Facts are important. Opinion is also very important, but opinion based on misleading facts or lies is divisive and uncalled for; especially in the age of the Internet, where everything can be fact checked in a matter of seconds or minutes.
Another thing that is bad is to use faulty or false comparisons in order to drive the narrative you are looking to drive. A very basic example of a false comparison would be to say something like, "Baby Spinach has a drastically lower sugar content than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup." Yes, that indeed is a fact, but a fact that doesn't include all of the other factors that should be going into this comparison. It aims to make Baby Spinach look like the right choice, but doesn't talk about the difference in taste or anything else regarding the two items. Now, had you compared the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup to a healthier equivalent snack like a 'Kind' brand bar, for instance, that would be a comparison worth discussing. It also would have been a fair comparison to discuss the comparison between Baby Spinach to Lettuce. It isn't, however, right to compare things that shouldn't be compared.
Transition that thought process into the political arena today, and you see false comparisons everywhere. One of the most common I have seen recently, with the separation of the families at the border, has been the far right comparison of the "Liberals" or "Democrats" having compassion for these children being separated at the border to their support of abortion. The message that is trying to be sent with the comparison is, "How can you show so much compassion and support for these poor children being separated at the border when you show no compassion and support for unborn children still in the womb." That is an example of a current false comparison that is occurring all over social media right now; to the point it makes me want to vomit.
Videos of Obama and Clinton that have been trimmed down to show only certain things and to make it look as though previous Democrat administrations did the same thing with children at the border. First, cutting videos down to only show what you want them to is inherently wrong, and second, previous Republican and Democrat administrations did NOT deal with the issue of separating families in the same way or to the same magnitude.
Another example of a cut video from some time ago was a video that showed Obama getting on a helicopter and walking directly past the member of the military without saluting before he entered the helicopter. The Republicans ran with that video clip in campaign commercials and all over social media. If, however, you took one minute to go to YouTube and look up the full clip, you would notice that the video was cut off right after Obama entered the helicopter. In the full video it shows Obama walk past the man without saluting (because he was deep in thought and just completely forgot) and enter the helicopter, talk to the pilot for a moment, and then immediately realize he had forgot to salute. He then immediately went back outside, walked over to the member of the military, talked with him and shook his hand. Omitting that portion of the video out made the situation look like something completely different than it actually was, and it painted Obama in a bad light when he shouldn't have been.
Another false meme making the rounds on social media right now because of the border issues are pictures of the "Wall on Mexico's Southern Border". Various pictures are being put into memes to show how robust the wall on Mexico's southern border is, but the pictures unfortunately don't portray the actual southern border of Mexico. One of the pictures shows an actual border fence on the southern US border, and another shows Israel's wall on the West Bank. These memes drive a narrative that isn't true, and people take these stories and pictures as fact, because many people don't take the time to fact check the information they post or read.
In today's world, we CANNOT take anything we see at face value. If we do we are doing ourselves a great disservice. My message for this blog is simple and straight forward. First, don't post anything that isn't true, and in order to make sure of that please take the time to fact check your information before posting. Second, when you consume the news on news channels and on social media, don't take one channel or one story as fact without first vetting the information. There are tons of people and organizations out there telling lies, posting lies, and stretching facts to fit narratives the actual facts really don't support.
Do your homework and ensure you are getting and giving the best possible news out there.
DUNK
Another thing that is bad is to use faulty or false comparisons in order to drive the narrative you are looking to drive. A very basic example of a false comparison would be to say something like, "Baby Spinach has a drastically lower sugar content than a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup." Yes, that indeed is a fact, but a fact that doesn't include all of the other factors that should be going into this comparison. It aims to make Baby Spinach look like the right choice, but doesn't talk about the difference in taste or anything else regarding the two items. Now, had you compared the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup to a healthier equivalent snack like a 'Kind' brand bar, for instance, that would be a comparison worth discussing. It also would have been a fair comparison to discuss the comparison between Baby Spinach to Lettuce. It isn't, however, right to compare things that shouldn't be compared.
Transition that thought process into the political arena today, and you see false comparisons everywhere. One of the most common I have seen recently, with the separation of the families at the border, has been the far right comparison of the "Liberals" or "Democrats" having compassion for these children being separated at the border to their support of abortion. The message that is trying to be sent with the comparison is, "How can you show so much compassion and support for these poor children being separated at the border when you show no compassion and support for unborn children still in the womb." That is an example of a current false comparison that is occurring all over social media right now; to the point it makes me want to vomit.
Videos of Obama and Clinton that have been trimmed down to show only certain things and to make it look as though previous Democrat administrations did the same thing with children at the border. First, cutting videos down to only show what you want them to is inherently wrong, and second, previous Republican and Democrat administrations did NOT deal with the issue of separating families in the same way or to the same magnitude.
Another example of a cut video from some time ago was a video that showed Obama getting on a helicopter and walking directly past the member of the military without saluting before he entered the helicopter. The Republicans ran with that video clip in campaign commercials and all over social media. If, however, you took one minute to go to YouTube and look up the full clip, you would notice that the video was cut off right after Obama entered the helicopter. In the full video it shows Obama walk past the man without saluting (because he was deep in thought and just completely forgot) and enter the helicopter, talk to the pilot for a moment, and then immediately realize he had forgot to salute. He then immediately went back outside, walked over to the member of the military, talked with him and shook his hand. Omitting that portion of the video out made the situation look like something completely different than it actually was, and it painted Obama in a bad light when he shouldn't have been.
Another false meme making the rounds on social media right now because of the border issues are pictures of the "Wall on Mexico's Southern Border". Various pictures are being put into memes to show how robust the wall on Mexico's southern border is, but the pictures unfortunately don't portray the actual southern border of Mexico. One of the pictures shows an actual border fence on the southern US border, and another shows Israel's wall on the West Bank. These memes drive a narrative that isn't true, and people take these stories and pictures as fact, because many people don't take the time to fact check the information they post or read.
In today's world, we CANNOT take anything we see at face value. If we do we are doing ourselves a great disservice. My message for this blog is simple and straight forward. First, don't post anything that isn't true, and in order to make sure of that please take the time to fact check your information before posting. Second, when you consume the news on news channels and on social media, don't take one channel or one story as fact without first vetting the information. There are tons of people and organizations out there telling lies, posting lies, and stretching facts to fit narratives the actual facts really don't support.
Do your homework and ensure you are getting and giving the best possible news out there.
DUNK
Comments