The Media Narrative Strikes Again

It's pretty much BAU (business as usual) for all nuance to be dropped in a sound-bite media industry.

Take the recent faux pas by Pat Robertson in referring to overseas dictator Chavez. The buzz was that Robertson suggested we should assassinate Chavez simply as a matter of policy. I'm no fan of Robertson (and I'll leave it go at that), but what the media is insinuating about his comments isn't quite accurate.

...There was a popular coup that overthrew him [Chavez]. And what did the United States State Department do about it? Virtually nothing. And as a result, within about 48 hours that coup was broken; Chavez was back in power, but we had a chance to move in. He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent.

You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop...

Robertson begins by stating that he "doesn't know" about assassination, but if Chavez is insisting that we're trying to kill him, why not just do it? It's not like the malicious schemer promoting violence and mayhem in order to get his way. Rather, it's simply someone saying, "Hey, if you're going to keep accusing me of this, then I'll just go ahead and do it so that you can enjoy being right -- so how do you like them apples?"

That being said, Robertson is infamous for speaking where most normal people fear (wisely) to utter a sound. Like the Super Bowl halfway show, he needs a 10-second buffer to screen his thoughts before broadcasting them for everyone to hear and committing a "social malfunction."

Now everyone feels a need to comment on HIS comments. Christians are hasty to back-pedal from his irresponsibility, in order to defend the faith against misjudgement. Humanists are quick to condemn his comments as immoral. (And now I'M commenting on OUR comments on HIS comments!)

We all take ourselves so seriously. Are we all so blind that we can't figure out for ourselves that Robertson simply let his mouth do his thinking for him, as I think (deep-down) we all realize?

There is no "public debate" that needs to be entered over what his comments meant and how they should be handled. I think we all are smarter than that.

Perhaps it would be better to simply chuckle and sigh, "Oh, there goes Pat again, that man is always getting himself in trouble," and then moving on without wasting more time on this.