After I read Stefan's post on the most recent Ryan Blethen column, I went to the column to read it myself. Or, I should say, to try to read it. But I could barely get through the first sentence, and was unable to get beyond the first paragraph, at least on my first try.
As I read the column, I saw so many problems with the writing that I stopped reading it for substance, and began trying to correct it. Correcting the first paragraph was hard enough work so that I didn't want to read what followed. I remembered that I was not being paid for this work, and so I stopped. But later yesterday, I thought about it a little more and realized I was not being charitable. Coming, as he does, from an impoverished family, it is not surprising that Blethen needs some help with his composition, and so I will provide some here. (And if he and his family, impoverished as they are, want to arrange tutoring for him, they should contact me and I will see if we can work something out.)
Here's the first paragraph for those who haven't seen it:
The tethers of our democracy are visibly frayed. Eroding forces abound from the falsehoods used to justify war in Iraq and government spying on Americans, to voters so rabid they cannot hear divergent opinion, or worse, are woefully detached. The press has become so beholden to profit it struggles to play the watchdog role needed for democracy to flourish.
If you aren't sure about the meaning of a word, you should look it up. After I read that first sentence, I was no longer sure that I knew what "tether" meant, so I looked it up in my American Heritage Dictionary:
A rope or chain for holding an animal in place, allowing it a short radius in which to move about.
Visualize a goat tied to a tree, and you've got it. (Except that Blethen, unlike most farmers, uses more than one tether for his goat.) The dictionary also gives a metaphorical meaning, derived from the first meaning.
So, Blethen sees our democracy as a goat tied to a tree, and fears that the ropes that keep the goat tied are fraying. If they break, the goat (our democracy) will gain its freedom, which is, unless I completely misunderstand Blethen, a bad thing. I like to think I know a little bit about democratic theory, but I am unable to understand why a democracy gaining its freedom is a bad thing, or to divine what the ropes are in his metaphor.
Perhaps Blethen, who does not strike me as a farm boy, intended the metaphorical meaning of tether. If so, he should have begun something like this: "Our democracy is at the end of its tether." But that doesn't work very well either, because a goat at the end of its tether has most likely eaten all that it can, and the tether breaking may save the goat from starvation.
The second sentence was even worse than the first. I read the first three words, "Eroding forces abound", and stopped. That's both pompous and vague; it would be much better to begin the sentence like this: "The tethers are being eroded by". The from-to pair that follows is confusing. Ordinarily that pair is used for journeys, or for metaphorical journeys from one part of a range to another. For example, we might say that Blethen travels from Medina to Seattle on his daily commute, or that he moved from being a paper boy to being an editorial writer. In either example, we can see what's in between. But what is in between falsehoods and government spying on the one hand, and rabid voters on the other? Again, I am baffled.
There is a much more serious problem with that from-to phrase. Blethen accuses the administration, indirectly, of telling falsehoods. That is such a powerful charge that it should not be made without providing specifics, and evidence supporting those specifics. And the same is true of Blethen's rabid voters. He is smearing some voters, though we aren't quite sure which voters, and he provides no evidence at all for the smear. (Some of you will have also noticed that rabid is an inappropriate metaphor for those who do not listen, for reasons I hope are obvious.)
The last sentence in the paragraph is not as bad as the first two. But it does mix metaphors; if Blethen wants to call the press a watchdog, then he should say that it protects democracy, not that it is needed so democracy can "flourish".
That's not all that's wrong with the first paragraph, but that's about as much help as I am willing to give Blethen — at least without being paid. But I know that many of you are also charitable. And if you feel like giving help to someone who greatly needs it, take a sentence from the column, or even a full paragraph, and correct it in the same way I corrected the first paragraph. I am sure that both Blethen and the Seattle Times will be grateful for our help.
(Oh, and if anyone can figure out what those tethers are, please let us know.)
Posted by Jim Miller at March 18, 2006
10:56 AM | Email This
One should not expect grammar, facts or education to be anywhere honored by an MSM newspaper. Those are urban myths.
The purpose of MSM is currently to entertain and to propagandize the beliefs of key employees, while capturing as much advertising revenue as possible.
How many times has the "old grey lady" of newspapers been found to have "made-up" stories? How many times have we seen the politically correct articles on the first page above the fold, and the articles that truly and accurately convey what is really happening never make it to the printed page?
Your problem is you have standards and you expect that the MSM will live up to those standards.
Posted by: Bob on March 18, 2006 11:18 AMSo Ryan, how about getting a REAL job in the REAL world. Living a privileged life with no REAL world experience results in your shallowness.
