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March 23, 2008 at 15:24:56

Why Detroit is sinking: Peddlin' papers and everything else that's unimportant.

by Ed Tubbs     Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com

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Why Detroit is sinking: Peddlin’ papers and everything else that’s unimportant.   

Five:forty-five, maybe 5:10, if I slept in, every morning for a year that spanned my 15th and 16th years, I’d peddle my Schwinn the two blocks to where the stack of Detroit Free Press newspapers waited for me. Mr. Kuthy, eight blocks over on Warwick, demanded that he find his copy in his milk-shoot no later than 5:30 every morning. But before I could manage that, I had to fold — rubber bands just were not used back then — the 60 or so that composed the fodder for my route, then stuff the weighty mass in the canvas bag that was slung across the handlebars.

     One of the few reasons, I suppose, that I subscribe to the paper, now via the Internet.

     With everything that is happening in and to what used to legitimately be called the Motor City, the Depression Era state of the entire State’s economy, the lurid national tales of fiscal mal – and misfeasance, the tragedy that — except for the media’s failing to fulfill its core mission (reporting) and report on it — never seems to abate in Iraq, a bouncing, freewheeling, out-of-control stock market, and so many other countless matters that would seem to demand the public’s attention, this morning I thought I’d check on what’s finding an audience in and around Detroit.

     What I found completely answers why the Great Lake State is in the condition it’s in. I kid you not, in 100% copied fidelity (Even the horrible grammar is included “as is”) and in descending order, the following 10 stories composed what Michiganders were most worked up about this morning:

  1. “Why the Lions blew it taking Calvin Johnson”;
  2. “NFL Draft watch list: Possible Lions target RB dropping”;
  3. “Red alert at Michigan without Terrelle Pryor”;
  4. “Six inches on the ground, and more’s on the way”;
  5. “Contempt threats loom for law chief, official”;
  6. “Suspect in Troy couple’s deaths had lost their trust”;
  7. “Wolverines’ spring scrimmage location in question; Rodriguez: ‘We don’t have enough guys’ for a real game”;
  8. “U-M coach Rodriguez: On Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State trying to scout his offense and more”;
  9. “City council gains in effort to obtain secret documents”;
  10. “Leyland: ‘We don’t look like we’re ready’”.
 

     Now, maybe the Detroit area rather mirrors a similar national level relative to the lack of interest in anything whatsoever that should be at least a little consequent to anyone with an intellect that hasn’t been impaired genetically, by accident, or disease. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe Detroit is an anomaly. I don’t know.

     The difference I insist is that, while I do not know whether Detroit is typical, I damned sure do care.    

     (Oh, by the way, for those in the Detroit area, an anomaly is a deviation from the statistical norm or rule. Given the fact of all those that the evidence demonstrates are giddily ill-informed, I didn’t think it prudent to assume they are anymore informed concerning what certain words mean.)

 — Ed Tubbs

 

An "Old Army Vet" and liberal, qua liberal, with a passion for open inquiry in a neverending quest for truth unpoisoned by religious superstitions. Per Voltaire: "He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity."

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I am a 47-year-old lifelong Republican with strong libertarian (small 'l') leanings. I have felt the party has left me over the last 8 years, as more money and big-government interest took over the leadership.
xtrabigggI am a 47-year-old lifelong Republican with strong libertarian (small 'l') leanings. I have felt the party has left me over the last 8 years, as more money and big-government interest took over the leadership.

D-Troit

As a lifelong Detroit and Detroit-area resident. I am sure you are going to get some of the knee-jerk reactionary criticism for " 'dissing' the D " in a national outlet. Unfortunately, what you say is all-too true. I only subscribe to the morning dailies for the sports news, and what few columnists are left that make any sense. For real news, I utilize the internet, subscribe to a rather good local paper, and often times read outstate and foreign sources on the internet for local news! The local TV Stations (as everywhere in America, unfortunately), seem more to want to tittilate, scare and sensationalize than inform.

 Unfortunately the once-proud local Detroit newspapers rarely do in-depth investigations of real problems and issues, as their national corporate overlords run in fear and panic from anything that will scare away advertiser dollars or offend shareholders. What we get usually are 'safe' but sensational reporting that rarely (if ever) tackles core issues affecting average citizens lives.

 As is evident in so many major media outlets, our morning friendlies can't even get the facts straight on the front pages many times, as they apparently rely on rip-and-reprint AP and Reuters wire stories, or just regurgitate verbatim government and corporate press releases. While trying to put up a front of an adversarial relationship with both government and the corporations that own the state government, they often times fall into the trap of fawning over politicos and execs in order to maintain 'access' to news sources. This relegates much of what is written to the realm of quasi-press release territory. Furthermore, anything deemed 'controversial' is either ignored or ridiculed as 'fringe' or 'nut-job' territory.

 

Never are the lobbyists who own our legislature EVER mentioned, let alone confronted. Our Michigan Education Association bleeds the taxpayers dry with no-bid contracts, funding that exceeds all resulting quality of education and just plain arrogance in the face of competition from charter schools and academies. The Insurance companies own so many legislators that they even got a law passed exempting them from lawsuits for negligence! And the road construction companies consistently see ever-increasing budgets for inferior quality work that is often needing repair one or two years after initial construction (with a hefty road-repair contract tacked on as well!).

 The state of reportage in Michigan is unfortunately reflective of the 'infotainment' trend across America. As the ancient Romans found, as long as you provide 'Bread and Circuses' for the masses, you can strip the citizens of their republic and their rights, and they will be too ignorant to know what is happening until it is too late.

 

xtrabigg

+++++++++++++++

by xtrabiggg (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 28 comments) on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 5:51:35 PM
 


An "Old Army Vet" and liberal, qua liberal, with a passion for open inquiry in a neverending quest for truth unpoisoned by religious superstitions. Per Voltaire: "He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity."
Ed TubbsAn "Old Army Vet" and liberal, qua liberal, with a passion for open inquiry in a neverending quest for truth unpoisoned by religious superstitions. Per Voltaire: "He who can lead you to believe an absurdity can lead you to commit an atrocity."

Generally I don't respond to anonymous, but you said

I absolutely loved your "'Bread and Circuses" analogy for what Americans have been too long settling for, and happily being given by erstwhile, otherwise known as "news" providers.

As a resident of San Jose (located at the south end of SF Bay), I often wondered why in the hell anyone outside the immediate family and those who lived in the community could possibly give one damn about a murder of a pregnant woman whose body was found in the Emeryville/East Bay mud flats.  But throughout the US, folks couldn't seem to get enough titillation concerning Scott & Lacey Peterson, something that didn't concern them at all. Folks whose world was on the threshhold of disintegration were tuning in to . . . pure "Bread & Circus" faire.

That's when I concluded that the United States, by and large, is composed of subhuman morons who truly do enjoy being precisely that.  No challenges. No responsibilities. Just tune into the the latest Scott & Lacey show.

And what such g*dd****d subspecimen dolts gave us was George Bush and the neocons War in Iraq, a national debt our grandkids' grandkids will be struggling with.

But "Bread &^ Circus" is great! Mind if I use it later, in other tirades?

Ed

by Ed Tubbs (115 articles, 1 quicklinks, 20 diaries, 38 comments) on Monday, March 24, 2008 at 6:10:45 PM
 

 

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