Effective Immediately: You can Now STOP saying "Where's the Outrage??!!"

[Land Shark]

Follow even the best leader around and you will find few or no moments that can be fairly deemed or called "outrage." Yet people love to say "where's the outrage?" thereby setting up a nearly impossible standard, because many people's reactions we are 100% comfortable with would never qualify as "outrage" per se.

Instead, it seems the question is more like "where's the public outcry?" Take that one up with the media, because that's where you're really looking for a reflection of reality. That we expect, or hope, still to find our opinions/outcry/outrage 'reflected' in the MSM is "optimistic" to say the least: that is to say, expecting to see our opinions in the corporate MSM constitutes maintaining a positive outlook on the corporate MSM in the face of all the facts with respect to the media's actual and historical willingness to report the outrage/outcry du jour.

But, the best explanation I'll simply leave to Thomas Paine:

It is never to be expected in a revolution that every man is to change his opinion at the same moment. There never yet was any truth or any principle so irresistibly obvious that all men believed it at once. Time and reason must cooperate with each other to the final establishment of any principle; and therefore those who may happen to be first convinced have not a right to persecute others, on whom conviction operates more slowly. The moral principle of revolutions is to instruct, not to destroy.

Fellow DU'ers, we have the privilege and curse of being on the cutting edge of some change. Our moral imperative is to instruct others, but consequently we can't expect universal and immediate reflection of our responses to the news, all the time.

There are exceptions to the rule of needing to educate our way to victory, and we of course can't count on the MSM there, either. For example, according to a recent Zogby poll fully 92% of the American public wants a voting system where they can WITNESS vote counting and OBTAIN INFORMATION about vote counting. Both of these are completely denied by our electronic secret vote counting system in this country, which "incidentally" happens to deny the public oversight of their own elections, and prevent government accountability as to election vote counting.

Those defenders of democracy in the MSM can not be brought to even utter the phrase "secret vote counting" and a lexisnexis search on the phrase will get only three mentions, two by DU personalities Land Shark and Guv Wurld, and one by Chris Mathews referring the House's "leadership" election earlier in 2006. Not much for a political phrase garnering 9,770 hits in quotes.

So, not only can't you get "outrage" from the media, you can't even get the obvious, nor even a defense of democracy from these guys. GIVE UP WAITING for all the media to be like Keith Olbermann. Just read more Thomas Paine quotes, and make sure OTHERS can see YOUR "outrage." They'll all be forced to come around eventually.

On edit: (Thanks to Bleever): Get your OWN DANG OUTRAGE! Stop mooching off of others!! : )

[emlev]

1. Great quote! Thanks for this piece.

And how are you feeling?

[Patsy Stone]

2. K&R

Thanks, Land Shark. Hope you're feeling better.

[bleever]

3. K&R. Bringing our own outrage to the party.

:thumbsup:

[Land Shark]

4. i should try to edit that in: Getcherown dang outrage! Quit mooching on others!!

[blm]

21. Open Government is the DEMAND of responsible CITIZENS.

Don't Tread on Us.

[Lilith Velkor]

5. While we're at it, can we please stop pretending the public supports the war?

Those who say, "We need to wake people up!!!" would do well to pull their heads out of their asses and pay attention.

It ain't 2003 no more, kids. Payback time's a-comin'.

[Land Shark]

7. Yes, I Can, I think we all can, can't we? nt

[tavalon]

11. Yes, we can

No one but the Beltway Idiots still believe that one!

[puebloknot]

6. Cancelling my next few birthdays so I can be around when...

...we get America back! :)

Great article, and very helpful. When "they" do finally come around, they'll say they knew it all along! But that's okay, as long as they're willing to cut down a few trees so they can see the forest.

[kster]

8. I just had a * supporter who

had just got done watching Hacking Democracy, He was out taking his nightly walk, and came up to me , and told me all about it, He works for me, on and off and I have talked to him about the machines a few times.

Hacking Democracy got him asking me questions, because he did not really believe the problem was that bad until he saw it ON TV. TV is a big problem to getting the story out, and without the media we will have to take "baby steps" with our family Friends and neighbors, so that they understand the problem.

His question:
Did they find all of that out because * became president?

