Watching the news is my way of staying connected to the world. During my moments of news intake I usually have a range of emotions. If I am not yelling at the television in anger I am wiping tears. Many of those tears are not of joy. They stem from what this world has become. Some will argue that the world is better off than it was four decades ago. In some ways it is. No doubt. I haven’t seen any German Shepherds ripping flesh from a human/civil rights protester lately.What I have seen and heard are tragic stories of reality. Have I handled learning of these events appropriately? No, I have not. But, what choice do I have when my DNA dictates that I stay connected to the pulse of the United States, South America, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa? Should I deny my intellect and spirit of what it craves? Perhaps, I should considering where the news ‘leaves’ me.
This week has been a journalist’s candy store. He/she has had so much to choose from: The State Dinner Party Crashers, The Tiger Woods’ Personal Soap Opera, The Slaughter of Four Police Officers in Seattle, The Use of the First Authorized Embryonic Stem Cells, The White House Commitment of 30,000 Additional Military Service Men and Women for Afghanistan, and World AIDS Day. While I found most of the stories to be legitimate – but not news worthy, I was not surprised that Tiger’s car accident was the leading story for three days. This confirming my belief why TMZ and ET are so popular: Americans are pathetically engrossed in the lives of people who live in glamour. I was not surprised that Brian Williams closed Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News program with a brief South African AIDS awareness story; and I was definitely not surprised that commentators, bloggers, and radio talk show host leaked President Obama’s Justification speech (Afghanistan) eight hours before he lame duckishly delivered it to the world.
Afghanistan is where I remain. Stuck on this story! Unwilling to leave it!
As I prepared to write this commentary I asked myself a question. The question encouraged introspection…well, it did momentarily. After thinking on my question I determined that whatever I say in confliction or disagreement of the massive troop surge then evacuation I cannot escape the thoughts of the criticism that I am bound to receive. Since I am not one to shy away from what I believe and voicing it - I will conclude this commentary with that question:
Who does this war belong to now?
We know the answer…but many are not prepared to call a spade a spade. We are not ready to hold President Obama’s feet to the fire e.g. demand he stop sanctioning death sentences for America’s young for America’s Insecurity: fear of the deserved retribution. I wonder if he would hand over this death to
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01250/obama-girls_1250715c.jpg
We know the answer to that question too…
Change We Can Believe In
Shared by Brian E. Payne.
7 comments:
Reader Response:
I agree with the news piece. Often, I do not watch it because of its negative slant and focus on things that are not even remotely important. I could care less if Tiger cheated. I just wanted to know he was ok from the car accident, then I was ready to move on. Give me a break - that is not worth 3 days of news!
As to Obama - I don't know if we can completely blame him for staying in this war. We all know that best intentions don't always become a reality when you begin really looking at the issues. I know he made promises - but we have no idea the depth to which we are in this - and just how complicated getting out is!
Read this article. It is interesting. I know there are biases in writing, but it seems to give a great portrayal of a President fighting a war that he doesn't want to be in, dealing with the realities of fallen soldiers, and having to show that he is ready to protect this country, and make sure that we get out of this in the best way possible.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/03/obama.console/index.html
-MJ
Muata responds to MJ:
President Obama is a victim of circumstances. He did however know what he was getting into. He knew leading this pathetic country would be a challenge I am sure. Even with the known realities our president lead a campaign that stated that it would not be politics as usual. Unfortunately, he has succumbed to doing things the same. There is not much change when a president stays in an un- winnable war. No country can defeat people who are addicted to destroying America's way of life. After Afghanistan then what? The time, money, and effort is a waste of time. As this waste commence lives are being taking. He would not send his children to war. Why others?
-Muata
MJ Responds to Muata:
Well honestly, I don't think most people understand just how much he has done - and how much opposition he faces to doing things differently. There is a website that tracks how well he has done with keeping his promises. I think even he knew that things would take time. Overall, he has stuck to what he promised during his campaign around the war. He always said that "the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability." I don't think he wants to send anyone to war - but I also don't think immediate withdrawal is a wise move (even though that's what we all would want). I just think the picture is bigger than that. Anyway according to this website (PolitiFact.com): http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-kept/ ; He has actually already kept 61 of those promises, compromised on 15 of them (which means he didn't completely give in, but did part of it for the good of the whole thing), and have another 168 in the works! Unfortunately, he has broken 7 of his promises, but that is a small number compared to the overall number. I am not defending him, but just think that his job is a whole heck of a lot harder than we think (or he probably even knew)!
-MJ
Reader Response:
They are really focusing on Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods made it a point to tell the world that he wasn't black, but look at how the media is treating him. In Malcolm X's words, ".....what do they (the white man) consider you......a black man is a NIGG__ ___ - fill in the blanks. Maybe if he would have focused on talking to a sister or black woman, he would not have such an identity and power crisis issue. I pray he now focuses on his family. The world was waiting to see him do something wrong for so long. They love criticizing him. Also, as far as the couple going to the White House, we have a black man in office. His safety is of utmost importance. Security was breached. The news is not talking about the important talks held at the state dinner, but this mess. This is America.....a mess. RIP- Rest in Peace Malcom X. We are continuing the mess.
-SP
Reader Response:
Yeah.....What what what? a week.
-RW
Reader Response:
Very interesting thoughts- the news has a majority of negative info - I only watch it maybe once a week.
-BF
Muata responds to BF:
So negative! But, it is a quick snapshot of our world. What does that say about this world? Wow!
-Muata
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