understand is why. Why do we so willingly follow those we shouldn't trust- the politicians- and eat up their rhetoric as if it were the best thing we'd ever heard?
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I would like to emphasize that I watch Fox News by far the most and I have only heard a very small fraction of journalists/commentators on there advocate for using nukes to solve the problems related to terrorism. It is quite possible that conservative bloggers advocate for that more often?
I have heard the majority of hosts and commentators on Fox News advocate for more troops and staying the course in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
But, your right. We should be skeptical of both Democrat and Republican politicians. But, I would just point out that Republicans want our health care to be individualized and not run by the government, while Democrats are advocating for a complete government takeover of our health care system instead of just focusing on the problems of accessibility and affordability, and fixing those issues.
Teresa- I have heard some of them say such things on the air, but I've also read their books. They're not backwards about saying we should take preemptive action (in the form of 'airmail' if need be) towards Muslim/Communist countries.
Are you sure that Republican politicians want that, or are they just saying that so they'll get reelected? I will give parties one thing- their rhetoric is vastly dissimilar, but rhetoric isn't what runs a country. In actual practice, they are more alike then they'd like us to think.
I haven't heard any hosts on Fox & Friends, What's Happening Now, America Live or the previous show Fox News live from 1-3, Neil Cavuto, Shephard Smith, anyone on Bret Baier's Special Report, Bill O'Reilly, Greta Van Susteren, and America's Newsroom advocating for the use of nukes. Premptive force can come in a number of forms and that doesn't necessarily mean the use of nukes.
Conceded. Preemptive force can come in many ways. Perhaps I should have stated that instead.
very nice girl :)
Am I a blind follower if I follow someone you don't agree with ?
Odie- that is not how I would define a blind follower, no. I can't truly know who a blind follower is, I suppose, but I think that we can look at how someone reacts to certain things and gauge the level.
For instance, Obama supporters. Many of them were blindly following during the campaign. We could see the signs of this in the way they didn't even question what he said, and stoutly defended even his most nonsensical statements.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have "Paulites." Many of them follow the man like he's a god or something. I do agree with Dr. Paul on many issues, but definitively saying "I agree with ______ 100% of the time!" would be blind following.
I see it with many Republicans. Whoever the Republican candidate is, they fall right in line. Another instance of blind following. This symptom is also true of Democrats; both sides hardly ever contest the party.
I'm a conservative, and I voted for McCain because he was the closest thing to my beliefs I had. If I were to vote for another party I believe my vote would have been wasted.
I have to go ... I'll be back.
And, of course, that's your prerogative. I may not agree with you, but that's your right. ;)
I will say that I know a lot of blind followers, and I can pick them out by their actions. Some of them are even people I mostly agree with. Quite annoying, that. >.>
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