Answer: No take another look at the video, someone came across the information online, from the vote counting machine companies website.

Question:
Are they doing anything about it.

Answer:
Experts say that we do not have the technology availably to secure electronic vote counting, the only way in my HONEST opinion is for the people to hand count the ballots by hand

Question:
If it isn't done by machine (Mind you this is from someone who is first putting two and two together), it will take a long time to count the votes.

Answer:
I know you, and I know you really could care less how long it takes to get the totals from an election?

His response: Your right.


People are figuring it all out, but because the ON TV media is horse shit, it will take us a little longer to spread the word and get those people to understand this scam.

BUT WE WILL GET THERE! K&R.........

[GuvWurld]

9. This is ruthless honesty

We say that we see the media's corrupt behavior, making it intensely dishonest to behave surprised when their next failure merely continues the pattern we should know to expect. We all have to learn to be more conscious of connecting the way we say that we see things, with the way that we act on that same information. This is ruthless honesty, reducing the disconnect. It is one of the most important things We collectively must do if we are ever going to effectively organize to change the relationship of power between the government and We The People (that change is the definition of revolution). With a million issues, non-stop crises and scandals, and a media that purposefully misdirects our attention, we are seriously challenged when it comes to making wise choices about goals and tactics. Those of us devoted to such matters of strategy know that beyond just smart plans, we must be well organized. This kind of thinking is crucial, at the core.

[Land Shark]

38. Thanks for interesting comment, but am wondering where the word "ruthful" went

Does it mean compassion? Just curious.

[indepat]

10. I'm still outraged notwithstanding the wisdom of Paine for by now all but the dead,

the deaf and blind, the brain-dead, and the brainwashed should have gotten it.

[Land Shark]

15. and all indications are that all but the most partisan HAVE gotten it

but still, your camera will have difficulty finding true "outrage" (a form of emotional violence more or less) and to have that outrage timed to be expressed simultaneously is a matter of intense organizational skills and effort, perhaps a demonstration, etc)

We should be "outraged" or something like that, but we should not look to outrage for confirmation of what we believe.

[jelly]

12. Thanks for the fresh perspective

"Instead, it seems the question is more like "where's the public outcry?" Take that one up with the media, because that's where you're really looking for a reflection of reality."

I think I am guilty of having looked to the media for a reflection of my views, and guilty of feeling powerless when year after year that reflection failed to appear. Now we have KO and John Stewart and when you really put things in perspective that beats the odds; that is more than we could have hoped for. Look, the institution of tv has not been around all that long. We are making this up as we go along, Perhaps it is time to reexamine our relationship with tv, and how it affects our world view.

You're right. People ARE outraged. I'm outraged. You're outraged. I see outrage sprayed all over this very active message board. Just because said outrage is not being reported about by every talking head on the MSM does nothing to negate that reality. Our resistance to believing in our own outrage accomplishes their mission to create the illusion that we neither exist nor matter. We are not going down like that. We exist, we are outraged, and we are here to stay.

[BeFree]

18. "Our resistance to believing in our own outrage"?

I dunno, I believe in my outrage. And I've gotten some other folks outraged, tho not as outraged as me, yet. Takes time.

I guess once the facts began showing up ON TV, people who had been prepped then became outraged, so there is that, but my outrage was never questioned by myself. And most of my ER comrades' outrage has never been questioned.... we all knew it was a huge problem.

Now, keeping the outrage level high.... that's a whole 'nuther matter. After the last election I am temporarily less outrageous <grin> but we've got the dragon almost beat and soon we will drive a stake through it's cold black box heart.

The question is: Who thinks this matter must finally be killed? Who is with us to help drive that stake?

[jelly]

42. That is to say, in our collective outrage.

Thanks for your thoughts . . . sorry, mine was not the most artfully articulated position! To clarify I do believe in my own outrage -- the question is whether the feeling is worth having. My mistake was to rely on the MSM as a sort of standard to determine whether that feeling has any validity or power, and/or for proof that others out there besides me and my friends feel the same. I'd been relying on the MSM in that manner without even quite understanding that I was doing it. Instead of sitting paralyzed in front of my TV in 2003 watching embedded journalists spouting government propoganda and feeling depressed because I felt like one of the only people in the world that recognized the insanity that was the decision to invade Iraq, I should have been more confident in my own voice and been out there demonstrating. I think once I turned to the real world I would have discovered then that the MSM does not reflect said real world and that in fact I was far from alone. Perhaps my view of journalists was too idealistic. I won't make that mistake again.

