April 8, 2008 at 05:50:19

Absolute Phony Outrage

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By Randy LoBasso (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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Problem is, it's all about not paying attention.

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General Ulysses S. Grant called the Mexican-American War "one of the most unjust [wars] ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation."

Lincoln said, "The war with Mexico was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced by the President [James K. Polk]."

No one knows this. Unfortunately, we're not taught about the Mexican War in school. If we were, maybe we'd realize why this map, for Mexicans, is an "Absolut World" – unattainable, but certainly Absolut(e).

It's not just century-old history, either. Only 28 percent of this country knows that over four thousand Americans have died in Iraq. Thirty-Seven percent of Americans cannot identify the United States on a map of the United States. Over 80 percent of Americans believe we're on the wrong track, yet John McCain's campaign for a third Bush term is tied with both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's candidacies in polls. Face it: we're dumb.

Nor can you just blame the politicians. Glenn Greenwald reported on his Salon.com blog via Lexis Nexis that in the past thirty days, the media have reported each of these topics as many times listed beside it:

"Yoo and torture" - 102

"Mukasey and 9/11″ - 73

"Yoo and Fourth Amendment" - 16

"Obama and bowling" - 1,043

"Obama and Wright" - More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)

"Obama and patriotism" - 1,607

"Clinton and Lewinsky" - 1,079

Creating phony controversy for the sake of being controversial and disguising it as news keeps people stupid and forces them to turn their attention away from American Idol and Dancing With The Stars just fast enough to hate another group of human beings.

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Randy LoBasso lives in Philadelphia, PA. He's a freelance editor and writer and has worked on everything from memoirs to self-help books. He's also been published in a bunch of places like The Philadelphia Daily News, Inquirer, and other (more...)

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