DITTO HEADS

Feckless(FP): What'd you think about that Limbaugh Ditto Head we ran into today?

Oddvark(OC): Those guys are just sore losers. Didn't anyone ever teach them anything about sportsmanship?

FP: Yeah, when their guy was in the driver's seat every thing was hunky-dorry. Now that they are out of power, just two months later, the world is coming to an end. Their children's future is in jeopardy. Of course, no one else in the world knows anything about how the world works or how to run things.

OP: Ditto heads don't really believe in democracy. They just like it when their people get into office. When the opposition gets into office, then the voters are a bunch of dummies. It doesn't seem to matter that many of those dummies voted for their candidate in the previous election.

FP: The voting public made it clear that they were interested in a change. Now the Ditto Heads are acting shocked that anyone wants to change anything.

OC: Plus they are starting to resort to scare tactics. They claim they are afraid of what the far right fringe is going to do if the Democrats continue to pass legislation they don't like. The Ditto Head we talked to today says he doesn't condone violence, but something is going to happen if things continue in the direction they are going now. He said this over and over again. Seems to me that if you say that you fear violence is going to happen over and over again, that can be reasonably construed as a threat, no matter how many times the person claims that they don't condone that sort of thing.

FP: That's right. Sounds like some gumba saying he's afraid something bad is going to happen to you if you don't do what he wants. If this Ditto Head were really interested in pursuading people, he would quietly list some of the issues he is concerned about and cite his authority for those concerns. Futhermore, as authority, I'm going to need something a little more objective than Rush, O'Reilly, Hannaty, and other lesser known right wing idealogues before I'm pursuaded of anything.

OC: You know the left wing has idealogues too.

FP: Sure they do. I don't buy what they're selling hook, link and sinker either. These Ditto Heads just march in lockstep behind their bombastic propaganda ministers. It's hard to get a word in edgewise when "discussing" the issues of the day with them.

OC: Another thing I've noticed is that they tend to start with a conclusion and then selectively choose facts (often out of context)to support their conclusion.

FP: Well, they're not the only ones that do that. Plenty of people on the left do the same thing. What we really need in this country is some objective reportage and analysis. Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to see that any time soon. Our journalism has gone the way of the British, with everyone taking sides and slanting the "news" to fit their editorial agenda.

OC: Without objective reporting, how are we going to know what is really going on?

FP: We aren't ever going to know exactly what's going on. However, all this spin and slant is just creating a fog that is going to blind us all. Even if there are journalists out there who are reporting objectively, how do you know which ones they are? We used to trust Walter Cronkite, The New York Times, The Washington Post, McNeil/Lehrer, and many others. Those institutions of journalism guarded their reputations because their franchises depended upon the public trust. Many of those institutions have fallen from grace in recent years due to lax editorial and ethical standards. The public is going to pay the price for these lapses. Those sources are no longer unimpeachable, therefore there is no paper or broadcast of record. The facts are alway in doubt.

OC: Is there no hope?

FP: There is always hope. Journalists have to stop thinking about their careers and money and start living up to their responsibilities. They have much work to do in repairing the damage done to their collective reputations in the last couple of decades. Whether that kind of reform can be realized in this fractious environment remains to be seen.