The Briefing Room
Exclusive Content => Editorials => Topic started by: EdJames on August 06, 2019, 04:20:04 pm
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We need to DO SOMETHING!!
Just a quick reminder, as we hear the pleas from virtually all "sides," that something MUST be DONE, we have seen many recent examples of this age old pattern.
The model is a form of the Hegelian Dialectic (Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis) structured as: Problem-Reaction-Solution.
Think about the "Healthcare Crisis" that was ginned up toward the end of the GWB's second term. All of a sudden the media was screaming constantly about this "Healthcare Crisis" sweeping the nation... they successfully propagandized people to believe that our largely private-based healthcare insurance system, successfully serving millions for decades, was all of a sudden collapsing and that countless people were dying in the streets. Spurred on by politicians, people began to React and clamor for something to be done! Roll in the Solution: Affordable Care Act. (Funny that "solution" basically destroyed the underpinnings of the existing health insurance system.)
Think about the "Financial Crisis" as well. Regardless of which of the numerous theories that you believe to be the root cause of the crisis, almost none will argue that the actions of the federal reserve and federal government did much to worsen the crisis. Recall GWB: "I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system." People demanded that something be done! Roll in the Solution: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. (Funny that "solution" basically destroyed the underpinnings of numerous aspects of the nation's financial system, ushered in the draconian Consumer Financial Protection Board, and drove countless small banks out of business across the nation.)
Go through the same model following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Did two days lapse before the Congress passed ready to go legislation that created bottomless liability funds and indemnified all possible entities from having to face lawsuits with their requisite discovery? Everyone was demanding that something be done!! Solution: USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism) Act of 2001 and subsequent decades of low-grade perpetual "war" that seemed to have done little to remedy the terror problem, but certainly have drained the national treasury of trillions (that our progeny will never be able to repay). Note well: the application of the Problem-Reaction-Solution works well regardless of how the Problem starts.
You can go back into history to see instances of similar application: Reichstag Fire, Nero burning Rome, and so forth.
Problem-Reaction-Solution is what we are seeing today. We've had a slow motion roll-out of the Problem (numerous mass shootings over many, many years). Has the past weekend's events in Dayton, OH and El Paso, TX created the denouement of the Problem phase?
We certainly have plenty of Reaction in that we are hearing an unprecedented level of pleas for Bipartisan Solutions!!
The following short video begins by reminding us of Edward M. House's message in Phillip Dru: Administrator and the genesis of countless examples of how Problem-Reaction-Solution has been applied. It covers numerous examples (some well, some not so well) of this basic model in application. Toward the end, you will hear former Communist Jerry Kirk explain: The idea is to create a situation where the people are so frightened of the violence all around them that they . . . will throw their hands up in the air and demand, "Federal Government— do something!"
Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE94KUYcglk#)
My message: be wary fellow Patriots as to how the Problem is being defined, how the media and politicians (some ill-intended, some ill-informed) are stoking up the demand for a Reaction, and above all, what kind of Solutions are being sold.
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Did you write this @EdJames? Big 888high58888 if you did!
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Did you write this @EdJames? Big 888high58888 if you did!
Yes, just wanted to sketch out some quick notes.... pardon any typos....
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I love the Hegelian Dialectic angle and I think it is very appropriate.
Another thing to throw in the mix - since we are all members of a group or "tribe" now, whether LGBTQRSP or ethnicity or gender or poor or rich or whatever, which is the most denigrated, useless group of all right now? (Hint - they're angry and confused and not knowledgeable enough to know why they are angry and confused.)
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I love the Hegelian Dialectic angle and I think it is very appropriate.
Another thing to throw in the mix - since we are all members of a group or "tribe" now, whether LGBTQRSP or ethnicity or gender or poor or rich or whatever, which is the most denigrated, useless group of all right now? (Hint - they're angry and confused and not knowledgeable enough to know why they are angry and confused.)
If you listen to the YouTube video, the narrator actually touches on that via examples from the 1960s and 1970s, and as I listened to him my thoughts turned to exactly what you mention above.
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That's exactly right.
:beer:
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Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN99jshaQbY#)
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@EdJames
B R A V O ! ! !
You cobble together REALLY well my friend! Nailed it!
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In a world where everything becomes a crisis, then all things are a crisis, and it loses its meaning.
