Media Lies

Open Thread

Mark Noonan66 Comments

Almost done with Battles!

I’ll have it out in a few days: gotta be formatted and then I have to proof it one, last time.

Yesterday, the MSM and the various gay rights group were breathlessly telling the world that Pete Buttigieg, to be Biden’s Transportation nominee, will be the first openly gay cabinet member. Another great advance in human rights by the Democrats. One problem: it wasn’t because Buttigieg isn’t the first openly gay cabinet member: Ric Grenell was.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, earlier today I saw the NY Time’s Maggie Haberman getting all misty eyed about some female Biden aides who combined work with family. And you’re going, hey, what about Ivanka and all the other powerful women in the Trump Administration who have been his most effective people these past four years? Didn’t they also bravely balance work and family?

Sure: but Haberman’s audience has no idea about it because Haberman, and the rest of her MSMers, carefully hid the fact that the really top people in Team Trump were all women. Just as they hid the fact that Ric Grenell is gay. The MSM doesn’t just lie by stating egregious falsehoods (though there is plenty of that), they also lie by what they don’t say.

Saw this morning that there’s a viral Tom Cruise video where he goes on rant against employees not properly obeying China Flu protocols. My question: why is he filming? Since when is Mission Impossible 7 vital to the health and safety of the people?

I’ve been wary of the “vote flipping” accusation against Dominion because, well, shades of “Putin switched votes from Hillary to Trump” from 2016. But, this seems a bit different, now: it isn’t the ridiculous idea that a Russian hacker got into a voting machine which wasn’t connected to the internet and then flipped the votes as they came in…this is an accusation that the programming of the machine was accidentally or malicious set in such a way that it would produce more votes for Biden and fewer for Trump. Now, did it actually happen that way? Only a full, forensic audit by a neutral outsider could determine it…which is something that the “it wasn’t rigged” people are fighting furiously against.

RSM links to a report showing the statistical likelihood of Biden’s victory. Spoiler: not very likely at all. Now, does statistical variance prove something nefarious happened? Nope. But as it was such a variance, it certainly justifies a close look at the vote…which, once again, the “it wasn’t rigged” people don’t want.

Strange, huh?

Open Thread

Mark Noonan40 Comments

A slight modification to the US Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Nothing in this Amendment shall be construed as prohibiting the imposition of civil and criminal penalties for the publication of false information.

Just a bit of spitballin’ here – but as I said in an earlier post, we must do something to end the Reign of Lies which has warped our politics for the past 50 or maybe even 80 years. I really am all ears here – but please don’t try to tell me that we must retain the current system which allows the MSM – in service of the Democrats – to brazenly lie all the time without any possibility of punishment. I realize that it is a very dicey thing, but I can’t see the Republic surviving if lies are allowed to go unchecked.

And, in fact, I think that God – in a way – commands us to do this: we are not supposed to allow lies to fly unchecked. Something must be built into the system as a corrective to falsehood.

Our Founders built the most brilliant system of government in human history and it has stood the test of time, but the Founders, understanding that people will lie for political advantage, never imagined a time when 95%+ of the news media in our country would (a) be liars and (b) be liars in the service of only one political party.

And speaking of lies – the Democrats and their MSM lapdogs really are circling the wagons for Biden, aren’t they? What amuses me most is that there are still some so-called “Conservative” voices out there claiming they are shocked at the double standard between Kavanaugh and Biden. To me its, oh, puhleeese! Of course the MSM and Democrats were going to treat Biden entirely differently from Kavanaugh. Everyone – including Kavanaugh’s accusers – knew the accusations against Kavanaugh were lies from the get-go; the Democrats, MSMers and Never Trumpers just pretended they thought otherwise because it was their shot to take down a Trump court nominee. But now that we have accusers of Biden – far more credible accusers – the problem is that if we go along with the accusations that would hurt a Democrat. And you know we can’t have that (and in case you were wondering why I suddenly got in the mood to amend the Constitution, this is it). Don’t look for truth, logic or any semblance of basic decency: this is about getting power…and for the Democrats anything that gets them power is good.

Some are talking that Biden can’t survive this when added to his obvious mental decline – I say: watch them. As long as Biden can stand up with his eyes open for five minutes, the DNC and MSM will prop him up as the second coming of Pericles. They have to – to ditch Joe means getting someone else, and if that someone else isn’t Bernie then the Democrats will be faced with open revolt. The only hope the Democrats have here is that after Biden picks his VP, he keels over. Absent that, they are going with him to the end.

