God of little things
Borsellino: Little things, not polls and pundits, tell bigger story
By ROB BORSELLINO - REGISTER COLUMNIST - November 23, 2005
At any hour, you can turn on cable news and find two guys arguing about Iraq.
The right-wing, pro-war guy is a retired colonel or major or general. He's an older man who looks like he might have peaked back when Calvin Coolidge was the commander in chief.
He keeps saying we have to be tough and support the troops no matter what. We have to stand behind the president even if we suspect he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. God bless America.
The lefty is a nerd with huge glasses and a bad comb-over. He was the assistant undersecretary of something during the Carter administration.
His approach is name-calling:
Dick Cheney is a liar, George W. Bush is out of touch and Donald Rumsfeld is handling Iraq worse than FEMA handled the hurricanes.
The two of them yell at each other for about 10 minutes and don't say a thing.
When they're done, the host thanks them for their brilliant insight, and then he gets into this stuff about the polls.
The latest numbers show that most Americans think Cheney is a liar, Bush is out of touch and Rumsfeld is handling Iraq worse than FEMA handled the hurricanes.
The rest of the country thinks we have to be tough and support the troops no matter what. We have to stand behind the president even if we suspect he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. God bless America.
After I heard that debate and saw the numbers a dozen times last week, I was thinking I don't need polls or pundits. I already knew the country was shifting and the president had no credibility. I just had to listen and look at what's going on around me.
Pick up on the little things that tell a bigger story.
I knew this past summer that support for the war was weakening. For the past few years when you went to garage sales around here, you could find Dixie Chicks CDs for about 75 cents, Al Franken books for a buck and John Kerry's bio for a dime. This year the CDs and Franken books were up to about $3 - a clear sign folks are no longer intimidated by their politics.
But you can get the Kerry bio for a nickel.
Another place to find out what's going on is talk radio. Rush, Sean and the others can't talk about how the American people and the United States Congress lined up behind the president to support his brilliant plan to revamp Social Security.
They can't talk about his tough leadership, his refusal to cut and run when it came to getting Harriet Miers onto the Supreme Court - even though she was the most qualified person in this country.
And ever since Scooter was indicted, there's been no talk about how Bush made good on his promise to bring honor and integrity back to the White House.
But these guys still have to talk for three hours a day, so they fall back into their comfort zone and go on about Bill and Hillary, Ted Kennedy, the New York Times and all the other things that have wrecked the economy, raised gas prices and made this country an international joke.
So with the talk shows avoiding reality, that tells me something.
Then it gets personal. I'm scrolling through my e-mail - past the stuff about erectile dysfunction, the Nigerian billionaire who wants to make me rich, Ed Fallon's latest take on Bill Knapp - and there's a message from Dave Murillo.
This is the Des Moines cop who thinks Cheney isn't tough enough on the torture issue. He thinks Steve King should stop being a wimp and speak out more, say what's on his mind.
Now here's Murillo sending me this really sweet note because he's concerned about my health.
As I wipe the tears from my eyes, I again realize I don't need polls or pundits to tell me how this country and the people in it are changing. I just have to pick up on the little things that tell a bigger story.
And that's something I'm thankful for.
By ROB BORSELLINO - REGISTER COLUMNIST - November 23, 2005
At any hour, you can turn on cable news and find two guys arguing about Iraq.
The right-wing, pro-war guy is a retired colonel or major or general. He's an older man who looks like he might have peaked back when Calvin Coolidge was the commander in chief.
He keeps saying we have to be tough and support the troops no matter what. We have to stand behind the president even if we suspect he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. God bless America.
The lefty is a nerd with huge glasses and a bad comb-over. He was the assistant undersecretary of something during the Carter administration.
His approach is name-calling:
Dick Cheney is a liar, George W. Bush is out of touch and Donald Rumsfeld is handling Iraq worse than FEMA handled the hurricanes.
The two of them yell at each other for about 10 minutes and don't say a thing.
When they're done, the host thanks them for their brilliant insight, and then he gets into this stuff about the polls.
The latest numbers show that most Americans think Cheney is a liar, Bush is out of touch and Rumsfeld is handling Iraq worse than FEMA handled the hurricanes.
The rest of the country thinks we have to be tough and support the troops no matter what. We have to stand behind the president even if we suspect he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. God bless America.
After I heard that debate and saw the numbers a dozen times last week, I was thinking I don't need polls or pundits. I already knew the country was shifting and the president had no credibility. I just had to listen and look at what's going on around me.
Pick up on the little things that tell a bigger story.
I knew this past summer that support for the war was weakening. For the past few years when you went to garage sales around here, you could find Dixie Chicks CDs for about 75 cents, Al Franken books for a buck and John Kerry's bio for a dime. This year the CDs and Franken books were up to about $3 - a clear sign folks are no longer intimidated by their politics.
But you can get the Kerry bio for a nickel.
Another place to find out what's going on is talk radio. Rush, Sean and the others can't talk about how the American people and the United States Congress lined up behind the president to support his brilliant plan to revamp Social Security.
They can't talk about his tough leadership, his refusal to cut and run when it came to getting Harriet Miers onto the Supreme Court - even though she was the most qualified person in this country.
And ever since Scooter was indicted, there's been no talk about how Bush made good on his promise to bring honor and integrity back to the White House.
But these guys still have to talk for three hours a day, so they fall back into their comfort zone and go on about Bill and Hillary, Ted Kennedy, the New York Times and all the other things that have wrecked the economy, raised gas prices and made this country an international joke.
So with the talk shows avoiding reality, that tells me something.
Then it gets personal. I'm scrolling through my e-mail - past the stuff about erectile dysfunction, the Nigerian billionaire who wants to make me rich, Ed Fallon's latest take on Bill Knapp - and there's a message from Dave Murillo.
This is the Des Moines cop who thinks Cheney isn't tough enough on the torture issue. He thinks Steve King should stop being a wimp and speak out more, say what's on his mind.
Now here's Murillo sending me this really sweet note because he's concerned about my health.
As I wipe the tears from my eyes, I again realize I don't need polls or pundits to tell me how this country and the people in it are changing. I just have to pick up on the little things that tell a bigger story.
And that's something I'm thankful for.
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