The internet makes it easy to broadcast misinformation, it also makes misinformation easier to detect.
Let us engage the narrative from the left and put aside for the moment the fact that we live in a representative republic.
We know that democracy is on the ballot next week because Rob Reiner, Patty Murray, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and several other similarly “reliable” sources have said so on Twitter.
And because Twitter has a stellar and proven track record of rooting out and eliminating misinformation, we can rest assured these reports are factual.
We are reliably informed that the only way to “save our democracy” is for every American to vote for Democrats. The path to save democracy is single party rule. The path to democracy is to vote the way the Democrats tell you to vote. This, after all, is the very definition of democracy.
The enemy of democracy, we hear from the same sources, is the nebulous “MAGA Republican.” For those wondering what a “MAGA Republican” is, it is quite simple. The term was made up out of thin air by Joe Biden and it means whatever Joe wants it to mean at any given moment.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The path to salvation for our country could not be clearer. It’s all there folks. One party and one party only, one message, one opinion, and a scapegoat — we have it all.
For those of you that are students of history, I’m sure this all sounds very familiar.
Ok, enough of my sarcasm.
Perhaps the most troubling (to me) aspect of this argument from the Democrats is the fact that what they are saying is the precise opposite of democracy. And that fact seems to be entirely beyond their comprehension. This, in and of itself, should be sufficient grounds for removing them from office. They don’t know what democracy is and they don’t comprehend the Constitution. They’ve never even heard of a representative republic.
I’m old enough to remember when there was no such thing as the internet let alone social media, and Joe Biden is old enough to be my dad. In the 70’s we had newspapers, television, radio, and magazines such as Time and Newsweek. If a dissenting voice could not make its way into that media structure, it simply wasn’t heard (at least not on a wide scale). These media outlets were far from perfect and certainly not always accurate or unbiased, but they were carefully controlled by editors and editorial boards which meant that to at least some degree they were measured in what they published.
Today is different. Today anyone with $100 per year to spend on their own website can publish (I am a perfect example). Social media accounts cost far less. Everyone can put any message they want out there to millions of potential consumers. They don’t have to answer to an editor or to the ownership of CBS. The internet has allowed misinformation to literally explode across the globe. Politicians and in particular the media have failed to grasp what this means. They decry misinformation (as they see it) but fail to recognize the opposite impact of the internet and social media.
The opposite impact is that the internet makes it more difficult to lie without being detected.
The ability for every single individual to do their own research, their own “fact-check” has never been easier and has never been more wide spread. This is a real problem for folks that make statements like “Democracy is on the ballot.”
“There is absolutely no evidence the 2020 election was stolen” — until there are reports of people ending up in court facing charges for election fraud (and court records are public). “Election deniers are on the ballot in all 50 states” — which election — 2016 or 2020? Trump’s lawyers (?) very publicly claimed to have “mountains” of evidence of wide spread fraud after the 2020 election, but when given the chance to present it, they had none. Fantastic claims on Twitter about what Republicans will do if they take control of Congress next week, but when asked which Republican sponsored bill is being referred to, crickets — there is no such bill and no such proposal. “Inflation” is a new term introduced to the public just recently by Republicans — no, sorry, I remember 1979 myself — the term and the issue is quite old. The “focus on crime” is a Republican conspiracy — no, sorry, I live near Seattle and Tacoma which for the first time in my life are now considered two of the least safe cities in which to live — and the crime statistics are public.
It’s rather interesting that talking about CRT in schools, crime in our neighborhoods, inflation, and high fuel prices are driven by “conspiracy” but saying you need to vote the way you are told and to vote for single party rule is not. No, there is no conspiracy to lie about Republican intentions and beliefs, and there is no conspiracy to coerce you to vote Democrat out of unsubstantiated fear — no sir! You all believe that don’t you?
Is democracy on the ballot? You bet it is. And if you value it as much as I do, vote against single party rule. The threat to our republic comes from those that do not respect, support, or adhere to our Constitution.
Gadsden1
Please check out my website Gadsden1.com. Please check out “ The Group “ for RSS feeds to some of my favorite writers and podcasters. Thank you for reading!
Originally published at https://gadsden1.com on November 5, 2022.
