Richard Winters, Huffington Post, and Modern Rhetoric

Last updated on: January 13, 2011 at 11:34 am by Dave Griffey

Richard Winters, Huffington Post, and Modern Rhetoric 2011-01-13T11:34:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As I reflect on all the hubbub about what caused the shooter to kill six people and wound 13 others in Tuscon on Saturday, I can’t help but feel the problems in our society are deeper than mere ‘it’s the rhetoric stupid!’ Certainly it’s more than just ‘it’s Right Wing rhetoric stupid!’ Anyone should be able to see that. Yet they don’t. Last night, I watched Katie Couric on CBS Evening News interview a small round of folks about the shooting and everything that went with it. Now, I admit I didn’t see the whole segment. There were two individuals there I never heard talk. But of the ones I did hear, the message was clear:

We need to tone down our rhetoric (even though not only is there no evidence linking the shooter to any modern rhetoric, but the emerging evidence suggests that the shooter had no connection to so much of this strange, ambiguous rhetoric we hear so much about)
We need to admit that there is no evidence connecting the shooter to any rhetoric…but let’s face it, the Right is pretty much to blame for the ill tone of our modern discourse.
We need to make sure Florida doesn’t follow Arizona in immigration reform, since the children of elected officials are afraid that could lead to their parents being murdered.

The last was a particularly nauseating interjection of politics, exploiting not only the deaths of innocent victims, but also children and emotional manipulation as well.

So there you have it Even though a common sense appraisal of the situation, with a few minutes access to the Internet, shows that both sides are equal in their vitriol and demagoguery and demonizing of opponents, CBS, and pretty darn much every other news outlet save FOX (natch), have continued on with the narrative that it’s the [Right Wing] rhetoric, stupid!

Why? Are they just lying? Do they hope that we are so divided that those on their side of the political ideological aisle don’t care if they are lying, as long as they can score points against the baddies? Or are they even aware of their own bias? For the sake of charity and graciousness, I would like to think the latter. I would like to believe all of this talk of liberal values, open mindedness, tolerance, and diversity were ever and always bunk, and that people have a innate tendency to imagine their truths are the only acceptable truths, that they are absolutely right about these absolute truths, and that they naturally expect that a society demands conformity to these absolute values and truths.

And because they can’t imagine a world apart from one guided by these truths, they are as stone blind to alternate understandings of the world, alternate value systems, alternate viewpoints, as any Medieval inquisitor. This hit me when, just for a laugh, I went over to see what the Huffington Post had to say about the death of Richard Winters. I realize he was not necessarily a household name. But even in the midst of the Arizona Shooting, most Web News pages found some space to have at least a little about the man who was the primary focal point of the hit book and miniseries Band of Brothers. After all, the Huffpost has room for everything from what sunglasses Lady GaGa is wearing, to what Sting’s sex life is like, to what the name is of the latest porn star Charlie Sheen is dating. Certainly they would be able to include a small obituary.

Wrong! Sorry, your answer is incorrect. Nothing. The name didn’t even come up in the searches. And that got me to thinking. There are plenty of folks who know what Band of Brothers was, know who Richard Winters was, and what this was all about. It was mentioned on some news stations, and again the AP and most online news sources had stories. How could the Huffpost miss this? Not even a paragraph? Because the Huffpost is about a singular world view, that’s why. A dogmatic understanding of morals, values, truths. It sees the world the way it sees the world. Those who reject its world view are obviously the bad guys. Either stupid, or evil, or both. Typical fundamentalist talk. Those who aren’t about this or that issue, especially in today’s religion of choice – politics – simply aren’t on the radar screen. An old WWII hero from a bygone day that represented the better side of America during the pre-sixties era? Nope. Not even close.

Do I think they deliberately censored any stories because they don’t want America to look good? I don’t know. But I’m willing to bet it wasn’t that. I’ll bet it was just not part of their world, the way they see reality. It was off the radar screen plain and simple. It just didn’t compute into the way they saw things. It was as off the table as dirty language was always seen as being outside the comprehension of old time religious fundamentalists. Remember how we were always told that folks like that were completely ignorant of the reality of various sex and drug references because such things were just over their heads, due to their tiny little ways of seeing the world? Well, I give you today’s fundamentalists. Folks likely so immersed in their own dogmatic pronouncements, that things outside of their value systems simply don’t register.

Hence, the ongoing drumbeat that despite no evidence, this proves that it the Right Wing rhetoric is the villain, might simply be the result of immersion in a dogmatic, narrow understanding of the world. An approach of absolute assurance of absolute knowledge of absolute truth that demands absolute conformity. That a man could simply be insane, or worse – evil – is not part of it. That the Right, the force that actively opposes these absolute truths, may not be to blame is simply beyond comprehension. After all, the Right, the traditional Christian Western Tradition, Conservatism, Religious Right Extremists of the Christian variety, are the mischief in everything else in the world. Certainly it has to be true in this.

Yes, it might be lies and lies to liars that is driving it. It could be deliberate manipulation. Huffpost may want to stay hell and away from someone who might tear down their “Non-Liberal America Sucks” mantra, and other news agencies may count on our rank divisions in the hopes that folks don’t care if things are lies or truth as long as it advances our personal agendas. That could be true. But if it isn’t, about the only other solution I can come up with is that those folks are so enamored by their dogmas, so immersed in the Super-Narrative of their choosing, that they’ve forgotten the world of options that exists outside their own front doors.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 13, 2011

For those of you interested in the Belgian racing pigeon market

Next Post

January 13, 2011 British Embassy urges caution in defending Christians in Muslim world

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep what before him?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Watch Peace Reverence Silence