I find it hard to leap for joy simply because Saddam Hussein has been captured.
I am ever aware that we live in a society that revolves around the media and that, more often than not, the information provided by the media is biased. I am not saying that Hussein deserves the man of the year award or the Nobel Peace Prize. However, I wish the people of America would not hasten to judgement on the basis of what we hear. I work in the news industry as a copy editor and I have seen firsthand how information can be skewed depending upon the source or the publisher. It bothers me to no end when I hear Americans make comments about people in other countries when they truly have no clue what they are talking about. Too frequently they are only regurgitating propoganda they have been force fed their entire lives. I cannot reiterate this enough: We only know what we are told.
I am not one to purport conspiracy theories, but how many times has "confidential" information eventually seeped out? How much more is under lock and key? How do we really know what goes on around the world when censorship and biases prevent the whole truth from being discussed?
I am also extremely concerned that Hussein's capture coupled with a weak batch of democratic presidential hopefuls will make it easier for Bush to be re-elected (although I suppose one would have to be elected, and not appointed, in the first place to be RE-elected... don't get me started on that election). I have a feeling that this will serve as a feather in his cap on the republican campaign trail. I also wonder how many Americans who had defected from the Bush camp because of the number of soldiers dying in the war will now rejoin him.
Back to the issue of the news, I just think we should always look at the media with a gimlet eye and take it with a grain of salt, particularly when we are dealing with world relations. Political and personal gain are two very strong forces that could easily sway people to lie or do terribly deceitful things.
That's my eight cents... I'll get off my soap box... for now.
