CL 11/7

I was only in class for the first half this week, so my thoughts and commentary are limited to the first hour and a half, so bear with me. The readings and lecture for this past week were particularity relevant considering the elections (which I am certain was not a mere coincidence) took place. In this week's post-coital election bliss, I have found some of the media's 'commentary' arousing (no pun intended), and some disgusting. I'll leave it to you, the reader, to decided who's commentary evoked which feelings in me. It shouldn't be to hard. In light of this week's readings, along with the election and its onslaught of commentary, this quote stood out to me:

"Journalists want nothing so much as to be part of the intellectual crowd. No doubt, this structural inferiority goes a long way to explain their tendency towards anti-intellecualism" (pg 330).

Well, first of all, let's all just say it; that is f-ing hilarious. Not that I am much smarter, or any, for that matter, than these television journalists, but still. I have found that this is true of any person who wants to appear more intellectual than they actually are. People throw around large words that other people may not know, so they therefore will not be questioned, even if they themselves are not sure of its correct meaning. But back on topic, while listening to the radio and watching television this week I have heard some very-angry commentators on both sides. Republicans who are unhappy with the Congressional power change, and Democrats who worry that the bi-partisan dealing may not go well in the future.

As different as the two groups of people may be, the one thing they have in common is there inability to truly express why they are so angry. I believe that they do not even know themselves. So they grab on to a 'cause' and use this as their war cry against the group they hold their prejudices against. They lack the vocabulary to express their thoughts and emotions (unlike our theorists we have read), and are lost in the translation of these thoughts. I find it quite amusing, having read our theorists, to listen to- even if I, too, lack the vocabulary to express what it is exactly I find so hilarious.