Regurgitation vs Filtering

Less than a week ago, Sarah Palin was named as John McCain's running mate for the Republican Nomination, but you know that. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be reading my blog. What you don't know is the Republican reaction beyond the immediate exuberance that has been so discussed. I'm going to tell you about it now.

My closest confidants and I asked each other how the other side could possibly attack Palin. They couldn't possibly say she lacks experience. Barrack Obama lacks experience. They couldn't possibly say she's a part of the same old political establishment. She's the Governor of Alaska, not a Senator, not a Congressman, unlike Obama. They couldn't possibly say attack her values. She married her high school sweetheart and, well, you've heard all this stuff before. What's so shocking is that these ideas are what Palin is being attacked on.

I've already begun to hear people regurgitate the attacks. Palin is unexperienced. Palin's daughter is a whore because she's pregnant out of wedlock (conveniently ignoring that she's going to marry the baby's father). I don't know why I continue to be shocked, but I am. Why do people continue to regurgitate what they hear rather than filtering it?

The danger of the media befalls all of us. A few posts back in this blog I responded to the reports that Colin Powell was going to endorse Obama. That endorsement never occurred. But isn't it obvious how scary the release of that story was? A prominent Republican was going to voice his support for Obama. What was the connection between the two? Not only did the story stink of intent to sway the public, but it carried the stench of racism with it. The fact that we, as Americans, believed that story (and yes, I used we to include myself) speaks of our inability to filter rather than regurgitate the voices of the media.

My initial reaction to hearing the Powell story from my father was disbelief. However, I was quickly convinced otherwise. Perhaps I should have stuck with that thought. Instead, I traded my skepticism for cynicism, further thinning an already slender line, a line that deserves to be a hell of a lot thicker.

And if you plan on regurgitating what you've read here rather than filtering it then:
Shut up, you're wrong.