2 A.M. Monologues and Political Media Bullies

Things could be a lot worse.

Has anyone ever told you that?  Whether it pertained to your situation or their’s, I’m sure you’ve heard this phrase somewhere.  It’s a nice little reminder that things aren’t all terrible, and as much as I hate cliché statements and phrases, this one is actually one that I can live with.  Yes, things could be a lot worse.  They may be bad right now, but they sure as hell could be a lot worse.

That’s what I wish Americans would tell themselves.

January 25th, 2008: a date that will live in infamy.  Barack Obama was officially made president of the United States.

There are people I know, including many of my friends, that no longer support Barack Obama in anything that he ever does ever.  Ever.  Fucking ever.  And the part that makes me angry is that some of these people voted for him.  In fact, most of these people voted for him.  Now, I agree that he didn’t turn out to be the bright, shining beacon of perfection that everyone hoped for.  He’s done some things and proposed some things that don’t settle with the general American public.  Yes, I know.  Not everyone is particularly happy with him.

BEFORE YOU CONTINUE READING: this is not prObama propaganda.  I’m not going to take sides.  I just want to get one simple point across…

Things could be a lot worse.

The other day, I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning just talking to myself about how much this all pisses me off.  Has anyone else realized how TORN WE ARE AS A COUNTRY?  HOLY SHIT, WE’RE ENGAGED IN A CIVIL WAR OF CRITICISM!  Every day I turn on the T.V. and hear some far-left or far-right critic bashing the opposite side for how stupid they’re being.  And I use the word “stupid” because that’s exactly what they think of the opposite side.  Seriously.  It all comes down to who’s the idiot.  Watch an hour or two of MSNBC prime time political commentary (far-left/liberal).  No need to be specific or give any names; they’re all the same.  Take note of how this person comments on something someone from the far-right said.  Usually, their tone is condescending and arrogant, as if the commentator (and their loyal viewers) are far more intellectually superior than those right-winged nutjobs.  Sometimes, they’ll even be lucky enough to find a clip of the same person contradicting what they just said.  And why do they do this?  Because they’re trying to get one point across to the viewer:

This person is an idiot.  Don’t listen to a word they say from now on, because they are an idiot.

Now, switch over to Fox News (far-right/conservative) for an hour or two to watch some more political commentary.  This time you’ll get something a little different.  Instead of condescendingly questioning the intelligence of the opposite side, the commentator (again, no need for names when they’re all the same) will try and instill fear in their viewers by providing possible worst-case scenarios that MIGHT be brought about by some new progressive bill, as well as Progressivism in general.  (Also, it’s important to note that to these conservative commentators, Progressivism is interchangeable with Liberalism, Fascism, Communism, Socialism, and death).  And no matter how slightly or majorly progressive the bill may be, all Progressivism is evil and will therefore bring about the biblical apocalypse.  Then, they might comment on something someone from the far-left said in an interview.  But instead of finding clips of this same person contradicting his/herself, they take what that person said and get angry, spewing messages of hate and doom to their viewers.

These are two examples of political media bullies, and while they may have their differences, they’re both saying the same thing:

“The other guy is an idiot.”

However, the word “idiot” is being used in two different contexts.  Yes, these two commentators are both calling “idiot” on the opposite side, but their definitions of an “idiot” differ from one another.  Here’s what each side is trying to say…

Far-left/Liberal:  ”You idiot, it’s pronounced ‘new-clee-err’.”

Far-right/Conservative: “YOU IDIOT, YOU’RE GOING TO GET US ALL KILLED!”

And it’s because of these unsatisfiable political media bullies that we will never be happy with any president ever again.  There will always be critics.  And political critics aren’t the ones to criticize by politely disagreeing; we’ve come to a point in history when critics are just bullies with microphones, and the ones who are heard the most are the ones affiliated with the party opposite to that of our current president at that time.

Remember George W. Bush?  I’m sure you do, because no one could shut up about him.  Now, needless to say, he made some pretty big mistakes, and there is no tolerance for mistakes when you’re in the public eye.  Of course I didn’t necessarily agree with everything he said or did.  In my opinion, I thought he was hurting the U.S. culturally by not being more concerned with the facts (or pronunciations, for that matter) of foreign peoples and countries.  I always thought that if we wanted to maintain peace, we would need to gain respect for our culture, and to gain respect for our culture, we would need to respect other cultures.  But I remember once I was intellectually mature enough, I started cutting him some slack.  It wasn’t like he was killing us, he was just being inconvenient to some/most of us.  Oh well.  We can get over it.

But now Obama is president, and now the conservative media has their chance to take shots at the president.  The thing I can’t stand, though, is how often other people listen to them, letting themselves get so angry over something like the concept of universal healthcare that when they see Obama’s picture on T.V., they start to bark and snarl at the screen, shouting “DIE, SPAWN OF SATAN, DIE!”

But is it really worth all the anger?  I can’t imagine we’ll ever get anything done again if we tear the country into two radically different ends of the political spectrum with nothing in-between.  I shouldn’t have to worry about a second American Civil War, but I do, because every day we get closer and closer to that possibility.  We shouldn’t even be anywhere near that possibility.  If we want to get anything done, we have to bite the bullet and deal with what we’ve got.  If anyone knows how far complaining will get you, it’s me, and you better believe it will get you nowhere.

Let’s just stop complaining and get to work.  Things could be a lot worse.