News Weakly - 5/30/20

That's wrong
On one hand, we have a news item about Twitter. "Shockingly" nearly half of the Twitter accounts calling for reopening America are bots, automated artificial users presenting numbers where there aren't enough to make a single point. This should make us all aware that Twitter and other social media like it can be manipulated to say what a very few want to say and we ought to be cautious about using these sources as valid. That's wrong.

On the other hand, when thousands of people actually rally at the California Capitol as they have in so many other places, they aren't bots. Listen to them or not, you can't simply dismiss the latter story because of the former. That's wrong.

Odd Consistency
We've all been hearing about the total inconsistency of the Democratic Party and the #MeToo movement in regards to Biden's accuser. "Believe women" is the call "except, of course, if it's our guy." So it's interesting that Rep. Ilhan Omar has come out in defense of Tara Reade, saying it's important that we "believe survivors." Oh, okay, good, so she's going to be consistent with that "believe women" thing. In the next breath, "she reiterated that she plans to support Mr. Biden." Huh. Ok. So "Yes, I have to conclude that he is a sexual predator ... and that's okay with me. It's not okay that Trump is a sexual predator ... because he's not our guy." Mixed messages.

Fact Check Twitter
Trump and Twitter made news this week when Twitter opted to come out against the president by giving a fact check warning on his posts and providing counterpoint info. (I'm not a Twitter guy; do they do this on anyone else?) Trump responded in an incredibly stupid way. "Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservative voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen." Translation: "We will not be silenced and we will silence anyone who tries to silence us." Exactly like the "In the name of being inclusive, we will exclude those who aren't." And Trump's response is certainly idiotic. "Fact check me will you? You'll pay for that!" Now, I am wondering if Twitter fact-checks anyone else because Twitter is a massive source of lies-taken-as-truth. Fact checking Twitter would be a great idea, but if Trump is the only one they're fact checking, it looks a lot like politics rather than ethics. Just as Trump's new edict is personal over "the good of the country."

What's Wrong With This Headline?
CNN is reporting that "Jonathan Steingard, Christian singer, reveals he no longer believes in God." Sad. Very unpleasant, especially for him. But does it strike anyone as odd? In what sense can someone be a "Christian" and an atheist? Aren't the two mutually exclusive? Shouldn't it read something like a "formerly Christian singer" or, more biblically, a "false Christian singer" (1 John 2:19)? Always tragic when a person jettisons the only hope there is. Always sad when they encourage others to go down with them. Worse is the damage it does to the name of Christ.

No Justice, No Peace
We've all heard about the outrageous death of George Floyd in Minneapolis after one of the officers allegedly knelt on his neck for 8 minutes while subduing him. (I put "allegedly" there because I haven't seen it, not because I doubt it.) In typical outraged fashion, the public has responded with "No Justice, No Peace" protests across the country. In typical outraged fashion, "No Justice, No Peace" does not mean, "Either there will be justice or there will be unrest." It means two things. First, "If you don't do what we consider 'justice', there will be unrest." Second, in this case, it means "There will be neither justice nor peace" as demonstrated in the looting of stores in the area resulting in at least one reported shooting of a looter and the torching of a police precinct. The FBI and DOJ are investigating, but much of America is quite certain that there is no justice anyway. Because everyone knows that the only way to get justice is to cause widespread mayhem and harm swathes of people and property completely unrelated. So ... no justice and no peace. You doubt? When they convict the police officer, do you suppose all those rioters in all those cities will say, "Oh, thank you! And we apologize for all the destruction. We'll pay for the damages." Not likely.

Heartwarming
No jokes or snark. No politics or religion. It really is a warm story. A Dallas, Texas, high school principal accumulated 1,500 miles in 10 days while visiting each one of his 240 graduating seniors to congratulate them and hand them their diplomas. A truly kind gesture.

Secret Code
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is convinced of today's "intersecionality" and "critical race theory," it seems. Mark Zuckerberg responded to Twitter's targeted "fact checking" of the president with his own understanding of free speech in America. "I just believe strongly that Facebook shouldn't be the arbiter of truth of everything that people say online. I think in general, private companies probably shouldn't be — especially these platform companies — shouldn't be in the position of doing that." Apparently AOC believes that anyone who defends free speech -- at least free speech for white people -- is a White Supremacist. "Zuckerberg is not worried about being bullied by Trump," she wrote (which, I suspect, is actually true). "He is worried that Facebook’s PR operation is falling apart as it’s exposed that their platform relies on white supremacists & disinformation peddlers to be successful." Translation: "If you don't censor the free speech of those I oppose, you are a white supremacist. It's the only logical conclusion. People like our president should not be allowed to present his views in public. It's our our job to tell you what to believe."

Fun Stuff
The "Bee" had a flurry of fun things this last week. There was the headline, "Biden: 'If You Don't Let Me Sniff Your Hair, You Ain't A Woman'." Then there was the report on the "Nation That Revolted Over Three-Pence Tax On Tea Now 'Pretty Cool' With Government Locking Everyone In Their Homes." You'd almost think it wasn't satire when they wrote, "Judge Dismisses Sexual Assault Allegations Against Biden On Grounds That He Is Not A Republican." Of course, some of this stuff makes you laugh 'til you cry, and not just because you're laughing so hard ...