SHARED IGNORANGE

The title of the post is the title of Stephen Colbert's new book, which for any of you that are reading and wondering what to get me for Christmas....this would be a great gift!

I want to take a brief moment to discuss a minor political issue. Now I can guess what you're thinking..."oh Matt please don't go off on the fact that Al Gore and his organization won the Nobel Prize this past weekend for combating a global condition THAT DOESN'T EXIST AND IS MERELY A PLOT TO MAKE MONEY". That'll have to be a topic for another day. Today I want to discuss another issue spurned by something I recently watched on TV. Before I officially begin, I want to first admit that I am sorely undereducated when it comes to politics. There are some big-ticket issues that I know about, and I have a firm stance about several issues that I feel I, by virtue of my faith in Christ, automatically believe. But please be fore-warned that correct political jargon will not be exercised in this post!

Now, what spurned this little pseudo-political blog? Well I just happened to catch a fascinating little interview-turned-debate on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I am not really a fan of the show, but I do like The Colbert Report and I just happened to turn over to Comedy Central a half hour early to catch the aforementioned interview. The guest was former President Bush Press Secretary Tony Snow. As with most television media, Jon Stewart has a liberal slant, and an apparent knack for bashing President Bush. Now I gotta pause here and say that I align myself as a conservative. By that I do not mean that I think that the only way you can follow Jesus is to be a Republican, and I don't think that all Christians are Republicans. Furthermore, I don't think that Republicans have it all together, make all the right decisions, or have somehow in their infinite wisdom and unfathomable power hung the moon. No political party is worth that sort of estimation. This, along with other reasons is why I choose to refer to myself as conservative and not Republican. I'd actually much rather not have to pick between two parties, I'd much rather judge by the representative's character and conviction (I know it's a Utopian dream).
I also have to say that I do not think that President Bush is the end-all-be-all. I guess I just don't have any unreal expectations of a leader of the most powerful nation in the world. I think he is a great leader, I think he has made his fair share of great decisions, as well as some bad decisions. I think some of the policies that his administration has put into place have been great, and some have been horrible. I think he has done a fair job of being President given the circumstances of what we have come to know as a Post-911 world. I think that he has the single most important and hardest job in the world, a job which I myself could not do, and he has treated the Presidency with much dignity, vigour, conviction, and (to use his word) resolve as anybody. I would probably even argue that he restored some of the honor that his predecessor destroyed (but then I don't want to go into all that).

So please understand my thoughts of the President are high, but he's not the Savior or anything. But just to be honest, I am some stinking tired of all the left-wing media bashing of President Bush that is crammed down my throat every time I turn on the television or radio. I'm so sick of all of the attacks not just on the President's decision making, but on his personal character. Again, I realize that he hasn't done everything right, but we at least have to admit that he stands by his convictions, and he is doing what he thinks is best for the country in spite of drastic opposition. That takes guts! Soooooo.....enter Tony Snow on the Daily Show. It's something you need to see, perhaps it is on You Tube by now, but Tony Snow is a man who worked closely with the President. So in typical fashion throughout the interview, Jon Stewart jabs at the President, dubbing him a hard head and a failure. However, in as strong of a response as I have ever seen, Snow defends the President calling him a great leader, citing multiple incidents of his leadership, and even calling Stewart's bluff when he cites failures (which were most out-of-context proof-texts). The question I had to ask myself during the interview was "who am I to believe? A guy who gets paid to get on TV and make fun of any Republican bold enough to be thrust into the public eye, or a guy who used to work for the President closely and has nothing to gain from defending the guy?" I gotta be honest, I'm gonna go with the latter!

The problem is that while I feel like Americans have every right in the world to form their own opinion, I feel like most opinion is the opinion because it is popular, spoon fed to us by a terribly biased media (though for the record I think an un-biased media can only exist in my previously mentioned Utopian world!). I can understand disagreeing on issues, things like the War, or educational policies, or on health care. But disagreements amongst our peers at work or church don't lead us to go and publicly humiliate each other. And they shouldn't lead to that in the political world.

OK, so it is about bed-time and I sense that my ramblings are making less and less sense the more I type. Go check out the Daily Show if it is on You Tube (a responsible blogger would have already found it and linked it for you, but alas I am not a responsible blogger.....). It is really fascinating!

More later!