Critical Thinking: The Other National Deficit

All it takes is one look at the current state of affairs in the United States to know we are in deep trouble.  Before I get blamed for taking sides, let me just say that I am an equal-opportunity offender; that is to say, I sweep the floor with both Right and Left ideology and criticize lack of logic on both sides equally.

It is sort of a common denominator to blame the media for our national ills and divisiveness.  I remember when being a current events critical observer meant one only had to keep one's eye on Fox News for outrageous claims and incendiary language.  That's not the case anymore!  CBS, NBC, ABC and MSNBC are starting to make Fox News look like "the cornerstone of logic and reason" in current American media.  I know that is an exaggeration but I make it to illustrate the point that, as perverse as it seems, the so-called Liberal media has out-done its most dangerous enemy and has climb to higher levels of "outrageousness" in order to sink to new lows.  One example of this was a few months ago, during the Florida Republican primary, when Rachel Maddow argued ("Let me say something provocative, but I think it is true," she accentuated) that Republican nominee Newt Gingrich used a secret coded racist language when stating that "The President should stop singing and start leading."  Gingrich was referring to Obama's performance of Al Green's classic hit at the Apollo Theater a few weeks before.  Maddow suggested that it was all a secret coded message that really was meant to connect the president with "Minstrel" shows, etc.  And that's is just one of many examples.  The Republicans are waging war on women, minorities, poor people, gays, college students and just about everyone who doesn't share conservative values.  This defies logic and here's the reason I say so... if a political party's main reason for being is to win elections, why would the Republicans do this purposefully?  Doesn't it defeat the purpose of running for office, or could all of this be a creation of the new, blistering extreme media?  Sadly, I think it is and even more sadly, it's coming from the Left.