Word Smithin': Politics

You know what Conservatives are good at? No, not that...although I wouldn't know.

They are great at terminology! "LIBERAL" - (come on, say it with a snarl like "they" do - it's catchy) -- I was recently a guest on KTTH our sister station and I was clearly introduced as a "LIBERAL"- I wasn't Tina, producer of the Dave Ross and Ron Reagan Show, avid dog lover, cheese lover, ultimate frisbee player, hiker, big book reader, lots of friends haver....nope...I was "Rachel Corrie lovin, Bill Clinton Votin, Godess Lovin...LIBERALLLL....

They are so good at this labeling business, it's amazing. Aside from the L word there's, Flip Flopper - (that worked wonders), War on Terror, Single Parent Household, No Child Left Behind, War on Drugs , hmmm...what else? - Family Values, !! That was a good one.

I thought of all this today in the wake of the Clinton vs. Wallace conversation from Sunday, because over the weekend I was very busy. But even when I'm busy I pass by my laptop and check out the headlines...the headline on Drudge next to the video link of Bill Clinton's conversation with Chris Wallace (read that here) was "Purple Rage" - WOW... I thought....Bill must have been really angry. I was looking for maybe a Devil comment, a shoe stomping...maybe even a GRRRRR ala Howard Dean....but I was grossly dissappointed when all I saw was rational confrontation.

I was discussing this with a friend of mine, Chris (i won't put his last name here..but you know who you are);....we were talking about all the many words or phrases the "CONSERVATIVES"....(see it just doesn't have that punch) ....use to coin terms or phrases to....what Chris says...."hijack the language so they can control the discorse."

He's right...let me say (ok, write) that again....Conservatives hijack language so they can control the discorse. It's a very smart thing to do. The moment you call President Clinton..."ENRAGED", "purple faced", "defensive", LIBERAL.....you control what's next...because that's where the argument starts. You can now go for character instead of content.

By hijacking the language they control the discorse.

Call it something...flip flopper...now, it's not about the issues, it's about changing ones mind and that's unpredictable and consequently not ok....

By hijacking the language they control the discorse.

Wouldn't it be great if the Dems clued into that now...we could start now on anything..."sulfer smellin' devil".....see, we're not good at it! .....cowboy...didn't stick....monkey...nope....

What do ya got? Anything? Come on-- give it a try....

Free Speech: Politics and the Personal

We live in a free society. Free to offend and so to be offended. We couldn’t be a free society with out that! BUT…countries hate us for the things we say and do, so how can we be free and also expect accountability? Or should we?

“The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision, or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.”
Salman Rushdie

I am having trouble as I ponder the things the Pope has said :

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." --- Pope Benedict XVI

with my feelings about respect for other religions. If you’ve read my blogs you know that I have been listening to Bill Moyers quite a bit on his series on Faith & Reason. Where Moyers asks the question,

“In a world where religion is poison to some and salvation to others,
how do we live together?”

Bill Moyers


The most recent piece I listened to over the weekend was a conversation Moyers had with Salmam Rushdie. Rushdie is a tough one for a person like me – labeled a “liberal”. While I support, with all of my being, Rushdie’s fight for freedom of speech, I struggle when words can be so remarkably misunderstood and consequently offensive. It’s not that I want to forgive those who are offended and so act out violently…I absolutely don’t! But I get all caught up in my brain about it all because of my complete lack of understanding when it comes to the commitment of faith. I have no connection with that – there is absolutely nothing one could say to me or about me that would make me want to kill them or someone else. And I am willing to say no one else - no matter what they believe – should be offended to the point of violence.

But I don’t know.

I wonder if one of our fundamental problems in our complete lack of understanding of the commitments of faith – and consequently – often then a lack of reason. I mean there really is nothing sacred in the United States. We hold nothing so sacred that you can’t make fun of it, defame, or otherwise talk bad about it. Nothing; that I can think of right now as I write this blog.

Salman Rushdie says –it could be no other way…or we would not be a democracy – or a free nation.

The idea that any kind of free society can be constructed in which people will never be offended or insulted is absurd. So too is the notion that people should have the right to call on the law to defend them against being offended or insulted. A fundamental decision needs to be made: do we want to live in a free society or not? Democracy is not a tea party where people sit around making polite conversation. In democracies people get extremely upset with each other. They argue vehemently against each other’s positions. (But they don’t shoot.)
Salman Rushdie

Which is true.

