Media Rights

Times Of Universal Deceit

by GrayMatters
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

I’ve got good news and bad news.

The bad news is we’re not sure what the bad news is. As humans, we love listening to ourselves talk even when we’re saying stupid shit. We brag about our ignorance and make fun of the “elite” (aka those who learned how to listen/think critically, who paid attention at school and occasionally picked up a book). Other uninformed people hear us and agree because then we both feel better about our benighted, pathetic selves. Our ignorance and laziness are validated.

This fact-challenged nation is on a scary path. If we don’t like what we hear, we stick our fingers in our ears and yell, “Fake news!” The government tells us the reputable news sources are fake while they repeat asinine conspiracy theories and tell lies to cover up mistakes and criminal activity. Hell, their lies tell lies. And people who never trusted the government before suddenly believe every idiotic thing that comes from the president’s oblivious, chocolate cake hole and fawn over each confused rant and nonsensical proclamation he broadcasts from his golden shitter.

Notice a pattern here?:

Sampling of stream of lies and fake news nonsense from the Liar-In-Chief.
(Sampling of stream of lies and fake news nonsense from the Liar-In-Chief.)

I particularly enjoyed this bit of irony:

(Derek Cressman’s irony tweet from 28 June 2017.)

Suddenly facts and critical thinking are completely unnecessary in our world. We surround ourselves with others who feel the same and do not challenge these notions. The dumber our friends are, and the less resistance we meet, the more confident we are about spouting off any fatuous or outrageous thing that pops into our heads.

The good news is our reputable news sources are still offering us reliable information even if it’s not what we want to hear. All we have to do is partake of it. Somehow they plug along though I often muse on the subject of how they manage it like I did with the We’re In Touch, So You Be In Touch post back on the 24th of March (this year).

I’m reminded with all-too-common threads like this one where people say they don’t trust news anymore, view the moderates as “left,” and won’t even try to believe anybody but Breitbart and Fox (link to actual tweet/thread at the end with the other links):

We don’t always like what the news outlets tell us. Hell, lately, the truth actually hurts. Look at where our government wants to go with health care? the truth of what they are doing now, I mean? The majority of our representatives in Congress are looking very seriously and favorably at taking affordable health insurance away from millions of Americans so they can give tax breaks to the wealthiest in the country. That’s not fake news; that is fact. That truth hurts, and if their intent translates into action, if it becomes law, it’ll do more than hurt. It’ll kill people. Literally.

Nevertheless, we need facts, we need truth, no matter how painful in order to function in this world. Facts are necessary to process reality and make informed, responsible decisions. We shouldn’t be so proud of our ignorance, and we shouldn’t be fighting so hard for our ignorance to be recognized as virtue, but these are strange times. Telling the truth shouldn’t be revolutionary, but it is now. Information that is easily verifiable as fact by any reasonable human being is questioned as if one’s own opinion is to be valued above all, and logic and quantifiable data are meaningless in the pursuit of truth. We’ve arrived at a strange point in time where many of our heroes are simply people like Sally Yates who told the truth. The pursuit of truth shouldn’t be revolutionary, and it certainly shouldn’t be a cause for shame. Don’t believe everything you read. Be proud to question everything, but be even more proud to be able to find, recognize, and accept truth. It will set us free.

(Video below of JFK discussing the role of the press in December 1962 in a tweet from Bradd Jaffy)

Link: For when you need to be reminded that the office of president isn’t always held by a lying idiot, my previous post Lower Now.

Link: “‘Real Fake’ statue installed in front of Chicago’s Trump Tower” – by Jacqueline Thomsen at The Hill (tweet below because it’s AWESOME, and I do what I want here)

Original link to Derek Cressman’s delicious irony tweet:

Original link to my tweet about the press sometimes making mistakes but being generally helpful/honest:

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