The lies of media and politicians

What is with the modern mainstream media? Evil? Arrogant? Disdainful of everyone else? Stupid? Or just clueless?

Or perhaps, all of the above? Let me share an example.

Thanks to Freedom Net Daily for sharing this gem (sarcasm, intended!)

“Is US COVID-19 death count inflated?” was published by The Hill and written by the apparently hapless Chris Talgo,

He states, in part, “Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, many have questioned whether death counts attributed to the pandemic have been inflated. Anecdotally, there are several stories of cases in which people with COVID-19 had deadly heart attacks, yet these cases were coded as COVID-19 deaths. In one extreme case, a Florida man who died in a motorcycle crash happened to also have COVID-19 at the time, yet was coded as having died from COVID-19, not because of the motorcycle accident. … If Americans are divided along political lines when it comes to something that should be as cut-and-dry as death counts during a pandemic, that is much more telling about the lack of credibility most Americans (from all political persuasions) have in the nation’s major institutions.”

I have to give Talgo some credit: he did a little bit of research, and he wasn’t afraid (as apparently many news and commentary writers are) to report that government agenies may be playing games. Or just plain lying.

So why do I claim he is clueless and hapless? (Together with many more of the writers, editors, reporters, and publishers which we (unfortunately) call the “Mainstream Media.”)

Because clearly this guy believes that determining truth versus lies is politically divisive! Even though he is somewhat willing to do the basics that were once accepted practice even among evil and arrogant media types. But he apparently cannot go too far beyond his indoctrination – truth is relative, and determined by your point of view and beliefs. Especially political beliefs.

Folks, it isn’t political: Republicans lie as much and as often as Democrats do. (I’m speaking of the politicians and activists, not necessarily each and every person who has registered to vote as one or the other.)  And for that matter, so do all the other political parties: the Constitutionalists, the Natural Law types, the Socialists (Democratic and not), the Prohibitionists,… And yes, even the Libertarians.  Politicians and activists lie and lie and lie some more.  They may lie about DIFFERENT things, and some may lie more than others.  But it is a common… no, not “failing” but a common characteristic.  One might even say that lying is as essential to being a politician or an activist as good people skills is to a salesperson.

But it is NOT JUST politicians that lie, and herein lies Talgo’s biggest error.  (Nor is it just media, or even mainstream media, that lies.)

It is GOVERNMENT that lies.  Bureaucrats. Appointed officials.  Elected officials. Yes, even military personnel: at least “successful” military people in “peacetime.”  Why?  Because it is essential to do the things that they are told to do.  And because they have the example of generations of government employees and officials succeeding by doing just that. Oft-times, what good they do (however little or much) is in spite of the lying and the other character faults and evil things that they do.

And since media is so closely tied to politicians and so dependent on government, it also cultivates the art and science of lying.  And seemingly gets better at it every year.

Of course, this is nothing new. We know – and have documents proving – that politicians, media, and government all lie.  Go back 100 years. Go back 150 or 200 years.  Go all the way back to not just the FedGov of 1787 but the Continental Congress with the Articles of Confederation and before. However, the quantity and size of the lies is very bad right now – maybe as bad as any time in history.

Why?

For one, the stakes are higher.  There are more people, more things to buy and own (and destroy), more to gain from telling lies.  Media lives and dies by readers/viewers and their watching advertising – lies get people to watch more.  Even if they believe or think that what they are seeing is not the truth. But there is more.

Although the world is more complex today than in the past (or so we fondly assume), the information available to everyone today is astoundingly greater.  It is not just the elite, or those in power, that know what is going on across the Fifty States and around the world.  Virtually anyone can learn and follow events.  Especially if there is a Julian Assange or a Edward Snowden to share “secrets” with us.

So a large part of the lies are devoted to trying to convince people that anything that does not match the government, politically correct story (including their own eyes) is wrong. And also persuading people that these things are really not that important.  While OTHER things are even more important. That is in addition to the outright lies – that something DID NOT happen, or that something DID happen.  Even lying has gotten more complicated, hasn’t it?

By telling lies – like the idea that questioning government and medical sources’ claims about Pandemic infections and deaths is based purely on political bias – they seek to control everyone around them.  Not just to keep their power, but to expand it.

Which is why, more than ever, we can’t let them get away with it.  Fortunately, they are clueless, and don’t realize that we are no longer dependent on them (media, politicians, and government) for our information. Provided that they don’t find a way to steal that from us.