Sol's Culture Wars

(Opinion) Politics is the shiny, empty suit worn by self-serving scoundrels to service their campaign donor's agenda, and secure re-election. Taxpayers are the suckers in this shell game of false values, and no real problem-solving goals or moral high ground is established. America and the blessed dream of liberty for a free people swiftly disappears with a too-powerful media forcing the optics of deceitful distortion. What to believe now when the payroll partisan 'fact checkers' protect the biggest lies, controlled airwaves equals controlled minds. Watch and hear now with critical eye and ear because the enemies of freedom are already here, executing a calculated plan. Do you want Beijing Biden and his WH proppers to conclude what is 'true' and 'untrue' speech? Not me. The First Amendment is really all we, The People, still have. But, tyranny's evil, godless globalism looms to take control.

(Opinion) The Californicating of American culture continues. We have so morally confused ourselves, and virtue signalled our way to becoming a sanctuary also for hard criminals, scoundrels, and allies to evil. Simply emptying prisons is no solution. That policy guarantees more victims, as we are seeing in most major crime stats rising, after long-trending declines.  How is it progressive for crime to explode, and respect for authority now a laughing matter? Routine shoplifting is totally ignored today. In my state, up to $900 of theft is not prosecuted, and law enforcement has well publicized this crazy, wrong-headed policy.  So, home invasions, armed robberies, rape, weapons charges, and common assault are also featuring a brazen, no-worries boldness that is unprecedented.  Meanwhile, good cops everywhere, vilified by a profane media and irrational, crime-enabling de-funding, are just giving up to early retirement. Along with demonstrations and very selective media cover...

The meltdown continues for good reason. Folks figured out CNN is the least dependable among scoundrels. CNN is now the sixth-rated cable network in prime time, behind Fox News, MSNBC, HGTV, the Hallmark Channel, and the History Channel. Cartoon Channel- my favorite when I used to watch TV- is now a CNN rival, which somehow seems right.😄

These maybe the Last Days of high deceit, bought-sold values, big media wink-nod foreign pay-to-play money arriving on massive foggy midnight barges of stealth and growing influence. Phony, self-labeled fact-checkers with partisan orders from their corporate payers, be wary of especially the dubious expert, pundit, analyst, research reporter, anonymous or unnamed source, content police, and cancellers disguised as informed authority, they are all propagandists for evil. Your common sense is your boss, the source, and trusted partner. Media is the driver of cultural corrosion, stoked division, and daily disorder of national spirit, like a constant inflammation thru fear-baiting headlines of doom.

https://www.facebook.com/100002074481530/posts/4110962868982822/ (Repost from three years ago.) This isn't fact-based news, just an opinion essay. That's also what this is about: news and non-news. By now, we all know dopey Trump's redundantly self-serving term. The problem with his sandbox campaign construct- a go-to narrative used to dodge responsibility from his own words or deeds- is that there IS a type of fake news in play, and easily identifiable on both sides. While truth-challenged Trump over-uses his term any time reporters ask any question, fake news today is regretfully real. The specific problem I have with NPR, ABC/CBS/NBC, CNN, and FOX News networks: it has become nearly impossible to differentiate between alledged news reporting, and a network's respective political spinning.  It's ALL opinion now, the way news is headlined, framed, and presented. So, I believe journalism in America has radically and drastically changed, the line between fact and spi...

The Loaded Question fallacy has become the standard format for too many fake news reporters. Closely related to the predictable "gotcha" hacks who believe journalism is about trapping the subject after setting the bait. Unfortunately, too many celebrity reporters today make themselves the story- jarringly confirming their own bias over fair and professional codes of conduct. An example of a weaponized loaded question is the always camera-loving Jim Acosta asking a former President "If he'll apologize to the American people for the pandemic?" The Loaded Question always makes a statement first, before any query. For more comically frequent daily examples, check out last-in-ratings CNN's dopey headers. They ALL make a statement, even the headlines not marked "analysis", i.e., just some partisan's skewed opinion.

The Belief Bias is so common to most of us on occasion, it's another one to be vigilant about, both with others and ourselves. It basically involves accepting a conclusion, and ignoring more critical measuring, blindly based on your pre-existing perspective. We love our own opinions on everything, usually too much, so we're reinforcing them all the time instead of re-examining their origin and current relevance. If we already feel a certain way, similar conclusions are embraced easily, and challenged far less. The Belief Bias can easily lead astray, and away from what is true or more accurate. Each situation is best evaluated with some awareness of this nearly universal and ubiquitous bias.  

Strawman arguments are really a distraction technique, a shiny object to direct attention away from other matters or issues. This disingenuous ploy attempts to mischaracterize an opponent's position. It's basically an ugly lie. Or, a strawman argument often answers a question no one has asked, or passionately defends against a position no one's taken. This verbal card trick is meant to confuse and obfuscate the truth. A simple example would be a pundit declaring "The other party won't decide for all of us how much cancer is acceptable!", in a debate about health care funding sources. The demagogue statement creates a bogey man just to knock down. The strawman argument and fallacy is a cheap rhetorical stunt, often tried by weaker or losing debaters.