Optimism, Inc.:
One Too Many Lies?
By: Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson // Private Papers
May 4, 2021
I think daily, incrementally, insidiously the number of Americans that do not believe official Ministry of Truth communiques grows larger. And, the number promulgating them for careerist purposes shrinks.
The white-driven, Anti-Asian hate-crime spree lie is about dead. The data showed the very opposite: whites were under-represented as generic hate-crime perpetrators and in particular, were not responsible for the uptick of anti-Asian violence, either proportionally or in absolute numbers. African-Americans were overrepresented, both generically and especially in the case of Anti-Asian crimes.
The Capitol January 6 “armed insurrection” lie (as opposed to a spontaneous mob frenzy) is dissipating, despite the Biden whopper that it was more a threat to democracy than Pearl Harbor or 9/11 (5,000 were killed on those two days).
We are learning by leaks, bits, and pieces of witnesses, and an occasional honest account that there were no armed insurrectionary “leaders”; no protestor, however frenzied, killed anyone. Indeed, the only violent death was an unarmed, female, veteran shot and killed by a — mysteriously unnamed–Capitol officer.
No Capitol officer was murdered by Trump crazies. No one was arrested with a firearm.
No one any longer believes the government-peddled great vaccination myth that systemic racism harms the marginalized from becoming vaccinated while recalcitrant white neanderthals endanger us all by conspiratorially refusing vaccination.
In truth, there are plenty of vaccination spots everywhere now (one can walk into a pharmacy without an appointment and get a shot in minutes here in rural Fresno County). Whites have a higher percentage of being vaccinated than Hispanics and blacks. And there are cultural and historical reasons, not current bias or racism, for the reluctance of such groups.
The big lie is based on a measurement of those who were actually vaccinated rather than the availability of vaccinations to all, regardless of race. In California, from the very beginning, there were efforts to target minority/majority communities, and to add in groups other than adjudicated by age (which is an equal-opportunity co-morbidity of COVID-19).
Moreover, the media theme that a bunch of white deplorable nuts are endangering us all by not getting vaccinated, while historically oppressed minorities are not, by not getting vaccinated is simply eroding. With the government, on the one hand, worried sick that millions of doses will go unused, and with media hysterias on the other that the drug stores are wasting thousands of vaccinations that go unused, it is impossible to juggle the misinformation by simultaneously claiming that some minority groups are going unvaccinated because greedy whites grabbed all the doses and thus got vaccinated at disproportionate rates.
So, each day, as the woke Minster of Truth narratives mount so does the skepticism of a public weary of the propaganda.
We are becoming cynical 1980s Eastern Europeans who quietly scoffed at their daily government news. And this is step one to a repudiation of the lies we have been living with—
● that masks were necessary outdoors even for those fully vaccinated;
● that derelict, sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo is a noted author, Emmy-winner and national icon rather than a reckless sexual-harasser and responsible for needless death and misery by his unhinged, long-term facilities, policies;
● that Oprah, LeBron, and the Obamas are genuine voices of what it is like to be oppressed in America and all the subsidiary untruths:
● that the “brave” former intelligence officials who signed campaign-sensitive affidavits seconding Joe Biden’s insistence that Hunter’s laptop was a Russian disinformation trick;
● that Trump scoffed at “proof” that Russians put bounties on Americans in Afghanistan as they were appeased; and,
● that Joe Biden has no cognitive issues and never did, at least of the sort that prompted his predecessor to take cognitive tests and draw the attention of a Yale psychiatry professor to diagnose him as unhinged in absentia.
In sum, the woke movement daily, hourly, second-by-second, hinges on untruth, from the 1619 canard to America is systemically racist.
And, the number who spot the lies is beginning to outnumber the number who live by them—which means the Revolution is likely to follow the Jacobin rather than Bolshevik fate.
THE RETURN OF YELLOW JOURNALISM
BIG TIME!!
By: Virginia Merchant Ph.D.
