War, war profiteering, immorality, lies, trickery, deceit, insecurity, budget crises, skyrocketing healthcare costs and a whole lot more need to be blamed on somebody, and Scott G is ready to step up and take the heat. Of course, there is plenty of blame to go around.
I caused the war in Iraq.
Well, not all by myself. I had a lot of help, but it was my inaction that enabled it to take place.
It wasn’t because I was busy making a new album, nor was it because I was creating publicity for my clients. It was because I write articles like this one.
You see, in addition to being a musician and a p.r. guy, I am a journalist.
We scribes are a shifty bunch, and totally devoid of morality or sense of duty. After all, it was our inaction that allowed (and continues to allow) the success of our nation’s most corrupt administration, least logical Supreme Court, most moronic Congress, worst homeland security, highest amount of war profiteering, and worst mismanagement of a national budget.
It’s not the Republicans’ fault they rigged and/or stole an election. It’s my fault for not causing the ruckus necessary to right that wrong.
It’s not Congress’ fault that we have a Supreme Court packed with yokels who wouldn’t have qualified for my high school debating team. It’s my fault for not exposing their stink.
It’s not Ted Stevens’ fault that pork was allocated to build the “bridge to nowhere” in Alaska. It’s my fault for not howling long and loud enough to get Stevens removed from office.
It’s not the fault of insurance and pharmaceutical company lobbyists that we have odd healthcare policies and outrageous costs. It’s my fault for, well, you get the idea.
As a public service, I am hereby ‘fessing up to my contribution to our long national nightmare. Oh, sure, I could hide behind the excuse that I was busy making “Crazed + Dazed” and “Burning Man Soundscapes,” my most recent albums. And I could say how I was distracted by doing public relations. But I also write a couple columns, so I am definitely a scribe. A scrivener. An inkslinger. A journalist. And I’m ready to take the heat for all our nation’s ills. Because, you know, somebody sure as hell needs to.
Quite a few journalists (all of them, apparently) work for Rupert Murdock and his ilk, and they don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them by admitting their part in this ongoing fiasco.
No, it falls to me to take the blame for not pointing at Bush & Co. and shouting “the emperor has no clothes!” (Nor does the emperor posses brain cells, morality, common sense, or several dozen other attributes that we used to demand of anyone running for leader of the free world.)
I know that a free press should act as a watchdog, to point out wrongdoing, to uncover injustice, and to continually question authority. I just didn’t act on that knowledge.
I realize that Jefferson noted, “If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” I just didn’t live up to that responsibility.
My fellow journalists can take a pass on this and blame me. That way, they can start fresh right now. Let the investigative reporting begin in earnest. Let the opinion pages of our newspapers trumpet the battle cry of a free society instead of toadying to those in power.
Remember: it’s not the Bush administration’s fault that a few* mistakes happened. It’s my fault for not asking the questions that needed to be asked.
*WMD. Unprovoked invasion of Iraq. Inferior body armor. Unsafe military vehicles. Poor veteran medical care. Abu Ghraib. New Orleans levees. Botched FEMA response. Male prostitute in the White House. Fudging of Medicare costs. Tax relief for the wealthy. Gargantuan fiscal deficits. Suppressed scientific research. Manipulation of energy policies. Outing of a CIA agent. Bribing a member of Congress. Violating campaign finance laws. Theft of computer files. Deliberate “loss” of computer files. Firing attorneys for political reasons. Misplacing 8.8 billion dollars cash in Iraq. Misplacing 110,000 AK-47 rifles, 80,000 pistols, and 135,000 items of body armor in Iraq. Halliburton.
For which I can only say: Oops, sorry about that.
[tags]journalism, blame game, gman, Bush scandals, impeachment, Halliburton[/tags]