And yet, If we allow anyone to say what they want, what do we do when that message is one that could offend, or even hurt others? I have a right to free speech in this country, but can be arrested for inciting a riot, sued for making slanderous comments, or have the sentence for my crime dramatically lengthened if that crime is racially motivated. Freedom of speech is situational: I can apply for a permit and then march down 5th avenue waving a giant flag with a swastika on it. But I can't run down 5th Ave. throwing rocks through the windows of black store owners because I don't like black people. There are clear limits to free speech. It is the grey areas that are a problem. Creating rules that protect people can also hurt them.

I had the same problem with the Muslim cartoon scandal. Part of me didn’t want those images released every where – but I don’t believe in censorship so what do you do? I believe we should be respectful – there are some things that should simply be left up to common judgement – but we don’t live in a country where that can be trusted – AT ALL. We are a country that often lacks respect and most importantly education. We believe what we’re told for the most part and we rely on personal responsibility.

No wonder we are so easily hated or misunderstood. We let anyone say anything at anytime…. I’m not sure I want to…but I wonder, should we draw a line? Anywhere?

Thank you to editor: Jeremy Jones

The Fire

Do you remember that song by Billy Joel, “We Didn’t Start the Fire?” Apparently he wrote it to prove the “history” that happened in is lifetime -

Billy Joel (reportedly) wrote this song after overhearing a child say that he felt sorry for "older people" like Billy Joel because no "history" happened in their lifetime, that NOW (or the time the song was written) was going to be the world's most historical time period. The comment got to Billy Joel so much that he sat down and wrote this to prove that his lifetime has been FULL of history.

Click here for more on that.

Well I’ve been thinking a lot lately about legacy and the very thing ‘Ole Billy was reflecting on in his song – so it’s been going through my head like crazy..literally that damned chorus…”we didn’t start the fire, it was always burnin’ since the worlds been turnin’”…..now you’ll be singin’ it all day…sorry!

Check out this website for some more of that…http://home.uchicago.edu/~yli5/Flash/Fire.html


Anyway – I think about this often…when I’m not obsessing about whether or not we’ve had a good show that day – or some stupid thing I said in a meeting, – I’m wondering about the Legacy my generation will leave – or really more like –what will people say about today – 30 years from now?

What will my children laugh at or be astonished by that I lived through? I’m pretty sure there will be a time in my life (or at least I hope) when my kids (ok my friends kids) will say

“Really? Gay people couldn’t even get married when you were in your thirties?!! Really? Gosh Aunt Tina, you lived in a weird time!”

I remember saying things like that to my parents. My father served 3 tours in Vietnam while my mother was protesting it (the marriage lasted about 15 more years after that – they divorced sometime in the 80’s but are still friends today) – But I’ve talked to my parents a lot about that time, and idealized the 60’s. In fact there was a time in my teens that I sort of wanted to know what it would be like to live during wartime – because mostly I romanticized the time. Something about the unity of people for or against it. The excitement and horror on the evening news made me curious.

But I also thought – well – they got the war, so we won’t get something like that. We’ve learned.
Although clearly we haven’t…and NO that’s not a Vietnam/War in Iraq comparison – so get your fingers off the keyboard- right now!

I wonder if there will be things I will be proud of and happy to prove that we learned from history but it’s tough. I think our children will ask us and wonder how we handled things like (in no particular order):

9/11, Lewinsky, gels on airplanes, Janet Jacksons boobie, Nirvana, the Challenger crash, Princess Di, OJ, Waco, Columbine, Isreali/Palestinian Conflict, Terrorism, Y2K, DaVinchi Code, dangling chads, WMD’s…don’t stop me now…

you get the idea… --- the question for me though is – how do we fare in these times? How do we come out of it so that our kids don’t have to say…,”huh? Again with the stupid censorship thing??...really? Are we in the same spot you guys were in, Aunt Tina…didn’t you guys learn anything?”

My junior high school history teacher at Lochburn Junior High, Mr. Cherbus – great guy. He used to make fun of me for being so small and I, in return would make fun of his big nose and he took it. Anyway…he had a statement on the wall that we’ve all heard before…”Those who do not remember our past are condemned to relive it”. I’ve taken that statement very seriously….however fairly inactive…but do you ever think about that? What will they say about us?

Conclusions; the Personal

WELL…THAT was interesting. I want to be honest about the experience I had about the A + B blog…But it’s funny because now I think I have to write something profound – or have an editor…even though – truth be told about 5 people were really engaged in the conversation…but 5 is more than 0, so I like it.

So when Sytman and Boze from our sister station KTTH came over to my cubicle…(we share a, coffee machine, fridge and some studios)…I was visibly shaking. When Dan (who has always been kind and who I have tremendous respect for) invited me on the program I was skeptical…I figured it was the perfect opportunity for them to make me to look like a dumbass. I am naturally an insecure person, not quite sure of herself, but often bold enough to try anyway…

So at first I said…"no- well, maybe --- uh, ok…well….let me think about it".

