A Breech of the Law of Credibility

Usually I like Anderson Cooper's approach to news. He is one of the better news anchors in recent years. Unbiased, honest, and thorough reporting are what make his program "360" appealing. I didn't like what I saw last night. For the first time I saw a breech of "innocent until proven guilty" and not as it applies to the company that owns an oil derrick next to a Beverly Hills school playground. Anderson's interview with Brokovich was biased in the direction of what will be the defendants in her case. His line of questioning led viewers to believe she was a quack and was an unfair assault on her current case. Why was this? Are his writers prone to influence from prominent businesses? Was he really in the dark about her successful past exploits in the legal world? Maybe Anderson used to be a lawyer, because his presentation was similar to how a prosecuting attorney would berate a defendant in court. For her crusading efforts in civil rights, Erin Brokovich should be a respected public figure. There was a Hollywood movie made about her struggle to expose corruption in big business. Real life subjects in films are not always so flattering. Hollywood has a history of building up its heroes and then tearing them down. That is media, or so we have been led to believe. The firing of Dan Rather by Les Moonves is an atrocity and a prime example of the contempt of this very system. Why would a respected newsman with professional accolades and decades of experience be forced to retire in failure and scandal? It was a joke, and the network is suffering as a result of his absence. Why would you take one of your fail-safe employees, and because of one professional error, fire them in disgrace? Why would we, as a nation, watch and support Martha Stewart building an empire only to revel in its failing? Why would we elect a President, reap the rewards of his accomplishments as a nation for eight years, and then impeach and humiliate him publicly for a small personal error? It is because we have come to live in an era of mass-produced, imported, sanitized, and disposable products and public figures. As China is showing us how can we have stability in our country without infrastructure? Our economic history has been out-sourced, and still we are waiting for a re-definition. As one notable member of Congress remarked on CNN, "Are we all supposed to work at Best Buy, Home Depot, Wal Mart, or Circuit City?" That is a fair assessment of the trend. With no middle-classed labor force the stability of our economic system is in flux and possibly in jeopardy. Our federal government continues to borrow billions of dollars from foreign countries to finance the" War on Terror." This weakens our dollar as well as the respect we receive from other countries. With no products being exported what exactly is driving the economy? Some say it has become the "financial sector." Companies are moving around large quantities of money through investments, futures, the stock market, and other systems. We have reversed anti-trust policies and have watched a slew of large companies buy and sell each other. Along the way their integrity and the crucial labor forces that drive these companies have been compromised. ENRON. The coming demise of Maytag is a good example. We always have imported cheap goods, but there were always stable companies that shored up our infrastructure. With the bankruptcy of major airlines and auto manufacturers, questions should be raised as to the real components of our economy. In certain states our government employs over a third of the people. That in itself suggests the failing of Capitalism. Without products and factories to produce them, what will our economic system become? Since our nation as a whole certainly does not own the "means of production," we must be headed toward a system where the government provides for the well-being of its populace. That sounds remarkably familiar to our past Cold War enemy, the Soviet Union. How in the name of our republic can we attempt to democratize foreign countries, when our own country is failing? Isn't that the definition of Imperialism? Isn't that why Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hugo Chavez are squirming, pondering the thought of an invasion of their own countries in the name of the War on Terror by the US? I would try to build up my nuclear capability too in addition to buying assault rifles and aircraft from the former Soviet Union. Not everyone has respect for the policies of the United States. It is unfortunate many that disagree may be labeled "insurgents" of our own, "the Jihad Generation," "Extremists," or "non-Patriotics." It has been a continuing strength of our country and Constitution we in the US can form an opinion without being regarded as the enemy. It seems there has been in effect a Totalitarian movement represented by our Republican Party, where the nature of man's desires has been re-defined. As a result we have hypocrisy and the blurring of reality. Anderson's unenlightening commentary just reminded me of how shallow our country has become. We, as a people, slowly are beginning to forget our history, and with that comes extreme ignorance. Our federal government's unconstitutional policies of Eminent Domain and right of "freedom of speech" in the work place are evidence of this. If someone does not step up to the plate and reassert the principles of this nation and our constitution, the right wing faction will surely drive us into bankruptcy. Government, media, and big business are separate entities. The beautiful thing about the system is they all require different processes. Government should provide leadership through philosophy and wisdom. Media should be a medium of impartial information, the arts, and entertainment. Business is business. Government should not be run like business, as it is being done now. Media should not be run like business as evidenced by the failure of FM radio. Government should be allowed to regulate the practices of businesses to prevent corruption and monopolies. Media should watchdog government. All of these "checks and balances" assure that what is happening now, won't. Steven Spielberg was wise enough to remark films are the medium that can remind us of things that are important. It seems we need films about everything, because with a country plagued with ADD and media accelerated beyond human capability, life truly seems like survival of the fittest. We really are living life in a video game or a little black box. Thanks to David Lynch for discovering the truth.