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@EdJames @Sanguine
Wonder how many people here have ever heard the name Edward Bernays and know who he is?
http://www.criticalthink.info/webindex/bernays.htm (http://www.criticalthink.info/webindex/bernays.htm)
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bernays (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bernays)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays)
https://www.thoughtco.com/edward-bernays-4685459 (https://www.thoughtco.com/edward-bernays-4685459)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-180963082/ (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-180963082/)
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Brilliant Puzzle solving @EdJames
Thanks for sharing :yowsa:
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@EdJames @Sanguine
Wonder how many people here have ever heard the name Edward Bernays and know who he is?
http://www.criticalthink.info/webindex/bernays.htm (http://www.criticalthink.info/webindex/bernays.htm)
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bernays (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bernays)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays)
https://www.thoughtco.com/edward-bernays-4685459 (https://www.thoughtco.com/edward-bernays-4685459)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-180963082/ (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-180963082/)
That's a big part of the picture for sure, @Bigun. That's why Google and other social media is something new and that we have not seen before.
I think I'll have some bacon and eggs for breakfast now.
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"Do Something!" == "Do Anything!" == Bad law.
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That's a big part of the picture for sure, @Bigun. That's why Google and other social media is something new and that we have not seen before.
I think I'll have some bacon and eggs for breakfast now.
Yeah and here's another big part of the picture @Sanguine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey)
http://www.wilderdom.com/experiential/JohnDeweyPhilosophyEducation.html (http://www.wilderdom.com/experiential/JohnDeweyPhilosophyEducation.html)
https://www.iep.utm.edu/dewey/ (https://www.iep.utm.edu/dewey/)
Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLEC_hCFng8&feature=youtu.be#)
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@EdJames, where did you find that Hegelian clip? Absolutely chilling. And, weirdly, accurately prescient.
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@EdJames @Sanguine
Wonder how many people here have ever heard the name Edward Bernays and know who he is?
http://www.criticalthink.info/webindex/bernays.htm (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/webindex/bernays.htm)
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Bernays (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/biography/Edward-Bernays)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/wiki/Edward_Bernays)
https://www.thoughtco.com/edward-bernays-4685459 (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/edward-bernays-4685459)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-180963082/ (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/history/how-woodrow-wilsons-propaganda-machine-changed-american-journalism-180963082/)
@Bigun
Bernays and House (mentioned above), two peas in a pod...
Bernays was involved for an extended period as a member of the large entourage of George Creel, head of the U.S. Committee on Public Information (CPI), America’s wartime propaganda agency. Lippmann was there briefly as an aide to Colonel House, Woodrow Wilson’s chief advisor.
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1955/907 (https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1955/907)
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Brilliant Puzzle solving @EdJames
Thanks for sharing :yowsa:
You are welcome @corbe .... when you are a crusty old bastard, you've seen the same crap over and over, more often than you want to....
:beer:
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Yeah and here's another big part of the picture @Sanguine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/wiki/John_Dewey)
http://www.wilderdom.com/experiential/JohnDeweyPhilosophyEducation.html (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/experiential/JohnDeweyPhilosophyEducation.html)
https://www.iep.utm.edu/dewey/ (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/dewey/)
Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/watch?v=oLEC_hCFng8&feature=youtu.be#)
Don't forget about Dewey's predecessor, Horace Mann, and his implementation of the "Prussian model" in Massachusetts....
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@EdJames, where did you find that Hegelian clip? Absolutely chilling. And, weirdly, accurately prescient.
@Sanguine
There are a number of them on YouTube.... some better than others....
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@Bigun
Bernays and House (mentioned above), two peas in a pod...
https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1955/907 (https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1955/907)
@EdJames the Smithsonian Mag link I posted above is a PITA to read but also very informative about those two.
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You are welcome @corbe .... when you are a crusty old bastard, you've seen the same crap over and over, more often than you want to....
:beer:
Man, is that ever true!
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Don't forget about Dewey's predecessor, Horace Mann, and his implementation of the "Prussian model" in Massachusetts....
Of course not!