Ryan Blethens will ultimately sink the family legacy.
This writing is almost as if he took Daddy's Dictionary and started glueing big words together.
Ryan Blethens is the Dr. Frankenstein of Journalism!! What a puke!
"Luckily, not everybody is sedated by the constant numbing glow of American culture."
How one gets sedated by a glow I can't explain, unless it's in possession of your personal hypnotist, or it's the glow on the tip of your joint.
Maybe he's thinking of the glow of the lighting on the face of liberal pundits on the tube - that's certainly numbing, and those are about the only sort seen there. But constant? Even Dan Rather didn't get that much face time on the tube.
If he's referring to the droning party line issuing from the MSM as a metaphor for American culture, I can agree that not everybody is sedated by it. Some of us actually get pretty exercised at it, waiting for some real reporting.
But it appears that he's trying to convey more than an elitist's sneer at American culture. He's building up to an organizing pitch for 'youth', and hopes to mobilize them politically, saying "The rot of democracy is well advanced" (I cheated, and read more than one sentence). In France, the guys who burn cars at night are called 'youth' in the news - is that the glow he mentions? But he expresses a positive attitude towards blogs, and therein is a strong sign of confusion.
Some of us rather enjoy blogs, as being the antithesis of the information monopoly held for decades by media such as the Seattle Times. Is he just rebelling against Dad? That's certainly part of American culture, but at his age I'd advise choosing a different adjective for his revolution than 'numbing'.
Posted by: Hank Bradley on March 18, 2006 11:47 AM"[Lagos'] goal for the class was not to instill a particular political belief in the students, but to make sure they are empowered to make choices in our democracy."
If you know how to crack the code, you can see what is REALLY being said here. It may be that Lagos is not trying to instill a particular political belief in students, but using terms such as "empower" to help students "make choices" makes it clear--Lagos feels that students are helpless (because of...of...what? The vast right-wing conspiracy? their lousy ideological high-school educations?). He will then do something to empower them to make choices (which means, of course, the RIGHT choice, which is most likely a LEFT choice.)
"Lagos knows well what happens when choice and voice are taken away by government. His family fled Greece in 1967 after a military junta."
The idea here, of course, seems to be that the current US government is doing that right now. No, no political agenda there at all...
"Lagos says democracy is at a "crossroads." It can either wither or adapt to a modern world filled with more choices than ever before."
But only, of course, if you make the CORRECT choice. Otherwise, the wide variety of choices opens up a whole new set of bad choices too, right?
" 'We are so comfortable with what we have it just seems that democracy is too much of a bother," Lagos said. 'The question is what kind of choices are we going to make.' "
So, what is being said here is that some choices are better than others, right? What if--no, hear me out--"liberal" or "progressive" choices really are the worst choice?
"The message was not lost on his students. Linda Tomko entered the class pessimistic about democracy, but left with a new democratic energy. The soft-spoken Tomko said the problem with politics is that issues important to her generation, such as gay marriage and education, are defined by sound bites. 'If you can make the issues more relevant to younger voters, they will get involved,' Tomko said."
Ah, another two lovely lefty touch-points. Why not talk about other issues important to her generation, such as national security or the reduction of taxes to help businesses? Why only mention these two issues?
I could go on, but I don't see much point, since it's all more of the same.
Posted by: pseudotsuga on March 18, 2006 12:25 PM"Luckily, not everybody is sedated by the constant numbing glow of American culture."
I am an American. American culture does not sedate. Just because we don't have fancy French wine, Monarchs, the Mona Lisa, or other really old cultural traditions doesn't mean that we are numb. We simply have different culture, such as:
A melting pot (where muslim groups don't riot like in France)
Sports, Hollywood, Thousands of religions, etc. I am not numb because I am not European, or because our country is only a few hundred years old. I think it is plenty exciting to see a relatively young country (ours) still blooming.
"to voters so rabid they cannot hear divergent opinion, or worse, are woefully detached."
I may be rabid, I can hear divergent opinions, but usually they are wrong if they disagree with mine. This is because I believe that my opinions are right, just like anyone else would think that their opinions are right.
The reason that people feel woefully detached is a few things:
1. People feel their vote doesn't count (Governors election, case and point)
2. People feel the government will do whatever they want regardless of what opinion is (Monorail, gas tax, Insane federal and state government spending)
3. Most of politics is liberals sniping at conservatives, or vice versa. If politicians would say: "I disagree with your position on X because..." Rather than someone like Debbie Stabenow saying that the president is "dangerously incompetent" a lot more people would be able to hear issues rather then name calling. I think that both sides engage in this, but the liberals do it a lot more. The democrats, during the elections in 04 didn't have a single talking point that didn't mention Bush.
