So I finally took the time to watch John Oliver’s brilliant take down of Donald Trump or rather, Donald Drumpf. Every single minute of this video is a pure delight. An amazing blend of truth and comedy wrapped up in one delicious commentary of epic proportions. But, don’t take my word for it. Watch it for yourself and see why we need to Make Donald Drumpf Again!
For me, I feel betrayed by Donald Trump and I will tell you why. I loved Celebrity Apprentice. I was never a huge fan of Trump however I respected that the show made a lot of money for charity and I found it fascinating to see some of these celebrities try and think for themselves. Sometimes they were brilliant and other times they were terribly self-absorbed. And, though Trump seemed to make the worst decisions in the “board room” when it came time to fire a person, I accepted it. It’s a “reality” show, someone has to go and I’m sure the decision has a lot to do with ratings so I accepted it.
When Trump said stupid things in public, I let it go. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, Trump always seemed like a real douchebag to me when he spoke, but I let it go. He was giving a lot to charity and I will admit it, I found him on some strange level to be entertaining. My support for him ran out a few hours after he announced his intention to run for President. I was stunned at his comments on Mexico. Yet, once again, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, he didn’t really mean that? He misspoke? He had to of. I thought for sure that Trump would later correct himself later on the news. Well, he didn’t. In fact, he doubled down on the bigoted comments. That was the last straw for me.
He has gone on to say the most outrageous things and some of his idiot supporters remain in complete denial of his immaturity and total ignorance of world politics. Even worse, it appears that most of his idiot supporters actually agree with his racist, bigoted, homophobic, misogynistic, megalomaniacal statements, even when his statements, most often, are flat out lies. These people are absolutely pathetic but we can’t completely blame them for it either.
The media has done everything it can to make the Trump campaign larger than life. He’s being constantly thrown softball questions but worse than that when asked the hard questions, they let his unresponsive answers stand. No one is going hard after this guy. And, it’s tragic that the only people truly going after him for his lengthy list of bullshittery are the comedians. The media seems completely at ease with giving him one pass after another. They are treating him with a respect that he does not deserve and has in no way earned. I long for the day when they finally choose journalism over ratings. So in until they do, we have no choice but to Make Donald Drumpf Again!
Oh and don’t get me started on his fucknet kids, Trump Jr. and Eric…
I’ve ranted about this before and I am sure I will rant about this again but it’s worth repeating because just maybe I can convince a republican who is on the fence to make the leap. So let me start with a brief history of how I went from a Republican To An Independent. The home I grew up in consisted of my mother, father, my mother’s father, my dog and myself. My parents were never really political but my grandfather was. He was tried and true republican. I grew up in the ’80s and when it came to politics, three people influenced me greatly. My grandfather, Ronald Reagan and Alex P. Keaton.
I was born in 1969 and graduated from high school in 1987. I have changed in so many ways since then. But at my core, many of beliefs are still the same. I believe that discrimination of any kind is a bad thing. I believe that gays should have the same rights as anyone else. I believe that we should all be kind to each other. I believe in traditions but not at the expense of science or logic. Republicans in the 80’s represented those core beliefs, in my eyes, and that’s why when I turned 18, I registered for the draft and I proudly registered as a Republican.
Jumping way ahead to the year 2003. I started to realize that between republicans and democrats, over the years, it was the republican party that had been lying to me about the most critical of issues. The Iran–Contra affair, the “family values” being preached in the late 80’s and early ’90’s weren’t family values at all. They were a right wing Christian philosophy that preached hate and fear by suggesting that family values can only come from those consisting of Christian married families. No gays allowed in that plan.
In the 90’s when Bill Clinton ran for President, I didn’t vote him either time. Even though I seemed to agree with his philosophies, my party kept telling me he was a socialist, a communist and would throw our country into a great depression or worse. Of course, none of that was true. He wasn’t perfect by a long shot but he did more for this country than Reagan did and he certainly fixed the economy that Bush Sr. screwed up. Everything I had been told about Clinton by my party turned out to be a lie. Even as the economy grew, my party continued to tell me it wasn’t. They made excuse after excuse as to why all the numbers were a lie. History shows they weren’t. Clinton wasn’t a communist or a socialist. He didn’t collapse the economy. Yet, I continued to vote republican. I just couldn’t see the forest through the trees.
