Skip to main content

Mythbusters

I came across an interesting entry on Daily Kos this morning, by way of their contributor who goes by the moniker "The Great State of Maine."  The piece takes several bits of conventional wisdom that are routinely reported by mainstream media sources, or are parroted by the all-knowing pundits from the inside-the-beltway exclusive club, and it busts them for the myths that they are, with links given as references.  I can't resist reproducing the busted myths and the references for the truth about them here:   


> Ben Bernanke is the most inflationary Fed chairman in recent memory.       (Except he's not.)
> Cutting taxes is a magical, mystical sure-fire job creator!
(Except it's not.)
> Allowing voters to register on election day results in widespread fraud.
(Except it doesn't.)
> As the Koch brothers' net worth rises, so does employment at their companies.
(Except it doesn't.)
> American companies are overregulated.
(Except they're not.)
> Bloody violence is out of control along the Mexican border, and illegal immigrants are streaming into America at record levels.
(Except it's not and they're not.)
> President Obama's plan to boost the economy doesn’t appeal beyond the liberal hippie fringe.
(Except it does---big-time.)
> Social Security is going broke, it adds to the deficit, and we have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.
(Except it's not, it doesn't and we don't.)
> Don’t listen to that Paul Krugman---he's not very accurate!
(Except he is.)
> The earth is getting cooler.
(Except it's really really not.)
> Mitt Romney is a member of the middle class.
(Except milk just snorted out my nose.)
It's nice to know that somebody out there is actually paying attention to and checking on the stuff that is being reported, endlessly repeated, and often simply accepted by a lazy public as fact without examining it. Being an informed citizen is not easy and is sometimes very hard work.  We need all the help we can get.  Good to know that the mythbusters have our backs.

Comments

  1. LOL!! milk out your nose!! I needed that!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's certainly an appropriate response to the idea of Romney as a middle-classer, Anonymous!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters!  Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...