The American Spirit Alive and Well
Kirt's Cogitations™ #209

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The American Spirit Alive and Well

How quickly we forget. Barely three months ago, the U.S. Gulf Coast was ravaged by multiple hurricanes that wreaked immense damage on our citizens homes and neighborhoods, as well as on many businesses. Those folks are still trying to put their communities and lives back together, and thanks to the generosity of the American people, and of some other nations' residents, we get news of the great progress that is being made. An earlier Factoid addressed the event, but now that some time has passed, it is time to look back and assess the doom and gloom predictions that gushed endlessly from the all-knowing reporters and television talk show hosts and guests.

Even before the storms hit, we were informed with utter certainty that if the damage was as bad as predicted, America and the therefore the world would be thrust unavoidably into a major recession, and that inflation due to the cost of getting goods to market caused by higher fuel costs would usher in a wave of business men (and maybe women this time around) jumping from building windows and bridges not seen since the Great Depression of 1929. $100 per barrel oil would be upon us by year's end, and nothing – not even tapping the national oil reserves – could be done to stop it. Finally, all those stored up and never used Y2K supplies would be justified; just don't let you neighbors know you have them.

Predictably, greedy people exploited the gullibility of the sheeple that mindlessly followed the lead of the entirely trustworthy (cough) newspaper, magazine and television reporters and guests. Local gas stations, just as they did the day after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, immediately increased the price of gasoline and diesel even though the supplies in their underground tanks had been purchase days or weeks earlier. Then they continued to abuse us for weeks afterward, even after the national oil reserves were opened and the inane practice of brewing 30 different types of gasoline was condensed into about a dozen (freeing up refinery capacity). It literally took an act of Congress to shame oil companies into backing off, and on international dealings with the terrorist-supporting OPEC nations to reduce the price of crude oil.

In spite of all the nay-saying and the Chicken Littles running around telling us that the sky is falling, once again the American people demonstrated their collective will and pulled through the disasters in a remarkable manner. In spite of all the outright lying by reporters about racial factors preventing rescue efforts from being carried out and finger pointing by politicians trying to lay blame for not being abundantly prepared, the people of the country have rolled up their sleeves and are getting the job done. Even though the media have done their very best to talk us into a financial malaise and civil discontent, reports out on consumer confidence, employment, housing and many other key indicators continue to be positive.

For some reason, the media in this country has a vested interest in seeing to it that we suffer unthinkable misery just to prove that the president is no good. Make no mistake about it – that is their motivation. It boggles the mind how a group of people whose own livelihoods and freedoms are dependent upon the economy doing well would willingly work to undermine the good of their own countrymen both at home and on foreign soil. So, the next time you are watching or listening to your favorite news reporter or reporterette broadcast his or her version of the news, keep in mind just how utterly wrong he or she was about the hurricane aftermath and for that matter about an awful lot of other issues over the years. Those people do not report the news, they insert their personal agendas in a manner that seeks to persuade viewers or listeners to conform to their own worldviews. Remember that according to the majority of them, by now you should be sitting in your house with the blinds closed, protecting your store of food and fending off looters, and paying more than $5 per gallon for gasoline. I just filled up my Tracer's gas tank for $1.95 per gallon.

My suggestion for a cure is to have every news purveyor publicly publish a full disclosure statement listing his or her political affiliation, how he or she votes in national elections, and memberships with or participation in any politically-oriented group. Doing so will allow everyone who takes the trouble to investigate the newscaster's background to judge how much of what is being said is unbiased reporting. It is impossible for these reporters of events to check their own personal biases at the door when formulating their presentations. Some truth in advertising is in order.