No one did more than he to establish in the minds of the American people the conception that education should be universal, non-sectarian, free, and that its aims should be social efficiency, civic virtue, and character, rather than mere learning or the advancement of sectarian ends
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Mann
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@EdJames
Excellent post! 888high58888
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@EdJames
Excellent post! 888high58888
888high58888
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Is that Melvin Munn narrating? Actually, what Glen Beck says and a number of others is not new. It's repeating what Munn and some others were saying in the '60s and '70s about Fabian Socialists. Maybe someone was saying it before then. It's dawned on me, what they said seems a real danger today.
https://tsarizm.com/opinion/2019/07/06/the-hi-tech-traditionalist-this-is-why-the-american-progressive-left-loves-violence-but-abhors-the-military/
Above is pertinent too, if our country is going down, it is going down in the worst of ways.
America has not had the draft for many decades now and very few Americans, as percentage of the population, serve in the armed forces. Most American families do not know someone who is currently serving. Yet until very recently, until Trump’s election, the military was a unifying symbol, a source of pride, celebrated at sport events and more across the country.
What is the reason for that? One of the reasons is that the military, perhaps alone in today’s America, still unabashedly employs and uses every day the symbols of the American nation: the flag and the eagle. The military is a distillation of sorts of American nationalism. It is, or at least was, the one place were nationalism is allowed and even celebrated. American armed forces fight; that is their stated goal. Fight for whom, you may ask? Or for what? They fight to protect Americans and defend America’s interests, including financial interests, which often means intervening in far-away lands to make sure that the bad guys do not win.
I hope we can avoid it. Maybe we can.
Take India for China, they've been neighbors and I'd think usually not good ones for thousands of years.
China is heading towards hegemony, that has been there to an extent for most of this time with the Han but India are diversified yet, still strong, in that sense, they are multicultural. Maybe there is hope for us.
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bookmark
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Well done, indeed!
From one of your links, "The Institute for Propaganda Analysis, founded in 1937 to educate the public about the nature of propaganda, identified "seven basic propaganda devices: Name-Calling, Glittering Generality, Transfer, Testimonial, Plain Folks, Card Stacking, and Band Wagon."
Well, we see all of these. Name calling (Racist! Homophobe!), Glittering Generality (White men are oppressors), Transfer (Racist!), Testimonial (Sources say...), Plain Folks (Mr. Hogg from Parkland), Card Stacking (any of a number of statistical manipulations to make something look better or worse than it is), and Band Wagon (I won't mention trains, but everybody is doing it!).
I must note that with all the '60s redux we have seen, there is an all out effort (again) to gin up a war in the streets of the US. In the '60s it was over race: that had its hotspots and destruction (even getting the National Guard out in places). Then the Antiwar era of street disturbances, also getting the National Guard out, but still not fomenting the open warfare the Communist New Left desired. Some gun controls were implemented to "do something" about the murder of some high-profile individuals, but that even met with resistance.
A period of relative quiescence ensued while the moral and intellectual degradation of the American populace continued, schools were compromised by action and decree, Media shifted left, and now ...now....they're Baack!
The push for a Race War is on, pushed from the very seats in the Congress, by the Media, in the music on the streets. But despite a couple of hotspots, so far that has failed. The push for gun control has never gone away, but has become ever more shrill and invasive, denying now more than just the 2nd Amendment, but the 4th, 5th, and 14th as well.
At the bottom of all this, though is the same sort of mantra, the one unifying factor, that certain groups or individuals will inevitably benefit from the destruction of this Republic in their quest for Global "Socialism", (formerly known as "Communism" before that was pronounced dead), but in the end, regardless of label, a totalitarian, top-down form of government that neither acknowledges nor safeguards the Rights of the individual, Rights granted by a Creator those totalitarians refuse to acknowledge or submit to.
The destruction of morality in America is an enabling factor.
When we said The Pledge of Allegiance and The Lord's Prayer each day in elementary school and beyond, we not only acknowledged our Republic, but the Higher Power that unified and protected it, as well as watched over us individually, be our actions good or evil. That concept of an ultimate judgement and everlasting reward/punishment was not far behind, for no matter what we did, where it was done, He knew.
In that sense (or out of fear of punishment and being socially ostracized) we developed a conscience, empathy for our fellow humans (and being on the losing end of a playground dispute helped build that sense of empathy, as long as we didn't make that a habit). Still, standing up for what was right, win, lose, or draw, was considered a virtue, as were honesty, forthrightness, and respect for the rights of others. Truth, Justice, and The American Way, were seen as absolute virtues, absolute in the sense that they were based on fixed principles.
