David Sirota: Gold Medalists in Fake Outrage

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from truthdig:



Gold Medalists in Fake Outrage

Posted on Jul 27, 2012
By David Sirota


Fake outrage is a little like pornography—hard to narrowly define, but you know it when you see it. It is the television pundit railing on the supposed “War on Christmas” or the radio host calling a woman a “slut” for the alleged crime of discussing contraception. It is the Democratic partisan pretending to be offended by John McCain’s expensive shoes, or the Republican partisan taking umbrage at President Obama for daring to repeat the truism that “if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help.” And when it comes to the 2012 Olympics, it is the typical congressional leader criticizing American athletes’ uniforms for being made in China.

This has been the big story in the lead-up to the games, as top lawmakers from both parties are pretending to be upset that Team USA’s clothing was manufactured far away from home. The operative word, though, is “pretending.”

A look at the record shows that many of these lawmakers supported (and continue to support) the tariff-free trade policies that eviscerated the domestic textile industry—aka the industry that should be making the uniforms. And yet, these same lawmakers preen before the cameras, clad in suits made in factories their votes helped offshore. Gold medalists in fake outrage, they breast beat about jobs and American pride, correctly betting that few reporters will highlight their phony indignation’s inherent deceit.

Of course, while Washington’s purported outrage over the uniforms is entirely fake, the underlying questions about offshoring and domestically sourced products are very real—and very troubling. ....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/gold_medalists_in_fake_outrage_20120727/