The legend of boggy creek

If I have to go out and do research, you know you done fucked up. Which is exactly what Charles P. Pierce (not to be confused with Charles B. Pierce) of Esquire magazine did. Get a load of this article:

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a71138108/correspondents-dinner-shooting/

My initial thoughts were ‘I don’t give a shit about this guy’s personal experience with firearms.’ So naturally, I quit reading because I ain’t reading all that shit. Annoyed, I did a background check on this Pierce fella and apparently he’s a dude. And what I mean by a dude is that he’s a guy who’s been around a while. Probably respected in some journalist circles, which is how he has the job title of “political blogger” for Esquire.

First off, respect to him for getting a cush job. If only I could be so lucky. But secondly, it made me wonder if a blogger employed by a major publication is beholden to a word count. Because that’s the only reasonable explanation for why this “blog” post has a word count that’s at, or near, 1,000. He didn’t need that many words. He’s selling a stupidly simple premise: SPOILER ALERT in light of the White House Correspondence Dinner shooting, Democrats should leave the conspiracy mongering to the Alex Jones’ of the world because gun violence is a real problem and shouldn’t be taken lightly. A fair enough premise, but the article itself appears to be a symptom of journo-brain: an overly confident and overwritten piece designed simply to take up as much space as possible to justify the writer’s job and the publication’s existence.

Don’t get me wrong, journalism is important and necessarily for a free society and all that jazz. But its importance to society is based upon its ability to provide accurate information to the public. It’s NOT based upon how clever of a writer the journalist thinks he/she/they is. Because, and future journalists take note, no one gives a shit about your personal life and experiences— as interesting as they may actually be. The only time it is acceptable to divulge that kind of information is if you are writing under a pseudonym and you’re making up stories to fuck with the reader (which I categorically deny ever doing).

But Pierce’s premise here is also partly wrong. Sure, any reasonable person would agree that a wacko shouldn’t have a gun. But arguing that the “Left” shouldn’t do “Alex Jones cosplay”? He’s completely out of touch here. The Left should ABSOLUTELY do Alex Jones cosplay. If we’ve learned anything over the last 10 years it’s that gaslighting your opposition is totally and completely 100% effective as a propaganda tool. It puts the Right in a defensive position. Does the Left actually believe that the WHCD event is a “false flag”? I dunno. And who gives a shit. The only way out of this “post-truth” society is through it. So both sides need to experience the pain of misinformation if we are to ever restore the sanctity of TRUTH. Therefore I encourage the Left to flat out lie and fuck with the Right, give em a dose of their own medicine.

Just don’t get high on your own supply.

religion and political ideology r one in the same

What I mean by this is that both religion and politics operate backwards by taking a worldview and making the facts fit within it and creating an internal logical system that’s contradicts reality.

With religion declining, politics is filling in this spiritual void.

So when I attack Glenn Greenwald, I am doing so because I fail to see the distinction between him and a religious zealot that’s operating under the veil of “truth seeker”. Some his facts may be correct, but we should question the conclusions he draws from them.

Additionally, I mostly shit on leftists because a few years ago, I was a Marxist. So that’s who I’m familiar with. But I maintain that we should be critical all journalists of all views and opinions.

I think this is important to keep in mind as the Ukraine crisis unfolds.

Just thought I’d clear that up 😘

hi I’m glen greenwalled. AMA

Who questions the questioners?

***

It has been absolute Christmas for me the last few days. My blog’s existence has been vindicated by the conflict in Ukraine and the state of journalism reporting on it.

The internet really has ruined everything…especially the Twitterification of political discourse.

Case in point is Glenn Greenwald, sometimes referred to as the “GOAT” of journalism, who is now having an total fucking meltdown on Twitter.

Monitoring this situation, it has occurred to me that people can’t handle that multiple things can be true at once.

No, Greenwald is not a “Putin agent”. Yes, “propaganda” is bad, especially when it’s used to drum up war. And yes…Russia, led by an autocrat, invaded a sovereign country and no matter how terrible propaganda and American foreign policy has been, it doesn’t change the fact that….Russia, led by an autocrat, invaded a sovereign country.

I’m always hesitant to say that the “media lies to you”. It’s more complicated than that. What they’re actually doing is spin doctoring, omitting facts, and failing to interrogate all available information and opinions (but I guess in a certain sense, that is lying).

That’s why it’s up to YOU, fellow reader, to be honest enough with yourself to interrogate all available facts. That’s all we’ve got for the time being.

Because there is no trustworthy journalist or media figure. They’re all cynical actors until proven otherwise…especially the ones that have prior ideological convictions (what they are specifically for Greenwald, idk. But they’re easy to infer: has close associations with Noam Chomsky, his husband is a Socialist politician in Brazil, etc) and simultaneously criticize Big Tech yet profit off of it (via Substack, Twitter, etc)

But if you’re a Greenwald defender, relax: “iM jUSt aSkiNg QuEsTIons”

I’m gonna leave a link to these two articles here. Maybe they’re old. Maybe they’re outdated. Maybe they’re inaccurate. You be the judge.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/is-glenn-greenwald-the-new-master-of-right-wing-media

https://www.forbes.com/sites/maxrobins/2013/10/22/billionaires-want-to-pay-millions-for-journalists-who-make-trouble/?sh=68b3b4306e51