Silver seems like a bright guy and I'm sure he made valid points. However, he didn't ask a question that I've started to think is absolutely critical to make sense of the news coverage available to Americans today:
Why should I care?Silver didn't bore me or make me think the charges are bogus. No, I'm saying that he, like a lot of others in the media, seems to have gotten caught up in what the Columbia Journalism Review has called "the hamster wheel" of news. Something that has captured the media's attention, for whatever reason, is acquiring a significance it doesn't deserve, just because everyone is covering it.
Is a rapist evil? Of course. Is Julian Assange a rapist? I don't know. Does it matter to me? If I were thinking about socializing with him, it might, but as things stand, the answer is "no." Whether Assange is or isn't a rapist has absolutely no effect on my life.
As bad as an exclusive concern with "self" can be in many areas of our lives, in our toxic news environment, an exclusive concern with self is the only thing that will keep you levelheaded.
Just because the media -- and Foxheads, this includes your chosen alternative to the "lamestream media" -- is flogging a story, doesn't make it newsworthy to you.
What difference does Assange's guilt or innocence on the rape charges make to the leaked documents on WikiLeaks? None at all. If you think publishing the documents was an evil act, it will remain an evil act even if Assange is innocent of rape. If you think publishing the documents was a good act, it will remain a good act even if he is guilty of rape.
Are various governments trying to distract us from the significance of the leaked documents by pursuing unrelated criminal charges against Assange? Maybe. That's about as relevant as those charges get to the rest of us, because it makes us wonder if we, too, might ever find ourselves in Assange's position.
You might already have decided that the documents on WikiLeaks are irrelevant to your life, and therefore so is any knowledge of Julian Assange. If so, more power to you. I feel differently about the documents, but at least ignoring them altogether makes sense to me as a response to all the shouting.
What doesn't make sense is getting riled up about rape charges that don't involve you, your family, or your friends, even if those charges give you, as they gave Nate Silver, an excuse for a column.
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