The Myth of Objective Fact Checkers
The Myth of Objective Fact Checkers
Recently I saw a post that was supposed to absolve former President Obama of responsibility for having done nothing to deal with Russian interference in the last presidential election. In order to prove their point, the individual posted a “Fact Check” site that determined Obama said nothing, and did nothing, to stop Russian interference, which the “Fact Checkers” acknowledged was true. Regardless, the “Fact Checkers” concluded that the claim that “Obama did nothing,” was mostly false, even though he actually “Did nothing.”
How was this dichotomy possible; “To do nothing, or not to do nothing….that was the question?”
Their answer was simple; the “Fact Checker” inferred an excuse for the former president, saying, “He probably didn’t want to give the impression of interfering in the election, and that’s why he did nothing.” This came after months of President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the mainstream media saying that to even suggest that America’s elections were iffy, was treasonous, insane, sick, demented, and something only Trump could believe….until Hillary Lost.
Yes, to be a good “Fact Checker,” you need to be quick in handing out excuses, based on personal inferences for the people you like. But, trust us, this is not making an excuse, which would strongly indicate bias. No sir! It’s what passes for objective “Fact Checking.”
This reminds me of the time they “Fact Checked” Republican presidential candidate Cary Fiorina’s statement that she’d been a secretary, and said: “We find Ms. Fiorina’s statement “Mostly False,” even though she’d actually been a secretary. Because she had a fine arts degree and came from a well-to-do family. So, yes, Ms. Fiorina clearly was a secretary, but not really. Not according to our fine fact-checking skills.”
Here’s the thing: there is no group of humans, now, or in the past, nor will there be at any point in the future, who are wholly objective, or anything close. “My God, people!” Read some actual fricken history, some philosophy, maybe a bit of psychiatry, and stop talking like idiots. “Fact Checkers may be reliable about purely straightforward questions like: “What was the score in yesterday’s baseball game?’ However, when you consider that a million years of gender norms are openly being questioned, based mostly on pseudo science—even yesterday’s baseball scores might be beyond the purview of these “Fact Checkers.”
Last weeks meltdown over President Trump meeting with Vlad The Impaler,” was a perfect example, as nearly every media outlet regurgitated the same bullshit talking points; “Since when do presidents meet privately, for up to 2 whole hours, in private, with Russian leaders? Huh?”
Like, since forever; is the answer, for every damned president for 100 years. And this was true when Russia was far more powerful and dangerous globally than today. But that was not treasonous! No! Only when President Trump did it. Not when Teddy Kennedy tried to get the Russkies to interfere in our elections to defeat Ronald Reagan, at a time when Reagan was about to drive a stake thru the Kremlins grubby little heart. Not when Hillary signed off on the sale of 20% of our uranium to Russia in exchange for a 135 million dollar donation to her and Bill’s foundation, which she did. The fact that some Republicans might have been involved, is par for the course, not a reasonable alibi. Nor was it the case when Franklin Roosevelt handed half of Europe over to one of history’s greatest mass murderers, the Russian strongman and thoroughly insane Russian leader, Josef Stalin at Yalta, following WWII. And certainly not when that same Franklin Roosevelt actually put Japanese Americans in literal concentration camps and seized all their wealth and property. But, Donald Trump is Hitler. Hitler, the alleged “Right-winger,” and leader of The National “SOCIALIST” Workers Party.
My God! This gets tiring. If you don’t begin to know enough to check the fact checkers, don’t offer fact checkers in lieu of a substantive argument. And, if you can’t articulate a meaningful argument, you might want to let the adults do the fact-checking.
As Stan Lee used to say “Nuff said!”
Mark Magula
Recently I saw a post that was supposed to absolve former President Obama of responsibility for having done nothing to deal with Russian interference in the last presidential election. In order to prove their point, the individual posted a “Fact Check” site that determined Obama said nothing, and did nothing, to stop Russian interference, which the “Fact Checkers” acknowledged was true. Regardless, the “Fact Checkers” concluded that the claim that “Obama did nothing,” was mostly false, even though he actually “Did nothing.”
How was this dichotomy possible; “To do nothing, or not to do nothing….that was the question?”
Their answer was simple; the “Fact Checker” inferred an excuse for the former president, saying, “He probably didn’t want to give the impression of interfering in the election, and that’s why he did nothing.” This came after months of President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the mainstream media saying that to even suggest that America’s elections were iffy, was treasonous, insane, sick, demented, and something only Trump could believe….until Hillary Lost.
Yes, to be a good “Fact Checker,” you need to be quick in handing out excuses, based on personal inferences for the people you like. But, trust us, this is not making an excuse, which would strongly indicate bias. No sir! It’s what passes for objective “Fact Checking.”
This reminds me of the time they “Fact Checked” Republican presidential candidate Cary Fiorina’s statement that she’d been a secretary, and said: “We find Ms. Fiorina’s statement “Mostly False,” even though she’d actually been a secretary. Because she had a fine arts degree and came from a well-to-do family. So, yes, Ms. Fiorina clearly was a secretary, but not really. Not according to our fine fact-checking skills.”
Here’s the thing: there is no group of humans, now, or in the past, nor will there be at any point in the future, who are wholly objective, or anything close. “My God, people!” Read some actual fricken history, some philosophy, maybe a bit of psychiatry, and stop talking like idiots. “Fact Checkers may be reliable about purely straightforward questions like: “What was the score in yesterday’s baseball game?’ However, when you consider that a million years of gender norms are openly being questioned, based mostly on pseudo science—even yesterday’s baseball scores might be beyond the purview of these “Fact Checkers.”
Last weeks meltdown over President Trump meeting with Vlad The Impaler,” was a perfect example, as nearly every media outlet regurgitated the same bullshit talking points; “Since when do presidents meet privately, for up to 2 whole hours, in private, with Russian leaders? Huh?”
Like, since forever; is the answer, for every damned president for 100 years. And this was true when Russia was far more powerful and dangerous globally than today. But that was not treasonous! No! Only when President Trump did it. Not when Teddy Kennedy tried to get the Russkies to interfere in our elections to defeat Ronald Reagan, at a time when Reagan was about to drive a stake thru the Kremlins grubby little heart. Not when Hillary signed off on the sale of 20% of our uranium to Russia in exchange for a 135 million dollar donation to her and Bill’s foundation, which she did. The fact that some Republicans might have been involved, is par for the course, not a reasonable alibi. Nor was it the case when Franklin Roosevelt handed half of Europe over to one of history’s greatest mass murderers, the Russian strongman and thoroughly insane Russian leader, Josef Stalin at Yalta, following WWII. And certainly not when that same Franklin Roosevelt actually put Japanese Americans in literal concentration camps and seized all their wealth and property. But, Donald Trump is Hitler. Hitler, the alleged “Right-winger,” and leader of The National “SOCIALIST” Workers Party.
My God! This gets tiring. If you don’t begin to know enough to check the fact checkers, don’t offer fact checkers in lieu of a substantive argument. And, if you can’t articulate a meaningful argument, you might want to let the adults do the fact-checking.
As Stan Lee used to say “Nuff said!”
Mark Magula