Up is Down. Right is Left. Mario is Wario.
The President visited Hampton University over the weekend to give the commencement address and boy did he deliver a weird one. There is a lot in it I want to unpack and examine more closely, but I’ll pick some low-hanging fruit tonight.
At one point, the President cautioned the graduates about a clear and present danger to our democracy: The Mario Brothers.
Meanwhile, you’re coming of age in a 24/7 media environment that bombards us with all kinds of content and exposes us to all kinds of arguments, some of which don’t rank all that high on the truth meter. With iPods and iPads; Xboxes and PlayStations; information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment. All of this is not only putting new pressures on you; it is putting new pressures on our country and on our democracy.
You know, I often turn to my video game console when I need information about the world around me. I can’t tell you how many times the knowledge imparted to me by Mario and Luigi enabled me to survive in this rough and tumble world. Why just the other evening I was walking down the street and I saw a turtle coming toward me. Well, I knew just what to do. I jumped on the turtles back, which disabled him, then kicked him away from me, right into another turtle that was lurking right behind him!
And let’s not even get into the dangers of swimming underwater I learned from Sonic the Hedgehog. Heck, just the thought of a countdown clock is enough to send me bolting to the surface lest I drown when time runs out!
Yes, all that information you’re getting from your Xstations and PlayCubes is awfully distracting, but I’m fairly sure our democracy isn’t in any danger from the “information” our young people are getting from video games. Our problems these days don’t stem from the so-called distraction of too much information from iPods and *snort* video game consoles but a President who thinks a cloud of ignorant smog is sage advice. Hopefully, these young graduates will embrace the wonderful opportunities the information age give us ever day and ignore the know-nothing President who wants to limit them to only the sources he approves.
(via JammieWearingFool who thinks the President just might be a touch unhappy that he only controls most of the mass media information sources out there.)
Other Posts of Interest:
- It’s A New Presidential Speech Game: Spot the Lie
- Victory? Feh? He’s More Into Problem-Solving. You Know, Like in Those Fun Books!
- President-Elect Hypocrite
Category: President Barack Obama
Well! This is certainly some quality critique right here, I sit corrected! Yes, Obama is clearing blaming video games for stuff, that is really what he's saying.
It's stunning how in a long speech like that all you can do is blather about one paragraph with a pretty clear message; kids are more plugged into cyberspace where information and entertainment blur into one nebulous mass. For example you have the Iraq war (or at least a version of it) playing out in games like Call of Duty (and soon a game based on Fallujha).
I'm guessing if I said "Marshall McLuhan" you'd think I was referencing an old Clint Eastwood movie.
Do you deliberately miss the point for the sake of rhetorical ammo or are you really this obtuse? Do you need everything to be spoon fed to you a la FoxNews? You can't think between the lines, absorb what is being said an apply it to your own experiences and observations? Are you really this honestly literal?
Again, you didn't read my blog post, did you? If you had, you might have noticed that I said there was a lot in the speech worth unpacking and that this post was simply a grab at a piece of low-hanging fruit.
Seriously. If you're goign to spend time here criticizing me, try being at least minimally informed, would you? It's insulting to me and everyone who reads your comments if you don't at least put in some effort to know what the heck you're talking about.
Also, your point, such as it is, makes no sense.
So… you admit that it was "low hanging fruit" despite your righteous indignation at my previous comments about how puerile your Obama commentary is?
Fascinating.
You need to learn the difference between "righteous indignation" and "ridicule".
And my "admission" is not exactlya triumph, since I wrote it right into the blog post. Like I keep saying, you need to read first, think long, then maybe write.
This back and forth is quite entertaining, in the same way that a back and forth between a toddler and a parent is entertaining.
Look, salvage, Jimmie runs a conservative blog and has every right to speak his mind on whatever topic he chooses. If he chooses to speak to "low hanging fruit" and not get to the "meat and potatoes" (which any regular reader of his blog will tell you that he will), then that is his rightful choice.
It is also your right to read his blog, should you wish to do so. It is your privilege granted to you by Jimmie to comment on his blog. Now we can all see that you wish to be the protagonist in this story, and that's all good and fine. But for the sake of the rest of us who are watching this soap opera play out, please keep your comments intelligent and topical. Your sarcasm and personal attacks only undermine whatever point it is that you're trying to make.
Jimmie is more than happy to have a back-and-forth with anyone. But I fail to see why he wastes his time with trolls seeking a cheap thrill.
I think that the President's comments here coincide with his ongoing agenda (which he is stepping up right now). He is all about technology as long as he agrees with the message it allows us to spew. Can no one, accept the author, see that Barack Obama is ultimately trying to gain control of everything? The last year and half has been an ongoing power grab for this administration and congress. If we keep ignoring it, or just sit back and let it happen even though we know what's going on, then we will pay for it with our freedom. We have already given up enough. Let's all wake up and speak up. November can't get here fast enough!