9.04.2004
I must go quickly... I just thought I would type off a quick response to the last blog. Please don't misconstrue this as brainless loyalty to Big Brother or the Republicans or anything like that. I am just pointing out a few things that I saw and thought about while perusing these things.
First, there was not quite so much drama as you implied when you described her as "infiltrating" the RNC and how the delegates responded "Four more years" to her "Bush lied, people died" statement, during which Bush reportedly froze.
Security has every right to throw her out of the building. The Secret Service unapologetically (and rightly) provides as tight and as strict a security as possible. Obviously, the RNC is a tough place to do that well because of the number of people involved, and there is no way to be sure that the person is not an assasin or something worse. This is not politics. The response would be the same if the party affiliations were reversed.
While she was ranting, at most 20-30 people along the path out of there heard her message. The rest of Madison Square garden couldn't hear the person next to them. An enclosed stadium-sized venue like that gets absolutely deafening when you get people chanting like that. They most likely couldn't even hear most of what Bush was saying, and he was on the PA. They were not responding to her at all... they were just in a crowd repeating a phrase. And before we talk of mindless sheeple repeating phrases, remember that every activist (and even our friend June) repeats phrases to get a point across.
And lastly Bush did not freeze. As per the above, he probably never (probably still doesn't) even knew about her. When you listen to the audio, he is only pausing to wait for the chanting to subside a bit, or bask in its glory or something. Listen to it again. I watched it several times.
I say these things to critically evaluate the video footage. It is valuable to critically evaluate all the ideas we run across. Especially our own. We each (obviously I am at the top of this list) have a tendency to seek to confirm our own beliefs, suspicions, opinions, whatever. This is natural. Because of this, we should really try to see the other side of the argument. What motivates people to think this way? These are at least somewhat rational, intelligent people. They must think the thoughts they think for a reason. What is it? Why do I hold a particular opinion? How have the people I listen to and look up to influenced me to hold this view?
These are just a few of the questions we should each ask. I think that when you think like this and really, really think about this, you will realize that the vast, vast majority of opinions spewed out into the void are misleading, self-serving or worse. Again, a lesson I learned in my freshman writing class.... CRITICALLY EVALUATE YOUR SOURCES.
As much or more than the particular view itself.
First, there was not quite so much drama as you implied when you described her as "infiltrating" the RNC and how the delegates responded "Four more years" to her "Bush lied, people died" statement, during which Bush reportedly froze.
Security has every right to throw her out of the building. The Secret Service unapologetically (and rightly) provides as tight and as strict a security as possible. Obviously, the RNC is a tough place to do that well because of the number of people involved, and there is no way to be sure that the person is not an assasin or something worse. This is not politics. The response would be the same if the party affiliations were reversed.
While she was ranting, at most 20-30 people along the path out of there heard her message. The rest of Madison Square garden couldn't hear the person next to them. An enclosed stadium-sized venue like that gets absolutely deafening when you get people chanting like that. They most likely couldn't even hear most of what Bush was saying, and he was on the PA. They were not responding to her at all... they were just in a crowd repeating a phrase. And before we talk of mindless sheeple repeating phrases, remember that every activist (and even our friend June) repeats phrases to get a point across.
And lastly Bush did not freeze. As per the above, he probably never (probably still doesn't) even knew about her. When you listen to the audio, he is only pausing to wait for the chanting to subside a bit, or bask in its glory or something. Listen to it again. I watched it several times.
I say these things to critically evaluate the video footage. It is valuable to critically evaluate all the ideas we run across. Especially our own. We each (obviously I am at the top of this list) have a tendency to seek to confirm our own beliefs, suspicions, opinions, whatever. This is natural. Because of this, we should really try to see the other side of the argument. What motivates people to think this way? These are at least somewhat rational, intelligent people. They must think the thoughts they think for a reason. What is it? Why do I hold a particular opinion? How have the people I listen to and look up to influenced me to hold this view?
These are just a few of the questions we should each ask. I think that when you think like this and really, really think about this, you will realize that the vast, vast majority of opinions spewed out into the void are misleading, self-serving or worse. Again, a lesson I learned in my freshman writing class.... CRITICALLY EVALUATE YOUR SOURCES.
As much or more than the particular view itself.
< 11:54 >< /j >
