Extreme Views

We can't agree on anything anymore. How did the Iraq war really start? Were there WMD's? Did the Bushies know that an imminent strike from Al Quaeda was on its way? More recently, does Hillary's support of a Woodstock museum reveal that she was and still is some kind of lesbian, pot smoking, acid dropping hippie (even though she was a straight and true Goldwater girl for most of the sixties)? Was the rapid response to the still smoldering San Diego fires an example of Republican management strengths as seen against the backdrop of local ineptitude in New Orleans? No matter what the issue, there seems to be no sensible, middle ground.

The problem is exasperated by pundits and media intent on making names for themselves. Books need to be sold. Ratings run television. Pairs of eyes and the touch of a keyboard bring surfers to blog sites. An intelligent discussion does not impassion nor enrich anyone. So on both sides of our great divide we have conspiracy theorists and hate mongers.

A great example is the old KABC radio in Los Angeles. A ratings behemoth in the 1980's, the station's signature talking head was the smooth always informed Michael Jackson (obviously not that Michael Jackson). Jackson had an afternoon show where all ideas were welcome and where few would actually know where the host stood. His job was to draw opinion and fact from his guests. Unfortunately, as right wing radio began to sprout in the later part of the decade, hordes of listeners (i.e. white males) began migrating towards Rush Limbaugh and others of conservative ilk. Quickly Jackson became a dinosaur and the entire station by the mid-nineties became a bastion of red meat.

We applaud those who have bravely started Air America and similar liberal talk stations to counteract much of the misinformation of the righties. But still, that leaves little room for the middlemen who want to discuss things in a more nuanced way. Viewers, listeners, and surfers have so much options that they tend to get their news from sources that they perceive (rightly or wrongly) to be friendly to their ways of thinking. So as issues develop and events take place, everything is put into a he said/she said dynamic and the truth suffers. Politicians see this phenomenon and follow a Karl Rove triangulation strategy of appealing and representing only those who vote and support them and ignore the large minority in their districts whose voices need to be heard so our nation can move forward in a positive manner.