… Here is a response I just sent a friend who forwarded me some guy’s commentary on a study regarding some politician. I think the response is fairly generic though, and could be applied to anything that purports to be fair or balanced…
Gee. I almost wanted to look at the facts and read the document for my own edification, until a little obvious BIAS seemed to show through this guy’s comments. When someone uses dialog (diatribe) and rhetoric that reeks of bias or favoritism, unless you share that bias (look who watches Fox News, etc.) it discolors anything they say. It’s a taint that gets associated with the resulting links. Too bad. Dr. Grouchy, for example, only exists to piss people off and argue and has no substance. Entertainment. When it comes to news, if someone starts fawning over Kerry, or has visceral personal comments about Bush, or claims to fish with Jesus, then hey, it makes me want to change channels.
It is for these specific reasons that I will never turn to people deeply associated with “causes” for news or opinions. I will probably never respect Michael Moore, Al Franken, Alex Baldwin, Barbara Streisand because everything they say reeks of bias like a plate of day-old sauerkraut. They seem to bring their radical politics or religion to the table, when we are just there to get entertained. I might go to see them in a movie or listen to their music, but if they start getting all sacrosanct and preachy, then I’m asking for a refund.
I probably will look at the article you forwarded in email. I have a need to fuel my cynical heart and am discerning enough to differentiate bullshit from crap from “might be true” from damn the apocalypse is upon us and the undead are trying to eat our brains. I think I should patent a bullshit meter. I could probably sell them on eBay.
Can you tell I am about ready for the weekend? 
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2 responses so far ↓
1
Palestar
// Mar 19, 2004 at 1:28 pm
Guess I am grateful that I did not forward something that would have set off your BULLSHIT meter.
Your comments regarding your lack of respect for certain group of people is interesting, I feel the same about about the conservative element that accuses any one who disagrees with them as anti-american – or communist–or someting else nasty.
If you take a close look or listen closely, you will find that this a multi-partisan disease. If they cannot baffle you with brillance–they will most definitely try to…baffle you with huge amounts of BULLSHIT!!!
This is AMERICA and we are allowed to disagree with another person including our politicans. We are a nation that is part of the world in chaos. Our main problems stem from, Apathy – Complacency – and Denial! If it is not happening in your backyard, some tend not to care, and bury their head in the sand or up their own butts. If they cannot see it–it is not happening.
What happens to one–is happening to all of us. Politicians need to remember they are not dictators–they are working for us and it is a temp job at that. We should realize that eventually we will have to answer to a much higher power and we will be held accountable.
We are one race with many cultures and ethnicities. We all came thru Abraham. Our bodies are all interchangable. So, why is there so much hatred?
Shame on us all for even needing a BULLSHIT Meter.
2
JJ
// Mar 19, 2004 at 3:50 pm
I agree. What I responded to in this case was someone that rather than just explaining that there is a list about so-and-so that shows they did such-and-such, the author of that had to exaggerate everything so that you were turned off and didn’t even want to look at the facts. Even though you might have evaluated the facts and said, “Hmmmm…. they have a strong case here.”
In something personal, bias shows. We all have it to some extent. If we rant and rave about one thing too often, then we become known more for our agenda then ourselves. “Oh, he’s the PETA guy. You’d better hide your monkey!”
I clearly don’t like Al Franken or Michael Moore because sometimes their “over the top” bias is such a turn-off that it keeps me from even wanting to give their product a fair trial. Espousing your belief is good. But, know you will turn a lot of people off if you are extreme. When you are not a politician and want me to buy your CD or watch your movie, if I think it is following a closed-minded, pre-determined agenda, then what’s the point. I already know what you’re going to say and I don’t want to hear hysteria.
I don’t like stereotypes, but sometimes people encourage stereotypes. They desire to be known for the cause they wear on their sleeve. They want to elicit a visceral response. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em. It’s their choice to be polarizers. In the email that was passed on to me, I had no evidence that this person had a history of anything, but he just had such strong language that it overshadowed the actual message.
My initial jab, “Fair and Balanced” and the “Fox News” reference were aimed at the conservative media, that seems to show a strongly conservative bias…. sometimes. Then I took a jab at people who have celeb status for comedy or music, or movies. They achieved their status based on one body of work, and if they spout extreme and often hysterical rhetoric, then they will likely loose me as a fan of their “real” work. They have the right to do it, but they will lose fans. If you want, I can extend my list to include liberals, conservatives and religious zealots. Basically, the extremists to whom everything is “life or death” are just too extreme for my taste, and I can’t trust their facts.
So, if they want me to take their facts seriously… they shouldn’t add all the snide comments. If I disagree with those comments, then I’ll never listen to what they say because they’ve already alienated me. They have a right to do it, but I have a right to say, “stuff it!”
That’s too bad, because like you said, we should give everyone a fair chance to express themselves, and when someone sends me something from someone else who is very biased, then I will doubt that person’s integrity and not trust what they say. I don’t know whether the first person sent it to me because it was so overtly biased, therefore funny… but the result was that I never followed the biased guy’s link to the “truth” because my bullshit meter went off.
With all the politicians and lawyers… don’t you think I could sell a lot of bullshit meters though?? Maybe I should have called them “Bias Meters”… but that wouldn’t have been any fun, would it?
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