For this blog post I watched two videos from CNN about Libya. The first talked about the US role in Libya and the second was reporting on recent outbreak that took place in a local city. The first video was where I found the most links to what Loewen was saying, however it seemed to me that the reporters talking about it were agreeing that with the fact that the President was not doing this for the right reasons. A few key quotes that stuck out at me from the video were:
“The United States is going to start looking a little weak, which is a big political problem for the US”
“We got in and we got out, he (the president) did this for humanitarian reasons”
“If the rebels ask for US help we have to go in”
In the second video used the words disorganized, disorderly, and chaos were used multiple times. These words were used to describe the Libya people, more specifically their troops. Now in the first video it stated that the US has pulled out of Libya. That is why I find it interesting that in the second video is more focused on how disorganized the troops are rather than the shooting and bombing that had just taken place. As Loewen states though “chaos is what textbooks usually offer to explain the actions of the other side” (229), this report obviously follows the exact textbook protocol.
To me this directly relates to the “international good guy view” (221) that Loewen says textbooks emphasize on. The international good guy must never look weak which is why “presidents choose not to risk their popularity”. Obama’s action plan of we get in, we get out, was enforced so that he could keep his popularity. He believed we needed to be in Libya but he knew if we were there too long then his popularity would decrease (maybe). I see this international good guy all over the textbook excerpt that Ben sent us too. After talking about the conflicts the author then makes a point to talk about how the US rose above the rest to do something good, even when we were not quite capable of doing so. Overall after reading Watching Big Brother I see Loewen’s argument in almost all the news stories I read.
I agree 100% with your last comment....I kind of saw it before, but now, as Ben would say "I see Loewen everywhere." It's not just in the textbooks,it's in the news, TV shows, movies etc. If you pay close attention, the US has to always be the "good guy." On the other hand, there isn't an alternative. No one publicly announces their corruption, then why should we expect any different of the government.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you Jordan. After reading Loewen's arguments I have become more consciously aware of the true meanings of the information that is fed to us. The rhetoric that not only influencial people, but also the media choose to illustrate issues is sugar coated in order to create any disruptances. The quotes that you chose from CNN are perfect illustrations of this. Even if the government is making decisions that may be unethical to some people, officials will always try and make it seem that it symbolizies the "American dream" and is necessary in order to be the heroic nation that we are.
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