Fox news and "others" repoortage on health care mandate

[woodsmoke]

I merely report what I saw.

I will NOT respond to "diatribe" or "opinion" posts/questions, but I WILL report on what I PHYSICALLY VIEWED and will NOT pass an opinion on what I saw.

I went to a LOT OF TROUBLE to watch coverage.

a) ABC, PBS, NBC, CBS, all had "talking heads" that came down that the mandate would be upheld.

b) Fox news, particularly Megan Kelly, had:

a guy that advocated.........Megan Kelly.........a guy that advocated
being upheld......................moderating...........b e struck down.

I mean, it was PHYSICALLY that way on the screen.....

left guy on the left of the screen, Megan Kelly in the middle, right guy on the right of the screen.

So.... if one REALLY does....want to see "both sides"......

and be exposed to both viewpoints.....

so as to "make a decision"

as opposed to "knowing which side is the correct side"....a' priori....

then which news programming..............

NOT OPINION...............>NOT< OPINION............

which NEWS PROGRAMMING... provides BOTH sides.....good or bad...but BOTH sides...?

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

Ok this is just pitiful.

Shephard Smith on the "presidental open mike gaffe" on missile defence......had a LEFT SIDE commentator discussing it... and NOT a "right side" commentator.

In other words Shephard Smith took a "bemused attitude" that this was "just politics" and then had a LEFT side commentator...speaking..

So much for Fox News not being "fair and balanced" in REPORTAGE.....not commentary.....that is different....reportage is SUPPOSED to provide BOTH SIDES......

Opinion is just that...opinion....take it or leave it....

But REPORTAGE.....is supposed to RESPECT BOTH SIDES....

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

Even MORE pitiful

Shephard Smith had a BLACK WOMAN.....and A BOW TIE...BALD HEADED WHITE GUY....

discussing the Williams shooting...

The bow tie white guy advocated "lets look at the facts".
The black woman said....listen to what the guy said....

Smith said...."well...we do have the NEW reports of what neighbors saw".....which said they saw the kid on top of the shooter...

....and then..SMITH......came down BY THE TONE OF HIS VOICE....on the side of WILLIAMS....Oh yeah he knows that if he comes down on the side of the black kid then he gets "cred" with the African Americans....right....

please give me a break on reading into the META languages...of what reporters do...PLEASE do that...

The reportage on PBS and NBC....I apologize, I MISSED ABC and CBS....was ONLY on the side of the kid...

oh yeah..... Fox is Racist and Prejudiced for reporting BOTH sides...

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

I APOLOGIZE.....

Neil Cavuto....who is a FAR RIGHT BUSINESS GUY......had Kelly Saindon....on who argued that she thought that the case would go to UPHOLD the mandate....and he let her talk!! He said that he thought it was "bad for business".....but she was a "good looking woman" "not a geek" who was a "power woman" arguing AGAINST him!!!

woodsmoke

[SteveRiley]

It is absolutely scandalous that J. Random American is force-fed the notion that there are two sides to everything.

Sorry, folks, but this is absolutely wrong. For things that are facts, such as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, there are not two sides. There is one single fact. And no attempt to square a circle (and fudge the value of Pi) can change this.

For many other issues, the "sides" are multiple, often more than two. I dearly with the American media would care more about nuance and reflectiveness than lining up opposing sides and the riling up the public to defend one and decimate the other.

[vw72]

It is absolutely scandalous that J. Random American is force-fed the notion that there are two sides to everything.

Sorry, folks, but this is absolutely wrong. For things that are facts, such as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, there are not two sides. There is one single fact. And no attempt to square a circle (and fudge the value of Pi) can change this.

For many other issues, the "sides" are multiple, often more than two. I dearly with the American media would care more about nuance and reflectiveness than lining up opposing sides and the riling up the public to defend one and decimate the other.

Not to pick nits, but Pi is only the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter in euclidean geometry. In non-euclidean geometry, there is no constant.

So, maybe a better approach would be to state simply that things are not black and white like many pundits want you to believe. In fact, there is an awful lot of gray between the extremes of black and white.

I do agree, though, that the partisanship and lack of civility, whether in politics, science, religion or whatever, doesn't do anybody any good. Well, except for the people who don't want the discussion of the real issues to come to light, for them, partisanship and lack of civility are wielded like a skilled swordsman.

[Qqmike]

This entire issue is moot. Lost cause, I fear. I have almost given up on the American public. People respond to and vote on the basis of one-liner sound bites from any and many sources--nightly news, a magazine, newspaper, the radio, or what a friend or an email tells them. They respond to garbage--emotional, bigoted, dramatic, fantastic garbage. They do not respond to reasoned, informed analysis of facts. By and large, not enough people do the research behind an issue to make an informed decision. If they did the research, eight or nine out of ten times, I think we'd all agree on a functional middle ground and be able to make an effective decision together--a compromise perhaps, but a (one of possibly several) "correct" decision. Want an example? Not going to give one--it would just start something.

[woodsmoke]

Thank you very much, for the three of your responses.

I remain silent.

woodsmoke

[SteveRiley]

Not to pick nits, but Pi is only the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter in euclidean geometry. In non-euclidean geometry, there is no constant.

Heh, nice. I stand curved.

