tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5668712602334003954.post6747217597916424128..comments2024-01-12T15:32:22.236-08:00Comments on The Episconixonian: Soul SourcesFr. Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09974142521713230215noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5668712602334003954.post-12216329743439363272010-08-24T08:25:02.863-07:002010-08-24T08:25:02.863-07:00Dunno why that says anonymous (above). Just me!Dunno why that says anonymous (above). Just me!Fr. Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09974142521713230215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5668712602334003954.post-31454427880913163752010-08-24T08:24:12.285-07:002010-08-24T08:24:12.285-07:00I'll look forward to reading the Burke essay. ...I'll look forward to reading the Burke essay. You'd know better than I through your studies, but I imagine that political actors have always tended toward a utilitarian ethic. But could it be getting worse?<br /><br />Mitch McConnell's correct answer over the weekend was this: "The President's a faithful Christian; of that I have no absolutely doubt, and to suggest otherwise hurts him and our country. And it's not the issue in any event -- the issue is jobs." <br /><br />But the polls say Obama's vulnerable here, so McConnell stuck the knife in. That's what we do in politics, right? There was a time when perhaps we hesitated for a moment, both because it's the wrong thing to do and because it's the president of the U.S. But there are bigger issues involved, higher principles, right? And Hillary said the same thing in 2008, so it's fair game for me. And so the cycle goes.<br /><br />Of course if journalism continues to die, we won't have any facts. Just spin. All life will be spin!<br /><br />Well, I'm in a mood, huh?<br /><br />Thanks for your thoughtful post.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5668712602334003954.post-67585934724702150092010-08-22T18:45:31.516-07:002010-08-22T18:45:31.516-07:00So glad to see you blogging again! And what a goo...So glad to see you blogging again! And what a good, thoughtful post to re-start the blog. You make an excellent point about Felt in your discussion of anonymous sources. He could not (and never would have) brought down Nixon alone. But it certainly would have made the story of All The Presidents Men different, had readers and movie viewers known why he did what he did. I don’t find him an admirable character, but then my career has been very different from his.<br /><br />Many people who work in Washington (even I, in a small way) sometimes become targets of allegations which they find difficult to rebut because they don’t know who made them and cannot judge their motivations. To some extent, I understand why reporters have to use anonymous sources. And the intervention angle in the VF piece is very interesting. If you can’t approach someone directly, that’s how you have to roll, sometimes. As someone who still values good, old-fashioned journalism, I’ve learned to parse stories in good, traditional newspapers very carefully. I’ve often wondered if some of the named people actually were anonymous sources, too. <br /><br />A history professor, Timothy Burke, recently expressed some downhearted views recently as to “Does Evidence Matter Any More?” It would have been more effective if he would have used examples from both political parties—it comes across as more partisan than it might. But his larger points do raise some questions about evidence and how people treat and view it these days. I’ve been thinking about that of late as it relates to the issue of “false witness.” Starting with the Clinton administration, and then continuing through the Bush and Obama administrations, the political world has relied on more and more stories on talk radio and cable, and now on blogs, which are far fetched and lacking in substance. Yet one sees them emailed and talked and blogged about by many ordinary citizens. I sometimes wonder whether people know deep down that some of the stories are false or unlikely to be true, but pass them on any way because “the end justifies the means” and it hurts “the other guys.” That seems morally corrosive to me. Lying, and its cousins (selective use of data and exaggeration) seem to be casually accepted these days to a much greater extent than I remember growing up. Guess I’m showing my age, ha! Be on the lookout for partisan references in it – but Burke’s essay on evidence is worth reading at<br /><br />http://weblogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/2010/08/02/evidence-is-old-fashioned/<br /><br />I still haven’t learned how to do code for hyperlinks, so you’ll have to copy and paste!<br /><br />All my very best,<br /><br />MKMKnoreply@blogger.com