Then I went into full on self questioning mode…"do I have a good argument? Am I well thought out enough? Did I think it all through? Does the argument hold water?” (oh I know I am going to get flack for admitting that…I can just hear it now…don’t post a blog to all of the internet if you are not prepared to handle it…..let me now say- I handled it)

Still I thought if my argument doesn’t hold, KTTH is the first place to figure it out and make me look like a dumb girl….

THEN…

I did some research – in the course of a half an hour…and I thought about it…AND --- most importantly I talked to Dave Ross….he seemed to think I wasn’t a total idiot…THANK GOD! That was the big one -- if he had thought I was an idiot I would have been in big trouble.

So I strapped on some…uh…guts…and went for it.

“I’ll do it” I said to Sytman.

In the end – it went just fine.

I wonder though how it would have gone if they hadn't focused so much on calling me a "LIBERAL" - That seemed to be the focus of the callers...BECAUSE you're a LIBERAL...YOU...(more sweeping generalizations - but what can ya do). I was also suprised by the lack of intelligence on the part of the callers. I mean Sytman and Boze are both very intelligent guys - but the people who call in to that show - 'OYE! One guy said I was the victim of my own Ideology, that because I'm a LIBERAL and we live in a LIBERAL society that perpetuates rape in some way - blah blah blah...RIDICULOUS! Because we all know that rape simply doesn't happen in sexually conservative environments?! Right?! HA! What a crock.

Anyway - They were respectful – I held my ground. I learned --- I hope listeners enjoyed it…and bottom line it created discussion ….which is all I could hope for.

So I gotta say----I am so done with that argument…if you want to debate it, bring it up with some friends. But leave me out of it. And thanks for the conversation.

I got a big fat blog comin up…I have been thinking lately a lot about legacy. I guess that is because of the 9-11 anniversary. More to come…

More on the Controversial A + B = Terrorism/Rape Logic

So, first off, Scroll down to read the originall blog that has created the stir I will refer to from now on..Really best conversation on this topic was the hour we did on The Dave Ross Show yesterday and the hour I did on KTTH today. Right now I don't have that audio link, but I do have a link to the highlights of the shows you can find that here.

Second off -- (can I say second off?) I've decided to take the rebuttals to my A + B piece in points here individually:

From: Anonymous - For crying out loud: Legislators who pass laws against rape, and who intensify sentencing for same (Islamic governments are not increasing penalties for the crimes that sharia law manifests); police officers who arrest rapists; fathers, sons, boyfriends, husbands et al. who protect women, come to their immediate aid when they witness a rape in progress, and who loudly and often denounce this cowardly behavior (which parallel muslims are virtually not to be found with respect to the crimes mentioned.

My response: By the same token, Terrorism is illegal in America. Everyone comes to the aid of terror victim in the same wayÂ…In addition do think there were any people of Muslim faith that would not come to the aid of a dying victim? That'ss crazy -- of course they would -- but an extremist might not.

In addition, my argument is targeting America, perhaps I should make that more clear. And again -- my thesis is not that terrorism is a bad thing --- my thesis is that it's EXTREME Muslims that are terrorists and EXTREME Men that rape. So, I am inconsistentn a consistant standard --if you believe all Muslims are Terrorist than by that logic would have to believe all men are rapist--.and that's insane.

From Jeff:
Your analogy is fallacious. The reality is that in the US we do not have priests and civic leaders actively disseminating a call for men to rape women and for priests to rape children.
Yes. But we DO have many things in our society that perpetuate a mentality that supresses women. Beyond that, often when a woman is a victim of rape people say "she deserved it" "what was she wearing" -- not to mention the difficulties in even prosecuting date rape.
And when such activities do occur, they are shunned by all segments of our society, particularly our clergy and politicians.

Yes. And Our clergy and priests politicians are also intolerant of terrorism in the same way.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East, violent hatred and Jihad are espoused every day by mullahs and civic leaders.

Violence and Jihad are espoused by EXTREMISTS --There are many different sects in the religion, some extreme and some who believe in Jihad. But the same can be said for extremist Christian groups, the KKK whose doctrine contains pieces from the bible AND of course, men who rape.

And governments support and fund terrorist organizations and the clerics who preach hatred. State sponsored television runs ads glorifying the martydom of children who become suicide bombers. And five year olds view themselves as Jihadi (read Jill Carroll's reports from her captivity.)

A Five Year Old does not .5 year olds, make.

The problem is the use of Islam and Sharia law as a means for the spread of virulent hatred and calls for terror.