May 4, 2021
Yellow journalism and the yellow press are American terms for journalism and associated newspapers that present little or no legitimate (lying to the public), well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales for a political cause. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism. By extension, the term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion—today fake news lies a lot and is 2021 yellow journalism reporting!!!!
Does this sound familiar over the last 4 years? Think of the New York Times, Daily News, CNN, ABC, CBS, Washington Post, etc.
They are all guilty of reporting the news in an unprofessional and unethical fashion. They also go one step further and either ignore what is actually going on by not presenting truthful facts or they “outright lie”. In other words, “fake news”. President Trump had that term right.
William Randolph Hearst Sr. was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain & media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboyant methods of journalism perpetrated a cartoon accusing him of lying—a cartoon in yellow, thus yellow journalism. He influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human-interest stories. He fought his competitors in news reporting this way. As a Democrat, he twice ran unsuccessfully for President. He did succeed in serving 2 terms in Congress. However, in later life, he became Republican as he said, “they were more about truth.” Truth from the creator of yellow journalism? What a turnaround!
Yellow journalism in 2021!!!
Yellow journalism uses sensationalism and exaggeration to attract readers. It is usually not well-researched and often only tells one side of the story. It sometimes makes up interviews or imaginary drawings. It tends to always be false, though we have seen more “lying” in the past 4 years--and it is outright lying. It tends to be overly dramatic and plays on the emotions or fears of readers.
Yellow journalism today isn't all that different from yellow journalism of the past, though it does seem to be even more prevalent. While journalism is supposed to focus on factual information presented objectively, yellow journalism is anything but that.
The war for personal views seems to have created an epidemic of sensationalized headlines that are anything but objective and often not even true (i.e., fake news). Makes you think of Chris Cuomo or Don Lemon. The only outlets that seem to be somewhat honest in 2021 are Fox News, New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal to a point.
Here are several notable yellow journalism examples from today, as well as a few from history. These stories were sensationalized in broadcast and print media alike, and now in digital form.
· Spanish American War - Yellow journalism helped to push Spain and the United States into war in 1898. USS Maine, a U.S. battleship, sank from an explosion. Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst published false articles about a plot to sink the ship, thereby increasing tensions.
· Samsung and Apple court case - A story claimed that Samsung paid a $1.2 billion settlement to Apple in nickels. The story originated as comedy, but an American journalist published it as true.
· Ebola is Coming - During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, Bloomberg Businessweek's cover graphic featured "Ebola is Coming" written across the full cover such that it appeared to have been drawn in blood. This terrifying image, greatly exaggerated, what was a very real threat without having to be sensationalized.
· Prince Harry and Megan Markle - When Prince Harry and Megan Markle announced in 2019 that they were giving up their titles to live a more ordinary lifestyle out of the public eye, the media went into overdrive. Their every move was covered, ironically focusing on the couple's desire to be out of the spotlight. Markle lied in an interview about how she was treated by the Royal family—such disrespect! So did the media.
· 2020 Election - When Donald Trump tweeted out regarding fraud in the election, the media scrutiny that ensued can be described as an example of yellow journalism. Yes, the tweets of someone in his position are closely scrutinized, but the extensive and ongoing media discussion of this was excessive. mean, and untrue by all standards.
· Prime Minister called a traitor - ABC Newsreported that Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu called Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin a traitor, but the report was a lie.
· The New York Times reported the death of DC police officer was killed by a fire extinguisher throw on him. Not true, and the retraction by the Time was minuscule when the death examiner said “he died of a heart attack” due to previous health issues. However, the death of the young lady during the breach of Congress was never reported—who shot her?
We are now seeing yellow journalism 2021, broadcasts. newspapers and computer technology websites downright “lying” to the public. The media recently lied on how many watched Biden’s 100 days speech--minuscule compared to Trump's first 100 days speech.
All this 2021 yellow journalism is not for competition so much as for the “power of the Democratic Party”. The party that wants to get rid of all Independents and Republicans and have one, socialistic party system. in control of our daily lives and it's getting worse..
We must fight, fight, fight.
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