Are You PC?

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: TOWN VS. COUNTRY

What kind of politically correct individual are YOU? Here in Louisiana, PC is used only to refer to national political correctness, mostly of the liberal variety. Yet, we have our own version that would mostly be labeled conservative. We might consider the influence of city/country instead of liberal/conservative.

Consider gun control. In New York City, virtually the only use for a gun is to shoot people. Controlling guns makes much more sense than here in Ruston with a 20,000 population. People here hunt. They eat what they shoot. My oldest hasn't bought meat for two years. He hunts deer and the wild hogs that proliferate on his north TX ranch. My 12 year old grandaughter and 9 year old grandson both shot their first deer a couple of years ago. One shot by each. We have gangs here, but mostly wannabes, "inspired" by the Crips and Bloods of L.A. But they don't take over neighborhoods. IMHO there's no reason to buy - or even manufacture - assault weapons except for the military or police SWAT teams. But there's a real fear among many (at least some) in the population that we may one day have to fight for our freedom. I don't share that view, but they do have a point about banning one type of weapon could establish the principle that could lead to later gun confiscation.

Global warming now affects cities more than rural areas. I have a missionary friend going back to college days, who had to come home from Tokyo. The smog so aggravated his allergies that he had constant and serious nosebleed. It makes way more sense to fight city smog when you can see it and sometimes feel and smell it, than it does in areas where the pollution report declares no pollutants, except for seasonal grasses and the like.

Many country folks view cities as inherently wicked. I've heard many say, "I wouldn't want to live in New Orleans. Yet I know many folks down there who wouldn't live anywhere else. And their children seem as moral as those in North Louisiana. Indeed, Peyton Place was written about small town hanky panky, and you could substitute most small towns in America.

My recommendation? Think for yourself. Don't let your political environment push you into its own mold.

Newspapers or Tabloids

I've often said that should the world blow up in a nuclear mushroom, the event will be covered in a 2-3 inch clip on page 3 in my local newspaper. And in traveling here and there, I've found the local paper only points to a major trend.

Now newspapers have problems. People don't read, don't like to read. They get their news from TV or online. So newspapers have to feature stories that grab people. Passing by a news stand, their eye catches a new revelation about Tiger's affair(s), so they drop their money and take a paper. The front pages have local pictures and stories, what used to be called feature stories and were confined to the "women's section."

On the other hand, online you can click on Google News and discover all sorts of stories with thorough coverage. Indeed, I frequently read a brief newsclip on page 2 or 3 and go immediately to Google to find out more. The papers have run me to the internet!

Haiti, the Middle East, and the antics of Washington provide enough to cover the front page every day. And they are far more likel y to affect each of us than Tiger or Miley or whoever. Sure, put in a tabloid story above the fold where it will catch the eye. But there's lots of room left on Page One to lead us into vital stories about what may change our lives.

Polarization

I hate the polarization of our politics, especially in Congress.
Consider: Each party stakes out a position ahead of time. They refuse to retreat. Consider health care. The Democrats produced a 2000 page bill, which many at first admitted they had not read. Why such a comprehensive bill anyway. Why not take each section and approach it by itself. Then they should negotiate publicly with C-span (or a kid with a cell cam) putting it online.

Politically, I'm a pragmatist. I want to see people sit down, define problems, develop possible solutions, then try to fix them. Defining the problem should be the hardest part. For example, many Republicans will deny that a health care problem exists. If they admit one, it is much smaller. But even if so, why would not the Democrats sit down with them and fix that part of it. It's fascinating to me that the existing Medicare is predicted by some authorities to go bankrupt in a few years. Why not determine whether that's true, then fix that before adding on expenses.

Certainly there are people lacking easy access to health care. It seems to me that using the existing healthcare structure and carefully expanding it to cover certain areas would reduce bureaucracy, which I personally hate. But only after solving the funding for existing medicare.

Pragmatism, people, practicality! In health care and all things.

The Cajun Curmudgeon

Curmudgeon indicates a grouchy old cuss. Most folks don't see me that way, but I got as many gripes as the next fellow. So, one thing I'll do here is gripe. But not the only thing. I'll feel free to say any fool thing I want...grouchy, cheerful, or whatever. Let's get on with it. Begin with some curmudgeonly gripes:

1 - What's with the Weather Channel's promise to report the weather every 8 minutes? Well, most weekdays, it does. But not at night and not on weekends. Why can't I flick over during a commercial and find out if a snowstorm or tornado is on its way? Instead, they run fascinating weather stories about boats at sea, people lost in the snow, or whatever. Look, everybody else interrupts whatever they're doing for commercials. Why can't TWC interrupt to bring us the weather?

2 - Similar gripe about Headline News. They're best in the early mornings and don't do a bad job of reporting what's happening in the world. But they get bogged down repeating stories. Let 'em go to Google News that has thousands of stories. Then they get into those blamed focused shows run by perpetually shocked women. I have a major suggestion!!!

MAJOR SUGGESTION: Somebody start a weather news netword that works like an AP wireservice. Whenever you tune in, you'll find the latest and most important news with the local weather every 10 minutes. That means news that affects the lives of most people or threatens to do so. NO stories about who some movie/entertainment "star" slept with or cussed out last week. And I don't care what Katie's current hairdo is. I do care where major congressional legislation is and how the war in the Middle East is going.

More gripes and suggestions whenever I get around to it.