As for the remainder of your comments I agree - letting down our guard and slipping back into smug complacency following the November elections would be a bad thing. You can count on me, for one, not going that route; I am nothing if not always outrageous.

[Land Shark]

47. yes, that's right, if you look for a reflection in the TV, the ONLY thing you see is U-self

and anyone else that happens to be standing in your living room right in front of that boob tube.

[BeFree]

48. Hehehehe

I do believe we have another bleever! Wonderful.

Tell ya Jelly, if it hadn't been for DU I might have lost it. Never did believe what the media was saying and so in finding DU came a sense of home. Hope we can count on you.... we need all the souls we can get to slay the dragon.

[Land Shark]

53. Yes, they are Beaming stuff into your living room, you are NOT beaming anything OUT!!

It is a total ONE WAY TRANSMISSION AND ONE WAY STREET, so WHY in the world we'd think we'd get anything but the dim reflection of our own physical shadows in the glass of an unplugged Tv is a bit of a mystery.

Betcha it has to do with conventions like going to "our" reporter in Baghdad, "Tom?" and then back to the central headquarters of the broadcast, as if each one of these bozos is really representing us!

[jelly]

54. that's fascinating

I bet you somebody has written a book about that. If not it would make a great topic for a dissertation for a Ph.D. in sociology. Anyone know of any good books along these lines?

[jelly]

55. What I wouldn't have done to find y'all sooner.

Okay enough of that mushy stuff, where's my sword?

Ha.

[Land Shark]

28. your response is very much worth reading, thanks. nt

[bleever]

43. Welcome to DU, jelly.

:thumbsup:

[jelly]

56. thanks I appreciate it! nt

[radfringe]

13. we've entered a NEW PHRASE?

;) :evilgrin:

[mod mom]

14. Thanks Landshark for another poignant post.

[kpete]

16. K&R

back for more outrage later...

[stellanoir]

17. how about this approach . . .?

http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=142875

Would that it were possible.

[Joe Chi Minh]

24. Wow. I can't bring myself to read it, but it sounds like the wrath of God.

[mom cat]

19. Hey man! How are you doing? It sounds like you are doing better,

for which I am truly thankful.
Outrage is a tricky thing. It is quite useful when directly confronting the oligarchy. It is not useful however as a 24/7 state of being. That kind of outrage puts you in a kind of flight/fight quandary and wears down the adrenal glands and puts too much cortisol in your brain. Both impede the ability to act over the long haul. Having had several episodes of outrage burnout (I worked with victims of horrific abuse), I learned the hard way to temper the outrage and put my energy into methodical resistance. For me, it works better over the long haul, but everyone has to find their own way of coping.
I appreciate your pointing out that those of us on the cutting edge must be careful how we treat those who do not yet understand the grave situation in which we find ourselves today. There is a lot of education to do and we need to make sure that we do it in a way that is most likely to educate. Trashing people with uninformed opinions will only serve to build their resistance and further polarize the split in those who are not millionaires. This polarization ONLY aids the overlords ans separates us from our natural allies: those who have also been oppressed. IMHO, we need to save our outrage for the oligarchs and not spew it on our fellow victims.

Thanks for your thought provoking post.

[Javaman]

20. I'm outraged by people still being outraged by the term "where's the outrage". nt

[Land Shark]

23. excellent. Just DO something about it,

[Javaman]

26. Exactly!!! nt

[Joe Chi Minh]

22. Great post, Paul. I'm afraid though I feel a good deal less indulgent

towards people purporting to provide the public with information on current affairs - particularly domestic current affairs - who knowingly disinform the public.

In fact, I regret that there is not a law under the criminal code punishing knowing transgressions against the public good, by broadcasting what purports to be information about current affairs, that are manifestly false; perforce clearly proved by subsequent criminal prosecutions directly relating to the matter.

