Shooting holes at the truth.

All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
Paul Simon

I have a few conservative “friends” on Facebook. Craig is one of them, a guy I knew casually in high school.  Another is Martin, a naturalized American who was always a friendly guy in our weekly tennis league.  They were added to my Facebook Friends list in an era when it was easy to just click “Accept as Friend,” without thinking about what a person’s politics might be and what they might post. Facebook was a place for admiring pictures of grandkids and birthday celebrations, and reminiscing over teenage memories.

Now things are different. But Craig and Martin are still on my Friends list. And that has its benefits. I don’t watch Fox News or subscribe to Breibart, but by watching the feed of this pair I can see what is being disseminated as news. I can see what is being used to stoke the flames. I can see what a president who has no use for honesty has brought upon us. I read their posts and their shares. I rarely react. Instead, I fume; then I go back and preach to my own choir.

But sometimes, when a post seems more even more preposterous than usual, I do chime in. And when I do, I usually get a response.

Martin posted a picture purporting to show a priest assaulted at a Black Lives Matter protest. A terrible story, if it were true. But a bit of fact-checking (I love Snopes) demonstrated that almost every “fact” in the story was a non-fact. The assault as described never happened. When I pointed this out in a comment, Martin responded with “I thought a picture was worth a thousand words. No need reading.” A Trumpism for the ages.

(Martin also told me that while I was book-smart, I lacked street smarts. If he means I know some history, and some science, and have read some in the humanities, well good for me.)

A few days ago Craig shared a post with racial overtones stating “the Saint Louis City School District had to go and buy back 50 chrome books from the pawn shop. WHY? Because 50 different parents had pawn (sic) them.” Again I did an online search and tryed to do some fact checking but found no evidence of this occurring.  (I did eventually find a story in the St. Louis-Post Dispatch stating burglars had stolen hundreds of laptops from nine schools in Hazelwood, MO–a story with a dateline of July 9, 2009.) Craig’s response to my asking for a reference to the post he shared: “I make my posts on this silly thing called facebook. I dont feel a need to verify anything.” Why should you Craig, when truth no longer is held in high regard?

It’s all about lies and damn lies. The falsehoods are coming faster and faster. Too many people believe those inventions, and I have never been this worried before in my life.

If you believe in truth, please make your plans now in order to make sure your vote is counted in November. And share this blog. Every little bit helps.

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