Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts
Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and Exploitation
I have not made up my mind whether the killing of Trayvon Martin was self-defense or murder. There are not enough established facts for me to decide beyond a reasonable doubt. At this point, I am willing to embrace either that George Zimmerman felt threatened of imminent harm from Martin to warrant defending himself with tragic results or that zimmermann is a barney Fife vigilante who ought to be punished for his crime. I remain in wait and see mode. More precisely, I remain in wait and see mode for what little interest I have in the matter.
Do not get me wrong. No matter the truth, Trayvon’s killing is a tragedy. A young man, troubled or completely innocent, has been killed, and Zimmerman has to live with the consequences. Whether those consequences are guilt over the necessity of defending himself or the stigma of not caring about the consequences of his actions, whichever the case may be. But I have to pur things in perspective. This incident is not a national news story. It is being exploited all around by various groups with agendas, and I hate playing into it.
The sort of altercation between Zimmerman and martin happens all the time, everywhere. Rarely will a few days go by when I do not hear that some young black guy has killed another over an alleged “dissing” or some drunk redneck got his throat cut in the parking lot of The Saloon. Maybe the incident makes the six ’o’clock news on a slow day, but probably not. Certainly not in a bigger media market. So what gives? It certainly is not that our society has suddenly learned to care about such things within the last month. We would much rather pretend the nikilism does not exist.
The reason the martin case has become big news is because touches on so many agendas that calling attention to it incites a war of all against all. Look what has happened: the white bigots are out in full force, the black bigots are offering a reward for Zimmerman’s “capture,” gun advocates are promoting self-defense, gun control advocates are advocating the Stand Your Ground law be repealed, celebrities are tweeting their opinions and far worse, and the media is rolling 24/7 with all of it. Just to make sure the matter still has our attention, the president of the United States weighed in and inflamed passions by saying if he had a son, the kid would look like Trayvon Martin. Why is Barack Obama commenting in the first place, much less trying to make it personal? Is it personal? Martin’s mother is allegedly trying to trademark his name to cash in.
Agendas, folks. Agendas. If the main agendas is to drive wedges between people, mission accomplished. We have everything from an elderly couple fleeing their home in fear because spike Lee tweeted the wrong address while trying to incite violence against someone else, a congressman booted off the house floor for wearing a hoodie, communists passing out leaflets at rallies in support of martin, etc, etc, and pretty much everyone terrified out of their minds to offer up a voice of reason for fear of being branded a racist. Of course, the fear of being randed a racist is such a horrible stigma in this country, it proves we do not have a racist culture, but that reality does not make for sensational headlines, does it?
Meanwhile, gas prices are rising due to misguided green energy policies, obamaCare is about to be struck down for incompetent drafting that ignored the Constitution, and Iranian war drums are beating louder than in a while. The birh whole birth control bruhaha did not cause enough of a conflict to distract the public for a sufficient amount of time. Maybe stoking cultural tensions with the martin incident will until another celebrity overdoses. Then we will something a little quieter to dwell on.
Seriously, I may sound conspiratorial and snaky here, but this is what is going on. The political leadership and the media have exposed a local news story with murky facts and are exploiting it for as long as they can for cover and ratings, respectively. This is not even the first time in recent memory. Casey Anthony’s lawyer, Jose Baez, was a guest on Ed Shultz’s show last night commenting on the issue. When you want to drag out a minor, local issue to national attention in order to keep the public dumb and angry, go to the experts.
I am not interested in falling for it, so you are not going to see any further posts about Zimmerman or martin at the Eye. Whether written by me or linked from someone else in the Blogroll Spotlight, it is not happening. Formspring, either, for anyone thinking about taking that route. When and if I make up my mind about the matter--more if than when--it shall remain my secret.
Do not get me wrong. No matter the truth, Trayvon’s killing is a tragedy. A young man, troubled or completely innocent, has been killed, and Zimmerman has to live with the consequences. Whether those consequences are guilt over the necessity of defending himself or the stigma of not caring about the consequences of his actions, whichever the case may be. But I have to pur things in perspective. This incident is not a national news story. It is being exploited all around by various groups with agendas, and I hate playing into it.
The sort of altercation between Zimmerman and martin happens all the time, everywhere. Rarely will a few days go by when I do not hear that some young black guy has killed another over an alleged “dissing” or some drunk redneck got his throat cut in the parking lot of The Saloon. Maybe the incident makes the six ’o’clock news on a slow day, but probably not. Certainly not in a bigger media market. So what gives? It certainly is not that our society has suddenly learned to care about such things within the last month. We would much rather pretend the nikilism does not exist.
The reason the martin case has become big news is because touches on so many agendas that calling attention to it incites a war of all against all. Look what has happened: the white bigots are out in full force, the black bigots are offering a reward for Zimmerman’s “capture,” gun advocates are promoting self-defense, gun control advocates are advocating the Stand Your Ground law be repealed, celebrities are tweeting their opinions and far worse, and the media is rolling 24/7 with all of it. Just to make sure the matter still has our attention, the president of the United States weighed in and inflamed passions by saying if he had a son, the kid would look like Trayvon Martin. Why is Barack Obama commenting in the first place, much less trying to make it personal? Is it personal? Martin’s mother is allegedly trying to trademark his name to cash in.
