CALL ME THE STEAMED LIBRARIAN

I confess, I attended a "Tea Party" today. Having attended events similar to this on the behalf of education in the state, and being in concert with the "Enough with the Spending Spree Already!", I headed to the state house. Words fail me at the sight seen as thousands crammed the south plaza, the steps, hiked blocks (some pushing baby carriages) to get to the rally point.

Men, women, young, old, black, white, and brown all mingled in a common cause of expressing their rights as freedom loving citizens of the United States of America. The right to question, challenge, and even rebel is retained for citizens in the founding documents....and that is the great balance of power. The branches of government : the executive, the legislative, the judicial, and the voting population. THAT is balance of power!

What makes me a particularly "steamed" librarian? As a professional who teaches evaluative criteria to students, who instructs on how you recognize a quality, unbiased resource, I had trouble finding "unbiased" articles to share with students. Watching the news at home, I found troubling phrases in news teasers.

CNN pondered if this event held across the nation was a "one time event" or a sign of something "worse"? Excuse me??? A free people, exercising their rights to assembly, free speech, and a challenge to their elected officials to redress grievances is something "worse?" A people asserting their legal right to participation in the process of government, demanding accountability, and sensible spending practices by all elected officials elephant or donkey!!

That type of bias, prejudice, and short sighted reporting, writing, and heading talking is not worthy of the best heritage of journalism in the US. It is a return to the muckraking and yellow journalism so despised by earlier generations.

This is not an attack on the President as a person. It is a groundswell response to the political views and direction of the current leadership in Washington and a rejection of the blanket of enertia that had buried the American populace for too long.

Move over "ET", "People", reality TV, and all Hollywood gossip designed to distract us like the downtrodden people in "The Running Man".

Is is possible that a growing number of people are looking beyond the smoke and mirrors...they see the reflection of the shades of Concord, Lexington, Philadelphia.... Is that sound they hear the soaring chorus of voices saying..."We the People...."