Those factors and so much more have been systematically eliminated by campaigns of secular humanity preaching that 'ends justify means', and 'winning isn't everything, it's the only thing'. What passes for morality has discarded even the premise of absolutes of right and wrong, and replaced those with moral relativism, which only makes it more politically acceptable for those lesser evils we elect to lie to us on the stump and afterwards to betray those who placed their trust in them by casting their vote. Come on, people, being lied to is being lied to. If we accept that from our "friends", what can we expect from our enemies? Perhaps because I don't accept being lied to by my friends, they are so few in number.
We are coming, yet again, to a point where our reactions, our actions will lay the groundwork for the future of this Republic. will we, like a herd of bison panicked by the smell of predators dash off a cliff to our mutual destruction, or will we circle the herd, and protect our own? Individually, we might succumb, but together, we are formidable.
I encourage everyone to write their Congressional Representatives and voice stern objections to any additional diminshment of our Rights, to the degree that they will lose any support in the future should they vote in favor of such. If you're so inclined, do the same with the White House. Be respectful, and lay out your arguments against this folly, there are plenty presented here.
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The Truth About GUN VIOLENCE by the Numbers
The Truth About GUN VIOLENCE by the Numbers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8c2wKISv0o#)
6mn14sec
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You are welcome @corbe .... when you are a crusty old bastard, you've seen the same crap over and over, more often than you want to....
:beer:
@EdJames
:amen:
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Well done, indeed!
From one of your links,
Well, we see all of these. Name calling (Racist! Homophobe!), Glittering Generality (White men are oppressors), Transfer (Racist!), Testimonial (Sources say...), Plain Folks (Mr. Hogg from Parkland), Card Stacking (any of a number of statistical manipulations to make something look better or worse than it is), and Band Wagon (I won't mention trains, but everybody is doing it!).
I must note that with all the '60s redux we have seen, there is an all out effort (again) to gin up a war in the streets of the US. In the '60s it was over race: that had its hotspots and destruction (even getting the National Guard out in places). Then the Antiwar era of street disturbances, also getting the National Guard out, but still not fomenting the open warfare the Communist New Left desired. Some gun controls were implemented to "do something" about the murder of some high-profile individuals, but that even met with resistance.
A period of relative quiescence ensued while the moral and intellectual degradation of the American populace continued, schools were compromised by action and decree, Media shifted left, and now ...now....they're Baack!
The push for a Race War is on, pushed from the very seats in the Congress, by the Media, in the music on the streets. But despite a couple of hotspots, so far that has failed. The push for gun control has never gone away, but has become ever more shrill and invasive, denying now more than just the 2nd Amendment, but the 4th, 5th, and 14th as well.
At the bottom of all this, though is the same sort of mantra, the one unifying factor, that certain groups or individuals will inevitably benefit from the destruction of this Republic in their quest for Global "Socialism", (formerly known as "Communism" before that was pronounced dead), but in the end, regardless of label, a totalitarian, top-down form of government that neither acknowledges nor safeguards the Rights of the individual, Rights granted by a Creator those totalitarians refuse to acknowledge or submit to.
The destruction of morality in America is an enabling factor.
When we said The Pledge of Allegiance and The Lord's Prayer each day in elementary school and beyond, we not only acknowledged our Republic, but the Higher Power that unified and protected it, as well as watched over us individually, be our actions good or evil. That concept of an ultimate judgement and everlasting reward/punishment was not far behind, for no matter what we did, where it was done, He knew.
In that sense (or out of fear of punishment and being socially ostracized) we developed a conscience, empathy for our fellow humans (and being on the losing end of a playground dispute helped build that sense of empathy, as long as we didn't make that a habit). Still, standing up for what was right, win, lose, or draw, was considered a virtue, as were honesty, forthrightness, and respect for the rights of others. Truth, Justice, and The American Way, were seen as absolute virtues, absolute in the sense that they were based on fixed principles.
Those factors and so much more have been systematically eliminated by campaigns of secular humanity preaching that 'ends justify means', and 'winning isn't everything, it's the only thing'. What passes for morality has discarded even the premise of absolutes of right and wrong, and replaced those with moral relativism, which only makes it more politically acceptable for those lesser evils we elect to lie to us on the stump and afterwards to betray those who placed their trust in them by casting their vote. Come on, people, being lied to is being lied to. If we accept that from our "friends", what can we expect from our enemies? Perhaps because I don't accept being lied to by my friends, they are so few in number.
