2/10/08

America's Place in the World

Today I was browsing the items on the Drudge Report when I came across an interesting tag that I couldn't help but look into.  If you aren't familiar with Drudge, it is basically a news aggregator (collector) that displays a pageful of breaking headline from other outlets.  One of those this morning was "Nobel winner: 'Obama will be assassinated if he wins'."  It turns out that the 2007 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Brit Doris Lessing firmly believes that if Barack Obama wins the Presidency some portion of the viciously racist American people will find some way to take him out.  The story quotes her as saying the he "would certainly not last long, a black man in the position of President.  They would murder him."

The statement is absurd on its face as an election victory definitionally means that at least a plurality of the population supports him, thereby making him no more hated (and probably less so than his predecessor) than any other US President.  The ridiculous nature of saying such a thing is overshadowed by the ideology and thought process is represents.

As evidenced by her Nobel Prize - Al Gore won a matching prize this year - Lessing is yet another celebrated darling of the elite left.  She was (and may still be) an avowed communist in the 40's, a feminist icon and is now dabbling in Sufism, a mystic form of Islam.  I place her in the same category as Hollywood actors who are basically uneducated and under-informed yet insist upon soap-boxing about the left's most trendy current issues.

My real point is this; when people say that the rest of the world hates America, does it stand to reason that it may be because it is frequently bombarded with asinine statements like these via media (most of Europe does NOT have our free press standards) that places people like Doris Lessing on their pedestals?

What do you guys think? Am I reading too much into a 90 year old's ravings?

9 comments:

  1. "Not familiar with Drudge"? Heh - you have to be living under a rock in Antarctica to not be familiar with Drudge. Although, that's not saying that you should be reading Drudge - you shouldn't...

    Here's a good wean-yourself-off-drudge site: drudgetracker.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jimmy,
    Thanks for the comment but obviously if I wrote about Drudge I am sufficiently familiar with the site. I checked out your proposed alternative and it seems to be a cheap knock-off with less-than-intelligent commentary. Cursing isn't a substitute for substantive persuasion. I use Drudge in the same way I use CNN, FOX, BBC, etc; to keep an eye on breaking stories. That's the point of a news agregator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well if you are reading too much into it, then I am reading the same book. I think she saw the old Chris Rock stand-up "Bring the Pain" because that was basically a joke he made. The man won Alabama and Georgia. Ala-freakin-bama and GEORGIA. Come on. I will use the same phrase to describe Lessing's comment as I did to describe some of the crazy people I went to law school with -- it is like being stuck in the bar scene of Goodwill Hunting. Just a bunch of people (Lessing, Hollywood, etc) who are spouting off something they heard someone say without vetting their own opinion on the matter. Conversations with these types of people tend to end with "uh-uh" or "your mom" or other terribly intellectual comeback that are the result of not knowing why you believe something, and as such, are incapable of making an intelligent argument.

    I completely agree with you that the world's perception of us is, to a certain extent, influenced by the idiotic statements made by people who unfortunately have been given a microphone and a stage. It is sad that sane people with a positive message aren't given the same chance to opine, huh?

    Whew. That's a lot of words for a Sunday night.

    Love you -- T

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love you too, Sis! I'm glad you keep checking in and that we can chat this way.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 3 quick thoughts since Tammi hit it on the head:

    1) she's 90 years old...I don't take anything anyone that age says seriously

    2) it doesn't matter who the person or target is...it only takes one crazy person

    3) thanks for the picture of our next president

    ReplyDelete
  6. Re #3:
    I just caught this on Little Green Footballs (great political blog). They have multiple pics showing Che Guevara flags hanging in Obama's campaign office in Houston. That's right, he won't wear a US flag lapel pin but celebrates a murdering commie. Even if it's just his supporters, maybe they know something about him that we should...

    http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=28915_Che_Guevara_Flags_in_Obamas_Houston_Office&only

    ReplyDelete
  7. Not that it totally has to do with this particular post, but I like the way a buddy of mine put it today...he starts by asking when we thought a conservative would punch a liberal in the face for spouting something obsurd, and proceeded to describe these ignorant people, the liberals, as children, and the conservatives as their parents...just think...little kids are always saying ridiculous feelings-based comments/requests, and we as parents have to shed the light/truth on the subject and bring them back to reality. The left are such a bunch of cry babies that find any way to view themselves as a victim to something or somebody. The conservatives are the voice of reason amidst the outlandish emotional pleas of our left.

    As far as the flag deal...let's think about who Obama is at his core....a MUSLIM....yes, and how convenient it would be for them to destroy the US from within as they pledge to do by having one of their own at the very top...YIKES...glad to see his patriotic loyalties are in the right place at least....HA Lord help us all.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bry,
    In Obama's defense, I think he actually claims to be a Methodist. His absentee father (who presumably gave him the middle name of Hussein) may have been a Muslim but I don't know that he ever subscribed to that belief. There are so many areas in which I disagree with him that I don't think we need to invent ones that may not exist. I give him the benefit of the doubt that when he says he is a Christian.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Matt,

    I am well aware that he claims to be a Methodist, and is actually a member at a "Christian" Church, but if you research his background, I believe you will find more than simply his father's influence. I lost a deal my sister sent me, but it talked quite a bit about his childhood, and his schooling and such. I have trouble believing he is a Christian, as he claims, but then again, I should not be the one to judge. However, it sure seems like a convenient status to secure votes...I'll forward along the email which could very well not have accurate information, but a bit disconcerting none the less

    ReplyDelete

Give me your genius!

What I used to think