Sageman's Blog

In this day and age where news is disseminated in a matter of minutes is it any wonder that opinions form just as rapidly. Seldom are all the fact's known before one of the many news personalities have formed an opinion. What is even more interesting is how these opinions waver based on public opinion. It begs the questions, does anyone wait for all the facts to come in before basing an opinion?

Its not just news personality's at fault either, it's become a trend now, where people formulate an opinion based on a few short paragraphs posted on a news website or a 2 minute news byte aired on a "Live Broadcast" about a topic, never waiting to see the whole story unfold. God forbid if it does evolve into something they disagree with, because, well then it's a conspiracy. At that point both sides level accusations that either the neo-conservatives, or liberal controlled news media, are plotting to keep the real story hidden.

It's also interesting how everyone (news reporters included) will leave out elements to bolster a more interesting or persuasive story. Few people care whether they receive all the facts, all the information, as long as there's enough there to formulate a conclusion they agree with. Then with that small bit of agreeable information people run off headlong into an argument supported by conclusions that are to them black and white.

Does anyone cares about the shades of gray, the wrong or right, the guilty or innocent? With out the gray, we find that compassion is often thrown out the window. All in all, It seems we place our Politicians on pedestals, much like the Ancient Greeks did their heroes. They are to be idolized as better than human, a sort of demi-god, and woe should any of them stoop low enough to show human foibles.

Are we to harsh on our politicians, do we forget that they are very much like us? No one bat's an eye when they know a neighbor is cheating on his wife or vice versa. In my little community people knew two of our married neighbors were cheating on each other but no one bothered to tell the innocent spouses of the transgressions. When asked why, people simply said it was no one's business.

In Europe the attitude towards politicians is different than in America. They seem to enjoy knowing their politicians are human, in fact they have a history of forgiving them for their errors, whether politically or socially. One blunder will seldom cripple a politicians career in European Countries, after all how can they be expected to be any better than anyone else?

So have we become to harsh on the politicians we have elected? Do we expect more of them than is deserved? Should they be forgiven for the failures if they simply fall into human nature? No expects the criminal to walk free or the corrupt to triumph, but should the average fault become more than average?