By Abdulillah

Today I had the most unfortunate experience. It was surreal, to see my fellow country man - Arabs acting like caged animals about to be fed at a zoo. I am speaking of the debate on the Jordanian JoSat TV channel that included Mr. Muhammad As'ad Bayoudh Al-Tamimi, said to be of the Umma movement, and a Mr. Mahmoud Al-Bastanjani, said to be a member of the Jordanian Ba'th Party that aired on November 29, 2011.

The program – refereed by Zoo Keeper and interviewer Mr. Najib 'Attiya – whom I thought should have done a much better job at vetting these two individuals prior to bringing them on the program - or at least feeding them first, was supposed to be about the Syrian Crisis with Mr. Al-Tamimi on the side against the present Syrian Regime and the other for it.

It suffices to say that this program/fiasco started first by name calling then quickly moved to outright slander, followed by brawling like two animals fending for food at a poorly run zoo. I have seen zoos animals behave better to each other than these two. Worse is that now every channel, internet news agency has picked up on this display of animalist behavior, lumping us Jordanians and Arabs with these two.
Next we have interview with Syrian political analyst Taleb Ibrahim, which aired on OTV on November, 26, 2011. Now this wonderful well-kept man could not convey to me or anyone else for that matter how he would qualify as an analyst.

He actually was pushing that idea that the Israeli Mossad is killing the people of Homs and not the present regime which is facing condemnation by not only ever every nation on earth outside of Russia and China even to the point that the Arab League, which hardly EVER gets involved in any internal affair of any other Arab nation has sanctioned this regime for its brutality against its people.

He then descends to the animalistic behavior now more predominant in our TV and other news media channels when he runs out of facts into outright name calling where he called the Free Syrian Army (all deserters of the Syrian Army that refused to obey orders to kill their brethren) an “Army of Donkeys, working for the Israeli Mossad. How he managed to come up with this analysis I am not sure, but I have never been an advocate for someone that cannot substantiate his facts, especially if he claims to be an analyst.

My fellow citizens, if this are where we are going to take freedom of the press and our behavior, than please sign me out. I want no part of this type democracy that takes the noble culture of my people and country into the depths of depravity.

Our culture has never been one to act in this manner to guests let alone our own brethren. This behavior is common to the tabloid news channels and shows that air on Western TV, like the Jerry Springer and many others. Have we stooped this low to allow such nonsense on our airways polluting our senses and our children in ways that they will believe the quickest way to fame is to make noise and behave abhorrently and arrogantly?

So much for freedom of speech! We have taken a good thing and allowed our behavior to run chaotic in the streets where as we have fulfilled what the philosopher Thomas Hobbs stated where “humans being are self-centered and desire-driven – where we are not capable of self-rule and that our competition with each other to satisfy our individual goals puts us into a “state of Nature” where life is “nasty, brutish, and short”, and where we would rather give up this freedom from chaos for “an authoritarian regime – and enjoy a social order established by force”.

Both these shows and many other written commentaries these days, exemplify this.

I hope we come to our senses soon. I hope the editors and producers of these media channels can do a better job and stop looking for the fast enrichment that comes with putting on a cock or pit bull fight on TV or on the cover of their news magazines.