We are coming, yet again, to a point where our reactions, our actions will lay the groundwork for the future of this Republic. will we, like a herd of bison panicked by the smell of predators dash off a cliff to our mutual destruction, or will we circle the herd, and protect our own? Individually, we might succumb, but together, we are formidable.
I encourage everyone to write their Congressional Representatives and voice stern objections to any additional diminshment of our Rights, to the degree that they will lose any support in the future should they vote in favor of such. If you're so inclined, do the same with the White House. Be respectful, and lay out your arguments against this folly, there are plenty presented here.
Well said @Smokin Joe! And IMHO, every word true!
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Well said @Smokin Joe! And IMHO, every word true!
Yes, even at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I have to agree. Particularly with this:
I must note that with all the '60s redux we have seen, there is an all out effort (again) to gin up a war in the streets of the US. In the '60s it was over race: that had its hotspots and destruction (even getting the National Guard out in places). Then the Antiwar era of street disturbances, also getting the National Guard out, but still not fomenting the open warfare the Communist New Left desired. Some gun controls were implemented to "do something" about the murder of some high-profile individuals, but that even met with resistance.
....
The push for a Race War is on, pushed from the very seats in the Congress, by the Media, in the music on the streets. But despite a couple of hotspots, so far that has failed. The push for gun control has never gone away, but has become ever more shrill and invasive, denying now more than just the 2nd Amendment, but the 4th, 5th, and 14th as well.
At the bottom of all this, though is the same sort of mantra, the one unifying factor, that certain groups or individuals will inevitably benefit from the destruction of this Republic in their quest for Global "Socialism", (formerly known as "Communism" before that was pronounced dead), but in the end, regardless of label, a totalitarian, top-down form of government that neither acknowledges nor safeguards the Rights of the individual, Rights granted by a Creator those totalitarians refuse to acknowledge or submit to.
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@EdJames
:amen:
888high58888
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Well said @Smokin Joe! And IMHO, every word true!
Agreed, very nice to see @Smokin Joe dishing out the TRUTH!!
:yowsa:
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Yes, even at the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, I have to agree. Particularly with this:
Don't let that bullshit truth suppression meme ("conspiracy theorist") impact your thoughts or expression of them.
It is beyond time for that crap to be shoved back into where it came from...
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Don't let that bullshit truth suppression meme ("conspiracy theorist") impact your thoughts or expression of them.
It is beyond time for that crap to be shoved back into where it came from...
I think that at least some of us are well past the theory part of this particular conspiracy.
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Don't let that bullshit truth suppression meme ("conspiracy theorist") impact your thoughts or expression of them.
It is beyond time for that crap to be shoved back into where it came from...
Yes, that's why I said that. It's been used along with "racist" "homophobe" etc., for a long time to make us doubt what is in front of our faces and to make us shut up. And, it's worked well.
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Yes, that's why I said that. It's been used along with "racist" "homophobe" etc., for a long time to make us doubt what is in front of our faces and to make us shut up. And, it's worked well.
Oh, I know that you know.... I was just riffing off of your post to make a point....
Check this out, I posted it one of the "dark corners" of our forum and many may not see it:
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,362495.msg2028269.html (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,362495.msg2028269.html)
They are turning up the heat to steer people away from a lot of TRUTH that will hopefully be pouring out soon....
@Sanguine
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Oh, I know that you know.... I was just riffing off of your post to make a point....
Check this out, I posted it one of the "dark corners" of our forum and many may not see it:
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,362495.msg2028269.html (http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,362495.msg2028269.html)
They are turning up the heat to steer people away from a lot of TRUTH that will hopefully be pouring out soon....
@Sanguine
Interesting thread over there. And, I agree with you - NOTHING in the media is to be trusted without at least a good faith attempt to confirm and verify. Which is increasingly difficult. I know some people don't like the term "fake news", but I'm guessing most of what we see on the MSM, whether on the internet or TV, is not presenting an accurate, unbiased viewpoint.
I saw a chart yesterday that showed Yahoo as being slightly right of center. :silly:
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"Just because it is a conspiracy theory doesn't mean it isn't true."