I’ve to confess that for much of the last couple of weeks I’ve been ‘following’ the midterm elections. What are they to me? That’s not a very friendly question, is it? Well I didn’t say they have anything to do with me. But family and friends in the Diaspora tell us we should be concerned. In fact, I read somewhere on the social media some member of congress who is said to have been behind very unfriendly bills against Ethiopia has lost his seat and been replaced by a reasonable guy.
Now that’s news. Maybe if he had focused on doing what he was supposed to do for his constituents maybe he wouldn’t have been given the marching orders. Speaking of politicians on that side of the Atlantic you can’t help wondering why some of them are losing sleep to see this country suffering; a country which did no harm to them or their nation! But then, from what our brethren over there tell us it’s safe to say most of the sanctions bills writers haven’t the scantest knowledge of this country and are just dancing to the tune of the lobby groups.
Anyways, reading and listening to the American media in the days leading to voting day takes one’s breath away. No exaggeration! You can’t help it but end up with a hundred and one questions as you see the myth of professional, non-partisan journalism being blown to pieces. Of course, having been on the receiving end of their vile, hate-filled and unabashedly racist narratives we might not be supposed to be surprised. But then since everything was about American elections you expect there will be accountability and they’d be playing by the rule. Their attacks were not at the contenders of ‘the other side’ but at each other too. We’re talking about the media of what is still supposed to be the most powerful nation on earth!
Now, we always thought that when it comes to conducting fair and trouble-free elections the right and the civilized way that’s the very nation that comes ahead of almost every other country. Nothing can go wrong since the issues of media partisanship, registration fraud; cheating at the polls, political interference and the like we in this part of the world face don’t exist in that part of the world. There can be no cheating of any kind, voter intimidation, threats of election related violence and the like over there!
But wait a minute by same turn of fate those are some the things we’ve been hearing lately!
By the way while we’re at it there is this clip where a beefy fellow practically chocks a female supporter of the ‘other candidate’ for no reason at all. And the news was that the candidate he supports didn’t say anything about the incident!
By the way, some of the news we’ve been hearing lately are the last things we expected to hear from that part of the world. In one report there was this info of some parts of the country in danger of facing ‘famine.’ What! No, this is not some proofreading mistake. ‘Famine’ seems to have entered the dictionary over there. Not that it’s destined to happen now or ever. But the very fact that you hear that scary term in connection with such a powerful nation is enough to remind us that this world is getting really messed up.
Look at what is happening in Europe like the energy crisis because of the Russian sanctions by the West. It might not be an immediate agenda for us whether the sanctions are justified or not. That’s maybe for history to unravel. But then hundreds millions of Europeans are facing a real chilly and freezing winter and if one isn’t surprised at hearing many are worried as to how they will make it through the winter months nothing would surprise one. The Russia Ukraine war is many things other than actual stories of bombs and bullets.
In fact we have been hearing that if the status quo remains unchanged the world might face a nuclear catastrophe. Scary! A nuclear showdown is not about taking out some arms silo or something. It is not about knocking out a few scores of enemy tanks and fighter jets. Sometime back I’ve heard a lady who should have known much better saying that nuclear war is not our worry; and this is a woman who have been out and about this world and should have known better. No lady, any nuclear showdown is every single human being’s worry.
Coming back to those midterm elections one is pardoned if one’s respect for so-called pollsters is dented. After the total flop of many the ‘polling results’ don’t blame us for having second thoughts about future public opinion polls. Why, we have been quoting results of some pollsters for quite some time thinking they couldn’t have nothing wrong. Poor us! Well this time they are! I mean the Red Wave they have been telling the world would happen is far from happening. The contenders, many probably hoodwinked by so-called polls, too were so sure that it would be a virtual Red sweep you couldn’t miss the flashes of arrogance here and there.
The so-called mainstream media! Well, well, well! Do we have some news over there! Actually, it’s not much of any news for us. Especially over the past couple of years we back here have realized what the so-called mainstream media is made of. Fairness? What fairness! If you raise the term ‘fairness’ in connection with the so-called mainstream western media you’re raising a term that has disappeared from their dictionaries. The bottom line is that the mainstream media’s agenda-driven profit-oriented ‘policy’ has sent it spiraling into the abyss of hate-mongering and conflict-fostering depths.
That’s the entire story. Did you know much of the mainstream media didn’t carry coverage of the peace talks in Pretoria while during the actual conflict they were coming out with all kinds of stories? It seems that fairness and professional integrity have been cast on the wayside with the current catch term being, “It’s business, stupid!” In modern journalism if you want to be on the news you don’t have to build a bridge, you’ve to destroy it!
By the way, with the 2024 presidential elections here’s a little suggestion if it helps to make things any better; how about election monitors from elsewhere! It isn’t without reason we say that this world is getting weirder by the day!
The Ethiopian Herald November 13/2022