Greetings...Is anyone else sick and tired of receiving emails from extremists with messages that are completely false and often degrading and insulting? And then they ask you to forward the message to everyone you know?
Do you want to know who the worst terrorists are in our country?
They are those who spread wild lies and totally false information on the Internet about anyone and anything that opposes their beliefs and false claims of patriotism.
They attempt to spread fear about the leadership of our country by propagating fabrications that have necessitated the creation of rumor debunking sites such as SNOPES.com, FACTCHECK.org, TRUTHORFICTION.com and others.
They have even gone so far as to attempt to cast doubt on the validity of the research done by the above fact-checking sites by making false claims about those sites!
And all in the name of "truth" when what they do is actually all in the name of wild exaggerations, lies and fear-mongering. The conscienceless deceit involved crosses the line of honesty, integrity and ethical standards.
It is terrorism of the worse kind because it spreads lies in the name of patriotism. It's shameful, disgraceful, and anything BUT patriotic. (remember Timothy McVeigh?)
Fortunately, most reasonable people can differentiate between appearance and substance.
Patriotism is a virtue that can not exist on a foundation of lies, false innuendo and diatribe.
Jay,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing what I have been thinking. The level of anger in the cyber world has gone beyond irrational.
Bob
Our patriotism calls for freedom of the press. It depends on a citizenry that can decide the truth by reading or not reading what is out there. The Internet is certainly the "wild west" but what is the alternative? To decide to control it would only damage our values. We have to educate our children to read everything with care, and to become skeptics. It is a terrible price to pay, but there seems to be no alternative other than censorship.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped watching most news broadcasts and try to read a lot more from different sources to get some balance. Gone are the days when journalism, both TV and newspapers, worked torward bringing us objectivity. Only slanted information and sensationalism sells. This is from both sides of an increasing polarized country.
I am so glad you sent this, Jay. I also sent it on to my sister.
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