Posted by
Gene on Sunday, June 22, 2008 3:16:43 AM
There’s something in the liberal/leftist psyche that just loves the negative.
Whether it’s the war or the environment or the price of rice in China, they always seem to exaggerate the problem rather than, in the case of the media, simply report news, just do their jobs instead of editorializing and projecting their own fears and malaise onto the reading public.
Here’s a perfect example, from the AP wire:
Everything seemingly is spinning out of control
By ALAN FRAM and EILEEN PUTMAN, Associated Press Writers Sat Jun 21, 3:14 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Is everything spinning out of control?
Midwestern levees are bursting. Polar bears are adrift. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Home values are abysmal. Air fares, college tuition and health care border on unaffordable. Wars without end rage in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism. [sic]
Horatio Alger, twist in your grave."
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080621/ap_on_re_us/out_of_control)
For those not familiar with Chicken Little and Horatio Alger, a brief tutorial.
Chicken Little is, obviously, a chicken, a character in an ancient fable who believes the sky is falling because an acorn falls on her head. The tale includes her buddies, Henny Penny, Cocky Lockey, and Goosey Loosey. In the most familiar version, the villain, Foxy Loxy, after feigning friendship, eats them all, the moral being, “Don’t be so gullible and fearful and stir up needless panic.”
Horatio Alger—not to be confused with convicted Communist spy, Alger Hiss—was a real person (1832-1899) who epitomized the American spirit in his dime novels by his rags to riches stories of pursuing the American Dream and achieving it by hard working courageously and diligently, always with a mind to helping others along your path to success.
Both Little and Alger are out of fashion today, unfortunately. As the authors of that AP piece show, too many Americans act like silly Chicken Littles and too few like Horatio Alger-types.
Today, if a dam bursts or an earthquake or tsunami occurs, it’s the end of the world and probably due to global warming or some other mischief caused by those dastardly beasts, human beings. Ignore the fact that earthquakes, tsunamis, global warming AND global cooling have occurred probably since a few months after the Big Bang, but do keep a close eye on that evil man behind the curtain, and vote for Barack Hussein Obama, our “savior.”
Today, we have more concern for polar bears—and snail darters and spotted owls—than we have for human babies who we abort by the millions. Ignore them and ignore the reality that those cuddly polar bears, as well as those caribou around the Alaska oil pipeline, are thriving. But do buy the dvd of Al Gore’s farce, An Inconvenient Truth and vote for Barack Hussein Obama, our “savior.”
Today, we moan over gas and home heating oil prices but we forget $4.00 a gallon would be considered cheap by Europeans. Again, ignore that and ignore the truth that environmentalist whackos, with aid and comfort provided by the Democratic Party, have crippled oil exploration on land and sea in the United States and have prevented construction of any new oil refineries here for 33 years! However, DO vote for Democratic Senator Barack Hussein Obama, our “savior.”
Today, airfares have indeed been climbing and college tuition and medical care premiums are hitting the stratosphere. Still, ignore the oil facts stated above, ignore that for most of us air travel is optional, ignore the reality that our flawed medical care system is still the best in the world and that people flock here—not to Cuba or Canada or Russia—for care, and that, by law, no one is denied medical treatment in the United States. Remember to vote for Barack Hussein Obama, our “savior.”