When Bush Jr. ran for president the first time, sadly and embarrassingly I voted for him. The sad part is that I knew he was an idiot! But, I told myself, it was that darn “liberal media” always making him look bad. When Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell sat before the United Nations and told us all that Iraq had WMD’s, I believed him. When Bush told me that we had to invade Iraq because al-Qaeda was there, I believed him.
As it turns out, pretty much all that fear and hate Bush and Cheney were promoting was all a lie. There were no WMD’s, there were no terrorists in Iraq and to top it all off Bush Jr. let Osama go at least two times! Both time after the events of on 9/11. We had him, and Bush let him get away. My theory, Bush Jr. had no intention of ever catching him. Osama had become our villain, our Boogeyman. As long as Osama was out there Bush and the republican party could keep promoting all that fear and hate that kept so many voting republican. (As I said, that is a “theory”, that is not a fact. But, I truly believe it because actions speak louder than words and the actions of the Bush administration due nothing to suggest otherwise.)
Even today the republicans continue to spread the most outrageous lies. These people refuse to take any responsibility at all. They preach about unemployment levels and have yet to pass a single jobs bill. They preach about love for the troops and yet they almost never pass a bill that will help them and the few times they do, they pat themselves on the back completely ignoring all the times they screwed the vets. Some prime examples of republicans screwing vets, Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans With Children Act (2010). you can thank that America hating republican Mitch McConnell for that not passing. There was the Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act (2014). Senator Senator Bernie Sanders came up with this one but you can thank the Once again Mitch McConnell fucked the vets by attaching amendments against Iran to it. What did Iran have to do with the bill? Nothing. The republicans then decided the whole thing would cost too much. Then there was the Veterans Jobs Corps Act (2012). They killed that too. The list goes on and on. They say one thing and do the other time and time again.
Take a minute and think about the lies republicans have told. Obama is Muslim. Obama will kill the economy. Legitimate Rape, ISIS is working with Mexican drug cartels, Ebola-infected terrorists could come through Mexico, The attacks and lies about Planned Parenthood from the lie that the government is funding abortions to that fake video. Obama is soft on terrorism, and yet he his had more terrorists killed than Bush. Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. How pathetic was that? Hell Ted Cruz wasn’t born in the U.S. and now suddenly there’s no republican outrage? Well, Trump is outraged but he seems to be the only one. Take something as factual and scientifically provable as global warming and yet this party is in complete denial over it. The republican party is out of control, the crazies have taken over and the good ones are sadly and cowardly keeping quiet about it, just so that they can stay in office.
Hell, they even tried to blame Obama for ISIS. They immediately claimed that it was Obama who let the man who created ISIS go. However, what the republicans refused to say was that it was Bush Jr. that gave the order for Abu Bakr al Baghdadi to be released. It was of course FOX News that spread this misinformation. This is just one of many things that FOX News has lied about. And, they keep repeating it, and sadly the more it gets repeated the more people will believe it. Anyways, you can read about the claim on politifact.com.
Mitch McConnell even went as far as to say that the parties primary goal is to make Obama a one term president. This was at a time when this country was facing the greatest recession since the great depression. Unemployment was skyrocketing thanks to the republican policies of the Bush administration. The Housing market was collapsing, the American auto industry was near dead. We were in the middle of two costly wars. None of that mattered to the republican party. Their goal is not to help the American people, it is one of self-preservation first, the country last.
If you look back at the history of the republican party since the 80’s, and try to keep an open mind, you will see a pattern of preaching hate and fear to win elections, to pass bills and to keep the republican party in office. If you’re a republican, listen to those in office and don’t give them the benefit of the doubt just one time. Just once, as you listen to them speak, hold them accountable for what they say. Don’t make excuses for them. Just do it once. Look up what they say and I promise that you will discover that what they are saying is at best purposefully misleading and at worse a complete fiction. It’s been happening more and more the past decade because the republican party has learned that it can make any claim it desires without repercussions. It can do so because most republicans rely on FOX News for their information and FOX News has been proven to be biased in study after study. How do they do it? By convincing you that ever other source is a product the liberal media.
There are smart republicans out there. Some of them are good people. Some of those smart ones, are not good people. Those of you that are good, think for yourself. Don’t take my word for anything that I’ve said. Look it up for yourself. Look at government documents, look at other media sources that are not FOX News. It’s hard to stay informed, and I am not saying liberals don’t lie. What I am saying is that liberals didn’t start the war in Iraq and Iran. They are the ones that have fought to end them. They didn’t let Osama go, they hunted him down and killed him. A liberal president did that! Liberals didn’t create the recession, they ended it!
