Enough already

Are we so starved for fulfilling personal lives that we must barge so tastelessly and relentlessly into the lives of others, beyond the usual crass measures now commonplace via tabloid news?

Two examples: Prince Charles’ wedding plans and conservative blogs.

First, that wedding:

• Here is a man who in 2004 alone was directly responsible for raising over $200 Million for charity.
• He runs 17 Charities of his own: : The Prince's Trust, The Prince of Wales's Charitable Foundation, The Prince of Wales's Foundation for Integrated Health, The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment, The Prince of Wales's Phoenix Trust/Regeneration Through Heritage, In Kind Direct, The Prince's Drawing School, The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, Duchy Originals, Business in the Community, Business and the Environment, Scottish Business in the Community, PRIME-Cymru, PRIME-England, The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, The Prince of Wales Foundation US, The Prince's Scottish Youth Business Trust, The Prince of Wales's Arts & Kids Foundation, Youth Business International and The Prince of Wales's Education Summer School.
• He is President or Patron to over 360 other charitable organizations, each of which relies confidently on his active involvement.
• He annually undertakes over 600 public engagements internationally, and has devoted his life to serving his nation.

Yet, despite all of this, people find they are entitled to not only criticize his love life, but the great unwashed public feels it has the right to dictate who, how, and indeed WHETHER he should be able to marry!

It would be interesting to see how much noise would be made if criticism were only permitted from individuals who have been happily married for 30 years or more, have never had an affair, and have never been previously married….I would venture to guess the current uproar would be reduced to stone silence.

Let the man marry in peace, without dissecting and vilifying his and his family’s every intention. Of course, some critique is called for, as his actions reflect on the nation he represents, but let’s be a little fair.

Personally, I’ve no idea how he continues to commit himself to the British people, when all gets in return is scorn and plebian disparagement. I would have dumped the British People long ago, and taken myself off for a well-deserved private life.

Second, bloggers from the right.

YOU’RE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO JOURNALISM!!

Blogs were, for the briefest period, a shining sword of truth in the murky depths of news reporting. When Conservative journalists uncovered the CBS Evening News document scandal, it seemed that a new and exciting system of checks and balances was born. That this incident led to the resignation of Dan Rather, and the firing of four producers and CBS execs, while perhaps a little harsh, was seen as acceptable consequence. Unfortunately, this was only the first hinge-creaking peek into Pandora’s box. Now the lid is thrown back, and the monsters are beginning to creep out.

With nearly 24 years of admirable journalism and integrity under his belt, Eason Jordan, former chief news executive at CNN, had impeccable credentials. He is, however, also human. So, when he made certain remarks at a panel discussion in Davos, Switzerland, this past January, the reasonable response would have been to ask for clarification.

Instead, the Zyklon-Bloggers launched into another ‘purge” campaign, effectively squashing any reasonable investigation into Jordan’s comments, in favor of gleefully engaging in another witch hunt. Unsurprising. After all, this was the evil liberal news outlet, CNN!

Shame on all the bloggers out there, who cannot differentiate between commentary and rabble-rousing. Shame on Jordan’s bosses at CNN, for so quickly accepting his resignation. Shame on us all for not having the intelligence and integrity to call a smear campaign when we see it.

I do not pretend that this blog of mine influences global policy. It is merely my own rambling repository, awakened and updated as the mood dictates. I do not presume that millions tap into my observations on a daily basis. As such, I am free, I believe, to express myself as I see fit. However, the moment I demand any form of action from others, I take on a measure of responsibility that cannot be denied. I would love to demand that unsubstantiated claims made by bloggers (or any reporters) be qualified, at the risk of server shutdown, penalization, and ISP account closure. That would be censure, and I do not advocate that. I would love to demand that we all do such-and-such to so-and-so, but I would have to give reasons for my call to arms, above and beyond my own personal political, social, or psychological motivations. A responsible writer, however, finds a way to convey their point of view within a framework of reasoned argument or, as Gustave Flaubert described, “Objective Subjectivity”.