As they say in radio, I'm a long-time listener, first-time caller. So, greetings and salutations to fellow Kossacks, who've been good enough to provide sanity breaks after reading the paper or watching the news. Whether it's the perspectives on little-known topics, widely-discussed issues, or a shared personal recollection. If you're reading this, most likely that you're among those who believe that people are entitled to an informed opinion.
Based on diaries posted here, many of you already know there's a (how should I put it?) "flavor" of insanity that resides in Illinois. Unfortunately it's not unique to the United States of Baskin-Robbins. It's the kind that results in retired educators having their pensions and benefits threatened after decades of service. The lunacy that sent self-promoting snake oil dealer William Joseph Walsh to the U.S. Congress (I decline to call him "Joe", that's just a personal thing). More on those and other topics in the future, I hope. But I digress.
The example I wanted to point out today involves the Daily Herald and a letter to the editor titled Break state's 'parasitic loop' with unions
(Click the boldface and prepared to be stunned ... but not surprised.)
The words in the letter are yet another distortion of the issues in Harris v. Quinn. How do I know this? Probably because I read. I like data, supportable facts and logic. Which is why I'd never make it as a talking head on Faux News, unless I thought of it as just an acting gig (is that what they do?).
More to see beyond the calligraphy......
I went over the SCOTUS transcript from the hearing.
I read the recent NPR article on this issue
A Union For Home Health Aides Brings New Questions To Supreme Court.
Then, I re-read the 01/06/2014 diary by Dr. Christopher Boerl (Supreme Court Looks to End Labor: What Comes Next?).
In his diary, Dr. Boerl asks an important question. How do we deal with the narrow-minded portion of the citizenry that they are standing up to "big government" and "big business"? The same people who, at the same time, want to make government (in many ways) more oppressive due to their prejudice in many cases, while big business is having a good laugh during the distractions?
One of the major downsides to the world-wide web is that it allows for such a wide dispersal of ugliness. "Yeah, well, that's on the 'internets' so it must be true!"
However, what the narrow-minded take for "truth" supporting their position is just the circular flow that doesn't go down the drain; they don't understand that repeating misinformation doesn't make it true. (The late Ted Sturgeon said that it was proof of his statement, "90% of anything is bullshit.")
Instead, it's more like "The Newsroom" scene when Don goes back-and-forth with a scandal-rag editor that their story about a political appointee's association with the "Righteous Daughters of Jihadi Excellence" has to be retracted, until Don finally screams into the speakerphone, "I made up the f*cking name!"
My initial response to the Daily Herald letter was to reply to the paper. I stopped. "No", I thought, "the response to the Herald's lack of editorial integrity and inability to use spellcheck needs to be brought to a larger audience." A much larger audience.
Drag the ugly beast of misinformation and lies into the light. Whether it's this or any other issue.
Thanks for stopping by. Looking forward to the feedback; try not to beat up on this rookie effort too hard.