I am not liberal and I am not a democrat. I am an Independent. There is a lot of liberal bullshit out there, I am not going to lie and say there isn’t. However, if you take a deep breath and truly take a look at what the democrats have to offer versus the republicans you have got to admit that democrats are doing what’s right on every level. The economy, education, veteran affairs, human rights. I was a republican for most of my adult life and to be honest there’s this part of my that still sees democrats as this weak, uneducated group of hippies. I know that they are not. I have seen them fix our economy twice now. Once under Bill Clinton and now under Obama. I know that democrats are the party of humanitarianism and science.
That small part of me that has looked down on democrats was forced upon me by a propaganda machine that does not quit. It’s a strong machine and it can make you believe in things that simply are not true. You have to fight it. You have to look for the facts and learn to recognize the difference between opinions and facts. They are two very different things. You have got to look at both sides of an issue. Listen to them and then side with the argument that presents the most relevant facts.
There truly does seem to be no end insight to the GOP insanity we see today. “The GOP has become a disturbing place full of hate, fear mongering and stupidity on a level that is just staggering.” I said those words just a few seconds ago on Twitter in response to someone’s post. I am not a liberal, I have said this over and over again but I lean towards the left and I honestly don’t see a time in the near future where I will be voting for a republican candidate. Actually, as the right devolves into a dark pit of hate and blatant stupidity I don’t think I will ever again vote republican.
I don’t like to call the GOP stupid or cowardly but they have made no serious attempts to separate themselves from the literally bat shit crazy Tea Party and right wing Christian conservatives. I call them stupid and cowardly because that is in fact what the party had devolved into. Yes, stupid and cowardly. I say this because they have gone far beyond simple ignorance. Ignorance can be understood and even on a small level accepted. Ignorance implies an incorrect understanding of the facts or a lack of knowledge of them. Stupidity on the other hand is flat out ignoring the facts because a person or people simply just don’t want to accept them. The truth is out there but the GOP refuses, as a whole to accept it. And, when it comes to cowardly. We have republican leaders out there that are basically good people but are literally afraid of not only the stupid within their own constituency but also of their right wing peers. They are afraid to stand up to them, plain and simple.
Several years ago I had a debate with a republican friend on a forum. It was during a time when Bush was running for his second term. There was a lot of GOP bullshittery afoot. Rush Limbaugh was up to his normally verbal diarrhea and beating his chest with the usual hypocritical vigor. I had spoken out about the lies that President Bush was telling the people and the GOP’s consistent denial of the facts on everything thing from Global Warming to WMD’s. I had just left the republican party. I wasn’t, at this time, disgusted with the GOP but I was disappointed in them. I had voted for Bush in the first election and it took about two years before I could finally admit to myself that it was the biggest voting mistake I had ever made. I didn’t want to vote for John Kerry in the upcoming election but I wasn’t going to vote for Bush, not again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. My republican friend tried to convince me that every party has it’s crazy but the republican party doesn’t listen to them.
He truly believed that the GOP kept the Christian conservative right, in check. They pretended to listen for show but didn’t really listen. I disagreed. I explained that it might have been that way once but it isn’t any longer. The winds were changing. Bush and Cheney were already promoting hate and fear masked as patriotism. The country knew without a doubt that Bush was full of shit but when it came time to vote, ignorance and fear won the day and Bush, the worst president in modern history was re-elected.
The GOP continued to devolve as the next election came near. This time it was Obama on the ticket. Again, I had to vote for him. Not because I believed in him but he was running against Senator John McCain. There was a time when I had a great respect for McCain but after 8 years of him basically voting for everything that Bush was selling, my respect wavered. When he chose Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate the respect was gone, at least the political respect I had for him. His pandering for the women’s vote was pathetic. Though I would have accepted the pandering had he put an ounce of thought into his choice for a female running mate. It’s obvious to anyone that Sarah Palin doesn’t have the philosophical depth of a puddle let alone the brains to be the VP. I mean to call her stupid, is an insult to stupid people. Sarah Palin, in my opinion, was the key turning point. Before it was bad. After her, the level of GOP insanity began to grow in leaps and bounds.
