{"id":1925,"date":"2019-06-26T08:50:49","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T12:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=1925"},"modified":"2019-06-26T08:50:56","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T12:50:56","slug":"comfortably-numb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/","title":{"rendered":"Comfortably Numb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Comfortably Numb<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There used to be things that would outrage us.\u00a0\u00a0We heard it on the news, and all of us, as a society, would be shocked.\u00a0\u00a0It created conversations at the office and on the bus; media commentators spoke eloquently about how we needed to change.\u00a0And sometimes things changed, and THAT event, whatever THAT event was, wouldn\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now there are actions and accusations that we just accept.\u00a0\u00a0The modern phrase is, \u201c\u2026it\u2019s baked in the cake;\u201d nothing that can be done.\u00a0\u00a0This week: a twelve year old is shot and killed in Newark, Ohio, the President accused of sexual assault, children abused by the Border Patrol; it\u2019s all \u201cjust part of the news.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not shocking, or disturbing to most.\u00a0\u00a0And to many, it\u2019s called \u201cFake News,\u201d the all-purpose excuse for ignoring anything that might be uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unacceptable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What happened to us? How did we get so calloused to this awful reality?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump was accused of sexual assault this weekend.  If it had been Barack Obama, or George W Bush, or when Bill Clinton was actually accused; the headlines in the papers, and the commentators on television made it the number one story.  Here\u2019s a challenge:  without looking it up, who accused Trump?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, we can Google it, but we have to.  We didn\u2019t have to Google Monica Lewinsky.   Jean Carroll\u2019s story hardly made a dent in the coverage.  We accept a President who may have committed multiple sexual assaults. If you don’t believe he did, that it\u2019s \u201cfake news,\u201d then at best you are accepting a President who answers the sexual assault charges with, \u201c\u2026she\u2019s not my type.\u201d So, Mr. President, if she was your type it would be OK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A man shoots a child in Newark, Ohio, and the twelve year old dies.  She was standing on the front porch on a summer evening.  We know the eighteen-year old assailant has \u201cblackouts\u201d when he commits violent acts, but we don\u2019t know how he got the gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been eight shootings at US schools this year (NYT<\/a>), three killed and fifteen wounded.  Sounds like casualties from a war zone.  This is just part of the constant \u201chum\u201d of news, it hardly makes more than a two-day dent.  Nothing changes; no one is able to do more than \u201c\u2026thoughts and prayers,\u201d or maybe suggest we need to arm students to shoot other students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too Much?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So what is it, what has completely numbed us to these horrific events?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, there is the sheer volume of information that we access, everyday.  It used to be thirty minutes between six and seven in the evening, delivered by Huntley-Brinkley, or Cronkite, or Jennings, or what we chose to read in the papers.  We trusted their voices and their judgments on what was important, and they filtered what we cared about, and what we never knew.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we access everything.\u00a0It\u2019s not just twenty-four hour news:\u00a0\u00a0Fox, MSNBC, CNN and the rest.\u00a0\u00a0We are leashed to the Internet; to the alerts coming across the IPhone screen, and instant accessiblility to \u201csearch.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0To use a well-worn analogy, we used to drink from a water fountain, now we are exposed to the open end of a fire hose.\u00a0\u00a0If we open our mouths a little, we are drowned with information.\u00a0\u00a0So we keep our mouths closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s an excuse, by the way, not a reason.  We can be our own editors, what we trusted others to do for us in the \u201cold days.\u201d We can choose our sources, decide our concerns, and find out the stories.  The sheer volume of information is a problem, but covering our faces and crying \u201cfake news\u201d isn\u2019t the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We Must Be Better<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday I wrote about children being held by the US Government, without proper care.  Some people commented on it, others ignored it (they edited me out.)  This should be a moment of national outrage:  Trumper or Democrat, news consumer or avoider.  Instead, it too has been rolled into the volume of noise.  The Border Patrol moved the children away; it\u2019s over. Now, some are back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shouldn\u2019t we be worried even more about where those children went?  Supposedly, they are now in a tent city, in Texas, in the middle of summer. Are they being cared for, do they have air conditioning, showers, food?  Don\u2019t we have the right to know as Americans about what America is doing to the defenseless?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, I\u2019m not a Pink Floyd <\/em>fan.  But they have the words to America today, from Comfortably Numb<\/a>: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \u201cthe child is grown, the dream is gone<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

             and I have become, comfortably numb\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

