Have you ever seen those Psyc. 101 movies where they show the people with short term memory loss? Everything is perpetually new to them. They rediscover the world around them time and time again.
In such instances, the "facts" that they glean from day to day are only partial truths of life because, simply, they do not have context and background. They hear only the numbers, arguments, information put before them at the time, but they have no references to add truth to these facts. So it makes it hard for them to reason from them - to function in a way that draws upon what they have seen.
It is a devastating ailment, particularly when it is applied to a large population such as the U.S. Follow me if you will...
So today the right wing media (and this sometimes include Huff Po) found out that the U.S. has the largest corporate tax rate among all developed nations. A "FACT" that will surely bring organisms of joy to Rmoney and his "I dont make enough money" crowd. The headlines blare: "U.S. number 1" and "Highest Taxes in the World." As an example, see the nice little graphic that has been floating around:
http://i.huffpost.com/...
Compliments of "Face the Facts USA" a project of The George Washington Universityâs School of Media and Public Affairs.
Yes, here at KOS we all remember the context that goes with this. There are loopholes that dont exist in other countries. These loopholes reduce taxes by a lot. Remember back in March the diary that included this graph from the firedoglake website?
http://thinkprogress.org/...
The trouble is not many people do. It is kind of like the person with short term memory loss. So the rightwing press rolls this little factoid out in bite-sized chunks (similar to the way Americans like their Chicken nuggets), as though it is absolutely new and contains information which is useful. Well like several months ago, this too doesnt contain anything new, and isnt very helpful. In fact, the take away is how high our taxes are and that this may be strangling business. Well, I have a couple of points to add.
1) It doesnt include the VAT and other taxes of corporations in those countries. It also doesnt include the tax loopholes and marginal tax scheme we use. Finally, it does add that some companies do not pay all of this and gives a number or two, but doesnt contextualize this relative to the point they are making ie. how we compare to other countries.
2) If the take away, which we will surely hear about from the GOPers in congress soon, is true, that such high taxes makes the U.S. business environment worse than these competitors, then that MUST mean we are worse off economically than those countries - but we arent! Our unemployment is high, but not as high as the EuroZone. Japan isnt doing so well either. Or maybe we would prefer to be in the same boat as Ireland? So what is the point of this graph other than to pour fuel on a fire?
Now, dont get me wrong, facts for the sake of facts are nice, but they are not truth - by this I mean facts with context - something more than a GOP soundbite. And what really gets me boiling is how the RW media pick this up and run with it, not adding in any of the subtext. It seems in the name of fairness, all facts must be presented as though they have equal weight. But they dont! Some have context and meaning (left and right) and some do not. Lets look at a few...
Secure America Now says: "we are all going to die because of Obama..."
This apparently because Pres. Obama didnt kill Bin Ladan, does use drone strikes against high value targets, doesnt disrupt terrorist plans in Yemen... Oh but wait - I guess he did. So why is this nonsense covered with the same vigor and completeness as say: the complete loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet? No I could see it if the headlines read - "Secure America Now has lost its mind." But this is instead treated with the dignity afforded real news. (And for the trollers - no this is NOT real news by anyones definition - it is a pathetic grab for attention by a group of conspirator-ists).
Michelle Bachman's little stunt at pretend McCarthyism was the same. Reported at first like this meant something. The only thing it means is that she should not be elected and this should be reported within the context of the rest of her theater. "Bachman makes really stupid statements so she can get news coverage - and here is another one..." should read the tag line.
Have Americans really come to this? We can only tolerate our news in 15 second snips between bites of our favorite puff pastry in the mornings? It seems quite a lot of us are happy to meander off to work with our new discovery of the world each day as though we have never been awake before.
So this gives an enormous tool for the GOP to use, because they can count on the media to be complicit in the "forget what happened yesterday" news cycle. Joe "not a f*&^%&$ clue" Anybody can say: "Obama has raised taxes," "Obama is going to kill us all," "Obama has let terrorists into our government." and it is treated with dignity? No wonder half of Americans cant find Afghanistan on a map or even knows the tax rate they pay.
To the "news" organizations out there:, announcing yourself to be a fact checker, or that the "facts" you have presented are un-aruguable, doesnt give those facts meaning and shouldnt give them a place in your news coverage unless context is provided. Listing sets of naked facts is something the internet can do quite well thank you. So please, start asking some questions. Read your own stories from five minutes ago. Remember the historical context to our current economic predicament. We will be better off as a nation, and more informed as a people.