Silly Season

My hat is off to the people who blog on a regular basis.  Damn if finding time isn't nearly impossible.  On to my second opinion ...

In the future, when historian review and analyze the events of 2012, they will likely scratch their heads because this year common sense seems to have become the world's scarcest resource.  Following the news, you're left with the feeling that the world is running more on emotion than intelligence.  Maybe it's the media.  They don't strike me as too bright.  It's as though the news is one endless projection of what journalists want it to be v. what it is.  Some stellar examples:

1. Treyvon Martin.  As a father of three, the thought of burying one of my kids is incomprehensible.  I cannot even begin to express my sympathy to his parents.  But I also cannot condemn George Zimmerman carte blanche.  Obviously, I wasn't there.  I don't know him or his motives.  I hope the truth can be discovered at his trial.  However, this is not truth.  It is what happens when journalists want to push an agenda.  I see no evidence that race relations should be impacted, influenced or even reflected by this sad event ... unless that's the narrative you want to push.
2. The rich don't pay their fair share.  The beauty of this argument is that no one defines "fair".  Here is data compiled by Citizens for Tax Justice (care of Erza Klein).  According to this chart, for all taxes paid (not just income taxes), the top 5% income earners in the US are paying about 30% of those earnings in taxes.  It equates to about 44% of the tax burden.  Is that not "fair"?  What would be "fair"?  I have yet to see that defined.  It's the equivalent of "hope and change" ... it means whatever you want it to.
3. Mitt Romney is a technological goof.  At least, that's what Andrea Mitchell wanted you to believe.   While I'm not a fan of Newsbusters per se, they nailed this.  Just watch the video.  Mitchell should have been fired.  But, apparently, these kind of falsehoods are just BAU for MSNBC.   

We should expect more from journalists.  If they can't just give us the news, thanks to the internet, we can now get it from other sources.  And that's what people are doing.  They should get what they deserve ... unemployment.

Why? ... Why not?!

I decided to create this blog because I wanted a venue to say what I wanted to say.  Maybe it's vanity.  Maybe it's therapy.  I'm not sure.  I read a lot and often find myself agreeing or disagreeing with various pundits, columnists or authors about their points of view.  I want to add my thoughts to theirs - hence, (My) Second Opinion. 

Should someone else read my material one day, all I can say is, "God, luv ya."  Such a person would likely be one of my kids to which I just want to say ... think for yourself.   Don't buy into labels, especially political ones - conservative, liberal, moderate, progressive, etc. are all shorthand for people too lazy to do their own critical thinking.  It's safer to bucket ideas so they can be easily dismissed.  You'll frequently hear people casually disregard ideas or positions because of who they came from ("Oh, he's just a conservative nut." or "I'm not going to listen to that liberal kook.").  This is my attempt to highlight what I consider to be good thinking, be it on social or political issues, and ridicule those who contort themselves to keep from violating the labels.

Thanks to Google and Al Gore (because he invented the internet) for giving me this venue.