"democracy is at a "crossroads." It can either wither or adapt to a modern world filled with more choices than ever before."
I think that democracy is not at a crossroads. It is adapting, especially with new forms of the press (blogs, talk radio, drudgereport, etc)
As people get information from more sources, they are making better decisions. Just like people should be wary of their government, they should be wary of their press if they only have one source.
Also, as long as the government fears its citizens, there will be liberty. Why do you think so many liberals want our guns?
"The report goes deeper than the expected generational divide. It states that this age group in the Seattle area is eager to be a part of the political discussion, but feels that the system is corrupt and lacks transparency."
It is interesting that students in Seattle feel that the government (I am assuming they mean the feds) are corrupt and lack transparency. I wonder if they feel the same about local politics
1. Stefan can't get complete voter records
2. Teachers unions contribute to democrats, which mandate that all teachers pay the unions, which allows more money to be funneled to democrats
3. Monorail project: Landowners who had land confiscated, then don't get right of first refusal
4. 5 DUI's before felony, but lie once on a resume with same penalty
5. Chris Gregoire: "No new taxes" - said in campaign... I think you know where I am going
6. Landowners in King County can only use 10% of their land
7. Etc
"The task of stabilizing and creating a new democracy will fall to the waves of fluid voters and future leaders behind the baby boomers."
What is this "new democracy"? I like to think that I live in the most free country on earth. Although I would like to see more libertarian candidates elected, that only happens if a majority of people think like I do.
One positive thing about our democracy that must be noted is that things happen relatively slowly. This is good because it is relatively stable, and our government will generally not be subject to a vacuum created by dying baby boomers.
When is the last time there was a coup d Etat in this country? If you really want to see some instability, go to Afghanistan, or the Sudan, or some other country that is governed by whoever has the most guns currently. If a group of people disagrees with the current government in this country, there are no wars, they just get George Soros to bankroll a few 527s to try to change the president.
I like to think that I am smart enough to not have my entire set of values and beliefs changed by some candidate because I am a "fluid voter" I have a set of values that is based on my core, and they won't change much. I will continue to vote for who represents me, and the type of people that represent me don't change much because I have well thought out reasons for believing what I do.
Blethen wants to create a new democracy. My questions:
What is it?
What would your perfect new democracy look like?
Besides policies from different governments that you may disagree with, what specific reforms are needed in the democratic process?
Is there another country that you would like to model after?
As bad as you may think our democracy is, Which country has the oldest constitution in the world?
Which country has a bill of rights as great as ours?
Our country allows anyone (over some age limit) to run for any political office, except the presidency which requires US citizenship. How many other countries allow this?
In your opinion, is the US the best country on earth? If not, which is?
If you feel the US isn't best, why are you here?
"America may have its problems, but it is our home, and if you can't root for the home team, then you should get the hell out of the stadium"
~Stan from Southpark.
Blethen's opinion is vague and generalized, and really has no point that I can see. He wants to create a new democracy based on new journalism I think. Doesn't this mean that we should sack all of the old journalists to get some new perspectives? I just don't know where he is going.
Posted by: Jason Woodruff on March 18, 2006 12:37 PMEditor, Times:
Before Ryan Blethen (Blethen ... that name is vaguely familiar) becomes utterly unhinged in his attempts to build bad analogies between George
Orwell's dystopia and George Bush's America, he needs to read Orwell's magnificent essays about the misuse of language. Does Mr. Blethen realize that he's not making sense? Does he care that he's manipulating language in a feeble attempt to manipulate rather than to inform or to persuade?
2006 is not Orwell's 1984. Even 1984, Reagan's morning in America, was not Orwell's 1984. Although he's oblivious to truth, Mr. Blethen needs at least to get out more, to deal with his Oedipal issues, and to check reality. He needs to quit rubbing his nose in what Orwell called the
smelly orthodoxies of the Left.
Tenet - An opinion, doctrine, or principle held as being true by a person or especially by an organization
Or possibly the "tenants" (which would be the people living in the apartment of democracy)
Don't they have editors for this stuff?
Posted by: Jason Woodruff on March 18, 2006 03:03 PMIsn't that supposed to be one of the key characteristics that sets a newspaper above and apart from lower forms of written discourse?
