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Introduction
Few of us fall for the overt and outrageous lies, e. g., “Trump is a Nazi” or “Obama is a citizen of Kenya.” The most dangerous lies are the subtle ones, the ones disguised as honest reporting.
That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.
Continuing
Here are two immediate examples of those dangerously subtle lies from the front page of Sunday’s Colorado Springs Gazette, my home newspaper on 11 October 2020; tell me if you see what the authors are up to in these multi-page article lead ins:
Let’s examine these in turn.
The Mainstream Media (MSM) love to call any demonstration in support of causes they favor “mostly peaceful.” For example, hundreds of demonstrations that were indeed peaceful for hours, usually until after dark, then turned violent with burning, looting and occasionally a death or two, were labeled mostly peaceful. If the standards for applying the mostly peaceful label are that the majority of the time the event was not violent, and that the majority of the participants were not engaged in violence, then World War II was also mostly peaceful. And Korea. And Vietnam. And all wars.
In times of war, about one in ten, 10%, of all uniformed military actually see combat. And even those, mercifully, are actually fighting only a fraction of the time. Combat troops accurately describe their time at or near the front as days and weeks or complete boredom, punctuated by minutes or hours of sheer hell. The December 7th ‘41 Pearl Harbor sneak attack lasted 75 minutes. The next battles were not until Coral Sea and Midway, in May and June of ‘42 and Guadalcanal, a land battle that started in August.
This is not to make light of war; this is to expose as liars with a dangerous agenda those who label demonstrations and events where small or large amounts of violence against people and property are carried out as “mostly peaceful.” Imagine for a moment if newscasters had this to say on December 8th ‘41. “Yesterday was mostly peaceful, with only 75 minutes of unrest early Sunday morning.” Yes, I am stretching to make my point. The violence at Pearl Harbor far exceeded anything we have seen to date when it comes to media-proclaimed mostly peaceful events, going back from Ferguson until today. But the point remains valid: The mostly peaceful term is used to divert our attention from the violence that is occurring on a regular basis. “These are not the Droids you are looking for.” This is a quote from the 1977 movie Star Wars, spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi after being stopped by Stormtroopers in search of Han Solo. Obi-Wan fooled the Stormtroopers by waving his hands, using The Force to cloud their minds. The MSM are working to fool us by clouding our minds by not telling us the truth. Don’t fall for it.
But, Will, so much of the violence is just against property. Why does that bother you so much? Property rights are fundamental to freedom and human rights. Back in the Old West, just about the lowest form of life was a horse thief. Horses were a vital part of everyday life, needed for many things, including transportation, and impossible to lock up like your car. It was the honor system. Go into town or to see a neighbor for any reason and you had to leave your horse unattended. Your horse, an asset needed everyday and usually all day, was easy to steal. It took no courage, no cleverness; any complete jerk could steal a horse. And a horse was just property, right? And it takes no courage, no planning to burn down someone’s business at night while wearing a full face mask and a helmet. Once again, it is the honor system. Any jerk can loot or burn down someone’s livelihood. And many do.
The deceased victim, Lee Keltner, handmade western-style hats, “Keeping the West alive”, was shot in front of his son while participating in a “Patriot Rally” (Pro Police) at the Denver Civic Center. The shooter, captured on video in flagrante delicto, is believed to be an Occupy Wall Street participant, who allegedly said, “Left is best.” and went armed to a counter protest. Quoting further from the article, “The Patriot Rally started at 2 p.m. as scheduled. Across the park, several local groups including the Denver Communists, the Colorado Socialist Revolution and the Anon Resistance Movement organized a counterprotest — called the BLM-Antifa Soap (sic) Drive — scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
“According to a Facebook post for the event and attendees, they said they do not want to allow the Patriot Muster (Patriot Rally) to hold rallies without opposition.
‘We’re not going to let them spread these really toxic racist, sexist ideas unopposed,’ said Eric Goodman, an organizer who identified himself as a member of the Colorado Socialist Revolution.”
This confrontation was planned; the violence cannot be attributed to a rogue individual, bad luck or happenstance. It would be vastly better, safer and more persuasive to meet the opposition in the marketplace of ideas rather than in the streets. And the media need to start being honest about what is peaceful and what ain’t.
The second article also shows its bias right at the start. “With few bridges left connecting rural and urban life, the (Southwest Colorado) region’s two largest counties split along party lines: one with the intent to preserve the past, the other pushing for progress.” The author is comparing defending the past (Republicans) with progress (Democrats). Don’t we all want progress, making things better? Clearly progress is better than being intent on holding onto the past, yes? Therefore, Democrats are better than Republicans, also, yes? At least that is what Ms. Alvarez and the Gazette are pushing–subtly and powerfully–by way of “honest” reporting. The vast majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents/Unaffiliated, third party supporters and those not registered to vote want progress. Real progress financially, in our freedoms, in how we take care of ourselves and each other–in every real and responsible way. The Alvarezes and Gazettes of the world enganger that progress.
Do you see a connection between these two front page articles? Do you see a pattern in the MSM overall? Do you see with me that the most dangerous lies are the subtle ones, the ones that are disguised as honest reporting?
Tell me what you believe. I and many others want to know.
As always, whatever you do, do it in love. Without love, anything we do is empty.
Contact
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Will Luden, coming to you from 7,200’ in Colorado Springs.
