Thread: The News Room

Borrowed from a friend...

"One of my very favorite opening scenes of any series, even though it's a few years old it accurately reflects our Nation's current political climate, and also one of the reasons I don't like discussing politics with pretty much anyone. It's not that I'm uninformed or uninterested; actually the contrary is true. It's because the ever widening gap between the two major parties is becoming impossible to bridge, and very few people are even trying to meet in the middle anymore anyway, rendering intelligent discussion futile and pointless. Any conversation, no matter how good a case one presents, neither side is willing to budge an inch. They'd rather stick with their party lines to the very end (when America finally collapses under it's own weight) than to lift a finger to try to fix the Country.

And yes, I do believe that collapse is imminent and inevitable if people won't get their heads out of their keesters and start seeing what's really happening and what will follow afterward."


K, nuff soapbox. Here's the scene.

Opening scene of The News Room:

In a Q & A session at a local university, a student named Jenny asked News Journalist Will McAvoy what makes America the Greatest Country in the world. He tried skipping around the question and the moderator pressed him until he finally answered.

Will
It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.

Moderator
[pause] You're saying—

Will
Yes.

Moderator
Let's talk about—

Will
Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so ****** smart, how come they lose so ******ALWAYS!

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the **** you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

Will
[to moderator] Enough?

That was a great series; I wish it lasted longer!! And that opening scene was classic!!

The opening scene:

Thanks njtom. I hadn't seen it before...I just liked what my friend posted on FB--I thought it was really indicative of what's going on nowadays.

Well it was a tirade of opinion...I give it that....

Originally Posted by Ezekiel 33

Why isn't it the greatest country in the world any more? Because there are very few patriots left. A nation without patriots will cease to be great.

One of the main reasons we don't have many patriots left, is that we no longer teach real American History. Our youth (and many politicians) have no idea how many men of God were involved with the birth of America. Both black and white pastors were instrumental in the birth of our nation. It is the intentional dumbing down of our school systems that has led to where we are right now.

I am an optimist...I believe there are many patriots left...they are just not in the media....not involved in online political stuff...I think they go to work each day, care for their family....and if America needs them they will rise up in fire and fury...

Originally Posted by Ezekiel 33

... I would love to put him in a time machine, stuff a rifle in his hands and push him off the landing craft on D-Day...

I would love to send him (and his followers) to some place like North Korea, Syria, Russia, or some parts of Africa - Let him rebel, protest and diss those governments - Then, let's see how he likes it there?

Originally Posted by Ezekiel 33

Yes, but the next generation doesn't even have a clue as to what a patriot is. They follow guys like Collin Kapernik who just went out of his way in Amsterdam to say what a horrible nation we are. I would love to put him in a time machine, stuff a rifle in his hands and push him off the landing craft on D-Day. He would melt like a little girl.

Again...not all, and maybe not even most....I ask myself a lot these days how much of my opinion is based on media propoganda....so I tend to pull back strongly to these types of statements....and ask myself, how do I KNOW that's true; do I KNOW that's an accurate representation of the masses...

Something keeps reminding me of 2016....I was BARELY even hopeful President Trump would win and the media assured us regularly that it was impossible....yet that map revealed millions who were not counted in polls, who were not interviewed...who were not at rally's or protests...

Even the march of supposed teens in the anti gun event...I don't believe that was accurately reported...I asked my grandsons how their fellow students responded to the walkout...they said on a tiny few did and mostly because it gave them attention...