Everyone Needs a Little Drama

'Rooters are not immune from a little drama. We have zoning and streamside setback issues and, of course, the never ending "'negative' influence of new money coming into the valley" to complain about. These issues alone have kept the local papers busy for the last few years. Some recent drama caught my eye, though. It took place in print in the Ravalli Republic in a Valley Viewpoint entitled "Questioning Our Leader's Morality." Take a few minutes to read it here.

It is quite humorous. Humorous, because the author, Larry Blocker, fell hook, line, and sinker for misinformation spread via the internet and email that many of us heard about and dismissed months ago. I received that email this winter from a family member who was all too ready to jump on the smear bandwagon (manure spreader is a more apt term). You've heard the lies before: Obama does not pledge allegiance to the flag, Obama was sworn into the Senate using the Koran, not the Bible, Obama's wife says, "I have never been proud of anything that has happened in this country", and on and on... Luckily, not everyone in the valley is so naive. Read the comments that follow the article.

Mr. Blocker's article is humorous because it gives testament to his ignorance and others like him, but it is also disturbing for three reasons.

First, it is disturbing that there are people out there that hear and want to believe this misinformation. They have forgotten the adage, 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.' A little common sense would help. For example, there is nothing wrong with a public servant being sworn into office using a text other than the Bible (say the constitution or the Koran), but do you think Obama would have survived the primaries if the false claim that he used the Koran was true? Also, America has known about these smear emails for some time. Where was Mr. Blocker when it was covered on the evening news or in print? Or a more apt question, what was Mr. Blocker listening to or reading? Obama's staff has gone to the extent of creating a webpage called "Fight the Smears" to dispel such rumors, but a little common sense and fact checking would have done the same.

Second, it is disturbing that the Ravalli Republic would print blatant lies. Yes, readers caught it and shared their comments, but aren't journalists supposed to double check sources? What was Perry Backus, the editor of the Ravalli Republic, thinking when he sent this off to print? Or if he was not there when the decision was made to print the article, why wasn't he in the loop? It is one thing to print opinions, but quite another to allow the printing of lies. Mr. Backus could have saved the paper from some criticism and stopped Mr. Blocker from making an ass of himself in front of the entire county.

Third, it is a lot easier to say something you don't mean or is untrue, than it is to write it. Putting something down on paper adds an extra couple steps to the process of sharing your thoughts and usually allows time to cool down. Think about it. You generate in your mind what you want to say. Then, you put it down on paper, which gives you a second opportunity to hear what your message sounds like. You then re-read it to check facts or check for spelling. Finally, you have to put it in the mail or hit [Return] to send it. At some point in this process you'd think the idea would've come to Mr. Blocker that some of this stuff sounded far-fetched and possibly just wrong. Sadly, now everyone knows what and how Mr. Blocker thinks. And, it's set in stone.

To his credit, Mr. Blocker was man enough to admit that he got his facts wrong and addressed this in a letter to the editor. The editor of the Ravalli Republic even included an apology for printing Mr. Blocker's Valley Viewpoint. It appears, though, that Mr. Blocker still has a lot of fight in him as is evident in his comments following this Valley Viewpoint. Take my advice Larry: take a couple deep breaths, relax,... and don't be an ass.

I hope that from this bit of drama a few more 'Rooters will think long and hard before believing crap that shows up in their inbox. Then, maybe, we can talk about real issues such as the economy, energy, the environment, zoning, streamside setbacks, and The War. You know, things that are actually important.