Truth In The Media and Other Mythical Creatures

    Those that know me know I shy away from politics as much as I can manage. Regrettably, the current times have gotten "Chinese curse" interesting and I admit I'm low on blog ideas today. It's mid January 2021 at this writing. Roughly one week ago, our Presidential election results were certified by Congress. That day President Trump gave a speech, people stormed the Capitol, and people died. Those are about the only clear facts I can be certain of regardless of where I heard them. My problem is finding the answers to the eight million questions I have surrounding these events.  

   I have a couple of problems. The first is overcoming my own personal bias. This is a biggie for me, and I imagine a lot of people. It's natural to seek out that which confirms what you "know". I recently began a Master's degree in Writing from Rowan University and I find myself getting sensitive to the meanings of words. Listen to any news you want these days and you're bound to hear the word "lies" get thrown around a lot. The word lie, as I understand it, means to knowingly say something that is not true. I haven't seen anything on any news cast that has looked at this.

   I would have liked to see some digging into proof that someone knew something was false and said it anyway. Such research seems to be truly rare.

   I freely admit that I can't stand Donald Trump. That being said, though, I have to take issue with how I hear the news. The 2020 election is being disputed. That's another clear fact. He's made himself look bad by saying during his campaign that if he loses, it must be fraud. My brain kept hearing this as the height of hubris. You mean that you're so wonderful it would be impossible for the majority (and by majority I mean more no than yes) of Americans to not want you back? I have a very low tolerance for people in love with themselves. My problem is being open to another interpretation of his statement. Was there one? I'm seriously asking this.

    Did we hear any further clarification on what he meant by that? If there was, I missed it. There's another point that I took issue with during this mess. I heard a lot of reporters say something like "The President was spreading misinformation." What if the guy really believed what he was saying? I would have liked to have seen some research into where he got his "misinformation". If the media takes something and just runs with it, aren't they no better than the person they're lambasting? 

    I admit I have pretty much zero faith that the President's research was NOT done anywhere else but in his bathroom on the throne. The problem is I think that's what we ALL do! If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. It looks like we are all going to have to get off our thrones first.

    

Shopaholics Anonymous

  It's almost mid March as of this writing and we are in our first global pandemic. It's reminding me that while no man is an island, I personally wouldn't mind if he was. I hate my fellow man even worse now than I do at Christmas. Panic stricken fucktards are roaming the earth in hordes buying everything in sight. This is driving up prices and pissing off certain cheapskates (namely yours truly). Meanwhile back at the ranch, I can't turn on my television without seeing a different group of fucktards documenting the first bunch while fanning the flames of panic. Horse sense has gone the way of hand sanitizer and cassette tapes.
    I now know what it's like to go shopping during a zombie apocalypse.  It was absolutely surreal to see empty shelves in person. Just that visual alone made it tougher to fight panic. It becomes too easy to lose sight of the fact that this isn't going to last forever.  This week, so far, libraries, banks, and my gym are still open. I'm expecting that to change.
    My daughter's school is also closed for two weeks - that we know of. I happened to have been working the Friday before the announcement. In a rare and shocking display of foresight, I stopped at a liquor store before I picked up my daughter. I wish I could have picked up a bunch of those small vodka bottles and handed them out to a few buddies. The kids at school were full of questions the teachers couldn't answer. I had to admire how they handled themselves.
     We are now in a two week (so far) online learning experience for our 6th grade video game addict. Regrettably, I don't get to count this as screen time since there really wasn't any other option now that the school is closed. On the upside, since my spouse is able to work from home, I have backup when the gestapo needs to enforce breaks for God forbid walking outside and other hardships like vegetables and flute practice. This is going to be a tough two weeks or so. I need to remind myself that this is only temporary. I must also remember to stay sober until after dinner is made!