I was just watching CNN.
The newsman Thomas Roberts was announcing.
He was introducing the weather segment.
After noticing that snowstorms had covered the Midwest and the East Coast was experiencing mild temperatures – well above freezing – he stated, ‘It’s almost like there is a wall there between the Midwest and the East Coast.’
The weather woman came on next and told us about how snow had fallen in the Midwest but not on the East Coast – which was news to practically no one. The people in the Midwest are acutely aware that snow has fallen and the people on the East Coast were probably cognizant of the fact that it hadn’t snowed.
Considering the fact that CNN is a national broadcast, as USA Today is a national newspaper, perhaps I underestimate their impact – maybe people in California, Utah, Hawaii and Alaska need or are entertained by stories of snow and mild temperatures and want them provided to them every 20 minutes hour after hour.
That’s not what I am writing about. Personally – I like to know what the weather is around the globe – it figures in many things – transportation and agriculture spring to mind first and foremost. One cannot discount weather as a tool of peace either – because when bad weather arrives – armies and navies cease their murder and must wait out the storm – just like the rest of us.
What I am writing about is the remark that Thomas Roberts made.
‘It’s almost like there is a wall there between the Midwest and the East Coast.’
Why, yes, one could say that.
Is it a political wall, Mr. Roberts? Is it a case of the red states having severe weather today and the blue states having mild weather?
No – even though North Carolina is predominantly Democratic in nature and voting patterns – they were a red state in the past election – so the case for it being a political wall is discounted.
Is it an economic wall?
No – the economy of Arkansas is doing fine even though the economies of Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan are in dumpster so it’s not an economic wall.
Is it a religious or spiritual wall?
Well – no – even with all the name calling it is generally acknowledged that everyone in the United States are kind, loving and have a few extra cents for the poor – whether this is true or not is not at issue here.
The issue is that wall.
Now what kind of wall could there be that separates the Midwest from the East Coast?
A time zone!
No – that’s not it, Mr. Roberts, Michigan is in the eastern time zone and Illinois is in the central time zone and they are both experiencing severe weather.
It’s the Appalachian Mountains, Mr. Roberts. That’s the wall between the Midwest and the East Coast. They are string of mountains that stretches from the Canadian Coastline, though Maine all the way down to Georgia.
The massive string of mountains snakes along the eastern portion of the North American continent.
Today though – with planes, trains, automobiles and ships that can zip us from place to place without any thought other than buying a ticket at a counter and hopping on board it might be difficult to imagine things not always being like this.
With that sort of miscommunication going on – with that sort of historical confusion and geographical ignorance being not only tolerated but encouraged in our news media by people like Mr. Roberts about something as obvious as the weather and a major geographical feature on the face of our planet – we can begin to understand some of the reasons for the deeper misunderstandings that persist in our world.
Those deeper misunderstandings are like the invisible mountains that separate the Midwest from the East Coast for Mr. Roberts.
What other invisible geography is in our national makeup? The difference between north and south is one. Is there really a difference anymore? There used to be one. Some people insist that there is still one or try to make one. Just recently a young woman in Kentucky sued her county school board because she was not allowed to attend her high school prom while wearing a Confederate Battle Flag fashioned into an evening gown.
Zel Miller’s loud and outrageous behavior at the Republican Convention on behalf of Mr. Bush – even though he is supposed to be a Democrat – showed up some more of that ugly geology.
That difference can be said to be a mountain. No getting over it for some people.
What about the behavior of Mr. Blair of the United Kingdom? He has been welcomed with open arms by many of our elected leaders – and yet – he is from a country which still maintains a monarchy. The Commonwealth States of the United Kingdom is a shadow empire that continues to act like a parasite on many nations around the world – Iraq being the primary host at the moment.
Our political leaders – Mr. Bush being the most blatant example – embrace the ranting and general lunacy of Mr. Blair as if they were words being spilled from the Bible.
This invisible feature could be said to be an ocean – because there is a vast area of difference between this nation and the tiny kingdom which made slavery a household word.
We are not getting the news we deserve or the true rendition of events. We are getting impulsive responses to deep seated problems and skewed journalistic reports that collect responses from the extremes on an issue dumped on us.
The only thing that the large news corporations take time to prepare for and ensure are presented in a prompt manner are the advertisements.
There is more truth in a dishwashing liquid commercial than all of the lies, garbage and propaganda dumped on us since the Iraq War began – since indeed – Bush first pushed his way into the office of the Presidency.
Way to go Mr. Roberts – maybe his producer will buy him an atlas for his birthday – or at least a funny hat and a big, red, squeaky nose to wear – so that when we watch him it’s clear he's supposed to be an entertaining clown and not an informative newscaster.
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