Consequently, all criminal convictions of individuals and companies responsible for electoral fraud would provide the basis of their guilt. It would have to be a clear pattern of deliberate nescience and disinformation, but that wouldn't be a problem with our media in the UK or the US. The proprietor however, whether Rupert Murdoch or any other media magnate would have to take the fall (imprisonment), not their underlings. Another sanction might be to sequestrate a significant part of their personal assets and a heavy fine on the company. All of them at once, and no spinning them out. (Incidentally, I believe this spinning out of wage claims over time by employers is iniquitous and needs to be firmly knocked on the head).

Unfortunately, however, I can't see this happening in the foreseeable future, since media magnates are in the business primarily to persuade people, not of the truth, but that their lies are the truth. It's an evil game that has played a significant part in all the villainy of the dark forces of this World in the media era, including the rise and support of Hitler and WWII. And the sow has returned to its vomit.

Still, I hope the Democrats will find ways to punish the media magnates, apart from introducing a new fairness doctrine, which latter will be motivated primarily for positive reasons.

Reducing the multiple of the CEO's earnings in relation to the entry-level employee might be a good way. I think the quite swingeing example instituted by MacArthur in Japan, after WWII, which must have had enormously beneficial effects for the country's economic growth, was intended to punish the reckless militarist morons of their country, and must indeed have clipped their wings for a while. Since MacArthur was one of the conspirators in the planned assassination of Roosevelt, it would b difficult to imagine a more reckless, unprincipled corporatist, and consequently to imagine its motivation being anything other than punitive.

[Land Shark]

25. I'm more like saying Always expect the scorpion to act like a scorpion

[Joe Chi Minh]

27. Yes, I think it's important to bear in mind that there are "children of darkness",

who are not going to change their leopard spots! And there's something sad about good people thinking otherwise and being puzzled and disappointed. It's a good point to make, togther with the need for Democrats to make it happen, themselves.

And I agree that there are degrees of gullibility among Bush's supporters, and it's more helpful on every level to argue respectfully with those who don't really have grasp of the issues.

[Land Shark]

52. "children of darkness" is this an allusion I should be aware of?

haven't heard of it before.

[Joe Chi Minh]

57. It's a term Christ used a lot. The import of the Christian Gospels suggests

that the life of each one of us is ultimately like a pair of jaws, closing on good or evil.

Only, in this life, we can't usually be sure of what the choice of another person will prove to be, or which forces hostile to a growth in virtue exerted on him/her during their life on earth, God, in his justice, would need to make allowances for. There are formal Christians who are, in reality, hostile in their words and deeds to the teachings of Christ. They number among the "children of darkness", those hostile to God and man. (However,it is the height of presumption and great folly for a Christian to ever presume that he doesn't need a reconversion to something approaching a proper worship of his Maker every day of his life).

On the other hand, there are people, like the "sheep" in Christ's description of the Last Judgment, who, when he blesses them and tells them to "stand on is right hand", reply to him, "But I don't even know you." To which he replies, "What you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did unto me. When I was hungry, etc."

A point to bear in mind above all others is that charity, self-denying love is the aim of Christianity. Not the other way around. to quote Christ's own words. "Upon the first Two Commandments hangs the whole of the Law and the prophets." Christ came to serve and to save, he didn't come on an ego trip or to condemn us. But we have the choice of responding to his love in kind or refusing to do so; and if we refuse to love our neighbour in this life, we will be unable to face the all-loving God in the next. He never ceases to love us, but, bizarre as it sounds, we, or some of us, can and do turn from him, eventually choosing eternal punishment in the next life.

The bottom line is that we don't live to serve religiosity, but true religion was instituted and is maintained by him to serve our best interests. "The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath",

[lala_rawraw]

29. kick sky high

[Laelth]

30. Mark Shields' definition of a conservative comes to mind.

He says a conservative is someone who agrees with liberal policies twenty years after they're enacted.

Thanks for this post, Land Shark. k&r

:dem:

-Laelth

[DemReadingDU]

31. afternoon kick

[kpete]

32. A civilized society that can no longer feel outrage, can no longer be civilized. (unknown source)

Owning My Own Outrage...