Agendas, folks. Agendas. If the main agendas is to drive wedges between people, mission accomplished. We have everything from an elderly couple fleeing their home in fear because spike Lee tweeted the wrong address while trying to incite violence against someone else, a congressman booted off the house floor for wearing a hoodie, communists passing out leaflets at rallies in support of martin, etc, etc, and pretty much everyone terrified out of their minds to offer up a voice of reason for fear of being branded a racist. Of course, the fear of being randed a racist is such a horrible stigma in this country, it proves we do not have a racist culture, but that reality does not make for sensational headlines, does it?
Meanwhile, gas prices are rising due to misguided green energy policies, obamaCare is about to be struck down for incompetent drafting that ignored the Constitution, and Iranian war drums are beating louder than in a while. The birh whole birth control bruhaha did not cause enough of a conflict to distract the public for a sufficient amount of time. Maybe stoking cultural tensions with the martin incident will until another celebrity overdoses. Then we will something a little quieter to dwell on.
Seriously, I may sound conspiratorial and snaky here, but this is what is going on. The political leadership and the media have exposed a local news story with murky facts and are exploiting it for as long as they can for cover and ratings, respectively. This is not even the first time in recent memory. Casey Anthony’s lawyer, Jose Baez, was a guest on Ed Shultz’s show last night commenting on the issue. When you want to drag out a minor, local issue to national attention in order to keep the public dumb and angry, go to the experts.
I am not interested in falling for it, so you are not going to see any further posts about Zimmerman or martin at the Eye. Whether written by me or linked from someone else in the Blogroll Spotlight, it is not happening. Formspring, either, for anyone thinking about taking that route. When and if I make up my mind about the matter--more if than when--it shall remain my secret.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
The Real Issue with Sandra Fluke
The big issue surrounding the entire Sandra Fluke bruhaha is not whether Rush Limbaugh’s sexually charged epithet applies to her. Fluke’s sex life does not matter to me at all. She can spend every spring break willingly thrown naked into a Turkish prison for all I care. The issue about fluke is that she is so sadly indicative of today’s shameless, entitled young generation.
Look at what fluke has done. She is a law student, who, while almost certainly saying she was motivated to become a lawyer to change things for the better, is actually attending because she wants a job that will net her $75,000+ a year at her peak earning potential. As a law school graduate myself, I tell her that as a dream she needs to be ready to see fade away. She goes up to capitol Hill a young, sharp law student--a leader of tomorrow--to tell a congressional committee she has so much sex, she cannot afford the birth control and wants someone else to pay for it. Whether that someone has a moral objection is irrelevant, because I assume Fluke is a good progressive who believes moral relativity is the cure to the horrible crime of passing moral judgment.
What a classless and bratty thing to do. Classless in the sense you should not kiss and tell period, much less to a congressional committee where the entire country is going to hear every word of it. Bratty in the sense of entitlement. Fluke genuinely believes she should be able to have as much sex as she wants beyond what she can afford to protect herself from getting pregnant, so it is up to someone else to pay for her to do so. The mindset you have to have for such a rationale is spoiled beyond anything I can imagine.
The icing on the cake? Barack Obama calls Fluke to tell her her parents must be so proud of her. Without a hint of sarcasm, no less. Yes, I know I would love for my daughter to go before congress and testify she has so much sex, she needs subsidized birth control. They do not make proud parent bumper stickers for that one, folks.
The thing I take away most from the entire sordid affair is not that progressive ideology is rotten to the core. That goes without saying. The takeaway is fluke is indicative of the Millennial Generation conservatives are being warned that need to attract in order to survive electorally. Really? Because Fluke is a fine example of what happens when all sense of moral values breaks down in a society. If conservatives have to abandon moral principles in order to appeal to Fluke and her likeminded ilk--not that they would ever support conservatives, anyway--then I would rather lose the occasional election than aid the cultural slide into the sewer.
Look at what fluke has done. She is a law student, who, while almost certainly saying she was motivated to become a lawyer to change things for the better, is actually attending because she wants a job that will net her $75,000+ a year at her peak earning potential. As a law school graduate myself, I tell her that as a dream she needs to be ready to see fade away. She goes up to capitol Hill a young, sharp law student--a leader of tomorrow--to tell a congressional committee she has so much sex, she cannot afford the birth control and wants someone else to pay for it. Whether that someone has a moral objection is irrelevant, because I assume Fluke is a good progressive who believes moral relativity is the cure to the horrible crime of passing moral judgment.
What a classless and bratty thing to do. Classless in the sense you should not kiss and tell period, much less to a congressional committee where the entire country is going to hear every word of it. Bratty in the sense of entitlement. Fluke genuinely believes she should be able to have as much sex as she wants beyond what she can afford to protect herself from getting pregnant, so it is up to someone else to pay for her to do so. The mindset you have to have for such a rationale is spoiled beyond anything I can imagine.
The icing on the cake? Barack Obama calls Fluke to tell her her parents must be so proud of her. Without a hint of sarcasm, no less. Yes, I know I would love for my daughter to go before congress and testify she has so much sex, she needs subsidized birth control. They do not make proud parent bumper stickers for that one, folks.
The thing I take away most from the entire sordid affair is not that progressive ideology is rotten to the core. That goes without saying. The takeaway is fluke is indicative of the Millennial Generation conservatives are being warned that need to attract in order to survive electorally. Really? Because Fluke is a fine example of what happens when all sense of moral values breaks down in a society. If conservatives have to abandon moral principles in order to appeal to Fluke and her likeminded ilk--not that they would ever support conservatives, anyway--then I would rather lose the occasional election than aid the cultural slide into the sewer.
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