People respond to and vote on the basis of one-liner sound bites from any and many sources. They respond to emotional, bigoted, dramatic, fantastic garbage. They do not respond to reasoned, informed analysis of facts.

Want to get really depressed? Read Just How Stupid Are We?.

[GreyGeek]

"Other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how do you feel?"

Public discourse has left the realm of reason and tolerance and entered the realm of emotion fueled by agenda. So now, if one disagrees with a point of view he/she has no obligation, and indeed is encouraged NOT to, think and counter with rational facts and conclusions based on them, but to hurl accusations of "hate", or "denial" at them, with LOTS of appeals to "authority".

The comment section beneath many news stories have turned into political bashing and insult parties, regardless of the topic of the story.

I was called by the NE State Highway Patrol to investigate a homicide that took place along Interstate 80, near Henderson, NE. Two truckers got into a "debate" over their CB Radios (shows you how long ago that was) and it degenerated into insults against each other's manhood and/or intelligence. They agreed to settle the issue with fists along side the road. The first truck pulled over and the driver got out. The second truck pulled over and stopped about 20 yards behind the first and that driver got out ... carrying a .303 British En-field rifle. One shot settled the argument. The rear trucker got back into his truck and, as we learned later, pulled off the Interstate and drove North East to Minneapolis. His girl friend was with him. Being a hot-head, he couldn't resist slapping his girl friend around for trifles. She got tired of it and in an act of revenge for the abuse he gave her, she turned him in and told authorities where he had dumped the rifle. I used Physics and a metal detector to locate the slug, which had passed through the victim and flew on to impact the slope of the Henderson overpass, 75 yards West.

I fear that a lot of people have decided to settle arguments with weapons in place of reason, and are just waiting for an opportunity to cut loose with rifle fire. There are just too many angry, frustrated people in this country looking for someone or something to blame for their problems, and various TV crime shows are merely serving as tutorials teaching them to be psychopaths.

[SteveRiley]

with LOTS of appeals to "authority"... too many angry, frustrated people in this country looking for someone or something to blame for their problems

I suspect an unsavory relationship lurks in here.

and various TV crime shows are merely serving as tutorials teaching them to be psychopaths.

Come to think of it...these shows actually emphasize the need for authority. No one ever peaceably settles their own differences; instead, someone from NCISCSIpowbangzip parachutes in to save the day, guns and badges blazing.

[Qqmike]

GG, "I fear that a lot of people have decided to settle arguments with weapons in place of reason, and are just waiting for an opportunity to cut loose with rifle fire. There are just too many angry, frustrated people in this country looking for someone or something to blame for their problems, and various TV crime shows are merely serving as tutorials teaching them to be psychopaths."

A friend thought I was nuts to even suggest that civil unrest (in America) was right around the corner. Until he read various credible commentators reflect the same view. And until, just a month later after all that, the Occupy movement hits the national scene. And he (= Big Ego that he is) actually apologized.


SR, "Want to get really depressed? Read Just How Stupid Are We?. "

Just reading the review is depressing enough!

You know, anyone who has children (with g-kids on the way) ought to be concerned as hell about the state of affairs in this country and the kind of future they may (may not) see. If you are 60+ and don't have kids, one might then argue, don't worry about it--enjoy your remaining years and let it all go [to h*].

[SteveRiley]

Isn't each generation guilty of claiming that the world is going to hell? Or is really happening this time?

[Qqmike]

Maybe the young folks (who do seem to have some good benevolent, nonmaterialistic values) will be the ones to straighten the mess out--IF WE don't screw it up beyond repair ... or beyond recognition ...

[GreyGeek]

Probably. Wasn't it Socrates who said that the kids were going to the dogs?

Maybe they are, or they are being offered dog food compared to what their parents and grandparents ate.

Personally, I believe that I was fortunate enough to live through the best times that the US had to offer. Do you remember paying 15 cents per gallon for gas? I do. When my wife and I got married our first trip to the grocery store resulted in two large shopping carts filled and heaped up with goods, and the racks underneath were stuffed too. Our total bill was $125. Now, that money won't buy enough groceries to cover the bottom of a single shopping cart. Even though I was from the "wrong side of the tracks" and social services kept trying to take me and my siblings away from my dad (we'd hide out at friends houses, and I even climbed into a tree and hid), my life was better than that of a lot of kids I see today. I know that growing up I certainly had a LOT more opportunities then than they do today. The 50's scene from "Back to the Future" could have been filmed in my home town. (cue the Monty Python The Four Yorkshire Men)

The parents (or generation) who struggle hard for freedom and/or the "good life", or to give their kids something "better than they had", often raise kids who expect and demand "the good things", but know neither their value nor how to earn them. Kids who have been given every product Sony and Apple make, have the latest smartphones and the most fashionable clothes, generally have $50 pocket change, and eat out with their parents almost every night, and sometimes twice a day, vacation in Florida or some sea side resort once or twice a year, and have grown accustom to a life style that they won't be able to maintain after they are out on their own, are in store for a serious shock. It reminds me of that supermodel just in the news who kept the big money flowing by switching to drug dealing when the easy money her beauty brought her failed.l

IF nothing else, I fear for the future of our kids because without base industry there won't be high paying jobs. Everyone of them will be chasing "service" jobs that won't bring in enough money to even pay the income taxes their parents paid to support the infrastructure, which is already falling apart.