I found myself trapped in a room of comfortable denial - unable to cry out - much less escape.

Outrage revealed the doors and windows of this confined space.

I chose the door and begin my "move towards improvement" and "permanent progress".

I hope to be a completely "outrageous" kpete if and when we have an opportunity to meet somewhere "outside"...k

[Land Shark]

49. Very interesting quote/subject line, their are echoes in the law

the tort of "outrage" involves conduct "intolerable in a civilized society": I wonder if anything is truly outrageous and intolerable in a society that purports to legalize forms of torture and degrading treatment that both Washington and Lincoln condemned?

[Zavulon]

33. This post outrages me. I demand a DU-wide public outcry. (NT)

[Land Shark]

37. You got it! I can hear the DU Rumble starting! Alert all media contacts. n/t

[L0oniX]

41. I hate this f*cking president and I hate the f*cking Iraq war

I hate that they used my tax money to murder so many people. I am a murderer because I contributed to it. I hate it that so many Americans behaved like morons and voted for this motherf*cking ass carrot. I hate it that a high school education was wasted on those that thought Iraq was responsible for 911. I am embarrassed to be an American because I live in a country of completely ignorant dumb asses. What a crying shame! What a waste! Damned bloody war monger bastards! Bush, Rummy, Kindasleeza Rice, Wolfotwitz, Bill Crystal, Adolf Kissinger, Powel ...I hate them all and I will never forgive them for their crimes against humanity!

[Land Shark]

46. no question of forgiveness even arises until responsibility is taken...

but Rumsfeld, at least, took "full responsibility" for Abu Ghraib.

[jazzjunkysue]

34. Nice Paine quote. Thanks. n/t.

[livvy]

35. I will never forget my first outburst of outrage.

I was at our building's Christmas party in either '02 or '03. The party was winding down a bit, and the ten or twelve people left had gathered in the dining room to sit around and chat. Just as I entered the room, someone said something about the pretzelnut, and it set me off on a righteous rant. I think I went on for a good ten minutes about what a dangerous and criminal unelected troop we had in our White House, and how everyone had better open up their eyes and start keeping track of what was going on in this country before it was too late. I finally ran out of air and stopped.

I looked around the room, and I think a tankful of fish out of water would have made more noise. These people had no idea what to say or do. They had no idea I was political in any way, and some of them probably thought my verbal repertoire was limited to "Hi, how'ya doin'?" They also had no clue as to what I was talking about because they only watched the news at 11:00, or read the daily paper.

I'm sure many of them thought I was drunk or crazy, or just crazy drunk. The point is, I kept on it, although I changed my tactics quite a bit. I used the educator's choice: facts, reason, patience, and information, and I wore my tinfoil hat with pride. It wasn't long before some of these people came to me, and today several of these same people are just as outraged as I was so many years ago.

For now, folks, we are the media. Be outraged. Hell, for what we've had to put up with, it's our right. But more importantly, keep sharing what you know. Others will find their own outrage once they get it, and pass it along to others.

I kind of think of it like a roller coaster. It takes a loooong time to get up that first big hill, but once over the top, the drop is oh so sweet!
Woot!Woot!NGU!


PS: Land Shark, welcome back! Stay well!

[Land Shark]

36. Thanks, Livvy, for the story and the good wishes, and ...

often times the silence in the room includes some who are secretly impressed, or relieved to have heard the truth spoken, and some reacting with fear like it being said (for the first time) some negative truth about the boss in the work situation and the concern is for what the reaction will be.

[EFerrari]

39. Oh, no. Now you're gonna make me read Tom Paine.

And I thought I'd avoided him successfully. lol

Great passage.

K&R

[Land Shark]

40. Oh yeah, and you're gonna like it too! nt

[porphyrian]

44. I'll kick that. - n/t

[Melissa G]

45. K&R! n/t

[midnight]

50. You got my vote on this matter.

Lack of media scrutiny towards the current administration is unacceptable!!!! But after reading some of the quotes from the link you posted for Thomas Paine, I became more inspired. I think we must hang tough on this one issue- "If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang seperately".

[Land Shark]

51. hang tough -- what follows in your post is of course another good Paine quote nt