Curtis Dahlgren
PR or BS? (I want a second opinion)
By Curtis Dahlgren
"Sleeping Pill Competition May Spur Ad War" — AP headline
YOU KNOW IT'S BEEN A ROUGH MONTH WHEN the chemical companies launch a blitzkrieg on insomnia. One could write a weekly column simply by recapping each week's headlines, but sometimes it's hard to do that and focus on one main point. This week, however, the headlines gave me my main point. Here's a sample:
IN DOMESTIC NEWS THIS WEEK, here were some of the headlines (paraphrased):
Another headline this week was "Total solar eclipse sweeps poorest swath of the globe" (the MSM can't write about anything without weaving social commentary into it). My original title for this column was going to be "Read My ecLIPSe: a Time of Great Division"; 2006 and 2008 will both be years of total eclipses of the sun — and -election years in the U.S.! Sounds like Twilight Zone stuff! Will the Truth be blotted out like the sun? Will Big Brother take control of Internet speech? Will the UN take control of Big Brother? And/or, "IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE OUT THERE?"
Oh I forgot another headline this week: "President appoints new chief-of-staff." The Washington Post spun that story by asserting that Helen Thomas, et al, had finally been "heard." Of course, in actuality, it was his own supporters, some of whom had been wondering out loud if the inner White House thinking had become too incestuous, that we "heard," and probably resulted in this change. There's a lesson here:
"Division" (i.e., dissent) is a word like weather or competition; it can be either good or bad, depending on the circumstances. [If you can't get such a simple concept, read that sentence again!]
John Adams said of Patrick Henry, "No other man seemed to be so aware of the precipice, or rather, the pinnacle, on which he stood." In 1857, no other man seemed to be so aware of the precipice on which we stood than Abraham Lincoln. But in 2006, America can't even figure out whether we stand on a pinnacle or a precipice!
BTW, I SUGGEST THAT THE NEW WHITE HOUSE CHIEF-OF-STAFF READ THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT AMERICAN WHIG PARTY TO DETERMINE WHERE THEY WENT WRONG.
Here are some of the "great divisions" in the USA today (some of these divisions are good and some bad):
I'm not talking a man-made Utopia here, but that brings us back to the debate between optimism and pessimism.
A reviewer of my book wrote, "Curtis Dahlgren makes you aware of the fact that if you bury your head in the sand, there's a good chance you might lose it!" This is one of those great paradoxes.
We lost a whole generation or two to the "political correctness" in which dissent from the one and only "appropriate" thoughts and words were not TOLERATED. Under this "paradigm," the will of the people actually becomes the enemy of "democracy." Black becomes white, color becomes plaid, and cold becomes hot. Thus a couple of generations "lost their heads" figuratively if not literally.
Robert Bork, in his book "Slouching Towards Gomorrah," said: "For years I adopted, without bothering to think, the attitude among secular, affluent, university-educated people who took the propriety of abortion for granted, even when it was illegal. The practice's illegality, like that of drinking alcohol during Prohibition, was thought to reflect unenlightened prejudice or religious conviction, the two being regarded as much the same." [cited in Whistleblower magazine, February 2006, www.wnd.com ]
The secular plutocrats did not deploy reason against their "redneck" counterparts, but intimidation and professional PR spin — in other words — propaganda and raw power. As David Kupelian writes [ibid], "[Bernard Nathanson (a co-founder of NARAL) said], 'We persuaded the media that the cause of permissive abortion was a liberal, enlightened, sophisticated one . . . Knowing that if a true poll were taken, we would be soundly defeated, we simply fabricated the results of fictional polls. We announced to the media that we had taken polls and that 60 percent of Americans were in favor of permissive abortion. This is the tactic of the self-fulfilling lie. FEW PEOPLE CARE TO BE IN THE MINORITY.'" [my emphasis]
Today's "divisions," paradoxically, do not come from "redneck hatred" but from a reviving desire GET A SECOND OPINION on many issues on which we had been burying our heads in the "sand." As just one example, Roe v. Wade (someone said) was based on "flat-earth science" compared to today's medical technology..
The little magazine Does God Exist is published by John Clayton, who spent his entire working career as a science teacher, and in the Sept/Oct 05 issue, he says that "science is being held hostage by the media, grants, politics, and humanist organizations . . . [stem cell research] became a political football . . . All of this emotionalism and political manipulation was far removed from the real scientific evidence . . . The fact is, however, that embryonic stem cells and what they are claimed to be leading to, as far as cures are concerned, are a false hope and bad science." www.doesgodexist.com
Facts don't matter none when you "follow the money." [my editorial]
Three of the most titanic of evils in the history of the USA have been slavery, abortion, and the decades of neglect of our southern border. Slavery was essentially targeted for extinction when the American populace witnessed federal marshalls returning runaway slaves to the South in shackles.
People are finally talking about illegal aliens because we actually see them in the news, on the street corners, and in our prisons. Abortion and "stem cell donors" — unfortunately — never achieved much public visibility. BUT THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE WHO SEES.
More to come.
Yes, as usual, "Follow the money!"
© Curtis Dahlgren
"Sleeping Pill Competition May Spur Ad War" — AP headline
YOU KNOW IT'S BEEN A ROUGH MONTH WHEN the chemical companies launch a blitzkrieg on insomnia. One could write a weekly column simply by recapping each week's headlines, but sometimes it's hard to do that and focus on one main point. This week, however, the headlines gave me my main point. Here's a sample:
- Iran Gets 30 Days to Clear Nuke Suspicions (AP)
- Poll: Americans See, Hear More Profanity (AP)
- Abbas Swears in Hamas Cabinet
IN DOMESTIC NEWS THIS WEEK, here were some of the headlines (paraphrased):
- 500,000 March in L.A. (Spontaneously!)
