Headline: Schiavo zealots living in scary black/white world
Far too many prominent radical conservative commentators, activists, and politicians are living in "Sin City" -- the thriller arriving on screens Friday.
The film stars Bruce Willis and a dozen other popular actors and features a unique, high-contrast black and white photography.
This stark worldview of absolutes has been displayed in the Terri Schiavo controversy. Numerous commentators suggested that those who believe that the judgments of nineteen judges in seven courts should be enforced, "want Schiavo to die."
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said on March 24, "But do they [liberals] hate George Bush so much that they are cheering for Terri's death only because the president of the United States and his brother are fighting for Terri's life?"
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly said March 24 on his radio program, "I don't know why some of these left-wing columnists want her to die. Nobody can explain that to me."
Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan is almost offensive in her ignorance as she speculates about the "pull-the-tube people," saying "They seem to have fallen half in love with death." She then poses question after question trying to understand people she appears to have made no effort to contact. Of course she ends with Holocaust references -- always a disgusting, pathetic rhetorical tactic.
Noonan, I've got a real crazy idea for you and everybody else who "can't understand." I know this is strange and maybe a tad un-American, but why don't you try sitting down with someone with different views, maybe over coffee and a bagel, and talking?
That's the textbook definition of swimming in broken glass. Buy the ticket, take the ride: smash the glass and swim in the pain of new ideas.
Instead of writing a column of ignorance, go out and learn something from your fellow human beings. It's more fulfilling than scribbling perverse caricatures of imaginary, soulless, liberal hypocrites.
But in the simplified black and white world, that makes no sense whatsoever: "We want her to live, therefore they must want her to die. They are not different, they're wrong. We're doing God's work! God gave us this opportunity!"
That's what many of these "culture warriors" believe. Randall Terry, the representative of Schiavo's parents said, according to the Fort Wayne News Sentinel as reported on August 16, 1993, "Our goal is a Christian nation. ... We have a biblical duty, we are called by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism. ... Theocracy means God rules." He also equated a vote for Bill Clinton with a sin.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, according to CBS, said, "One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to help elevate the visibility of what's going on in America."
Forget reasoned debate and mutual respect -- antiques in this age of poisonous, pornographic punditry. Coffee and bagel chat isn't in their diet.
Why give the devil's representatives a moment of your time? That's who we liberals are. I confess. We just shave down our horns like Hellboy.
But take comfort: most Americans don't live in the shadows of "Sin City." With, according to CBS, 74 percent of people seeing congress' actions in the Schiavo case as purely political, it's safe to say that most citizens live in a vibrant Technicolor of complexity instead of a nightmarish, "you're in love with death" culture war.
Write to David at
swimminginbrokenglass@gmail.com
Vitsit
http://www.bsu.edu/web/dmswindle
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
