Balancing Act

[vovat]

I got this link from countblastula. A planned speech by author Terry Tempest Williams at Florida Gulf Coast University was cancelled by the school's Republican president because it only presented one side of an issue. I don't know anything about Williams, but come on, this is ridiculous! I found the suggestion that they add another speaker to the event to be particularly dumb. If a speaker is going to come out against racism, is a Klansman going to be called in to balance things out? Will a speaker from the zoo or a wildlife commission have to be accompanied by a poacher? Will an artist be "balanced" with someone who thinks art is unnecessary? What about a feminist being paired with a chauvinist who thinks a woman's place is in the kitchen? I think you get where I'm going with this. Even putting aside what strikes me as obvious party politics, I hate that the modern definition of "balance" seems to be "two people with diametrically opposed views yelling at each other." Never mind that this sometimes comes down to one person presenting facts while the other just makes stuff up, and that a lot of issues can't be reduced to a mere two viewpoints. But this particular situation doesn't strike me as anything that would have been at all controversial if the president hadn't made it into one.

By the way, Bush is on the TV, repeating the same lies to the people in Minnesota that he's been peddling for some time. Increasing the taxes on the top 2% won't be enough to pay for new federal spending? Well, that depends on how much they're increased, doesn't it? Most small business owners are in the top 2%? I don't think so. Other countries' national health care systems have all failed? Strike three, idiot. Sheesh, can we get RID of this guy already?

Comments

[zimbra1006.livejournal.com]

Yesterday (at least I think it was yesterday) featured one of the best Bushisms to date:

"We will not have an all-volunteer army."
[silence... Bush starts talking again while people mutter. Guy from audience yells something]
Bush: *looks shocked* "...Will. We WILL have an all-volunteer army!"
Idiots cheer.

Along with the "they never stop looking for ways to hurt this country, and neither do I," this has me suspecting that he's actually more accidentally honest than he is stupid.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Then do you think he thinks the world would have been better off if Saddam were still in power, too?

[countblastula.livejournal.com]

I think you're onto something with that Klansman idea. Wouldn't it be more exciting if after every speech on a college campus, they had a Klansman get up and give his rebuttal? If they couldn't find one, they could just pay someone to dress up like one.