Mark Shea & the Anthrax Scare
Dear Mark:
Many dittoes on your column (posted October 22 on Catholic Exchange regarding the media-fomented anthrax panic; these have been my thoughts exactly.
The other day there was some significant and frightening terrorism-related news: a locker full of plastic explosives was found in a Philadelphia bus terminal, enough to blow up the whole terminal. On the radio networks news reports I heard, this was item #3, after, of course, the hourly anthrax report, which always led off, followed by a report on the actual war in Afghanistan (which is clearly less important to media types than the anthrax).
Unfortunately, I think the terrorists have studied us well and are shrewdly exploiting our weaknesses; they're playing us like a Stradivarius violin, so far. They probably knew that they could count on the media to hype the anthrax and that there would be plenty of evil/wacko Americans who would perpetrate the hoaxes. The terrorists have judged us to be weak and cowardly, and unfortunately, the anthrax saga certainly seems to confirm their perceptions. I hope and pray that there are some Americans who are made of stronger stuff.
God bless,
Stephanie Hopping
Dear Stephanie:
Thanks for your note. Yes, the media have once again revealed themselves for what they are. However, I wouldn't be too hasty in taking this as a reflection on the American people as a whole. The remarkable thing is how quickly the mass of people have regained their equilibrium and refused to be stampeded in panic by the self-absorbed people who read from teleprompters or chatter in the pages of the New York Times.
This is why I think the terrorists have, in fact, made a huge mistake: they have believed that the narcissistic talking hairdos in New York and Hollywood are “America” when in fact they are just a few clever fools who happen to control the means to chatter incessantly to a large amount of people.
Real people have rather rapidly figured out that this is a mild scare, not “the ultimate horror.”
Now if the media-types would just get a little further out of the way, we'd all be better off since it would give real people a chance to say “We're fine. Let's win this thing and go home.”
The terrorist have shown great short- term cleverness. However, they are rapidly showing long term stupidity. First, they galvanized Americans like no one has done in my lifetime. Now they are making rapid progress toward helping millions of Americans see that the ninnies who write news from the hothouse of the networks and the New York Times are cowards and that there is a huge ocean of courage, nobility and greatness in the American people that the newsies overlook since they are too busy sounding out the phonetics on the teleprompter.
I wonder what other unintended blessings these neanderthals from the caves will bestow!
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
Note: If you missed Mark Shea's Edge column, Memo to the American Media: Get a Grip, you can find it here.
