Bald Eagle Move Over
Will Duke

Americans are impatient; Americans are quick to jump to conclusions; American’s quick-fix values and beliefs require a quick-blame, most often found in scapegoats.  Why did Gore lose?  He didn’t get enough votes.  This tid-bit is tough to swallow as a Democrat, but it’s realistic and it’s true; many people didn’t feel represented by Gore as much as they did Bush.  No one likes a whiner, no one but Americans. Americans are whiners.  We can’t except that “s--- happens”.  Aliens, Hollywood, and sometimes the two working together are not always to blame.  Perhaps we throw the blame many times to keep the spotlight off ourselves. 

24 hour news coverage has led to 24 hour whining.  “The Nader factor” is a phrase that has not gone unspoken on even the smallest news station in recent weeks.  Increasingly, our nation seeks scapegoats for issues ranging from foul language on television to fouled-up presidential elections. Who's to blame? Is it the American media's fault for shoving these lofty ideas down the throats of vulnerable citizens? Is it the population's fault for asking for this bologna 24 hours a day? It's easy to understand; if you had to air news 24 hours a day you'd have to make some stretches yourself. The word "chad" and "dimple" speak for themselves. What is it about the American public that cries out “Please give us someone to blame besides ourselves”? 

Less than three hours after the crash of TWA Flight 800, speculations ran wild that terrorism was involved.  Later on, when that theory was expelled, the idea that the navy shot down the plane spread like a brush fire through the national news.  Still today, people can’t accept that the plane simply blew up.  Instead, an organization, which has spent billions of dollars developing military intelligence, must have blown up the plane by accident.

Another popular but unsupported theory deals with the death of Princess Diana.  In all probability, the tragedy was merely a simple car crash involving a drunk driver.  But that would be too easy and the blame would apply to too many.  It must have been a conspiracy by the royal family, a family infuriated at Princess Di for her boldness in divorce and her affair with a non-Christian.  Without this conspiracy theory, the driver, Diana’s security guard's, drunk drivers everywhere, alcohol, and the safety of the roads would all be to blame and require closer examination.  As Americans we are too lazy and impatient to take on the task of issuing blame where it is deserved.

Violence in our schools is a hot topic in this nation at the least.  The cause of this violence could not be that children don’t receive enough attention at home, that their lives are too stressful, or that peer pressure is too strong.  Are we truly to believe that video games and immorality in the media and in Hollywood are to blame?  Perhaps we should blame the 6 o’clock news; vulnerable teenagers are influenced by this glorified violence.  Teenagers are at a stage in their lives where they are open to the influence of everything.  With all the good stuff on television and in the movies, it’s funny that it doesn’t counteract the violence teenagers see. In truth, the story, study and quick fix could not be included in a 5-minute evening news broadcast.  That is the answer to a lot of this nation’s problems.

The problem with America today is our inability to find fault in ourselves. We refuse to take responsibility and many times to distribute it. It's easier and more news worthy to blame something that can't be realistically dealt with. We have problems as a nation. With real issues such as racism, poverty and homophobia still prevalent in our society, maybe it's time we stop distracting ourselves with quick-fix scapegoats, pull up our sleeves, and start to deal with the real problems in this nation.