That there is an experienced and dispassionate individual, a full-time, paid professional journalist, who checks facts, spelling, and grammar, and makes corrections as required, to ensure that the finished product is as good as is humanly possible?
If there is such an individual performing this role for Ryan, the product reflects most unfavorably on said individual's efforts.
If Ryan doesn't have an editor, and instead is allowed to take his confused ramblings directly to print, then exactly how is his product any different from a blogger's?
Posted by: ewaggin on March 18, 2006 03:40 PMA cynic might add that the blogger must express a viewpoint without wafty bloviations, since the audience is a bit smaller than that enjoyed by the Seattle Times.
Posted by: Hank Bradley on March 18, 2006 04:11 PMRyan will probably sent for a few weeks cruising on the Mediterranean to sort thru his many faux pas. You can bet he will try again....what else is this IDIOT qualified to do???
Posted by: dude on March 18, 2006 04:16 PMThose "in the know" can read between the lines -- hence the nearly complete absence of a statement by him about the particular remedies he favors.
He is amusing, though:
"Lagos knows well what happens when choice and voice are taken away by government. His family fled Greece in 1967 after a military junta."
Junta: a group of political intriguers, especially a group of military men in power after a coup d’etat.
If Lagos and his family fled “after a military junta,” to what place were they and the junta fleeing?
Why would anyone still give money every month to the leftist cheerleaders?
Posted by: johnny on March 18, 2006 05:05 PMYhe rabid watchdog which is our media, has broken its tether and has begun foaming at the mouth,
Rather than stand by and be bitten by the beast, those who believe in a democracy have opted to find a refuge elsewhere. They refuse to debate the matter and close their gates to prevent the untethered monster from poisoning them.
His piece was fairly obtuse.
Posted by: Misty on March 18, 2006 10:43 PMHere's another ridiculous passage: The rot of democracy is well advanced. Lobbyists multiply like rabbits, leaving the field of politics brown, dead, bent to their voracious appetite. Consolidation of the press and destructive partisan politics feed voter apathy.
Block that metaphor! Is the problem rot or rabbits? Rot kills things; rabbits eat them. And is the press really consolidating, given the web? And how is apathy simultaneously fed by this alleged consolidation (which presumably reduces debate) and partisan politics (which increases it)? As long as we're talking about feeding, do these things feed the rabbits, too?
Keep in my that todays leftists don't need no stinking rules. Its all about the intent remember!
Posted by: dave on March 19, 2006 07:34 AMIt's a breathtaking example of the hermetically sealed newsroom launching what they think is the final offensive required to topple the Bush administration - and the hell with reality on the ground in Iraq, and with the future hopes of civilization in the Middle East as well.
Posted by: Hank Bradley on March 19, 2006 09:42 AMOur visibly frayed
tethers of democracy
are at a crossroads
Eroding forces
from rabid detached voters
to falsehoods abound
Culture’s numbing glow
sedates almost everyone
but not kids like me
Lobbyist rabbits
multiply and rot the brown
field of politics
Stabilizing by
waves of fluid voters: How?
To be decided
A watchdog helps a
democracy to flourish
but my dad shot it
(Extra credit to anyone who gets the reference in the final line.)
Posted by: Bruce on March 19, 2006 11:14 AMAnd dang you for making me defend this clown, and his stupid paper.
"Our visibly frayed moorings
caused the Blethen boat to float
away from the dock.
The eroding, rabid dog
tore up my slipper.
I am numb and sedated
after reading my own words.
My rabbit ate
my rotten sandwich.
It was Bush's fault.
Deanron counted
all the fluid, undecided voters.
Some of them live
in little mailboxes
no larger than my arm.
I'm sorry for my rantings
about watchdogs, democracy and
my dad shooting it. I don't know
what I was thinking."
That is priceless!
Posted by: Deborah on March 19, 2006 11:27 PMThis is not clear communication. I wonder how many people bothered to continue to read the rest of the editorial after struggling with that first paragraph? An editorial that fails to generate interest in the opening lines is a failure, regardless of its message.
Posted by: Gary on March 20, 2006 10:23 AMBushisthedevilBushisthedevilBushisthedevilBushisthedevilBushisthedevilBushisthedevilBushisthedevil.
Now I feel better.
Posted by: Amused by anally fixated liberal morons on March 20, 2006 11:55 AMThe sooner the tetheres break, aloowing our democracy to actually flourish due to increased freedoms and opportunity, the better...
And the dude don't want that cos he's a lefty liberal ;0)