What is the proper perspective?

Floyd Teter is an expert in Oracle applications software.

When Teter wants to read about Oracle products, he wants to read about Oracle products. But recently, when he was checking his feeds, he ran into different stuff:

The top hits are all about the lawsuit with Google, the lawsuit with Montclair State University, and the latest plays on Oracle stock. No question the suits have taken over the headlines.

Teter was not happy, and his post on this ("We've Lost Our Perspective") concluded with a CAPS-LOCK LADEN RANT, asking for a return to perspective.

Joe Paterno's death last weekend also resulted in a consideration of perspective. To some, the proper perspective on Joe Paterno was to concentrate on his entire illustrious career. To others, the proper perspective on Joe Paterno was to concentrate on his lack of effective action one day in 2002, a lack of action which allegedly resulted in several boys being molested over the following years.

I'm sure that all of us can think of a number of people, companies, or events that can be looked at from different perspectives. Just to take one admittedly fascinating example, Richard Nixon could be considered as the President who launched the most significant thaw of the Cold War era, or he could be considered as the President who continued a brutal war in Southeast Asia. Or the President who ended the brutal war in Southeast Asia. Or the President who sold out our allies in Southeast Asia. And I haven't even gotten to Nixon's domestic policies.

To be truthful about it, we adopt the perspective that best suits our worldview. If our lives are dominated by fighting the evil of child molestation, that's going to shape our view of Joe Paterno. If we're a Google fanboi, that's going to shape our view of Oracle.

In effect, the best way to approach this is to acknowledge our perspective, and (in most cases) explain why we have the perspective that we have.

Your thoughts?