Every once in a while, I notice something on social media that just makes me shake my head. I understand that we all have inherent prejudices and that anyone that denies that simple fact is, well, simple minded. I don’t critique it as much as I attempt to understand what it is I see because a lot of what I view plays into my own prejudices. When I see something that just doesn’t add up though, I stop and think about it, and sometimes, I’m compelled to scratch out a few words here.
It seems to me that when people look at an event, or a series of events, that don’t seem to add up, they inject their own bias into what for them is a game of connect the dots. Unfortunately, sometimes, they don’t fit the way they’re supposed to so the interlocutor will add dots to attempt to complete the picture the way they believe it is supposed to look. This is not logical, or even scientific inquiry. This is storytelling while sitting around a campfire and determining how to complete the story based on the audiences reaction. As the story continues, plots rise and fall based on nothing more than the modulation of the storytellers voice and will accept the truthfulness of what they’re hearing based on the pitch, volume, and pace of the story. As the story continues, people enter and exit where the telling proceeds without knowing how the story began, or who the characters in the story are, yet base their opinion of the of the story upon the fragments they gather from others who’ve been there longer, but still, not from the beginning. the telling becomes more and more complex as the length of the story continues because it is the only way to hold the audiences attention. Some parts of the story drop away, others become a focus of the story, and this roller coaster ride never seems to end. Some listeners become exhausted from the never ending, exploitative story, while others just become more passionate for the story to continue, hoping for a conclusion they’ve been set up, by the storytellers bias, to accept all along. But no conclusion appears to be evident and so the story becomes more and more complex, with characters become more devious, the storyteller being the protagonist. Will the story conclude and if so, not only when, but will there be a satisfactory ending for all those who’ve taken the time, their days and weeks, to follow expecting the righteous to persevere and the depraved will receive their just punishment?
Probably not. The story will just conclude without any satisfactory ending and the audience will be convinced that there may never be a satisfactory end. Decades will go by, books will be written, documentaries and movies filmed that will attempt to pick up the story and have the audience believe in a satisfactory conclusion. Conspiracies will be settled, conspirators identified, The story will take on a new direction unseen by the original storyteller and will continue, generation after generation.
A third attempt was made on President Trump’s life, while attending the White House Correspondents Dinner (for the first time as President). Luckily, the alleged assassin was stopped before he could enter the room, where 2,500 people were in anticipation of the night’s events. There was one minor casualty: a Secret Service agent was shot by the attacker, but his bullett proof vest prevented him from being seriously injured, or killed. The attacker was taken alive, shortly thereafter. This is what occurs when the occupant of the White House is constantly referred to ss a Dictator, Hitler, Fascist, Nazi, well, you see where I’m going. The real issue is how these verbal attacks are magnified and carried on by the same media, many of whom were at that same dinner last evening. With the amount of hate and vitriol hurled his way by not only the media that covers him, but opposition politicians as well who have no shame in the way they refer to him or anyone that works in his administration. These people have put a virtual target on Mr. Trump a well as any of his appointees.
I really haven’t addressed the Candice Owens story here and I’ve tried to stay away from it as much as I can, even though I find myself commenting on other’s really hateful posts on X. There has been some really nasty commentary about this young woman (well, compared to me, yes, she’s young) and although I’m not a regular viewer of her content, I’ve become more interested in it as the vitriol toward her has increased.
If you’re on Twitter, or I would guess, any social media platform, you’ve probably heard about Yelp’s new policy concerning racism. We can all understand, I believe, that a business treating anyone with disrespect because of their race or ethnicity is appalling and none of us would want to do business there. That’s our choice. But now, a business rating company wants to flag companies that have had an accusation of racism. I can;t wait for the fallout from this!
