Frivolity, And Then Politics

My horrible day did improve, yesterday, after a rough start. If the dreams weren't bad enough, the beginning of the day was pretty crappy too, though helped by some of my girls (thanks!). Anyway, I went to 49th and Fraser to get some stuff done, and then, on the bus back, Girly got on! So we went and had lunch at Granville Sushi (mmmm), and then I went back to class. That's the perfect kind of bus encounter. It was definitely the highlight of my day.

In other news, this weeks Maclean's magazine came today. Apparently, FOX news is planning on coming to Canada. Spare me, please. Also, did you know the FOX News' slogan is "fair and balanced"? The hell is that? What really gets me, though, is that their newscasts are so, so right-wing, (Bill O'Reilly? Please learn to shut up. And when you get that down, please use your hard-earned new skill), and yet FOX has so many shows (reality and otherwise) that I'm sure Conservatives would consider "morally reprehensible". I find them morally reprehensible, and I'm a liberal! That 70's Show? Always stoned. Family Guy? Amazingly politically incorrect. I watch them both occasionally, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't flow with the Republican dream.

One Bill O'Reilly quote from Maclean's particularly caught my eye. On April 30th, he had this to say to the Canadian Press;
"I got nothing against the Canadian people, but in the last few years you've swung dramatically to the left. And we in America have some questions about that."

This one little quote is quite telling, for me. One, it holds an interesting note of you are accountable" in it, which is interesting. Bill O'Reilly spends considerable (almost all) of his time doing what I assume he would call "holding the Democrats and other Liberals accountable" (others would have less polite phrases in mind), and has now decided to hold us, as Canadians, accountable. What jumps out at me is that Bush and his administration have spent a hell of a lot of effort trying to avoid all accountability. They very much have the attitude "This is what we're doing." Without wanting to reason, explain, or discuss. O'Reilly doesn't seem to be spending any time holding Bush accountable. In fact, he skipped all the way over Bush to Canada.

I am, I'll admit, a huge fan of The Daily Show. As such, I don't even try to suggest that Jon Stewart is completely objective. But the difference for me is that when a Democrat makes a mistake, or does something stupid, the show will still call them on it. Did O'Reilly mention the fact that Bush mispronounced the name of Abu Ghraib during the prison scandal to something I can only attempt to spell 'Abu Gharef'? I can't be completely sure, as I don't wach his show often, but I would doubt it.

The other part of the quote that interests me is purely philosophical. O'Reilly seems to have entirely disregarded the idea of perspective. Status quo, politically, is non-existent. What he sees as Canada swinging to the left, I in Canada see more as the US swinging dramatically to the right. To me, the granting of the right to gay marriage seemed like a natural progression into a more enlightened society. I thought that judge in Alabama with the 10 commandments monument was a yahoo. But I understand that to others, gay marriage is an abomination that grants the 'evil' of homosexuality credence. I completely disagree, but I know that that feeling does exist, even in Canada. The US, right now, is having an extremely difficult time with the rest of the world, and with many of its constituents. As many Americans have noted, it's been a long time since America has been so disliked, internationally. We can all say it's due to foreign policy, or the detriment of women's rights, and I wouldn't disagree. But I think that Bush, and many others, have forgotten that perspective is individual. I voted, in Canada's federal election, for the party that best reflected my views. There isn't one that exactly reflects my views, but that's to be expected. What I was concerned about was whether, even while disagreeing with a party, I could understand and even agree with part of their reasoning in what they wanted to do. I need the part I'm supporting to let the country and the world hold it accountable. I'm not saying that the Bush administration doesn't hold itself at all accountable, but it would do well for them to realize that being accountable behind closed doors is quite different from answering the world's questions of why, and listening to what they have to say afterwards.