by Matthew Williams on Monday, December 20, 2010 at 7:37pm
For many years I have listened to talk show hosts and right wing pundits clamoring that the government is out to control the media; that we may already be on the road to a state controlled media. I have been an ardent proponent for a free press all my life; believing (as the founding fathers did) that a free press is paramount in a free society. The thought that the media would be controlled, and we would only hear one point of view, made me more than a little freighted for our country (or my country if you are reading this and are not from the USA).
As it is with so many things in my life, age has brought me a different perspective on things. Case in point; at one point in my life I had the profound assertion that girls were...icky. Whether or not girls are icky has yet to be decided on a scientific level, using approved standards of measurement and the appropriate scientific method, I have formulated my own theory...that girls are not icky.
In fact I believe that girls are the exact opposite of icky and in fact can be as seductive as the most delicious, decadent dessert and and as addictive as any number of opiates. I also once believed that yellow snow was from close contact with lemonade. Life has a way of changing your opinion; either through delightful discoveries or bitter experiences that leave a bad taste in your mouth.
One of my other discoveries was that the trusted, fatherly figures on the television did not always tell me the truth. At one point, I thought that these personifications of the yellow snow had my best interests at heart and were the defenders of my country; not just shills for some political ideology. To all my detractors out there this is proof positive that I have been and can be mistaken.
Now that I have reached a certain age of maturation; I find the exact opposite is the case. The so called defenders of the media have a solution; fight fire with fire. Slant the news in the other direction. I have a third option. Let the government take over. Let the state take over the papers, radio, TV and internet. What is the worst that could happen? We get lied to on a daily basses and only hear one point of view. Kinda like what already is happening already.
At least then we might get to hear the media say something positive about the USA. In fact it would be mandatory.
