On Being Yellow

Ever since the Democrats took control of both the White House and our national legislative branch, then proceeded to run healthcare reform right back up the national flagpole, the rhetoric coming from inside AND outside the Beltway has been elevated to levels not seen since the Pulitzer vs. Hearst yellow journalism days of the late 19th century. I have to admit, in sort of a voyeuristic way, watching all this from a distance at times is pretty amusing, until, that is, I realize that there are boatloads of my neighbors out there who buy into all this crap.

"Yellow journalism, in short, is biased opinion masquerading as objective fact. Moreover, the practice of yellow journalism involved sensationalism, distorted stories, and misleading images for the sole purpose of boosting newspaper sales and exciting public opinion." This is an excerpt from an educational article on the Oracle Education Foundation website, ThinkQuest.org. The article goes on to explain that this type of sensationalistic journalism tended to appeal to the "shorter attention spans and interests of the lower class." (Gosh, remind you of anyone?) It also goes on to explain that following this dark period in journalistic history, generally considered to have ended around 1910, newspapers and journalism were never the same. Now there's a revelation!

Fast forward to today and we find that yellow journalism is no longer the exclusive domain of newspapers, and hasn't been for a long time. The so-called 24-hour news cycle is now driven electronically by cable television and the web. Newspapers simply aren't as relevent as they once were, just prior to the start of the 20th century when 98% of the population - that's right, 98% - got their news from newspapers. Being all things yellow also now seems to be the bastion of the right (although the left can lay claim to a few fact-benders too). My problem is not so much with all the truth-stretching and yellow shading going on on both sides. Rather, I'm disturbed by the fact that waaaaaayyyyyy too many of my fellow citizens get their information exclusively from these sources. They form their opinions based soley on what they are being told from a narrow and extremely biased perspective. People are lazy. They listen to whatever suits their own proclivities. They will not proactively seek out opposing viewpoints. They won't search for truly factual, objective information in an effort to form a more educated opinion. What's worse, when challenged, they become defensive and combative, rather than being open-minded.

The electorate, my friends, is largely ignorant. We, are largely ignorant. (Not stupid, but ignorant. If you don't know the difference, look it up.) Oh yeah, and apathetic to boot. How else can you explain voter turnout of only 64% in the 2008 presidential election - virtually unchanged from 2004. For all the hullaballoo about voter registration and electing a black president, the fact is, the percentage of registered voters who voted did not change. It was the makeup of the voters that changed: 2 million more black voters, 2 million more Hispanic voters and 600,000 more Asian voters made up the lion's share of the 5 million-voter increase from 2004. And for whom did they vote? Go on, take a wild guess.

So, all you WASPy right-wing haters out there, keep rattling your yellow sabres and spewing your yellow misinformation. It served you well in last year's elections didn't it? Until you can give your ignorant, apathetic constituents truly compelling reasons to get off the couch and turn out at the polls, the GOP will continue to be the party of exclusion, not inclusion. Oh yeah, and just to make yourselves even more appealing, why don't y'all line up alongside my obviously-doesn't-have-enough-to-do-in-Washington, fellow Floridian, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite. In unison insist that Pres. Obama must ask Congress for permission to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. That should make you a lot of friends. You Republicans, you're a funny lot. And Ginny, keep trying to be controversial, if not relevent. You fit right in with your fellow GOPers - loud, proud, grasping for straws and still completely clueless.

Ya know, when all this yellowness gets to be too much, I find myself . . .

. . . Wishing I Was Fishing.