So I voted for Obama and I was glad I did. He’s been amazing and what blows me away is the absolute level of denial the GOP has of this fact. The republicans and democrats both wanted healthcare reform. The GOP wouldn’t lift a finger to help make a better healthcare plan. Hell, Obama’s plan was very similar to Mitt Romney‘s but the GOP did everything they could to shut down Obamacare. Even now, years later these idiots are still trying to shut it down. They could have offered something? Anything? But, no. Sen. Mitch McConnell openly admitted that their only goal was to make President Obama a one term president. They did this during the most devastating recession this country had seen since the great depression. They even found fault when Obama had Osama killed. How can you even say that? The GOP insanity just keeps growing and growing.
The GOP did nothing to help the American people. Nothing! They stuck to their game plan. They promoted hate and fear though ignorance and lies. This can be seen clearly through birth of the Tea Party. If you’ve ever heard these people talk, it’s terrifying! The leaders they have chosen to believe in, without question, are either too stupid to know any better or are smart enough to know that sacred, stupid people are the easiest to control. The more hate and fear they preach under guise of patriotism, the larger groups like the Tea Party become.
Now, the GOP insanity has become accepted. Trump and Ted Cruz are leading the pack!? Trump has made the most racist, misogynistic statements, he has lied repeatedly about everything from his economic plan to something as simple as the number of people that attend his appearances. Then there’s Ted Cruz who I don’t even think can legally be president because the law very clearly states that you have to be born in the United States to be the president. Unlike the lies told about Obama through the ridiculous “birther” movement. Ted Cruz really wasn’t born here. This isn’t disputable. He openly admits that he was born in Canada. Even his own damn father is fucking crazy. Even if you ignore the fact that he used to be a fucking communist for real he Rafeal Cruz believes his son is one of the Christian anointed kings prophesied that will bring about the great transfer of wealth from the wicked to the righteous. I am not lying, there is list after list of the fucking insane things shit his dad has said.
Hell, Ted Cruz along with a few other republican candidates attended a Christian summit held by a pastor that believes gays should be put to death. Right after the pastor said that in his speech, Ted Fucking Cruz walked up on stage and shook this crazy fucks hand. Ted Cruz is right behind Trump in the polls! This is further proof of the GOP insanity that has taken control.
There is with in the GOP party an unapologetic acceptance of hate. When Trump called all Mexican immigrants rapists, there was no apology. He has continued to double down on the rhetoric, time and time again. Cruz, Jeb! all of them are flat out telling lies and promoting stupidity. All you have to do is pick any conservative publication and read the comments. They are filled with hatred, stupidity and lies. We’re talking conspiracy theories, hate speech, opinions presented as facts. These people are frightening and the only thing we can do is to vote democrat across the board. Every vote for a republican is a vote supporting hate, fear and stupidity. Because if we don’t democrat, this GOP insanity will continue for decades to come.
Below are some links used in the creation of this rant. And, as usual, don’t take my word for it. Check the facts. Research what I say and if you find fault, please let me know so that it may be corrected as soon as possible.
Can We Stop Blaming The Academy For It’s Lack Of Diversity…
It’s another Academy Awards season and another year that people are screaming about the lack of Diversity in the Oscar nominations. The Academy has a lot of problems however, it’s lack of diversity isn’t one when it comes to deciding who gets nominated. I know, that’s hard to believe. I know we all want someone to blame but we need look no further than the filmmakers themselves and the studios behind them. They produce, primarily films staring white people, by the hundreds. That is the problem. We need to stop blaming the Academy when it’s not their fault.
What it comes down to is simple math. There are hundreds of movies the Academy has to choose from each year. Of those films, only a handful of them have non-white actors in them. And, of that handful of films, only a few of them have non-white leads. So when it comes time for the Academy to start sorting through the films, there’s a pretty good chance that a lot of good acting by actors of all colors including white actors are going to be unseen or ignored.
Let’s say there’s a hat with a 1000 names inside it. Those names are all the actors and directors that made movies this year. Of those names, the Academy can only pull out 15 names. Now, of those 1000 names maybe 20 of them are non-white actors and directors. What do you think the chances are that a non-white name is going to be pulled out of that hat? Stop blaming the Academy because “Hollywood” doesn’t make more movies with non-white leads. The Academy can only judge from what they’ve been handed.
