Be scared.
During a COVID discussion on CNN a talking head noted that progress proves especially elusive since people believe “different truths.”
Media reports on the presidential election finds scores of pieces on ‘stolen votes,’ malfeasance (even by GOP officials out to get Trump), and the “truth” that Donald Trump won if just “real votes” get counted. Mail-in ballots and votes in predominately minority neighborhoods, of course, aren’t real. Votes cast in lily white rural America prove that Trump won.
“Truth” has always been a bit elusive. Ask any married couple to describe shared events and you often get divergent interpretations of reality.
And, we all see things differently. A generation ago I worked on my Masters in English. One little exercise I conducted involved showing high school students a photo – sunset over a beach in San Diego – then having them describe it in a paragraph. Some noticed the bright colors, others saw palm trees and sand, and, a few focused on the silhouetted people. No two described the photo the same way.
Yet, all the students acknowledged that what others saw was valid, that all the elements emphasized were present in the photo.
Jump to today…
The St. Francois County, Missouri health director has people following her kids and call her a communist for advocating science-based efforts to reduce the toll COVID takes on her neighbors. [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/18/health-care-worker-threats-coronavirus/?arc404=true ]
Trump’s lawyers keep advancing new conspiracy theories as their actions in a half dozen states keep getting laughed out of courts.
Alas, around one-third of Americans believe the election was stolen from Trump and COVID isn’t a threat. They know the truth.
Where do they find this truth? Social media, right-wing pundits, and, mainstream media.
Mainstream media? Yup. Giant media conglomerates give ink and air to those who promote their truth – and even to those who advocate overthrowing the elected government:
That’s what this effort should be focused on: Overthrowing the men who pervert the Constitution.’ Overthrowing the people, in other words, who are ignoring it, who are permitting it, who are running the risk of ruining it.
Rush Limbaugh Show 11/9/2020
Oh, the headlines on The Gateway Pundit (Trump Team Lawyers Hold Presser On ‘Clear And Viable Path To Victory’) [ https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/ ] push their truth. Yet, the impact of Limbaugh and FOX News accomplish much more. Think of the Pundit as a mouse peeing in your swimming pool while Limbaugh is a well-hydrated draft horse doing the same thing.
In other words, we have to expect that public discourse no longer gets framed by facts, that scientists no longer are experts on health, or, that a vote counts if it doesn’t match theirs.
Different truths. Be scared.
Glenn