In today's world we tend to think in very black & white terms. We're always rushing around, trying to get things done and we don't have time to really delve into any important issues. One way manipulative types take advantage of this is by casting arguments in very black & white terms. Mainly they do this by attacking the character of the messenger conveniently avoiding the message, entirely.
An example of this is when the ACLU gets attacked. Often they have been accused of being pro-communism because some head of the ACLU back in the 1950s said that he felt the ACLU's goal was the abolition of personal property and blah-blah, pro-commie message, etc. I have no idea if this is true or not and it doesn't matter. Look at what the ACLU is fighting for and that will tell you whether they can be trusted.
In today's podcast from DemocracyNow.Org they had a guy on from the ACLU. He refered to [http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spyfiles/index.html|this page] at ACLU.org that presents evidence that the US government has been spying unlawfully on American citizens.
I want to know about this and I don't see any connection with communism here at all. So, I'm going to trust that the ACLU is telling the truth and I'll be concerned that the USG is spying on Americans. I'm also going to be concerned about this because NYTimes.com has done articles on it and the USG has admitted that it has been spying but that it was legal (even though I've done research on my own and believe that it is not). The point is, communist or not, the ACLU is trying to draw attention to what matters.
Now, let's look at how various people have handled the Cynthia McKinney case. Below, check out the screengrab from earlier this week on DrudgeReport.Com:
What a lovely picture of her. Sheesh. This combined with comments that McKinney looks like "[http://mediamatters.org/items/search/200603310005|a ghetto slut]" and a "[http://mediamatters.org/items/search/200604010003|wellfare drag queen]" makes me wonder if anyone will really care whether a law really was broken here. The amount of overt, completely biased commentary on things that have nothing to do with McKinney or the "crime" she has apparently committed makes me want to do Drudge and others a favor. Have another look at that screengrab from earlier this week:
There, is that better? How about this:
You know what? Let's just leave it like this:
Now mind you, McKinney isn't just some random black Congressperson. She's spoken out against the 2000 and 2004 election results, the lack of a real investigation into 911, the screw ups in Iraq, the warrantless wiretapping program and more. Now, because McKinney has made the mistake of using the race card, the embattled former Congressman Tom DeLay has [http://themediacrunch.com/2006/04/05/delay-mckinney/|said this] about her:
"Cynthia McKinney is a racist. She has a long history of racism. Everything is racism with her. This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney."
Ha-ha, that's funny. DeLay talking about arrogance. He's the one who is arrogant enough to point the finger at McKinney and scoff while he himself may be guilty of crimes far worse than simply punching a cop.
So, watch the personal attacks fly in the McKinney case. I can pretty much guarantee you that you won't be hearing much about the good work that McKinney has done--just the single mistake she may or may not have made.
UPDATE 4/5/6 10:32pm:
Just watched last night's Daily Show to find that they also jumped onto the character assasination bandwagon regarding McKinney. Too bad I can't rely on the mainstream actual news shows to do their job...
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