If they Academy does anything in an attempt to make the Oscar’s more diverse than the whole thing becomes meaningless. That being said, as I understand it, the majority of people that make up the Academy are “old and white” as I have heard countless “liberals” scream over the past few days. I think that this is a vary valid point. I think it’s absolutely pathetic and everyone, not just liberals should be upset over this. However, the Academy could be made up of all non-whites and it wouldn’t change the diversity of the Award nomination that much. We know this is true because when nearly every single movie released is directed by a white guy and stars mainly white actors, all the results are going to be the same year after year. History has shown this to be true.
It’s easy to blame the Academy. There is so much wrong with them. The lack of diversity within its members. There is a lack of categories that we care about. When is the Academy going to recognize comedy and horror? These don’t even exist to the Academy. That’s something the Academy can change. What they can’t ever change are the movies that are released each year. They also can’t change who stars in those movies or who writes and directs them. You can blame the Academy for a lot of things but please, stop blaming the Academy for it’s lack of diversity with regard to the nominations because it’s not really their fault. Hating on the Academy for it’s lack of diversity is like hating on 2 + 2 for always equaling 4. You get out of it, what you put into it. You want different results, feed the equation new numbers.
These are just a few of the reasons why I won’t be watching Trump on SNL this weekend. I am not big boycotting things. Just because someone has a different political view than myself is no reason for them to not host a show like Saturday Night Live. However, in the case of Donald Trump, It’s not about politics. It’s about his bigoted comments towards South American immigrants and the many inflammatory and derogatory statements he’s made towards women. There is no excuse for his bigotry, misogyny and ignorance, ever.
NBC has seemed, over the past couple of months, to be going out of it’s way to backtrack from the correct position they held when firing Trump from The Apprentice. I am not sure what has brought about this change but I have seen a more right leaning tendency the past few months. Even the Today Show aired this whole fake looking Town Hall meeting with Trump. He was thrown softball questions and then when he didn’t answer some of the questions, Matt Lauer just let it go and moved on to the next question most of the time. It was pathetic and I had to change the channel. I know the network has been tanking the past decade but this is not the way to get back the viewers.
Now Trump’s upcoming hosting duties on SNL is just a slap in the face. I wouldn’t be happy with most republicans hosting the show, I’m not going to lie. However, most of them haven’t outwardly reached the level of bigotry that Trump has. Note I said “most” not all. Most have managed to mask that bigotry behind their religion and political views. It’s still wrong, but I can almost tolerate that, I don’t like it but I accept it. What I can’t accept is an outright lies told at the expense of South American immigrants and his continued childish attacks on women. He’s statement on immigration was uncalled for, nonfactual and truly sickening. I also find the fact that NBC is now all too happy to let it go, absolutely disgusting.
The bigger problem with all of this is that many people on the left are going to watch the show. They are going to piss and moan this whole week about Trump hosting the show and then many are going to watch the SNL episode for the same reason they watch the Republican debates. Watching not because they want to hear the few issues one of them might accidentally mention, but because they are just waiting for those trainwreck moments. Those moments so cringe-worthy that they feel the need to go online, Tweet, post and rant about it on their blogs. This sad hypocrisy does more harm than good. It gives attention where it is not deserved.
The Trump SNL episode, because of this, is going to have epic ratings and it’s going to let NBC know that they were correct in having Trump hosting. If you have any self-respect, you won’t watch this show. I won’t be watching it. I won’t be live tweeting it and discussing it. I have enough respect for human beings to not watch it and that’s saying a lot because I don’t really even like people that much. But, I obviously respect them more than NBC and enough to not want to support Trump, NBC and SNL’s incredibly insensitive decision to have Trump host that show.
It’s true, I got accused of being a hypocrite the other day and, for a second, it stopped in my tracks. It’s important to do some self-reflection from time to time. And this person, though wrong, made a good point. Their question and my eventual response I think are worth sharing because we all should step back from time to time and ask ourselves the same question.
I was on a rant about constant barrage of republican fuckery. Two things they had done and said had set me off. First, the absolute bullshit of the attack on Planned Parenthood by republicans and more specifically the bullshit lies told by U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz during his questioning of Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. The other thing I was on a rant about was the republican gun nuts after the tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College. Their hypocritical bullshit and stupidity is absolutely offensive.
