View Single Post
Old 09-08-2009, 10:35 AM   #138 (permalink)
mixedmedia
has all her shots.
 
mixedmedia's Avatar
 
Location: Florida
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cimarron29414 View Post
I'm arguing that the WH holds all the cards in the initial presentation of their message, if they'd spend a little more time thinking it through - this wouldn't have happened. The initial reaction from the parents was information gathering and when faced with a lack thereof (subject matter and text of speech), they opted out. This reaction by some eventually became the media firestorm, willingly fueled by 24 hr news to bruise the administration. If the information had been made available at the same time as the announcement, the parents would have gone, "Oh! Okay, that makes sense." and it would have been over.

If the WH press dept. is too obtuse to recognize that any lapse in message is going to be feasted upon, then they are just that - obtuse. They have no one to blame but themselves.
I'm trying to wrap my head around this and follow your line of reasoning - that which would lead a sane person to the kind of lunacy that we have witnessed over the airing of this speech and, I'm sorry, it just ain't happening.

I imagine myself, 4 years ago, say right after GWB's re-election when I was feeling pretty ornery and still 'licking my wounds,' so to speak, from the disappointment of the election.

I imagine that I received word that a speech would be aired by the president on the first day of school. Do I suppose that speech is about the rightness of the war? About the benefits of prayer in schools? About the moral implications of pre-marital sex? No, that would be insane. Of course I would assume that he is talking about SCHOOL. What the hell else would he be talking about?

Now the issue of the 'homework.'
If in coordination with this mystery speech which I would assume was about...SCHOOL...there was a request for the children to write an essay saying what they can do to 'help the president' I would, naturally, since I am assuming that the president is talking about SCHOOL, believe that they are to write something about improving their grades or tutoring other kids or helping their teachers by being better behaved, whatever. Of course, in my head, I would be thinking what I would like to do to help the president, but you know, that's just me.

I don't buy the argument that the way the information was released is the reason for the insanity. The only way to buy it, is to assume that what we are dealing with is a totally delusional epidemic of mass paranoia. It can't be explained by: they released the information in the wrong order. The entire premise of the reaction was irrational.
__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
mixedmedia is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360