If You Can't Dazzle ‘Em With Brilliance, Baffle ‘Em With BS
By William Bailey (01/16/03)
Sadly, and unfortunately, the above statement seems to summarize what some of our public and political leaders are using to guide their steps these days. They seem to be of the opinion that the majority of the American people subscribe to the adage, "Don't confuse me with facts, my mind's made up". Well . . . I agree that the first statement is very much in play. Likewise, I think there may be some grounds for the validity of the second. Let me cite just a few examples . . .
The President has seen fit to re-nominate Justice Charles Pickering and Judge Patricia Owen to positions on the Federal appeals court. And, it didn't take long for the "instant replay" of the smear campaign to begin. Yet, anyone can quickly and easily ascertain the facts of the allegations made by the opponents of these two nominations. If you boil all the "fluff" away, the facts are that here are two judges who follow the precept that their job is to interpret and carry out the law(s) that are on the books . . . NOT make new ones. In other words, they believe in following the direction of the Constitution, not in being "judicial activists". And for that, each must endure harsh and unfounded (and mis-stated) criticisms. As I have said before to the members of the U.S. Senate . . . just do what the Constitution states and let the FULL Senate carry out the "advise and consent" function as prescribed in that document by the Founders.
Another area where we seem to be operating under the influence of the title of this "piece" is in the area of public education. At some point, somebody concocted the lie that if you just throw more money at public education, everything will be fine and all of the problems will be solved. If the facts bore this out, then we would not have the situation that exists in the public schools of our Nation's capital. The government spends more than $10,000 per student in the District of Columbia, class size is down to around 15 (on average). Yet, the public schools in DC are a disaster.
And, what about the subject of taxes and the economy ? Is the title of this "piece" operative ? You bet it is ! While there is great (and loud) rhetoric asserting that "tax cuts only benefit the rich", the people who advance this concept don't want to talk about the fact that it's the taxpayers who should have the benefit of the tax cuts. And, they keep trying to support this argument by stating that "it's the richest one percent who get the cuts". Well. . . the fact that gets left out is that this top one percent of income earners pay 38% of all Federal income taxes, yet earn only about 17% of the income.
The facts are available to anyone who would take time and do just a scant bit of "looking" for them. We don't have to be "bamboozled" by those who are forsaking "brilliance" and resorting to "BS" .
Does the media have a responsibility in this whole picture ? Absolutely. Part of the problem here is that too many in the media are using the "reporting of news" as a means of being "op-ed" writers and trying to carry out certain agenda through the columns and news items which they report. Too many times, this approach means that either the facts don't get out or they are obfuscated by the "BS".
I have stated on many, many occasions that I don't believe there's a single problem in this country that can't be corrected by simply returning to a government as envisioned by the Founders and for which they provided in the Constitution of the United States. But, you see, there are those out there who practice the "BS" part of the statement because they don't want to see that happen. For, if that were to be course we followed . . . the power in this nation would revert to "We the People", not to the politicians. And, there are those who just can't stand to see that happen.
One final thought . . . (since I am covering a potpourri of subjects) don't be surprised if someone soon announces a shortage of pork in this country. And, if you want to find out where it went, just check what the Congress has been doing lately.
Would that we could stop the shenanigans (the BS) and get on a basis of dealing with facts and the truth (the brilliance).
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