Things That Vex, Perplex, and Deflect
The ability of the human mind to rationalize in order to transform reality to fit personal beliefs is nothing short of amazing. That thought crossed my mind listening to Antonin Scalia on 60 Minutes a couple of weeks ago. Leslie Stahl, ask about torture and Scalia said something about torture not being in the Constitution. Leslie asked if he didn’t consider the treatment of prisoners, such as what happened at Abu Ghraib, as “cruel and unusual punishment.” Scalia essentially said that treatment of these people is not considered “punishment” it is interrogation, so it wouldn’t be covered by the Eighth Amendment.
I have trouble with that kind of hair-splitting. If you were in custody, locked up, not allowed to leave, and accused of wrongdoing wouldn’t you think of whatever was done to you as punishment? I wonder if Antonin Scalia was subjected to waterboarding, if he might answer differently.
Strange as it seems, the American people appear to like having their country run by liars. First they elected Bill Clinton (ole Slick Willie) who lies when the truth would serve him better. Then they elected George W. Bush who not only lies to the public but from all accounts even lies to himself. Now there are those who want to elect Hillary Clinton who has shown in her campaign that she can and will lie with the best of them. These supporters are so determined to have her that they are willing to risk a McCain presidency if she doesn’t get the nomination.
What happened to the idea that the president of our country should be a man or woman of honor; someone we can look up to; someone who puts our interests before his or her own; someone we can trust?
Winston Churchill said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
Based on that, what America needs now is courage. There are plenty of us doing the first - standing up and speaking - on the radio, TV, and the internet, in newspapers, magazines and books. But hardly anyone is doing the second – sitting down and listening. And doing one, to the exclusion of the other isn’t courageous.
Talking and listening only to those who agree with us, stunts our growth both intellectually and morally. Not only does it display a lack of courage it also does not serve our best interests because in the end it divides us as a people and a country.
Comments
I also saw the interview with Antonin Scalia and I was appalled. To think that a Supreme Court Justice would play with language in such a way as to condone torture is very, very frightening. But rationalizing behavior is one of the strengths of the hypocrisy crowd. How sad for the country.
Posted by: Renee G | May 11, 2008 09:06 AM
The fact that Scalia is on the Supreme Court is torture enough for the rest of us.
I've often wondered Trish, about the standard Americans hold for their office holders. Most of us "expect" that most politicians are liars and crooks. That we allow them to hold any kind of public office in the first place is astounding, as well as a reflection of just how irresponsible the American electorate is.
That every people do indeed have the government they deserve can no better be illustrated than by the present mess in our nation. Partisan politics and corporate level capitalism have nearly brought the USA to its knees. The need for so many to be "right," and to have more money than they and their heirs can possibly spend in several lifetimes have trumped integrity, ethics and real loyalty. All too many people have become morally bankrupt, while their bank accounts fill up with that love which is "the root of all evil." I fear nothing much will change until the citizens become more activist. We can't expect most Americans to actually leave their houses and protest (God forbid they'd miss some favorite TV programs, and stuffing their faces), but If people would only agree not to buy certain products for a certain period, or just not travel for a summer -- ANYthing to show solidarity and a willingness to exert pressure on those who laugh at them on the way to that big bank in the sky each day. I guess what we are missing is an inspired and indignant "true" leader.
It's interesting to watch all the rich "God fearing" good religious folk act pious as they go through the motions to be in church each week. Do they even suspect how very cheaply they have sold their souls? Truly they don't believe in heaven and hell, or the Day of Judgment, yet they sure wear their religions on their sleeve. Heck, if you are going to make a deal with the Devil it should at least be for something more important than the relatively few coins they cheat out of others.
Although I agree that courage is needed, I think it is the courage to open one's mind and become aware of the world around them. Until more people actually wake up out of the deep zombie-like state they've allowed themselves to drift into, nothing will happen. Aldous Huxley knew all about "soma" to pacify the masses, and so obviously do others. Just look at all the pharmaceutical crap advertised on TV. If one isn't depressed before watching some of these insidious Ads, they might be afterward, and surely grateful they have some junk to give you to make you forget.
Posted by: Stephen | May 12, 2008 08:10 PM
Scalia’s palpable ego and smugness, his obvious political bias and, judging by the 60 Minutes interview, his bent moral compass, make his appointment to the highest court of our land simply mind-boggling. But then, we elected the president who appointed him and the Congress that confirmed him so where do we point a finger?
It does appear, as atrocious as the idea is, that a large majority of people do “expect” our leaders to lie and cheat and therefore, just accept it as a fact of life. How awful! How ridiculous! And how self-defeating this is.
Where ever did the idea come from that we the people do not have the power to simply toss out elected officials who are serving themselves and not the people? It is a bill of goods sold to us by the corporate controlled media. It serves their purposes to have these people in office. And like a bunch of sheep we just keep electing them because we are just too “busy” to pay attention or get involved.
How many times have you heard someone say they know they should vote but they didn’t, or they know they should pay attention to important issues but they don’t, because they are just too busy to get involved?
Though not given to violence, when I hear people say this, I am sorely tempted to smack them up the side of the head because it is just this attitude which has allowed corporations to take control of our country.
In the introduction of Manufacturing Consent* the authors say: “…the media serve, and propagandize on behalf of, the powerful societal interests that control and finance them. The representatives of these interests have important agendas and principles that they want to advance, and they are well positioned to shape and constrain media policy. This is normally not accomplished by crude intervention, but by the selection of right-thinking personnel and by the editors’ and working journalists’ internalization of priorities and definitions of news-worthiness that conform to the institution’s policy.”
Gaurang Bhatt, a retired former teacher described the public’s side of this equation: “The stressed American public with time constraints gets its news from television and with its attention deficit disorder, ignorance, apathy and limited intellectual ability is gullible enough to swallow the false propaganda as truth and fact until personal tragedy or economic suffering jolts it out of its apathy.”
Well, we have reached the point where many are suffering personal tragedy (Iraq, Katrina,etc.) and economic suffering (home foreclosures, lost jobs, etc.) so the time to be jolted out of our apathy has arrived.
As Helen Keller once said about voting, “We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.” That is too often true, so let's change what we are doing. Why? Because, Stupid, if we keep doing the same thing, we will keep getting the same result.
* Manufacturing Consent, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, Pantheon Books
Posted by: Trish | May 12, 2008 10:28 PM