Fri 13 Aug 2021 09:26:50 AM CDT
All Things Considered?
Quite a few years ago, in the mid-1990s perhaps, I was driving home from a business
trip to the Chicago area. As was my wont in those days I was listening to the radio,
and not finding anything worthwhile I left the radio on one of the several "public
radio" stations that inhabit the lower end of the FM dial. In the late afternoon
(in those days) there was a program called "All Things Considered", ostensibly an
in-depth examination of some subject. That day may have been an epiphany, or maybe
just the final step over a threshold, but nevertheless it was the brutal realization
of the completely corrupt nature of this propaganda organ, which is paid for by the
taxpayers, of which I was and am one.
The subject on that occasion was two men on death row in Utah, for a crime that,
when I finally learned what it was (not from the radio program) merited several
death penalties each if it were possible. Suffice it to say that the crimes described
in Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' paled by comparison. And as in Capote's
narrative, relatively little attention was given to the victims. To be fair, he
gave the Clutter family more attention than the victims in this case.
No, most of the program (in fact almost all of it, as the victims' role was
limited to a brief description of the crime) was about the the tragic young men
awaiting their date with the executioner. I remember in particular one of them
lamenting his fate and saying he was the kind of person you might see working
as some sort of executive and 'driving a Dino Ferrari'. Neither of them was
anything of the kind.
It was some time after the program ended that I made a refueling stop and took
the opportunity to purchase the usual refreshments, and a newspaper. 'USA Today'
was everywhere in those days (and may still be, I haven't paid attention to it
in recent years), and I occasionally read it, even though it was about as useful
as public broadcasting for informational purposes, but that day's issue did have
a detailed account of the crimes (apparently the day was some date relevant to the
case, or news of a court ruling perhaps).
Later that day I had time to read it. It contained a detailed account of the
crimes, and the nature of the perpetrators. Neither of them was likely to
ever have become a successful businessman driving a Ferrari. No, these
were the sort of feral human debris that is all too common today, but was
then sufficiently shocking that the perpetrators would (eventually) pay the
price.
A description of the crime can be found by searching for 'Hi-Fi murders',
and it is the stuff of nightmares. Not that my worst nightmare even came
close. No, all things were not considered. And never are, the program
continues to this day on the Internet and probably on the radio. I don't
listen to NPR, and did so in those days only because they played classical
music in the morning. Before switching to propaganda in the afternoon.
One has to wonder how much what those people say is what they actually
believe. Having known a few of that sort, I would guess most of them do.
There are certainly a few who choose to embrace the liberal propaganda route
for personal gain, and probably do no believe in anything except their own
desires. But the majority of them, I suspect, are the almost-smart, not in
the top five percent intellectually but a tier below, and thus unable to avoid
becoming irreversibly indoctrinated. It has been said that a little knowledge
is a dangerous thing, and that is undoubtedly true.
NOTES:
(1) The perpetrators had the colossally bad judgment to commit this horrendous
crime in the state of Utah. Two of the three, who committed the actual
torture/killings were, in the fullness of time, sent to their just reward.
A third person who had waited in the getaway car, was convicted of lesser
offenses and sentenced to a prison term. Naturally, the race of the
perpetrators (they were black) was used in attempts do derail the state's
pursuit of justice, but happily in this case it failed.
(2) NPR was originally funded primarily the federal government. One of the
reforms of the Reagan administration resulted in reducing the amount, to the
point that it now relies mostly on donations by various wealthy entities
(people and corporations) who are either oblivious to its corrosive effect
on society or are agreeable to it. Fortunately there are not that many
listeners, and I suspect most are the same ones that watch the 'news' on
television, or read the New York Times or Washington Post. Thus it
probably does little harm beyond merely being offensive.
LINKS:
Wikipedia continually revises content, removing connections between certain articles pertaining to similar subjects,
so these may disappear at some point in the future. If future access is desired, the pages should be archived locally.
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