IN THE United States, not only is the nation split in various directions as the presidential election approaches; the media is split as well.
The TV channels are crammed with “analysts” who are clearly either in the Democrat or Republican camp. And neither set holds back when it come to giving a view on anything.
The media is expected to use logic to decide whether one side is right or wrong. But in the US, Fox News cannot find anything wrong with the Republican contender Mitt Romney. And CNN can find nothing wrong with the president, Barack Obama.
This kind of campaigning by proxy is extraordinary. But then most things about this country tend to fall into that category.
Take the literal parade of young, right-wing women on talk shows who can do much better than sulphuric acid when it comes to burning people. Where do these women come by these views at such a tender age? How do they become so bitter and twisted? It’s extraordinary.
The TV channels may be divided on many things, but when it comes to the level of racism they are as one. To both sides, there is a single unified vote called the Hispanic vote. This is an insult to all those with such origins – surely they are not dumb and voting en bloc for one candidate?
That also applies to the black population; the only plus is that the TV people call it the African-American vote. Once again, them dumb black folk are all expected to vote only one way.
People never refer to anything called the white vote. No, white folk are thinking, educated individuals, who may vote one way or the other after careful consideration and thinking things through.
Another clear indication of the racism at play is evidenced by the approach the TV channels took to the reaction in the Middle East to the 14-minute film trailer full of insults to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
Of course, to the TV folk, this only means that Muslims are intolerant, that they have no sense of humour. One TV chap, Wolf Blitzer of CNN, went so far as to ask why other religions did not react violently when issues like this arose; after all, did not Muslim countries respect freedom of speech?
Nobody thought to ask – what would have happened if this 14-minute trailer had been poking fun at the Holocaust. Would Google have made any fuss about taking it down? Would there have been outrage all over the West or not? Would Israel have kept quiet?
No, it’s easy for those in the US to look on just one side of the question and continue to delude themselves that they are the most tolerant people in the world.