- Dozens of high schoolers march on Cesar Chavez Day (weather so nice they made it a 5-day -weekend!)
- Congress Confused (but I repeat myself!)
- Israeli election held (low turnout!)
- CNN Havana correspondent recruited by Al Jazeera (old news!)
- "Million Man March" in Iraq (but you never saw that one, did you?)
Another headline this week was "Total solar eclipse sweeps poorest swath of the globe" (the MSM can't write about anything without weaving social commentary into it). My original title for this column was going to be "Read My ecLIPSe: a Time of Great Division"; 2006 and 2008 will both be years of total eclipses of the sun — and -election years in the U.S.! Sounds like Twilight Zone stuff! Will the Truth be blotted out like the sun? Will Big Brother take control of Internet speech? Will the UN take control of Big Brother? And/or, "IS THERE ANYBODY ELSE OUT THERE?"
Oh I forgot another headline this week: "President appoints new chief-of-staff." The Washington Post spun that story by asserting that Helen Thomas, et al, had finally been "heard." Of course, in actuality, it was his own supporters, some of whom had been wondering out loud if the inner White House thinking had become too incestuous, that we "heard," and probably resulted in this change. There's a lesson here:
"Division" (i.e., dissent) is a word like weather or competition; it can be either good or bad, depending on the circumstances. [If you can't get such a simple concept, read that sentence again!]
John Adams said of Patrick Henry, "No other man seemed to be so aware of the precipice, or rather, the pinnacle, on which he stood." In 1857, no other man seemed to be so aware of the precipice on which we stood than Abraham Lincoln. But in 2006, America can't even figure out whether we stand on a pinnacle or a precipice!
BTW, I SUGGEST THAT THE NEW WHITE HOUSE CHIEF-OF-STAFF READ THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT AMERICAN WHIG PARTY TO DETERMINE WHERE THEY WENT WRONG.
Here are some of the "great divisions" in the USA today (some of these divisions are good and some bad):
- Conservatives are divided between optimists and pessimists.
- Democrats are divided between social conservatives and strictly class-envy demagogues.
- Women are divided between radical militants and the more "traditional."
- Homosexuals, ditto.
- The unions are divided between the old status quo and newer "paradigms."
- Hispanics — some for unlimited illegal "immigration"and some for more reasonable policies.
- Churches are divided between those who preach the Word and those who, frankly, don't (I surmise that those who turn themselves into an "underground railroad" for illegals will not only split, but split from the scene).
- Even business is breaking down into more "generic," less monopolistic entities.
I'm not talking a man-made Utopia here, but that brings us back to the debate between optimism and pessimism.
A reviewer of my book wrote, "Curtis Dahlgren makes you aware of the fact that if you bury your head in the sand, there's a good chance you might lose it!" This is one of those great paradoxes.
We lost a whole generation or two to the "political correctness" in which dissent from the one and only "appropriate" thoughts and words were not TOLERATED. Under this "paradigm," the will of the people actually becomes the enemy of "democracy." Black becomes white, color becomes plaid, and cold becomes hot. Thus a couple of generations "lost their heads" figuratively if not literally.
Robert Bork, in his book "Slouching Towards Gomorrah," said: "For years I adopted, without bothering to think, the attitude among secular, affluent, university-educated people who took the propriety of abortion for granted, even when it was illegal. The practice's illegality, like that of drinking alcohol during Prohibition, was thought to reflect unenlightened prejudice or religious conviction, the two being regarded as much the same." [cited in Whistleblower magazine, February 2006, www.wnd.com ]
The secular plutocrats did not deploy reason against their "redneck" counterparts, but intimidation and professional PR spin — in other words — propaganda and raw power. As David Kupelian writes [ibid], "[Bernard Nathanson (a co-founder of NARAL) said], 'We persuaded the media that the cause of permissive abortion was a liberal, enlightened, sophisticated one . . . Knowing that if a true poll were taken, we would be soundly defeated, we simply fabricated the results of fictional polls. We announced to the media that we had taken polls and that 60 percent of Americans were in favor of permissive abortion. This is the tactic of the self-fulfilling lie. FEW PEOPLE CARE TO BE IN THE MINORITY.'" [my emphasis]
Today's "divisions," paradoxically, do not come from "redneck hatred" but from a reviving desire GET A SECOND OPINION on many issues on which we had been burying our heads in the "sand." As just one example, Roe v. Wade (someone said) was based on "flat-earth science" compared to today's medical technology..
The little magazine Does God Exist is published by John Clayton, who spent his entire working career as a science teacher, and in the Sept/Oct 05 issue, he says that "science is being held hostage by the media, grants, politics, and humanist organizations . . . [stem cell research] became a political football . . . All of this emotionalism and political manipulation was far removed from the real scientific evidence . . . The fact is, however, that embryonic stem cells and what they are claimed to be leading to, as far as cures are concerned, are a false hope and bad science." www.doesgodexist.com
Facts don't matter none when you "follow the money." [my editorial]
Three of the most titanic of evils in the history of the USA have been slavery, abortion, and the decades of neglect of our southern border. Slavery was essentially targeted for extinction when the American populace witnessed federal marshalls returning runaway slaves to the South in shackles.
People are finally talking about illegal aliens because we actually see them in the news, on the street corners, and in our prisons. Abortion and "stem cell donors" — unfortunately — never achieved much public visibility. BUT THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE OUT THERE WHO SEES.
More to come.
Yes, as usual, "Follow the money!"
© Curtis Dahlgren
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(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
