IRRESPONSIBLE BLATHERING

As a trained journalist, I always have made the attempt to try and present more than one side to a story. If a piece was opinion, it was labeled as such. In today's world of loud 24/7 news cycles, this attempt at objectivity has all but completely disappeared.
No where is this more true than on the network calling itself Fox N.E.W.S., which simply stands for "Never-Ending Weird Stuff" (The final word is a euphemism so this blog is not blocked by 17th Century filters)
During the eight-year nightmare that were the Bush years, I kept asking, "where is the outrage?" as he and his minions chipped away at the fundamental elements of our republic. Of course, the bubbleheads at Fox were only in the lead. The entire mainstream media took a dive, especially after Sept. 11.
When people tell me they get their news from "fair and balanced" Fox, I gag. All that comes to mind is the Nazi propaganda philosophy that proclaimed if you told a lie often enough and big enough, it was soon perceived to be true.
This is another reason why I am so eager to host a forum of considered thought and intelligent discussion. Ranting about fist bumps, flag pins, teleprompters, short-sleeved dresses and the rest of the nonsense spewed from what purport to be minds at Fox and its ilk, do not come under the category of "news." Nor is it worth labeling as opinion.
Our country, our world, our civilization is in the midst of a crisis of unprecedented proportion. We can do nothing and hope for the best. We can do something and know that at least we tried. Or, we can be naysayers and claim that nothing will solve any problem.
I lived through World War II and all of the horror that brought. I marvel at the way most of us came together to make sure good triumphed. I wonder if we have the ability to come together and do it again, when even more is at stake.
I gnash my teeth at the inability of leaders around the world to bring safety and stability to places like Darfur, Burma and at least a score of places where humanity has the worth of a mud puddle.
The economy, the sorry state of education, the need for clean energy and a world we can live in are at the top of my concerns that we can actually change.
I still celebrate the fact that we have made progress by having Barak Obama as our president. That is one change I can say I helped to bring about - but it took me more than 40 years to see it happen.
I hope I do not have to wait another 40 to see the others change.