Words from a Reader

The “Writing Life Stories” e-mails I receive are such treasures. As soon as I see there is one in my inbox, I read it immediately. I look forward to them and never know how they will touch me. They can be interesting, informative, humorous, and/or touching.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

The dog that wins is the one you feed.

Yesterday I listened to Anne Murray sing about how we need some good news today. She made that record years ago, but we need good news today more than ever.

I enjoy reading the newspaper from the Qualla Boundary, the reservation for Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.

In a One Feather article, the writer says we get what we have an appetite for, what we the people want to hear and read. If we didn't want to hear the  worst, it would not be on the front page and would not be repeated over and over. We all have criticism of the media, but the media says we get what we ask for. We want to read about the terrible wreck on Hwy 64,  how many were killed, who was at fault, etc. Those are the stories that sell. "If it bleeds, it leads." I have heard that is a favorite saying of journalists.

Why are we bombarded with awful reports on both our candidates for president? Because that is what the majority of the American public wants. Not me. I wish I knew nothing about the personal lives of Trump or Clinton. I wish I knew what they are planning to do to make my life better, to  help our middle class, to bring good health care to everyone. I don't care what someone wrote about Hilary in their emails.  I don't want to hear that Trump has a filthy mouth and thinks women are just for his use and enjoyment.

Early on, in a political survey online, I found that my  top choices for president were Bernie Sanders, Hilary  Clinton and Donald Trump. How can that be? Well, many of the things they want for our country are the same as what I want. But once Trump was on the news every hour of the day, his words turned me against him. His braggadocio turned me off. I hate a bully.


When Bernie was defeated, a decent man with wonderful goals for our country, Hilary became my first choice. Now the media is trying to feed the wolves who want to devour her. I dislike the constant bombardment by media. I wish politics were not the dirty business it is, but good men can't win or if they do, they find it hard to accomplish much while in office.


We elected Barack Obama, one of the most decent and good men to ever serve as president, and because he had no skeletons in his  closet, the opposite side tried to defame him saying he was not an American citizen. I know people who hated that we had elected a black man as our president. The deep seated racism they had always harbored burst out.


 Jimmy Carter, a wonderful man who has done much good in our  world, was too good to be president of the country. Washington could not find any horrible things about him, so they made up lies about his staff. And like Obama,  the opposite side in congress would not work with him. 

I will always believe the hostage situation that cost him a second term was a deal made in secrecy that allowed those held to be freed the day of the Reagan Inauguration.

Who made that deal? I don't blame Reagan, but those who work to elect their candidate, those who run the parties, can use the money they raise in mysterious ways.

Are we the people being misled by the media because we eat up those nasty words, those lies and rumors that tear people apart? Are we so angry we vent our rage online, on Facebook and Twitter? And why do the newspapers, the online news organizations and others continue to publish vile articles and try to destroy those who would be leaders? Because we continue to read and post and share all the dirty stuff we can find. I hope the majority of us don't have hate in our hearts and don't enjoy seeing others destroyed.

The  article in One Feather ends with a wonderful saying. Do you agree?


 https://theonefeather.com/2016/10/editorial-i-miss-the-seeing-the-babies/













5 comments:

  1. I know that story as the wolf you feed is the one which triumphs. And how true it is.
    Sadly. And I don't like the things which too many of us choose to feed.
    Hatred, intolerance, bigotry and just plain nastiness.

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  2. Yes, EC. I agree. We are feeding the wrong dogs or wolves. Is it the same in your country as it is here? Is it the same all over the world now? Maybe we just hear more from those who spew out hatred and such because of the Internet, because of social media. I just don't know.

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  3. I hear you and wish so much it could be different. It wasn't like this when I was young, and maybe it will change again. I can hope. :-)

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  4. I don't like politics in the news any more than you do1 but there's nothing I can do about it except n listen to news as much1 vote for anyone but ,truml1 and hope for the best.

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  5. Thanks, DJan and Abbie for stopping by and leaving your comments. As I said to a friend today, we can't go back fifty years to what we used to be but we can start today to make our country more civil and to ignore the mean and vulgar words of those who fight ugly.
    What do we really want? Do we even know? I put much thought into those questions and I have some answers for myself. I'll post about that later.

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I really appreciate your comments, and I love reading what you say.