Why the double standard?
Football is a graphic war game and one of America”s most popular sports. The ultimate goal of every man on the field is to simply destroy his opponent. From the second the ball is snapped, each player has his assignment and regardless of his position, it is to lay his counterpart flat on his back, or to “pancake” him. The ultimate is of course to knock your opponent out of the game. I must admit to still relishing the memory of Ronnie Lott, not only because he was fast and played smart, nearly always being in the right spot, but mostly because when he got to that spot he delivered a blow that rattled his man down deep in his bones.
Decades ago the decision was made that when a deranged fan jumped out onto the field, either dressed or undressed, the cameras would not reward this bad behavior by televising it. Instead, another shot would be shown, maybe of the players or coaches looking on with disgust as security corralled and escorted the usually drunken fan off the field to the cheers of all else. Bear in mind that this level of decorum is exhibited during one of the most violent sports we watch.
You might ask where I”m going with this. Well, for the past couple of months we have had the spectacle of hatriots showing up at town halls and at every other opportunity, carrying graphic photos of our president in disgraceful depictions, most of which are completely disconnected from reality. Others have now taken to showing up wearing pistols and carrying automatic weapons, calling for nothing less than the assassination of our president proudly and openly.
How has the media responded? By rewarding their bad behavior with massive airtime, of course, disproportionate to their numbers and ignoring any semblance of fairness or facts that might bear their hatred out. Do the media outlets bother to mine down to the facts, asking these people for specific instances that might back up their demonstrations of seething hatred? They don”t even attempt to focus on the issues, instead they simply provide a worldwide bullhorn for the hatriots. The next time you hear the tired old saw about the “liberal media bias” please bear this in mind. Every major news outlet, from cable to broadcast TV, most newspapers and radio stations are owned and operated by huge corporations. Many of these are owned by Rupert Murdoch, who is anything but fair and balanced in his political viewpoints.
No longer is there a debate about the issues taking place, but instead we get the spectacle of a nearly rabid outpouring of hatred. Maybe it”s simply human nature. Combat between humans has gone on from the earliest times. First between family groups or tribes with sticks and rocks, then between city states or nations, on to the Roman Coliseum where spectators enjoyed watching lions devour Christians as the closing act, graduating to using ever more destructive weapons. Today, the single biggest industry, especially here in the United States, is producing weapons designed solely for the purpose of killing other humans. We not only produce more military hardware than any other nation, we produce more than the next 10 countries combined! We are the only animal that hunts itself. We often go to war with countries that have never attacked us first.
Will we ever be able to grow beyond our most base instincts to adopt the kindness and caring for even the most unfortunate that Christ is said to have lived and died for? Will my granddaughter grow up in a world at peace? I hope so, but with each baseless snarling hatriot episode being given unlimited airtime and celebrity, it becomes more doubtful.
Lowell Grant is a Lake County realtor.
