Truth is not a Commodity

 

                                    Truth is Not a Commodity


        By the above statement I mean that truth (i.e., the statement of factually accurate information) isn’t, or shouldn’t be, available to the highest bidder or the person with the loudest voice or media presence. In spite of that, we have talking heads such as Tulsi Gabbard, former four-term Congresswoman from Hawaii, who states her opinion as fact, while proving the opposite. Ms. Gabbard speaking to an interviewer on (what else?) Fox News made the below statement:

        "This is what’s so dangerous about the place that we’re in right now as a country, where this idea, this principle, this foundation of freedom of speech, freedom of expression is directly under threat and under attack. And you’re right, it’s not so different. What’s happening here is not so different from what we’re seeing happening in Russia, where you’ve got state TV and controlled messaging across the board. This is where we’re at."

        No, madam, it isn’t. The fact that this aired on broadcast TV without repercussion proves that it is untrue. The fact that Fox news and others attack the nation’s chief executive with impunity multiple times hourly proves it. As too many do, Ms. Gabbard conflates righteous reaction to racism and hate speech or even just a difference of political point of view, as suppression of same.

        If any of what she says in the quote were true, there would already be a mass grave of Fox anchors dead of polonium poisoning as has been the fate of some of those who dared oppose most anything Vladimir Putin says. In fact, in Russia, one can now face up to 15 years in prison for simply calling a war a war, while in the U.S., citizens such as Tulsi Gabbard are free to make not only truthful but untruthful statements without fear of legal sanction. The reality is that the U.S. government lacks any power under the Constitution to engage in the kind of actions taking place in Russia.

        The last time any effort to legislate even the possibility of such repressive actions in peacetime was 224 years ago with the Sedition Act of 1798, during the John Adams administration. The act was so immensely unpopular with the public that it actually contributed to Adams’ defeat in the election of 1800. Under the newly elected Jefferson administration, the Sedition Act was allowed to expire on March 3, 1801. Arguments made for and against it and the surprisingly negative reaction to it by the public, shaped most subsequent debate about constitutional protections of free speech. (But Ms. Gabbard wouldn’t know that)

        Examples of this Fox News “truth for sale” mentality abound. Here’s another:

         Another member of Fox’s “frequent liar” program, Maria Bartiromo said that U.S. “dependency on Russian oil imports” would cause gasoline prices to continue rising. “The United States is "reliant on Russian oil. We have doubled our imports from Russia in the last year," speaking on Feb. 22. "No question why President Biden is begging OPEC and others to pump more oil."

        What has been lost, and in the interest of candor, by both sides of the argument over current high gasoline prices is that the US still, today, exports 17 times as much oil annually as it has imported from Russia. Yes, that’s 1700% more! The word “dependent” is a rhetorical false flag. If, as she and other Fox hosts periodically imply, we truly lived in a nation where the president ruled by simple executive fiat, as Donald Trump lamented that he could not, simply banning US petroleum exports would change the situation instantly. Of course, it would be a disaster for the 176 countries and 4 US territories which depend on US petroleum. High gas prices are a blip, not a fixture. What we call an economic imposition has been a European way of life for decades.   

        And finally, (for now) over the past year, both Newsmax and Fox News have run several spots critical of the Biden administration and blaming (actually non-existent but claimed nonetheless) Biden “policies” for shortages in consumer goods. Adding insult to injury, they accompanied such drivel with what they presented as “current photos of empty shelves” as proof of their allegations.

        So? Newsmax host Chris Salcedo interviewed Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., about the supply chain issues. Comer shared a clip from the interview on Twitter, writing that the "high prices and empty store shelves are a direct result of Joe Biden's reckless spending policies."

        In an accompanying short clip, a Newsmax host specifically faulted Biden’s economic policies and COVID-19 vaccine requirement for large employers for labor shortages, high prices and depleted store shelves. The problem, however, with the whole thing was that the photos shown as “proof” were as follows: 

 The first photo showed empty shelves and long lines at a London supermarket in March 2020. A second showed an aisle of empty shelves at a Hispanic specialty market in Los Angeles in March 2020, again, back when Donald Trump was in office and the coronavirus pandemic was first breaking out.

         Even worse: a third photo showed empty shelves that had been depleted at a convenience store in Japan as the country prepared for a typhoon in September 2020. A fourth showed empty toilet paper shelves at a supermarket in Melbourne, Australia, as the city began a seven-day lockdown in late May 2020, while a fifth showed a sign seen at a London supermarket in July that read, "Please bear with us. We’re experiencing high demand."

        The topper, however, was the final photo which showed a customer walking through a drugstore in Berlin on the last day the store was open before it permanently closed in March of 2012.

        Truth for sale, cheap! See your local Fox News outlet for details.