Reaction: MSNBC confuses satire for fact

I love when the news tries to race to get these stories out. Even during an ongoing interview, they are still trying to pull sources off the net. Classic. The problem with doing something that ignorant, to use this video as the perfect example, is there is no one to fact-check that source. You can use the internet to "prove" any point you're trying to make (in this case MSNBC is trying to show Jerry Falwell had a lot of influence on the Bush administration - which most sources indicate he did not), but that doesn't mean the "proof" you find is any more real than the claim you're trying to make. That is why these news agencies have these hoops you have to jump through so you're not releasing blatantly incorrect data to the entire world. The problem with jumping through these hoops is it is time consuming which means, from a news agency's point of view, you may not be the first one out of the gate with the story. But it sure feels better finishing the race in second place than breaking your horse's leg on the first jump.

Kurt Vonnegut dies at 84

One of my heroes, Kurt Vonnegut, died today. He was certainly one of the most brilliant satirists ever, and without a doubt one of the finest of his generation. Not only is this a great blow to fans of his everywhere, but this is a major setback in the American political arena. Vonnegut had been one of the most outspoken and influential players in the anti-war movement dating back to Vietnam. His speeches, essays, and interviews over the last several years have been very critical of the Bush Administration and the atrocities going on in Iraq.

I have read many of his works, but one of my favorite pieces by him is the short essay "Cold Turkey" which was published in 2004. It was a major turning point in some of my political views because I was new in college and had not developed much of a political identity. His message, interlaced with scathing sarcasm, really struck a chord with me and has helped shape my views to this day. I especially like the last part of "Cold Turkey" and will quote a little bit for you here:

"And my car back then, a Studebaker, as I recall, was powered, as are almost all means of transportation and other machinery today, and electric power plants and furnaces, by the most abused and addictive and destructive drugs of all: fossil fuels.

When you got here, even when I got here, the industrialized world was already hopelessly hooked on fossil fuels, and very soon now there won’t be any more of those. Cold turkey."