Sunday, May 31, 2009

Television: NBC and TLC

Watched an interview with Brian Williams the other day and he said that when he thinks about the Iraq War he gets a picture in his mind of prisoners with bags over their heads and then their treatment at Gitmo.

When I think of prisoners I get this picture in my mind of beheadings of prisoners for the camera and of Daniel Pearl in particular. And I don't get concerned about prisoners with bags over their heads because my initial thought is that they prefer to wear masks anyway. My mind always reverts to the dead Americans being dragged through the streets of Somalia and I wonder why he says "we need to get our arms around this." Around what? We know what happened and we know how many people suffered at Hussein's hands. Agree or disagree, we know humdreds of thousands more would be dead had we not stopped him.

It was an after thought for Palmer when he mentioned that his thoughts turn to the missing towers when he looks in that direction in New York and remembers that people are missing who used to be there. He calls himself a journalist when speaking of his job and I wonder how many of them are truly deserving of that title any more.

Which brings us to reality tv. Should it be capitalized? No matter. I had never heard of John and Kate and their kids until last Sunday. Got home from church and sat down with the Sunday paper, the church bulletin and paper and flipped channels for a couple of minutes and happened on a marathon of the John and Kate show. It was fun for this Grandma to watch the antics of all those little kids and appreciated the fact that Kate would need help, that John really would need a high paying job to support them and that they would have a tough time saving anything for 8 kids college educations. Doing the show really appeared to be the answer for them. And that was that.

Or so I thought. All of a sudden they were all over the news because a sister-in-law was accusing them of child abuse. My take? That lady is carrying a load of green jealousy on her shoulder. The parents have taken the route which they think is the best for their children. If it's child abuse to send a kid to school while their parents are having marital troubles and there is gossip about it, well--join the club! With more divorces than marriages and single parent families without benefit of marriage, where is the abuse? This generation, while it may not be the ideal, is certainly up to handling what are very common problems.

So get over it, people. If you want to gossip, find another topic. This is a problem for God--we have no control and neither do we have influence on anyone in a position of decision making.

God bless...........

ps-Somehow I said Brian "Palmer" rather than "Williams" when I first posted this item. Sorry.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

At least you were able to go home after church. Please read this and let us know what you think about it. I think the most interesting quote, especially coming from the Christian Science Monitor, is:

"It's not unusual at all that someone who is anti-abortion might be involved with one of these other kinds of extremist movements," Pitcavage says.

Here is that article, cut down a bit, the link is below for the full story:

from the June 01, 2009 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0602/p02s01-usgn.html

Concerns mount that suspect in abortion-doctor shooting had extremist ties

In 1996, a Kansan with the same name was arrested with bombmaking materials in his car trunk.

By Peter Grier | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON
Analysts who study American extremism are pointing to a 1996 arrest report that, they say, links the leading suspect in the murder of Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller to some of the most zealous antigovernment groups in the United States.

Law enforcement officials currently have in custody Scott Philip Roeder of Merriam, Kan., age 51. Thirteen years ago, someone named Scott Roeder, 38, was arrested in Topeka, Kan., and charged with criminal use of explosives after police found fuse cord and a pound of gunpowder in his car trunk.

He also had a homemade license plate on his car proclaiming he was immune from Kansas law – a type of tag that's been associated with the Freemen organization, which rejects the authority of the US government. Freemen in Montana were involved in an 81-day standoff with US marshals in 1996 after they tried to set up their own system of government.

Police investigating the Tiller shooting have not said they are investigating any links between Mr. Roeder and right-wing extremism. But Mark Pitcavage, director of investigative research for the Anti-Defamation League, says these two Roeders are almost certainly the same person.

"It's not unusual at all that someone who is anti-abortion might be involved with one of these other kinds of extremist movements," Pitcavage says.

They are facing a situation in which for the first time a majority of US residents consider themselves "pro-choice," according to polls. At the same time, the extremists believe that their leadership has become tame.

By carrying out the attack in church, the gunman was likely trying to send a message, he adds.

"These individuals believe that they are in a war for existence, and that they answer to a higher authority," he says.