Last week, I issued an eight week tolerance challenge, the ‘new’ news challenge. Like most Americans, I’ve created some deep grooves in my life road by watching, reading and listening to certain news sources without variation.
In essence, my news-accessing practices mirror what concerns the wise women of Main Street most about our nation and its leaders: intolerance is holding us back.
One respected poll illustrates the divide. “Television news has become just as polarizing as the politicians themselves. Democrats trust everything except Fox News, while Republicans trust nothing except Fox News,” the President of Public Policy Polling shared following last year’s survey on Americans trust in news sources. ( http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/01/3rd-annual-tv-news-trust-poll.html )
Vowing to increase my tolerance by getting my news from a source I don’t usually access, I watched Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor.
Challenge Week One: The O’Reilly Factor
Many Americans consider Bill O’Reilly a trusted source of information. O’Reilly’s show, from my limited viewing experience, is a hybrid talk/issues show, the kind of pseudo-news rift in America. (The PBS Newshour, according to Public Policy Polling, is American’s most trusted source for objective news two years running.)
The night I watched O’Reilly, he shared his views on the “Epidemic of Disrespect in America.”
Ah ha! Fate led me to Bill O’Reilly – that’s what many Main Street women think too! No wonder so many Mainstreeeters like him; I get it. He does a phenomenal job of speaking with certainty and naming things we’re thinking:
There is an entire generation of Americans who simply do not care about tradition, authority or acting in an appropriate manner.”
But which generation?
Pinheads, All
You probably saw the clip Bill played to introduce his Epidemic of Disrespect in America series. A drugged and disoriented young woman in Florida stood in front of a judge and told him to f—k off, a videotape released for our viewing mortification. Bill and a couple of women pundits discussed how this young woman exemplifies the epidemic of disrespect in America.
Whose fault is it? The parents, one pundit argued. No, it is the teachers, said another. Bill said it’s the New York public schools that no longer suspend students for swearing at teachers. Wait a minute, New York?
About 10 minutes in, my intolerance monster started acting out. I began experiencing hearing issues, what I call my Charlie Brown’s teacher syndrome. Remember? Wanh, wanh, wanh,wuh-wahn, wahn.
In O’Reilly’s case, all I heard was the Pinheads, blah blah blah, Pinheads, blah blah blah blah blah, Pinheads…
Twenty minutes in, I figured out Pinhead is Bill’s anti-endearment. Teachers are pinheads. Public school leaders (especially in New York) are pinheads (why he sends his kids to Catholic school). Parents are pinheads. All liberals are pinheads.
The contextual irony was not lost on me. Name-calling is an easy sign of disrespect to spot.
Is Hippo Worse Than Pinhead?
Also last week, the well-known American movie critic, Rex Reed, reviewed
Identity Thief
. In his review, he calls the film’s female lead, Melissa McCarthy, a “female hippo” and says “Melissa McCarthy (
Bridesmaids
)
is a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success.”
The backlash was immediate.
Reed pulled down his Facebook page. Celebrities and fans have called for his termination.
This made me wonder, is being called a hippo worse than being called a pinhead? Do we generally like Melissa McCarthy more than say, low-paid teachers?
Tolerance Defined: Name-Calling Is Out
Tolerance defined: fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc. different from one’s own; freedom from bigotry. Interest in and concern for ideas, opinions, practices foreign to one’s own; a liberal, undogmatic viewpoint. (Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary)
When we access only one set of voices, intolerance grows. As intolerance grows, the divide with others widens to the point that conversation stops. Important issues don’t get debated and decisions don’t get made for the collective good.
At a personal level, we could be shutting out ideas, opinions and even possibilities for new, life-enriching relationships.
I’m pleased to share that I learned something last week and quieted my intolerance monster in the process. Bill O’Reilly and I absolutely have something in common. We both believe there is an epidemic of disrespect going on in America.
Adults calling other people hippos and pinheads serves as proof positive.
Tonight, I cannot wait to watch some ‘new’ news following the State of the Union address. I’m going to breathe, pet my intolerance monster and who knows, I might just find something in common with more “others.”
Got tolerance? Accepted the Tolerance Challenge? Do share!
