Response to "Rosie O'Donnell..." criticism
The idea that you all understood my comment as a support for the war in Iraq and the policies of the Bush administration just goes to show a kind of naive politicization of what constitutes the "truth".
First, the only reason why Rosie O'Donnell was able to say what she did, most likely without consequence, is because Americans want to see more Bush-bashing. The big networks are giving people what they want, not what they need. If they truly wanted to show quality information they would have had good people arguing good policies on how to move forward by way of good, acceptable ideas. They chose, however, to show a loudmouth comic to spout her opinion which does more to feed the flame of partisan hatred in the US.
Second, I am aware of "alternative publics" and believe very much that outside media oganizations have proven themselves able to inform willing citizens to understand what is truly happening in the world. My problem, however, is with all the commentors on this page praising O'Donnell as if she is giving Americans a gospel to which they can base their perceptions of the war in Iraq on. Her proclamation may have been correct (albeit I agree with some of it), but the way in which she said it adds nothing to the discussion of how furture policies should be drafted. It only consisted of "I can't believe this happened", "don't you all hate the President", "he is such a redneck", "If I were running things, the world would be so much safer"! Are you honestly telling me that this is what the world needs right now?
Third, the last comment by pnm_blogger shows a perfect example of "elitist high culture". Essentially what you did was say that the blond girl was stupid, probably becase she is an actress and has no "proper" education, that she is naive and that you are smarter becuase you are in a politics course. Promoting yourself as a quasi-accademic simply because you may know a little more political trivia and talking points is not a good idea. YOU'RE AN UNDERGRAD AT UNIVERSITY!
Maybe all the commentors on "Rosie O'Donnell is about 90% Right in this Clip" should stop crying "witch" at all those who disagree with them. My purpose was to show that it is sad that 'The View' is a major source of news and opinions for a lot of people.There are so many more possible sources one could use to attack Bush's policies, but too often we just focus on the "sound bite" attacks that merely illegitimize our arguments. By attacking my percieved "narrow views", however, you have shown only your own ignorance.
First, the only reason why Rosie O'Donnell was able to say what she did, most likely without consequence, is because Americans want to see more Bush-bashing. The big networks are giving people what they want, not what they need. If they truly wanted to show quality information they would have had good people arguing good policies on how to move forward by way of good, acceptable ideas. They chose, however, to show a loudmouth comic to spout her opinion which does more to feed the flame of partisan hatred in the US.
Second, I am aware of "alternative publics" and believe very much that outside media oganizations have proven themselves able to inform willing citizens to understand what is truly happening in the world. My problem, however, is with all the commentors on this page praising O'Donnell as if she is giving Americans a gospel to which they can base their perceptions of the war in Iraq on. Her proclamation may have been correct (albeit I agree with some of it), but the way in which she said it adds nothing to the discussion of how furture policies should be drafted. It only consisted of "I can't believe this happened", "don't you all hate the President", "he is such a redneck", "If I were running things, the world would be so much safer"! Are you honestly telling me that this is what the world needs right now?
Third, the last comment by pnm_blogger shows a perfect example of "elitist high culture". Essentially what you did was say that the blond girl was stupid, probably becase she is an actress and has no "proper" education, that she is naive and that you are smarter becuase you are in a politics course. Promoting yourself as a quasi-accademic simply because you may know a little more political trivia and talking points is not a good idea. YOU'RE AN UNDERGRAD AT UNIVERSITY!
Maybe all the commentors on "Rosie O'Donnell is about 90% Right in this Clip" should stop crying "witch" at all those who disagree with them. My purpose was to show that it is sad that 'The View' is a major source of news and opinions for a lot of people.There are so many more possible sources one could use to attack Bush's policies, but too often we just focus on the "sound bite" attacks that merely illegitimize our arguments. By attacking my percieved "narrow views", however, you have shown only your own ignorance.
posted by abc123 at 9:53 PM
3 Comments:
The problem with your entire argument is that to begin with no one was suggesting that the view was a legitimate news source! The poster didn't say that this isa great news source and we should all watch it like gospel, they were simply saying that it was nice to hear someone in the mainstream media (aka ABC/Disney possibly the largest media firm in the US) say something real for once. You are right that this is part of the trendy "bush-bashing" that is happeneing right now, but to have someone who is a position of power as Rosie is (whether or not shes a comedian) say something REAL brings everyone together. I think it makes people feel good because it at least symbolically represents a ground up approach to politics, a crack in the dominant ideologies. No one suggested that this was THE source of news or that anyone thinks that. Who in our discussion claimed to be getting their total information about the war from the view?
I never suggested that those in the discussion were getting all of their information from Rosie O'Donnell. What I am saying is that what she said in the clip doesn't add to the discussion, it only distracts from what needs to be discussed. So praising her for her "wise" words promotes this kind of behaviour to continue.
When I made the comment on the post that it was "sad" that I had to mention that 'The View" is not a reliable news source, I was simply trying to say that we should be having a more indepth discussion than just citing that particular clip. Sure it can prove as a good segway for discussion, but it shouldn't be the whole discussion.
I was not necessarily disagreeing with the comments that were made, but it was automatically assumed that I was. As a result, I am now apparently a member of the 'elite high culture'... whatever.
Following the two threads on this blog, I would have to come to the conclusion that abc123 is correct in his/her assertion. It is irrelevant whether the View itself is a credible news source, rather the credibility of Rosie O'Donnell. She is a loudmouth simpleton who believes she knows everything, but doesn't. By praising her, you're actually encouraging such partisan theatrics to continue on tv. She doesn't contribute anything to the discussion. She just yells out a slew of the usual talking points.
The difference is that while people harp on Bill O'Reilly for his partisan tomfoolery on his show, she doesn't get much flak because she's a "liberal". We have to be objective here. Mind you, Rosie O'Donnell is not a competant person. She's loud, obnoxious, hypersensitive towards her sexual orientation, have publicly slandered blacks and Asians and refused to apologize, and gets into ignorant shouting matches with Donald Trump.
In short, we shouldn't use this one clip as a means to validate a particular side of an argument, because really, it doesn't do anything. Also, her being a celebrity debating one side of an argument is as credible as Tom Cruise and his crusade against psychiatry. When people here are arguing that it's "nice" to have someone in a supposed position of credibility say the "truth", I cringe, since I know and so should you guys, that she has none.
That's what I think anyways.
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