Monday, June 16, 2008

Is the Google un-American? Or: How Bush-Backers Deluded Themselves Into a State of Denial

Ever since the 9/11 attacks, George Bush and his party have tried to fight the Global War on Terror by reminding the American citizen some food for thought:

A. We're the good guys; we're going to keep you safe from the evil-doers with the funny-looking towers wrapped around their heads and the long, raggedy beards; we're gonna find 'em, and kill em, and keep this up 'till there are no more terrorists in the world.

B. Anyone who dares question our motives or our plan, to have their judgment questioned at best, branded un-American and a supporter of the terrorists, at worst.

C. The Republicans want to track down and rid the world of the terrorists, the Democrats (or Defeatocrats, moonbats, or any word combination that makes the otherside sound like a bunch of pussies), with their 'Due Process', 'the 4th Amendment of the Constitution', and their 'Habeas Corpus', are making it harder for us, the good, strong guys, to fight the GWOT, and in some cases, aiding and abetting the enemy.

D. In a time of war, it is essential that we stand by out country and our troops, but most most importantly, our commander-in-chief and we must never waver in both his decisions and his loyalty.

E. Did we forget to mention that we, the Republicans, are the ones who want to keep you safe, and the Democrats are trying to protect the terrorists becasue they hate Bush for 'winning' in 2000?

This line of horseshit has been spoon-fed, swallowed, digested, and spoon-fed again time after time for five years, until the American people did what the GOP didn't want to have happen: we caught on to this ruse and said enough was enough.

So what do you do when your meal-ticket strategy of feeding Americans a spoonful of lies and scare-tactics goes by the wayside and has run it's course? Simple - continue to use what put you on the map and pray that there are just enough Americans who are still asleep and still oblivious to what has transpired in their country for the past seven years. So it comes to no surprise to me when I read conservative lapdogs who bash other people, institutions, and other groups for not marching lockstep with Our Great Leader, even though Americans have longed tuned themselves out from hearing such trivial nonsense, thank God. Yet, I have to bring this instance of a right-wing site taking on the search engine Google, not for taking a stand against the type of fear-mongering BushCo is infamous for, but for not displaying doodles on certain holidays.
But in the last few years, as Google has grown to dominate the world of Internet search, some people have detected a more sinister motive behind its choice of days to commemorate. From the National Review to NewsBusters and InstaPundit, some of the country's most prominent conservative opinion journals and news sites have published stories and blog posts denouncing Google for subtly pushing a liberal worldview in its doodles while steadfastly refusing to commemorate patriotic or religious holidays.

Few keep a closer watch on Google than the editors of National Review. For years, they have monitored Google's doodles in search of value judgments about America. When Google ignored Memorial Day in 2006, editor-at-large Jonah Goldberg wrote on NRO's Corner, "It's kind of sad. They change their logo for all sorts of holidays and occasions. Just last week they paid tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle's birthday. But Memorial Day doesn't seem to rate anything at all." In 2007, online editor Kathryn Jean Lopez wrote, "What, no Easter? I wasn't expecting a risen Christ, but at least an Easter bunny?" Last June 6, Lopez sniffed, "So today is the D-Day anniversary. Today is the day RFK died 40 years ago. So Google is celebrating Diego Velazquez's birthday, natch."

Even when Google commemorates Independence Day, Lopez has looked for hints of a clandestine liberal sensibility. Last year, she printed a comment from a reader who claimed that the American eagle on Google's logo was clutching olive branches—but not arrows, the symbol of America's military might: "I think they've gone with a remodeled 'peace is patriotic' bumper sticker. They just couldn't bring themselves to do something 'American' without making some kind of signal about current policy."

The Google is now having it's patriotism questioned for not displaying patriotic doodles on certain holidays. What's next? Sean Hannity will dedicate a special report on a group of mothers who haven't made frosted red, white, and blue sugar cookies on Independence Day?

Nevermind that it's Google's own business whether or not to display what they choose on certain holidays, it shows just how detached and how numb these Bush loyalists are, to the point where attacking a search engine site for not doodling some form of celebrating the Fourth of July is fair game.

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