Words, cartoons distort

Using the printed page and editorial cartoons to push their political agendas onto others raises the angst of many readers, appeasing only the far right. Written and pictorial attacks against the current administration and President Barack Obama appear driven by these dubious news media.

What do conservatives like Michael Ramirez, Clay Bennett, Lisa Benson, Signe Wilkinson, Charles Krauthammer and Mona Charen call historical reality and statistical imperatives? Oh yes, the party of don’t know calls them “lies.”

The use of syndicated editorial columnists with their dubious facts and disrespectful attacks against the president create WMD: words of mass destruction. Their Fox-like opinions do not pass the smell test. Such mutterings create adverse expectations, killing optimism and belief for a better future: in short, the Pygmalion Effect in spades.

One wonders whether to be mad at the cartoonists, the syndicated guest columnists, or The Spokesman-Review’s editorial board. The singularity of such thinking is sad, causing me to conclude that supporters of the Party of No shun their civic responsibilities.

It’s better to report events and let readers distinguish fact from fiction. In short, it is imperative to avoid playing zero-sum games where victory for one side comes only by the defeat of the other.

Robert McGinty

Liberty Lake