"You Can Do It" America

Thinking objectively in this crazy world these days is an awesome chore. We have the main street media that bombards us every day with information that is purported to be news but contains nothing more than slanted headlines designed to give the reader a bias before he even reads the article and then spins the article to match the headline so you get their version of the “news”. It seems that the editorial pages spill over to the front page. The sports page is only where I get the facts. Somebody won and somebody lost! Except when you read about Tiger Woods, where it looks like everybody lost (or won), depending on your perspective.

All this is counteracted by talk radio and the dueling cable news network’s which give you their version in sound bites, video clips, and interviews with people that agree with them. There may still be pundits and news reporters that try to give you objective analysis with no spin, but they are a dying breed.

Last night my wife and I called Christopher Lowell, the celebrated designer, who is a good friend and confidante. The moniker “designer” is a misnomer for Christopher, who really is a philosopher, writer, motivational speaker, and an expert in consumerism, marketing, lifestyles, and a forecaster of future consumer trends. You may remember that Christopher Lowell was a pioneer in the early days of cable with the “You Can Do It” approach to interior design and has written 6 books on the topic. This is before cable got on the reality craze and he got off the train.

Christopher now resides in Santa Fe, NM and is working on new marketing techniques using the Internet, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. Obviously, he has a sizable following and an active Twitter network and mentioned the political questions, anger, and fear in many of the messages he gets pertaining to the antagonism and partisanship that now prevails in our society. Christopher is an apolitical person and very sensitive to what is happening to his friends and fans as a result of this economic crisis.

In one of his recent blogs http://www.christopherlowell.com/interactive/blog/?p=1258 he talked about all the good people he meets who are working their tails off for the benefit of their community, city, and town, regardless of what’s going on in Washington. This is the backbone of “American exceptionalism” which we see going on every day regardless of race, religious beliefs, or political inclination. People who wonder why there are others out there who want to kill us and our culture and why they have to send their sons and daughters to a faraway place across the globe to defend our freedom.

Christopher bemoaned, “if only we can hear their stories instead of shows about the kooks and the anger fringe, we will come together regardless of political preference”. Christopher, you have the right idea and I know you will give your followers the right advice because you have no political agenda and you love your country. America needs to buy in to your motto “You Can Do It”.