Fact and Fantasy

 

Abstract Expressionism / Frank Lobdell/ Summer

One of my correspondents hates selfies.  Also states that you gotta hate something.  Some wisdom in this so I think that I will run with it.  

I kinda hate “fact-checkers”.  Not that folks go out there to check to see the lies being so shamelessly and fearlessly being propagated,  but the idea that people take these and try and convict on the strength of someone else’s beliefs.

Because you see, most of the facts that they check are not really all that checkable.  I always love it when a politician says something and the bands of pearly-clutchers descend on them.  Politicians warp and twist the truth to create a narrative.  What usually comes out of is a sorta kissing cousin with truth, but ain’t really the truth.  But then the “fact-checkers”.  I can’t for the life of me find one without their own axe to grind and their own set of funding that allows them to do it.  Truly, look up where your favorite “fact checker” gets his coin for Cheetos and diet coke and you might notice some connections.

Nope, so what you have is a politician twisting the truth to further his own agenda.  Then the “fact-checker” takes that twisted remnant of the original truth and further twists it.  (Now, on the rare occasion, sometimes the fact checker does manage to untwist the twisting, but from what I can see, those are far too infrequent occurrences). 

So what do most folks have to work with?  It appears to me that the twisting and shading of the truth that passes by us in the information world is suspect, the original meanings twisted beyond recognition and usually at two or three removes from the original intent.  

But what surprises me is that folks use these second and third order derivatives as touchstones.  To me, they are more reminiscent of medieval scholars debating the hypostasis or prosopon of Christ and whether they are orthodox or monophysite.  Actually the Babylon Bee nailed it with this piece of christian snark.

Because you see, it is my opinion that arguing politics and discussing the antics of the differing flavors of serial misrepresentations that pass for the news and the spew of the internet is a useless game. Fact checking isn’t about the checking of facts.

At the end of the day, what folks are getting all het up about is theology about things we can’t have valid data to assess.

So:  As a friend of mine says.  Tend your own garden.