Lies in ads / Guns in public
Obama is out there trying to sell Health Care reform, and there has been a lot of lies and misinformation been spread around and that is making it harder to not only sell the idea of reform, but it’s making it hard to even has a civil discussion about it.
(You can read a whole story about it at CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/20/health.care.bad.info/index.html)
What I don’t understand, is how an advanced society allows organizations to run ads that spread rumours and lies. I think it comes from election ads (and some Republican tactics of the Bush era) and maybe that’s made them feel its all part of typical political mud slinging.
But frankly if one of these groups puts an ad on TV, and the content is blatantly untrue, they should be held accountable. They should be forced to spend an equal amount of money to tell the truth and/or face federal prosecution.
Meanwhile at these rallies people are showing up with guns (even assault rifles) and signs that infer that it’s time to spill some blood (“It’s time to water the tree of liberty”). Wow! Its one thing to have free speech, but it’s another to suggest anarchy or support insurrection!
There have been arguments made that these people technically aren’t breaking any laws (it’s not a concealed weapon; there’s no specific law for assault rifles in Arizona, etc.) but I think we really have to look into the mindset of these people. Earlier this month a nut in PA went into a fitness center and killed three women and shot over a dozen others. After the fact, people always ask “why didn’t anyone prevent this?” (he’d even posted threatening videos before) but it’s this weird desire to protect the rights of these nut jobs that eventually leads to some major tragedy.
(You can read a whole story about it at CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/20/health.care.bad.info/index.html)
What I don’t understand, is how an advanced society allows organizations to run ads that spread rumours and lies. I think it comes from election ads (and some Republican tactics of the Bush era) and maybe that’s made them feel its all part of typical political mud slinging.
But frankly if one of these groups puts an ad on TV, and the content is blatantly untrue, they should be held accountable. They should be forced to spend an equal amount of money to tell the truth and/or face federal prosecution.
Meanwhile at these rallies people are showing up with guns (even assault rifles) and signs that infer that it’s time to spill some blood (“It’s time to water the tree of liberty”). Wow! Its one thing to have free speech, but it’s another to suggest anarchy or support insurrection!
There have been arguments made that these people technically aren’t breaking any laws (it’s not a concealed weapon; there’s no specific law for assault rifles in Arizona, etc.) but I think we really have to look into the mindset of these people. Earlier this month a nut in PA went into a fitness center and killed three women and shot over a dozen others. After the fact, people always ask “why didn’t anyone prevent this?” (he’d even posted threatening videos before) but it’s this weird desire to protect the rights of these nut jobs that eventually leads to some major tragedy.