Extremely Opinionated…

Johnny-on-the-Spot … by John Foster …

There’s a lot of talk today about people being so opinionated that the word “compromise” has become outdated.

I hear it in the national media all the time.

Even in things like the weather.

There’s no longer just “storm damage”. It’s either “horrendous” or “horrific”.

I get the impression that today’s journalists were going through their work stations and uncovered a thesaurus for the first time.

I guess it’s all tied in to “climate change” and a conscious effort to make us believe the weather has never been more extreme than today.

It’s interesting to note that if you look back in weather records, you’ll find a number of high temperature marks in this part of the country were set in the 1930’s.

Author John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath” was spawned by the “Dust Bowl” in parts of the Midwest.

A combination of severe drought teamed with wind erosion aided by dryland farming caused choking dust storms that impacted a wide area of the U.S.

Dos that mean we had “climate change” back then?

Geez, it’s just been relatively recent that “global warming” was nudged out of the headlines by “climate change”.

We hear words such as “epic” and “record-breaking” so often that I think the impact of the event is lessened.

A TV station flashes “Breaking News” but anymore, it’s just the latest story and the media hasn’t had enough time to “spice it up”.

It’s driven by the 24 hour news effort that CNN spawned in 1980.

Somewhere since then, we were made to believe that any piece of information that was fresh was actually news.

This story would have been relegated to, at best, feature status but today has become worthy of a news bulletin.

Mega focus on many times minor matters.

I think that’s fueled the “extreme opinion” matter.

Anyone with an opinion different from yours is a “racist”, an “extremist”, or a “bigot”.

“Neo-Nazis” are everywhere and “Anti-Semitism” is rampant.

Combined with a huge disregard for being “decent” or “fair”, everyone is lead to believe that we have very little common ground.

Again, I blame the national media, modern communication and 24 hour news.

I think E-mail started this chaos because it allowed instant transmission before one could or would consider the ramifications of the concept.

It also empowered weak-willed folks to lash out thanks to a degree of anonymity.

I’m convinced most folks would never say to your face what they fired off in a hasty Email or a Facebook posting.

Now we even have “fact-checkers” but who are these folks and why have they been charged with checking the facts?

They’re probably the same folks who make up public opinion polls.

Ever know anyone who was polled,

Were you ever polled?

I’m not one to urge stifling of opinions but even the most obscure and extreme ideas have access from way too many eyes and ears in a society that is lax in its’ effort to determine facts.

Outside of emergencies or new developments, most news occurs Monday through Friday from 8AM until 6PM.

It’s when government and business is usually functioning.

Combine sketchy journalism with rampant “opinion-speak” sprinkled in with “reporting” and we have what we have today.

Years ago, there was a radio station in Windsor, Ontario that gave us a view of what news reporting was to become.

No longer did an apartment fire claim three lives.

It was “a raging 5 alarm blaze that meant there’d be three fewer Easter baskets to fill due to a near eastside tenement conflagration”.

We give “lip service” to free speech but when it doesn’t match our opinions, it’s radical, extreme or divisive.

I like to believe I’m a reasonable individual who can render decisions if I can get to the key issues in a story.

I’m a Jack Webb “Dragnet” sort of a guy.

“Just the facts, please.”

On each story, I believe there are two extremes.

Pretend your fists represent a different opinion on the same matter.

Hold your arms above your head and spread them apart.

I believe that somewhere between each extreme is reality.

Sound plausible?

Reasonable?

Can we start do do that?

If we don’t demand something different from these news sources, what will happen?

We need to remind these “info-moguls” that Coca Cola introduced New Coke” in 1985 to replace it’s old formula.

Coke drinkers said “No!” and the company eventually returned to the original recipe in three months but not until Coke renamed it’s boo-boo recipe Coke II before dropping it altogether in 2002.

I guess Anheuser Busch forgot that in April of 2023.

Are we really as far apart and we are being lead to believe?

Personally, I don’t think so but we need to be more discerning in our research and opinions.

Don’t take the media and things like Facebook and Instagram as fact until you chew on it a bit.

It’s better for your digestion.