America \u2013 this cannot be us.\u00a0We cannot be so wrapped up in ourselves that we let all of this go on without comment, and without action.\u00a0\u00a0Americans cannot be drugged by \u201cfake news\u201d and go comfortably numb.\u00a0\u00a0We are better than that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comfortably Numb There used to be things that would outrage us.\u00a0\u00a0We heard it on the news, and all of us, as a society, would be shocked.\u00a0\u00a0It created conversations at the office and on the bus; media commentators spoke eloquently about how we needed to change.\u00a0And sometimes things changed, and THAT event, whatever THAT event was, … Continue reading “Comfortably Numb”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nComfortably Numb : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So much news, so many sides to any story - Americans are "numb" to what happens in our country. We must find a way to be appalled again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comfortably Numb : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So much news, so many sides to any story - Americans are "numb" to what happens in our country. We must find a way to be appalled again.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-26T12:50:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-26T12:50:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@martydahlman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marty Dahlman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"headline\":\"Comfortably Numb\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-26T12:50:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-26T12:50:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":922,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/\",\"name\":\"Comfortably Numb : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-26T12:50:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-26T12:50:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"So much news, so many sides to any story - Americans are \\\"numb\\\" to what happens in our country. We must find a way to be appalled again.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/index.php\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/26\\\/comfortably-numb\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Comfortably Numb\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration\",\"description\":\"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dahlman.online\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c\",\"name\":\"Marty Dahlman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\",\"width\":480,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Marty Dahlman\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/dahlman.online\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/03\\\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1\"},\"description\":\"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dahlman.online\",\"https:\\\/\\\/m.facebook.com\\\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/martydahlman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comfortably Numb : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","description":"So much news, so many sides to any story - Americans are \"numb\" to what happens in our country. We must find a way to be appalled again.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comfortably Numb : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","og_description":"So much news, so many sides to any story - Americans are \"numb\" to what happens in our country. We must find a way to be appalled again.","og_url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/","og_site_name":"Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","article_publisher":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_author":"https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","article_published_time":"2019-06-26T12:50:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-26T12:50:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marty Dahlman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@martydahlman","twitter_site":"@martydahlman","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marty Dahlman","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/"},"author":{"name":"Marty Dahlman","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"headline":"Comfortably Numb","datePublished":"2019-06-26T12:50:49+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-26T12:50:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/"},"wordCount":922,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/","name":"Comfortably Numb : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-06-26T12:50:49+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-26T12:50:56+00:00","description":"So much news, so many sides to any story - Americans are \"numb\" to what happens in our country. We must find a way to be appalled again.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2019\/06\/26\/comfortably-numb\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Comfortably Numb"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/","name":"Trump World - Essays on Politics and the Trump Administration","description":"Essays on Politics and Life in Our America","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/#\/schema\/person\/5fa8c1b0305cf5f1f3633225843e621c","name":"Marty Dahlman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1","width":480,"height":640,"caption":"Marty Dahlman"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dahlman.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/IMG_3564-e1488996194684.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1"},"description":"I'm Marty Dahlman. After forty years of teaching and coaching track and cross country, I've finally retired!!! I've also spent a lot of time in politics, working campaigns from local school elections to Presidential campaigns.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dahlman.online","https:\/\/m.facebook.com\/Dahlmanonline-610417212502642\/","https:\/\/x.com\/martydahlman"]}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1925"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1930,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1925\/revisions\/1930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}