It was a really good rant, I was nailing it! I was rightfully outraged by all the hypocrisy and obvious bullshit being told to the public by the conservative right. And, then I as a took a breath I was interrupted with a really good observation. This person said, “Look I agree with you but how do you know you’re not being as closed minded as the republicans you’re attacking?”
I asked what he meant by that because the things I was upset about were their complete denial and misrepresentation of the facts. Rep. Chaffetz was misleading the public with his questioning. He did in fact lie. This has nothing to do with a difference of opinion. It is fact, fact and opinion are two very different things, I was expressing my anger at the facts on both topics. However, he better clarified the question by explaining, “How do you know you’re facts are correct. How can you be so sure that what you know is actually the truth.” It was a very good point. And, it’s something I have actually addressed before in various rants on this very site and on Facebook.
Here’s the thing, before I go on a public rant I do something not a lot of people seem to do on both sides of the political spectrum, I fact check before I speak. I am not saying that I am without flaw. I am not perfect but when it comes to a public rant, I fact check. I don’t just spew bullshit. Yes, I offer up at times very strong and harsh opinions. But, they are always checked for facts. I do my very best to never lie or mislead in my rants. And, if I am made away that something I said was not true, I will correct it and I will admit it.
However, that doesn’t answer the question he posed. The real question is “How do I know what I am claiming to be ‘facts’ are indeed facts.” I trust in my facts because I verify the things I say. When fact checking, I verify my sources and then I verify those sources to the best of my ability. But, how do I know my sources are correct? What is it that I am doing different than say my crazy republican family friend George? The simple answer, I use multiple, varied sources.
It’s like this, in general, I watch all kinds of different news. I get my information on all kinds of things from multiple sources. For example, my friend, George has pretty much one source of news, FOX News. He has flat out said it’s the only news he watches. However, it’s not the only news he pays attention to. He follows every single bat shit crazy right wing page on Facebook. He constantly emails, anyone that will listen, with every bullshit conservative meme and opinion that finds. Sadly, every single one can be proven to be either misleading or flat out lies with a simple fact check. But, he refuses to do so. He’s convinced all media is criminally biased except for FOX News, they truly are fair and balanced in his opinion. If it’s not FOX News, it can’t be trusted. He actually believes this. And, that right there is what makes me different from George.
I know just about all media is biased. It’s almost impossible to observe something and convey that observation without inadvertently changing what was seen or heard. Sometimes in the case of FOX News, that information is willfully changed regardless of the facts to promote an agenda. Truth be dammed. And, when caught doing it, their fall back excuse is, “We’re not News, we’re pundits expressing opinions.” So, that makes it okay in their eyes to flat out lie.
Of course there are many other “News” outlets that are biased. MSNBC is one of them. Very liberal bias. But, there’s a difference between having a bias towards one view or another and actually manipulating the truth to make a point. I have yet to see MSNBC get caught in a lie that they failed to correct. Biased, yes, flat liars, no.
Continuing, I don’t just get my news from MSNBC. I watch and read from a variety of sources. Yes, I watch MSNBC, I also watch ABC News, CBS, Al Jazeera, BBC, legitimate science blogs, NASA, Psychology today, Astronomy (my favorite magazine subscription) and the list goes on and on. You cannot call yourself an informed person and trust only one news source and only one point of view. It takes many to get the full picture.
This is what separates me from a person like George. Add that to my own life experiences and I have pretty good built in bullshit detector. As I have said, this doesn’t mean that I don’t make mistakes. There isn’t anyone out there that doesn’t make mistakes. What separates me from people like George is that I make an honest attempt not to lie about the things I am saying in order to make a point.
I read and or watch all those above news sources and I still don’t know everything. You can’t know everything. What you can do, is try. This is what pisses me off when it comes to idiots like George. He makes no effort to learn. He is being told lies and misleading information and makes no attempt to fact check them and he thinks liberals are dumb.
How do I know he doesn’t fact check or do any research? He’s told me that he doesn’t. Years ago, when I still talked to him, he was emailing me daily with newfound conservative cult views. I started calling him out on it. I started pointing out the fact from fiction. He kept not responding to what I was saying in my responses. He would just come back at me with yet another question to which it became clear he was never going to read my actual response. I called him on that too,
I asked him, “Did you actually read the article you quoted to me to in your last email?” I asked him this because the actual article he was quoted, agreed with my point point of view and had he read it, he would have known that. I knew the article he quoted actually agreed with me, because I took time to read it. I also asked him, “Did you actually read my full response?” His answer to both were, “No.”
