Media

So, now that I’ve lost any liberal friends that I may have had by using such a provocative title, let me explain that I personally am unsure about what to think of Sarah Palin; however, I am intrigued by everyone else’s uproar over her (thus the quotes around the title).  Whatever your personal beliefs about her, you have to admit that she conjures up powerful reactions. That’s a personal brand for you! (Whether you like it or not.  Be careful how much fame you ask for or you too could end up taking on a tsunami of negative attention like she did.)

So, I was buzzing up the story that just broke today, that I want to write about on General McChrystal’s secret report being leaked, when I saw a buzz for motivationtruth.com‘s post “Governor Palin Takes President Obama to School.”

‘Great,’ I thought after reading it, ‘I like this post, but if I buzz it up, I’m going to get clobbered by my liberal friends’ (I do in fact have them, in case you were wondering).  So, I hesitated.

But, in the end, I like the argument made by the post – about being fairly treated in traditional media (heck, in any medium for that matter!) and granting fair access of yourself to them. (ahem, Mr. President, this means you too!)  So, I said to myself, ‘okay, I’m buzzing it up anyway.’  So, I did.  Anyone got a problem with that?  Oh, well, no sweat off my back if you do or if you don’t, I don’t have “skin in that game” – at least not right now.

I like politics … to a point.

That point usually involves shouting.

A wonderful (awful?) example of this “shouting” is Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor, where host Bill O’Reilly (how appropriate a name, as he “riles” people up!) “interviews” (if you can call it that) Rep. Barney Frank (aka “Barney Rubble” aka “Trouble!” … ala Ocean’s Eleven).

Sparring, shouting, name calling, good old-fashioned political rancor (not too dissimilar from the look and feel of the ‘cuddly’ creature from Star Wars:  Episode VI who shares the same name).

But, I have to ask, ‘how does this help our country?’  I’m not sure that it does – or that it doesn’t.  But, what I do know is that we – all Americans – need to learn to “keep our shirts on” as it were, and try to comprehend the true meaning of communication (a two-way conversation in which actual information is exchanged and understood by both parties) – and then use it.

And now, to tie back into my title/subject, sorry for the Family Guy-type ramble about O’Reilly and Frank (I like my tangents “raw and wriggling!”), I think it best to cool the over-the-top rhetoric, like my inflammatory title (sorry, bad marketing tricks are hard to kick, especially when trying to get your foot in the door, like a little kid saying, ‘let me play too!’), and get back to “a more civilized age” (another Star Wars reference, did you catch it?), where discourse can occur unabated by overly partisan sentiment and we can engage in real discussions about what’s actually wrong with things and what can actually be done about them.  Liking or disliking Sarah Palin has nothing to do with the issues at hand, and everything to do with the perspective through which many people view the world, i.e. an emotional response vs. a rational one.

So, what do you think?  Do you agree with me?  Do you disagree with me?  What points did you like and which did you dislike?  Let me know!

(Remember, in the comments section, play nice or I’ll have to kick you out!  No “below the belt” stuff will be tolerated here, except maybe by me, it is after all my dollar that’s paying the bills to keep the lights on in this site.  Enjoy!  And send me your feedback about the site too, regardless of what you think of this post.)

Until next time.

Peace.

-Ryan.

Tagged as: Barack Obama, Barney Frank, Bill O'Reilly, Communication, Media, Ocean's 11, Politics, Sarah Palin, video

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