I Should Not Be Surprised

Ok, I know we are in an "election season" and receive daily bombardments of opinions, views, lies, and hate. I cannot stand to listen to any of it anymore. Some people act as if the person who talks the loudest and/or longest is correct, or the one who smirks the best wins, or the one who lies the smoothest is our best hope. It is so much like "New Speak" in Orwell's "1984" that it is scary. ("We have ALWAYS been at war with East Asia!")

People only listen to and believe things they already believe or that support beliefs already held. They often engage in the same type of selective inclusion and analysis that they accuse their "opponents" of doing. And, by the way, I don't mean just candidates, political analysts, etc. I am talking about our friends and co-workers.

Here is an example:

I was chatting with a friend the other day about "stuff." We disagree in our political views but are still usually capable of engaging in interesting conversation. Anyway, he said two things that amazed me. First, he "blamed" the 911 operator for the death of Trayvon Martin in Florida, saying that the operator should have ORDERED Mr. Zimmerman to return home and not follow the teen. My friend also implied that Trayvon was also responsible (at least in part) because he was wearing a dark hoodie at night.

Secondly, he said that "White Americans" are angry with President Obama because he and his energy policy has allowed gas prices to rise. When I pointed out that they also rose under Mr. Bush, my friend said that Bush said "drill, drill drill" when prices hit $4.00 a gallon and thus they dropped. I disputed that the President's words could have such a quick impact, but my friend said that our current leader is too focused on alternative energy and not doing what he should now to lower gas prices. I attempted to talk about the complexity of the issues (oil company policies and profits, futures trading, international events, etc) but my friend wouldn't budge.

I guess you don't need to budge when your first (and sometimes only) source is Drudge.