26 February 2004

Talking Loud & Saying Nothing

I drove the car without the cd player so I was forced to listen to the radio. I punched the channel changer over and over again trying to find a station I could stomach for the 15 minute drive to the plantation (I mean that literally, the building's architectural style is like a plantation). I stopped mashing the button when I landed on Hot 107—Florida's premier radio station (*pppbbbbbbbbbbbbbbtt*).

It sounded like there were four people on the air, three men and one woman, who was reading the morning news bytes. It's difficult to tell anyone's age on the radio, but based on their grasp of various political events, it was obvious they were not just young, but partly apathetic and mostly ignorant.

The woman was doing a bad job of ad libbing about Haiti's political crisis when a male voice began talking over her. He matter of factly said that when there is talk about "violence in countries that aren't American" (go figure that one out) after the first few words all he hears is "blah blah blah." Then he asks why there's unrest, what are the people rebeling against.

A second male voice weighs in with his infuriating misconception of the situation. According to this guy, Aristide hasn't done anything for his people and the people are tired of it. That's it! That was all he knew ...he'd shot his wad of information (misinformation) in just a few wrong words.

He knew nothing about the background of the opposition. He knew nothing about FRAPH, or who trained and armed them. He knew nothing about those who .:publicly fund:. the opposition. He has no idea that U.S. ReTHUGlican organizations like the .:National Endowment for Democracy:. and the International Republican Institute plays a large part in the unrest in Haiti, and they do so without shame or public accountability.

Neither he nor his on-air buddy know much because they don't want to know. As a result, they'll keep polluting the airwaves with American-made white lies and half-truths.

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