Final Word from Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Ron Paul's third-place finish yesterday in the Iowa caucuseswill be the subject of much analysis and discussion. Did he doso well (or poorly, if you thought he should have won) in spiteof all the negative media attention leveled against him, or becauseof it? There's little doubt that the U.S. media's initial snubbingof him led to a rise in his appeal among young voters. JonStewart made it a point to give him airtime. Overall, though,the attacks against him by the mainstream media have beendevastating. NBC News called him the Pied Piper of the young.The Pied Piper, if you recall, led the children to their death. Inreality, Ron Paul is the only candidate offering any kind of planfor preventing the U.S. from going off a cliff. Refusing to seriouslyconsider his ideas for addressing the de facto bankruptcyof the U.S. and the unsustainability of its war policy meansthat Americans are resigning themselves to their fate. Czechs,too, should pay attention to the impalement of Ron Paul by theU.S. media, because it ultimately affects them as well.
Glossary of difficult words
impalement - the act of piercing with a sharp stake or point;
caucus - a meeting of members of a legislative body who belong to the same political party, for the purpose of selecting candidates for office or to decide on policy;
to level something - to aim something, often in a negative context;
to snub - to rebuff, ignore or spurn disdainfully;
unstustainability - the inability of being maintained at the current rate or level.