Because of the shear numbers of rape that are committed in America the fact that we are then forced to be afraid -- is call for terror!

From Sqarehead:
Wow comparing Terrorism to rape. I cant remember when a rapist wiped out over 3k people in one blow. A woman is raped every two minutes in America.

2 out of every 3 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime. I personally know 3 women in my circle of friends who have been brutally raped by menÂ….maybe not one blow but it's a pretty large number --and most importantly an act that changes the behavior of women on mass---

And for the men standing up against rape, I would say that all of us men who live our lives with some sort of moral clarity and raising our children in a committed marriage are doing our part to raise healthily minded boys.

Exactly! And all the healthy minded Muslims are also doing their part to raise and influence others in the same way.

Anonymous said...

Thousands of Muslims marched in the streets praising the bombings in London. I can't recall the last time I saw thousands of American men rejoicing that a woman was raped.

Not true! it was not Thousands it was one thousand -- compared to the millions of Muslims in that area still a minority.

In fact--here is a piece from the Telegraph UK, you'll notice it's clear these are some of the MOST EXTREME Muslims - the paper makes that very clear:

Extremist muslim clerics will meet in London on September 11 to celebrate the anniversary of al-Qaeda's attacks on America and to launch an organisation for Islamic militants. The conference, which will be attended by the most radical mullahs in Britain, will argue that the atrocities were justified because Muslims must defend themselves against armed aggression.

The governments of Iran, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia accuse the woman of adultery when she is raped. What do all these countries have in common? They are Muslim theocracies, the rulers of their countries. In these places, the rape of a woman is not a crime for the man, it is a death penalty for the woman.

Again, this is NOT a conversation about how different cultures treat women - it's about why sweeping generalizations do not work. Your comparisons here are for a completely different conversation.

Are you ready to convert to Islam or die? That is exactly what the journalists were forced to do in "Palestine". I'm having troubles seeing where the religion of peace is innocent of these atrocities.

I'm am not saying anything about what religion is innocent or not. I am saying there are Extreme Muslims who might want to kill you - but that is not ALL Muslims...just as there are extreme men who rape -- not all men rape. I realize I am being redundant at this point - but I am not seeing an exact rebuttal to my debate here.

Beyond that...Are you prepared to convert to Christianity or go to Hell? Extremist Christians would have you do this---

Anonymous said:
First, rape is not murder and to compare them as equivalents is a mistake. Murder is much more certain/detrimental than rape. You mentioned that rape "has to be the most horrible thing that can happen to a person on many levels". This is plainly not true. Someone that has been raped can still breath the air, listen to birds chirping, eat breakfast the next day...etc...they are not DEAD.

I am not comparing rape to murder!!! I am comparing sweeping generalizations that don't work.

Walter E. Wallis said...
I remember when women picketed San Quentin to protest the execution of Carol Chessman for rape. Men would execute anyone convicted of a single murder in the first degree or a multiple rape, but women and pussified men oblect.

And here we see my point illustrated...Again here a generalization of all women based on one incident. In addition this has nothing to do with his crime and everything to do with opposing views of the death penalty.

More on Logic...

So first; thank you very much to everyone who has responded to my last post. It's been overwhelming - I receive all comments first via email and so have filtered those who have been redundant but obviously not those who disagree...I have many still to go through and will post more comments this evening.

I am glad that we are talking - I have a lot more to say on the subject - and will post a response in the morning.

Just didn't want you to think I was ignoring the response.

More to come...

Best.

If A + B = C...Then...

I received this email today from a listener… This is not a new concept, “why aren’t the Muslims up in arms?”

Dave,
Next time you have your apologist for Islam, Jeff, on
your show why don't you ask him a real question in place of the fluff you serve him. (You do the same to Ron Sims by the way. Are you afraid of offending them?) How about, "Jeff, tell me what do Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechna, Darfur, East Timor,Kashmir, Southern Philippines, 9/11,Madrid and London all have in common?" If this is the religion of Peace and Love sure hope I'm not around when they get pissed. By the way I believe the only other place in the world where innocents are actually targeted is in SRI LANKA by the Tamil Tigers. Every other instance is by Muslims. And the other Muslims say nothing! Maybe we have not recognized the true enemy. Maybe it is not fanactic Muslims, maybe it is Islam itself. You are a Crusader are you not?

GERARD

When I hear this argument I can’t help but wonder where these same people are in terms of other types of “terrorism”. For instance…Women live under the umbrella of terrorism all their lives. We can’t go jogging at night with out the fear of rape, we are warned from the time we can breath not to talk to strange men, we check our backs when we walk to our cars at night and we are afraid. Why? Because men rape…men rape women – it’s about power and dominance and rage…and has to be the most horrible thing that can happen to a person on many levels. Worse than getting robbed or beaten.

