"You say that television is the most effective propaganda tool - and I disagree with that statement completely."

Really???? Well, I'm intrigued, Ron. ;-) What do YOU think is the most effective propaganda tool?

Ron, I am not looking for an easy answer. ;-) I do not even expect to FIND an answer. I am simply, as Mark Twain did in his day, observing what I see happening around me and commenting on it.

I don't have enough hubris to imagine that I have an answer, frankly...let alone THE answer. I leave that to politicians, preachers, and people who have way more hubris than I do.

You are continually trying to twist what I say into an all-or-nothing statement about whatever it is, and I find myself continually have to point that out. WHAT is the problem? Is it that it would be more convenient for your argument if I MADE all-or-nothing statements? I'm not doing that. I'm making statements about something I see happening that is not and never will be UNIVERSAL, but it does happen. It has a tendency to happen.

This is what I see happening in political debates all the time....one person pretends that the other person said what they wish they would say so they can point out how wrong it is. LOL! Get real.

I do NOT " fail to recognize the outstanding offerings that can be found - great performances, documentaries, substantial talk programs, and works of great art." Indeed, I'm well aware of them and have seen many such. Great stuff, yes, indeed.

I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron. I am not speaking in Absolutes. Not about TV, not about anything.

Remove the words "everything", "all", "no", and "nothing" from what you said above, Ron, and it will begin to be somewhat more applicable to what I have said. Remove the absolutes. I am not speaking in absolutes, and neither should you if you wish to have a sensible discussion.

I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.

Now go and write it 500 times on your wall so you get it, okay?

I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.
I am NOT making all-or-nothing statements, Ron.

I am NOT speaking in absolutes.

I am NOT saying ALL TV is bad. I am saying that much of it is.

Got it? (thank God for copy and paste!)

So quit pretending that I am speaking in absolutes and quit putting words in my mouth and thoughts in my head that are not my own.

You keep doing that, man, and it's becoming as predictable and tiresome as George Bush's mispronunciation of the word "nuclear".

It is a disingenous form of argument, and it serves no purpose because you're not even arguing with my real position, you're arguing with a straw man, an absolutist that you keep erecting in the place of my real position which is NOT absolutist.

I don't believe that TV or any other medium is intrinsically bad, nor do I believe that its influence has been wholly pernicious. It's just a tool. Tools are neither bad nor good, they're completely neutral in themselves. They can be used for good, for bad, or indifferently. One has to look at how they are being used, and why.