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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

It’s a wash

I’ve just read another D.C. based article about the near political future. It’s boring for one who seeks to be an informed citizen. The article implies that those who write can influence the D.C. types, which I believe; and even extrapolates that these words can influence us unwashed citizens of the country, sometimes called the USA.

I’ve recently read another article that suggests the times have changed. The bottom line is who cares what they write because we don’t care or give any credibility to this speech. Common and family sense applies. It is our sons and daughters, after all.

In a reverse sort of way, maybe we children of the 60’s can really implement the goals of bettering the world, in our vision.

So why is there any fashion interest in today’s media reporting. I do wonder when I hear that People magazine now makes more money than Time magazine, which I ignore. I did not leave Time, it left me.

Let’s go forward. People seeking to be informed citizens just need to shop around. Maybe 20 years from now, it will be easy, but that is not the case today.

I do not offer sales pitches as to what to read to be an informed citizen. You go figure. You do have good choices. Just know what comes out of NYC and D.C. may suffer from “union type” words, media megalomania, and the intense news cycle. None of this is natural. It has all appeared since the 60’s and will disappear of its own weight, eventually.

The present example is what to do in Iraq. I ignore anything written inside the beltway and NYC as the opinion of those writing to each other. Their words don’t help this common citizen think and decide. I have to throw my news net farther. In my case, any Iraq news from a media person reporting from the “Green Zone” in Baghdad is just reverberation reporting of other reports from mostly locals. And time after time this method has been subject to the normal propaganda methods that are endemic to the society that thinks deceit is normal, which it is to most. I know this. Why has most US media become complacent? I don’t think it is as much politics as ignorance. Either way, I tune them out.

All I want to be is an informed citizen who can debate the issues of our day in a civil manner. Today, this is difficult.

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