I’m continuously amused or aggravated (depending on my mood) by the “news” in my Facebook feed. Usually posted by folks with no clue (and my clues are limited).
“If ‘everyone’s entitled to their opinion’ just means no one has the right to stop people thinking and saying whatever they want, then the statement is true but fairly trivial,” Stokes writes in this article on the dynamics of truth in the election. “But if ‘entitled to an opinion’ means ‘entitled to have your views treated as serious candidates for the truth,’ then it’s pretty clearly false.”
Last week, the “news” was that an obscure 1995 Pennsylvania case would allow Clinton to be put into the Presidency instead of Trump because of Russian meddling. The fact patterns are vastly different, and there’s no precedent value in that case. You’re being played by the “news” if you repost it.
Before reposting some of this stuff – right or left – please do some homework. If it’s “too good to be true,” it probably is. If it’s not covered by Fox or MSNBC (the most right and left “mainstream” news sources), it is probably so far out there it doesn’t even warrant a click-through, let alone a reposting.
We’ve had years of “Obama is about to put us all into FEMA camps” and “The UN is going to take your guns.” Now it’s fanciful legal theories and assertions that Putin and Trump overtly collaborated to somehow “hack” the election. All this follows the Stein-driven recounts, proving to be a big dry hole for the conspiracy theorists.
America, Facebook Feed, Friends — you are more intelligent than this. You’re better than this.
Getting a good policy requires getting good information. Don’t be one of the ones perpetuating the lies on either side.