So where is the outrage? Where are the men marching in the streets, banding together to hunt down and kill the terrorists who rape? Where are the organizations of men speaking out to protect women? Where are the male politicians asking that men stand up and protect women in the streets? Where is the outrage?

Should we assume that ALL men are bad, ALL men are rapists?? Or is it possible that there is a fraction of men who rape and the majority don’t? Is it possible that crazy, angry, extreme men rape? And maybe not all of them?

The argument often is; “all Muslims aren’t terrorists, but Muslims create all terrorist acts”. SO the same logic would work here; “not all men rape but all rapes are done by men”. To act on that logic would be insane…

There are a myriad more examples of this…white male Priests who victimize – does that mean all Priests are bad? Fundamentalists who claim to be Christians that are members of the KKK. All kinds of crime against innocent civilians by groups who want to dominate or are crazy or extreme….and we let it happen.

I think it’s important to look at the larger picture here…why when these acts are done by a few extremists are we willing to condemn an entire race or religion? Why is it so easy for us to leap to that – when we are unwilling to do it to someone who looks like us?

Always ask why?!

On the Personal: Perceptions are NOT reality…All Apologies

An apology goes a long way with me. A LONG WAY. Maybe I’m a sucker but I eat it up. A few things have happened lately, both of which I got a well deserved apology…and it changed everything…

The first was a terrible encounter I had with the Seattle Public Schools. See, the thing about being a producer for a news station is you have to call people at the 11th hour (which is sometimes very early in the morning) and hope they will talk on the radio within moments of a phone call. A lot of times people don’t really like to do that, but it’s my job to convince them. SO…a few weeks ago there was a story in the paper about school closures, well I wanted to talk with Raj Manhas, Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools.

Well the guy wasn’t so nice. In fact he was super rude. He first seemed annoyed that I would even want an interview – then I told him that I imagined Raj would want to talk with Dave because most people do (which is true). Then he accused me of being a liar…anyway it was bad.

SO I wrote a letter to Raj and the entire Seattle School Board with my concerns. Maybe I over reacted…no…I didn’t…really, he was rude and I didn’t deserve that treatment. I cc:’d him on the email but didn’t know his name – he called me and in a very smug manner made sure I knew his name so I could get it right for my complaint...the gall!

Anyway – the next day…after we both had time to cool down a bit. He suggested we meet for coffee and work out our differences. Ballsy! So I agreed. I was nervous though…

I thought “who IS this guy?” -- I wondered what he looked like…does he love dogs? Does he share his umbrella with friends in the rain? Probably not. Will he buy my coffee? He should…

So I show up at the Starbucks headquarters where we agreed to meet…he was sitting alone and recognized me immediately.

I had to buy some time…so went in and got a coffee I didn’t want. Noting he didn’t offer to pay for it…whatever…

So I sat down…the first thing he says is “I just have to say I am so sorry…”

HE DISARMED ME RIGHT AWAY WITH THAT!

Suddenly, the clouds parted…a halo appeared above his head and I imagined him handing me an umbrella as we skipped through the puddles downtown.

Seriously – though. He was great. He admitted he was an ass…I then felt a little bad I had written that letter to the school board (but not that bad). In the end we agreed to do a great project together and have Dave broadcast live at a school this fall and get the skinny first-hand about what school is really like for our kids.

Turns out – he’s a nice guy. And HE HAS A DOG! He was over worked and super busy the day he was an ass to me. So even though I pictured him with horns on his head…I was wrong…everyone has a bad day.

Here’s the other one…

Yesterday I was getting a pedicure and manicure…it’s payday and I like to treat myself from time to time…

Anyway – I got a real rude call on my cell phone from a campaign manager accusing me of putting his candidates’ opponent on the show and not giving equal time. He was rude…and wrong! I hadn’t had the guy on at all.

AND – he got my cell number from a different number where the recording clearly says….call my cell IF IT’S AN EMERGENCY…this was no emergency…

I told him as much – he asked that I HANG ON! Yeah, right, I hung up.

Later I checked my messages at work. Poor guy. Apologized profusely on my voicemail at work. He sounded so humble and was sincerely sorry. He really meant to be rude to Phil Vandervort, Dori’s producer…not me.

So I accepted…left him a nice message and assured him it’s all ok….

I have great respect for people who have integrity and are willing to admit when they are wrong. It takes a lot of strength to say the sorry and face the truth…so if you need to…suck it up and apologize.