I was going to write about the wonders of our new Dyson vacuum cleaner. Amazing. Simply awesome. We lived in absolute filth, people, and were totally unaware.
But I got sidetracked by my response to another person's blog. And need to vent. Go figure.
In F1, currently, there is a bit of a scandal. Seems the FIA (governing body of the racing series) President, Max Mosley (yes, son of Sir Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford- Wiki them, bloody fascinating but scary-ass family) was caught in a sting operation cavorting with 5 hookers in a rough trade afternoon. What is nice about this is that he is 67, and apparently in very FINE health. What is not so nice about this is that the News of the World in Britain has labeled the ladies Nazi re creators for pay. Now I (in the spirit of intellectual inquiry) watched bits of the film. And I didn't see Nazi symbolism anywhere. Just some high end call girls dressed in domi outfits, and some prison garb. (Oh, you bad, bad boy Max!). And some bottom spanking.
According to the news, the video goes on for five hours. Impressive. But for such a seemingly spendy venture, if indeed Max's fetish goes towards Naziism, it was a waste of his money. Because that was just not there. Not there.
So. My point. The F1 community and the press are reacting in the most deer in headlights alarmist fashion. They are pillorying the man. In public. Despite the fact that he hasn't been accused of a crime. And the Nazi thing hasn't been proven. And the video was taped illegally (and I suspect as part of a blackmail scheme-there are at least 5 different cameras involved). He has been set up. Obviously. No question. And still. The press (ie. Murdoch's establishment in England) is hammering him. And he is suing the pants off of them. And rather than take a moment, be calm about it, and insist that the allegations be fully proven, most of the teams have chosen to condemn the man.
What really chaps my ass, besides the unfairness of being condemned without a trial, is that I feel sorry for Max. I don't like Max. Never have. And I feel that I must defend the man. Ick. Feh.
I just overwhelmingly hate that people attribute the press with some kind of magical power of truth. That if it is written down, it is automatically true. That pisses me off beyond extreme. And I want to start calling out instances of the media being manipulated. And in this instance the media clamoring for one man's blood is more than I can bear.
"The caretakers of the various cemeteries involved report that no ghosts walk."
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3 comments:
When I teach logical fallacies, I always talk about how if you bring Nazis into it, you automatically lose the argument on logical terms. It automatically becomes a Red Herring fallacy, and also, usually, an Ad Hominem attack. Because people react off the gut/heart to Nazi stuff, and their brains disengage. So it's best to avoid the claims if you want LOGIC to prevail.
But if you want scandal, distraction techniques, illogic, selling tabloids, juicy destruction of someone, etc, bring them in, wholesale. Attack. Attack. "Do you still beat your Nazi girlfriend?" is a question that you can't reply well to. It becomes defense, right away. Once it's out there, you can't survive-- you don't reply, you look guilty. Reply, you look guilty. Sometimes the only way one can fight these kinds of things is by stooping to the lowest common denominator oneself. Which I hate!
I agree. I think with all the masses of information available to us via the Internet, it is amazing how many people accept the very first story they hear. "It's on NPR so it must be true" or "I got it in an email from my friend and he wouldn't lie so it must be true". AAAAARRRRRR!
This is partly why I posted my Greenhouse rant, because I am amazed at the lack of question some folks have about this issue.
And I can tell it's one of those big issues because suddenly people are pulling out personal attacks and red herrings all over the place. And when those come in, you know you've got a subject that people are turning into Dogma.
...yea well...at least Charlton Heston is dead.
also...let's start referring to them as "the press."
in typographer's double quotes.
the Nazi argument makes me ponder a bit on the verbiage of the anti-abortion movement. it's brilliant, whoever came up with it. just think how hard it is to argue "pro life." i mean "pro choice" just doesn't stand up to it. because the implication, if you're arguing "pro life" is that you're "pro death."
anyway, just a tangent here.
however, i DO tell people I'm pro-death, so...you know, it just gets them off my liberal, socialist back.
i also tell them i'm a buddhist communist; that usually shuts them up if they have no idea, or...the paradox just simply freaks them out (if they DO have an idea).
out.
Update- what is great about this is that the court in Britain said that there was no legitimate reason for the video to remain online, but since over a million people had downloaded it, the dam had effectively burst. But there was also acknowledgment that the video contained no "historical" references whatsoever.
Gotta love the internet.
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