This is how can you tell if someone is full of shit or not. And, I don’t care if you’re a liberal or a conservative. You cannot trust your source if all you listen to is one news source that is told from one single ideological viewpoint. In fact, I can make my point with an image. At first glance, this image shows a girl with her hand between another girls legs.
Now imagine the media or some politician trying to make a point about about teen sex or wild teen parties. Something along those grounds and their evidence being this picture. If they flashed it up on the screen you’re going to think it’s a photo of a girl with her hand between another girls legs. You’re going to be shocked and you’re not going to have any reason to disbelieve the media source or politician.
But, if you actually, take a deeper look at the photo, it’s not what it appears to be. It’s an unintentional optical illusion. It’s all quite innocent, well the photo is innocent, what was said about it, was not. This is exactly what FOX News does so well. The are getting good people that usually aren’t very bright to begin with and making them, angry, frustrated and paranoid about a whole lot of things that really aren’t true at all.
I learned the hard way to check my facts. I never really became political online until those long email sessions with George. Reading all his bullshit and taking the time to read what he had to say, to look it up the articles he was quoting and then researching them myself made me realize there are some tragically blind and stupid people out there. So I started following some liberal sites. I am not democrat, I am not a liberal. But, right now, they are the only ones at least making an effort to better this world that we live in.
Right now, conservative care about two things, the unborn and making sure this country follows a set of Christian values and that terrifies me. This country came into existence because our ancestors wanted nothing to with the England’s government that was being controlled by Christian beliefs. I know my history, and as far back as you go, there has always been Christian fuckery from the Crusades to the Salem Witch Trials, you cannot trust a political entity that gets it’s morals from any religion.
But, I digress. My point is that thanks to republican fuckery I learned the necessity of gathering information through a variety of varied news sources and ideologies. But, it was actually through some liberal fuckery that I learned the importance of fact checking everything before I repost it. Yes, I said it, there is some liberal fuckery out there. Not the principals for which it is based upon, but sometimes, the propaganda used is every bit as full of shit as that of it’s opposing party.
I have found several liberal type memes that are completely full of shit when it comes to the facts they claim. I recall one instance, a liberal Facebook page had posted a meme with Pat Tillman on one side and George Bush Sr. on the other side. On the Bush side it quoted Bush as saying that atheists shouldn’t even be allowed to be U.S. citizens because their patriotism is in question. On the other side is Pat Tillman, a man who gave up his career in football to go fight in the war against terrorism after the attacks of 9/11. He was killed in action in Afghanistan. He died a war hero in service to his country.
The meme is very inflammatory. The problem is that there is no verifiable proof that what Papa Bush said had ever happened. I had reposted this meme on my Facebook page because I trusted the liberal source from which it came. Turns out, they didn’t fact check it either. It more than likely never happened. After researching the quote, it turns that the Bush administration absolutely denies that he ever said such a thing. Doesn’t mean he didn’t say it and I certainly will never trust the word of Bush, or Bush Jr. or Jeb but it gave me pause. How could he deny it? It wouldn’t be quoted if there wasn’t a record of him saying. So I kept looking.
Seems the quote was attributed to a liberal biased “journalist” who claims that Bush said it in crowd at a speech he had given. The problem with this is that no one else on the face of the planet backs this bloggers quote. It’s not in the transcripts, no other reporter heard it. Hundreds of people there, no one else heard it at all. Now, it doesn’t mean he didn’t say it. But, the overwhelming evidence suggests that he did not. And, if you’re going to make a point about something, you need hard evidence. If you don’t have it, keep your mouth shout and don’t muddy the waters. It’s that type of reporting that makes FOX News and those who follow them so frightening pathetic.
After posting that meme, I learned first hand that you have got to check your sources. Just because in ideology you agree with a source doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of presenting inaccurate facts. And, nothing makes you look more incompetent then making bold claims and then having the very side you’re fighting against be able to simply discredit you with actual facts. Sure the current republican party is going to try and discredit you with lies and bullshit regardless of the facts, that’s inevitable. However, what you cannot, ever, let happen is to have them actually be able to discredit you with the truth simply because you were too lazy to fact check something you let come out of your mouth.