The Experts are still saying that Trump is doomed – though the smarter Experts (those who can tie their own shoes) add the caveat “if the election were held today”. Of course, the election won’t be held today – but if it were, it would still be a decision between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Anything is possible in politics but I can’t see the American people, faced with crisis and economic crash, turning to a 78 year old, addle-brained political hack. Maybe they will – but until it happens, I won’t say it will happen. And, as it turns out, if you look at some of the voter registration numbers, social media activity and fundraising, it seems to me that Trump is well-positioned for a win in November.

I also wonder what real affect the Democrat governors will have on November? It is obvious that they aren’t acting for health and safety but merely to keep people miserable in the hope that this will help Biden. Its an open question as to whether or not that theory is correct…but I wonder if the actions like Oregon’s governor saying she’ll keep the shutdown until June is storing up a level of outrage against Democrats? No way to know – but I do know that some people are rather irked by it all. At the end of the day, we’re not going to have a cure for this thing, ever (even a vaccine won’t be 100% against it). Most of us will catch it at some point. Isn’t it time for we adult citizens of the Republic to just start assessing the risks for ourselves? I think so. And I wonder how people will long-term react to a Democrat governor saying you can’t go to the park?

Never Trust the MSM. Ever. Nope, Not Even That Guy You Like

Mark Noonan3 Comments

A lot of people are going on and on about the revelation that NBC News hid exculpatory evidence on Kavanaugh. I’m along the lines of: uh, why would you be surprised?

It is 2018, guys: there is no reason to be surprised by this. The Media has never been a vehicle of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It has always had a partisan bias. It is just that, a long while back, all political sides purchased reporters and editors to ensure their views got out there. It really can’t be emphasized enough how much opinion is actually paid for. As Samuel Johnson put it ages ago, none but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. Rely on it, even little blogger me has, at the back of his mind, that one day this might all pay off in a big way (though I’m more hopeful for the novel on this front). I hope and pray that I’ll never be tempted to defend what I don’t believe in return for money, but that temptation is massive in any field where you are putting out information for public consumption…and very large numbers of people simply do what their paymasters demand.

The MSM is, as we know, full to the brim with liberals to begin with. But just being liberal isn’t enough. To really endure in the MSM, you have to parrot on demand whatever comes down the pike – and if your liberalism isn’t enough to keep you going, then there’s always your paycheck to keep you in line. As well the worry that if you don’t toe the line, your future prospects could be ruined. But it isn’t just liberals. On the right, if you wonder why, say, some rather big names in Conservatism continue to boost the horrid “free trade” agreements and say that border control isn’t important, look no further than who is funding their work. If it is corporate money, you can rely on it that they’ll either talk the way their told, or they’ll be out of a job. And even in the independent media now rising, you’ve got to keep in mind that these people are trying to make a name for themselves and start getting paid. This often does result in them breaking important stories…but it can also lead them into doing all sorts of weird or stupid things just to get clicks and views.

Trust none of it. Ever.

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be skeptical. To check and re-check. To learn history on your own so you’ll have a good idea about how such things worked in the past. To always think, “does this really make sense?” when reading an assertion. Always, always, always look at what people do as opposed to what they say. I’ve seen the political prognosticators this past week speak loudly about how good it still looks for Democrats…and then I’ve seen them quietly adjust their actual predictions in favor of the GOP. I’ve seen Democrats still talking up their Blue Wave, while pouring money into New Jersey. On and on and on it goes like that. Look. Think. Check. Doubt. And have no favorites – raise no pundit or reporter up on a pedestal. They might go years doing good work, but then suddenly betray your trust. They are human, too.

In an Age of Lies, your defense is Doubt. It is far better if you approach each story with the attitude it isn’t true than to make yourself look a fool by believing lies…and the worst part of that is that once you’ve defended the lie, you’ll be tempted to keep defending it even when facts prove you wrong. If you went into it doubting it, then you’ll feel to no need to defend it when it is proved false…and, after a while, you’ll get so good at spotting nonsense that you’ll see right through it. You’ll be able to see, that is, the truth the liar is trying to hide from you.

But also be of good cheer – I think that ever more people are seeing the scam, and many have actually penetrated it and discovered the truth. We may be on the cusp of some real, radical change in our nation and we might even, just a few years from now, be in a place where more often than not, the truth gets out before the lies do.