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Nov. 13, 2006 Some months ago, one of the websites that I often visit had a link to an article in the New York Times, but when I clicked on the link, I found that I had to register in order to see the article. Since that time I have been receiving the online version of the NYT in my mailbox daily, but I almost never look at it. First of all I know that I would get the thoroughly redacted, sanitized, pasteurized version of everything, devoid of anything not perfectly palatable to anyone and everyone in power, with a token exception, like the Wilson article, once in a blue moon. Secondly, if anything, the NYT was a supporter of the Iraqi invasion. However, the edition of Sunday, November 12, 2006 that appeared in my Yahoo Mailbox had the title, “Today’s Headlines: Incoming Democrats Put Populism Before Ideology.” For some reason or another, the title piqued my interest. I suppose I expected to read about the looming congressional hearings on the falsified intelligence whereon George W. Bush based his invasion, the non-existence of the WMD, the expanded CIA leak investigation I was anticipating, the Abu Ghraib scandal, Guantánamo, the confrontation with Iran, the continuing questions about the collapse of the Twin Towers, and the machinations of the Israel Lobby. In a word, I expected to hear about all the issues that seemed to me to have provoked the electorate to oust Bush’s party and put in the political opposition. But I guess I was simply wrong. The electorate apparently is not interested in all these questions, at least to hear the NYT tell it. The NYT’s article, by Robin Toner and Kate Zernike, starts out as if building up to some sort of great crescendo, producing the following paragraph: “Many in the class of 2006, especially those who delivered the new Democratic majorities by winning Republican seats, show little appetite for that kind of ideological crusade. But in interviews with nearly half of them this week, the freshmen — 41 in the House and 9 in the Senate, including one independent — conveyed a keen sense of their own moment in history, and a distinct world view: they say they were given a rare opportunity by voters, many of them independents and Republicans, who were tired of the partisanship and gridlock in Washington.” I like that phrase, “…a keen sense of their own moment in history…”. It makes it sound as if we’re on the doorstep of destiny. But perish the thought. All those issues that I felt were so momentous don’t even get a mention. The electorate, we are told, is looking to Congress to deal with the real issues of the day, like affordable health care, the loss of manufacturing jobs and, in a poor third place, a consensus on the exit strategy. Here it is, if you can believe it: “Now, they say, they have to produce — to deal with long-festering problems like access to affordable health care and the loss of manufacturing jobs, and to find a bipartisan consensus for an exit strategy in Iraq, a source of continuing division not only between but also within the parties.” I suppose that’s the way it’s going to be too. Congressmen will be saying, “You have given us a mandate for affordable health care, and we owe it to you to perform.” And not a syllable about Iraq or Iran! ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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