Comments on: Navel-Gazing Nation?

By: Myron Pauli

Myron Pauli — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:00:22 +0000

I see some of the modern navel-gazing in the curricula of my daughter (who is at a private school but it just apes the mainstream governmental PC education). They don’t teach a damn thing about world geography but while they teach her trivialities about wars but not about the countries where the wars were fought. They probably spend 30% of history and literature now on the black American experience. All the latest fads – to fixate on.

Do you recall the orgy of grief for “John-John” Kennedy a few years back? Or the endless coverage of Natalie Holloway, Chandra Levy, and similar women who disappeared mysteriously? The media elevates something into prominence and it becomes a self-generating story. The ultimate poster person of this Navel-Gazing, however, was not American but was “Princess Di” – an anorexic mediocrity whose claim to fame was marrying some doofus “Prince”. I once remarked that “Princess Di gets more coverage than the entire nation of Indonesia” only to find that 6 months after she died, Suharto was overthrown – maybe the Indonesians finally found out what was going on in their own country!

[Or as I called her here, “that dodo Diana…”–IM]

By: Steve Hogan

Steve Hogan — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:42:11 +0000

Steve Stip,

Look at the exchange between Russert and Paul over the Civil War and slavery. According to the brilliant Mr. Russert, had we not fought that destructive war and practically ruined our country in the process, it would still be dominated by slave owners to this day! I swear, that’s what the guy said on national television.

When one is attempting to smear an individual, no amount of absurdity is too extreme.

By: Steve Stip

Steve Stip — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:25:08 +0000

I’ve re-seen part 1 of the 4 part interview with Ron Paul. Tim is a tough interviewer. So far he has not avoided eye contact. Here is a wonderful thing about Ron Paul: His world view is consistent and well thought out. No amount of tough but fair questioning can embarrass him. Ron knows what he thinks and why. So far I can allow that Tim is just playing a tough devil’s advocate.

By: Andrew T.

Andrew T. — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:06:29 +0000

I’m not familiar with the phrase, “navel-gazing”. What does that mean? [I’m sure you have Google.]

By: Steve Hogan

Steve Hogan — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:54:22 +0000

I don’t watch TV, so my only exposure to Russert’s form of journalism was his “interview” with Ron Paul last December. “Hatchet job” would have been a better description. Clearly the man had an agenda, and it was to delegitimize Paul at all costs.

I always thought journalism was intended to unearth facts and convey them with minimal bias. If Russert is being eulogized as a great journalist, I’d hate to see what average journalists are like.

[Thanks for this reality check.–IM]

By: Steve Stip

Steve Stip — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:09:21 +0000

“Has such impropriety afflicted the national psyche? You tell me.”

Some students were asked why they went to journalism school. Their answer? “To change the world.”

You are correct Ilana, the US is self-obsessed. It must be our geographic isolation and relative material success. The great irony is that we appear to be abandoning the things that made us successful: individual liberty, limited government etc.