Somewhere over time, basically we've lost the ability to call "bullshit".

[rasputin1952]

Everyone knows that a lot of what they are being told is BS, but very few, if any, call them on it. If I'm at a function where the negativity is based on some hyped up non-story w/o anything verifying it, I call BS...show me, back up what you are saying. They never do, not because they don't want to, but because they can't and they know they can't.

Take Cantor for example. When asked numerous times what he would suggest cutting to balance the budget, he hemmed and hawed, never answering the question. Now I know this is essentially unheard of, (and most likely while I will never be a TV interviewer), but I would have looked him dead in the face and called him what he is, full of shit. I would have then turned to the camera and quietly explain to the audience that, "an elected member of the House of Representatives, sitting right here in the studio, ran on a platform of tax and budget cuts, but he cannot answer what he would cut from the budget. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not the only one. These people represent us, the American people, and if any of them refuse to answer your questions, they should be held accountable. The lies and obfuscations must cease, facts must be brought forward and no more hedging. Be up front with us, or resign."

Issa is another example, so is McConnell. Even though I would not work for Ben Nelson's re-election again, and I disagree w/virtually everything he is standing for, I will give him credit for standing up stating what, when and where.

A few years back, I could have started a rumor that bush was caught having sex w/a sheep while on a "brush cutting expedition"...someone would believe that and spread it like fire in dry grass if they so desired. Suddenly it would go "viral" and people would start to wonder. It was a complete fabrication on my part, (at least I hope so), but if people wanted to believe it they would. The same thing happened w/the $200 million dollar a day trip to India...it was believed by some, because they wanted to believe it; pure fabrication, but off it went. The clown car that just emptied and came up w/a proposal to "cut Social Security" is another example of disinformation. Yes, it is a proposal, but nothing more...(FWIW, it will go nowhere); but the point is, it is a proposal, not an edict.

Fact checking is essential in today's instant info world, but it is the most over looked of all aspects in this age where information is exceptionally easy to fact check, we just refuse to do it. Using one's head is essential today, engaging in tearing down the lies becomes so much easier. Always...question authority.

[ampad]

1. Rec

[dave29]

2. Dead on.

Reporters no longer report, they relay what they are told. They do not want to crack open the story, they want to be a part of it.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. The repukes keep peeing on our shoes, telling us it is raining...and DC is telling

us to wait and see if the rain stops before making a decision. -puke-

[rhett o rick]

4. Rec. But what was the motive behind establishing the commission. Esp. when we ALL knew their

recommendations would be terrible.

[rasputin1952]

10. It's part of the way DC works...

First comes the Commission, they issue an opinion, and it moves from there, or dies of it's own lack of merit. The people that picked this up and ran with it have nothing to lose. I can't see anyone going for this package, some parts of it will get flattened, and others will be debated, but in the end, little, if anything, will change.

Watch the R's try to "shut down" the government again...it's really an idle threat; last time, it cost them seats and Gingrich was looking for work. They do learn, and most of this stuff is bluster in the wind. They are feeling things out, seeing if they can try to push something through, but it's not going to happen. If they wanted to really save $ on say Medicare, they'd be going after Fraud and abuse. Lock up a few Dr's and Healthcare Mgmt and watch how fast overextended claims drop.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. I call bullshit on a regular basis

but I don't have a media megaphone to help promulgate my message. Those are only handed out to those vetted by the corporate media. A lone voice is lost among the noise.

[rasputin1952]

12. I agree wholeheartedly...

to me, it's not being able to get beyond "local". If I had a radio/TV slot, I'd be all over the place stomping the critters into the ground. The best I can do is on a local level. But even though I don't get all over the country, I make my presence known at the town Hall and the School Board. I make sure that those who would take books off of shelves at the library are kept at bay, and I try to change minds...:)

[Frank Cannon]

21. I've called BS so many times that BS has a restraining order against me. n/t

[Frank Cannon]

22. We live in a time where there HAS to be two "equal" points of view to every issue...

even if one point of view is completely nuts.

[butterfly77]

6. Kicked&Recommended!

[ClarkUSA]

7. Jon Stewart, in his interview w/ Rachel Maddow, evidenced the same cowardice.

[FrenchieCat]

8. What you said!

+1000000

[craigmatic]

9. They want to cut taxes and increase spending on costly investigations of Obama.

[rasputin1952]

11. That's Issa...

and he's already being reined in by power in the GOP. It would be futile, and they know it. If they tried this stunt again like they did w/Clinton, there is a good possibility Issa would get torched pretty badly....not that that would bother me...:evilgrin:

[Smashcut]

13. Calling "bullshit" isn't very bipartisan.

That's the problem. When you get too collegial with a group that lies with regularity, when you give them too much credit for having an equally valid "viewpoint" when in reality they're propagating lies, you lose the ability to call out the truth in stark, unyielding terms.

This is the problem with setting bipartisanship, "post" partisanship, etc. as a goal in itself.

[rasputin1952]

15. The GOP cried for bipartisanship...

then moved the goalposts further back. As soon as they began to move the post is when you strike. It's "OK, let's talk", they move the post, it then becomes, "OK, screw you, we're doing it our way and that's it". Problem is, some factors came about that had some D's chasing after the R's, that's where the breakdown began.

Like the kid that comes up with the bright idea, "let's break into that garage", (GOP); if your smart you say "hell no", (D), and move on to something productive...some D's wouldn't do that, they followed and doomed a lot of situations to failure.

[JVS]

23. Yup, calling "bullshit" is a conversation stopper

[SidDithers]

14. K&R...nt

Sid

[ProSense]

16. Well said. n/t

[mkultra]

17. Its the GOP/DUhate echo chamber

anything anti-obama will be repeated without verification by the GOP and the obama haters here on DU.

[ibegurpard]

18. no, a lot of us just can't seem to recognize it when it's coming from our "allies"

[rasputin1952]

19. On cue, to reiterate my point...

I was a couple of days ahead of this, bu tI guess great minds think alike, at least occasionally...:)


From: 16 of the Dumbest Things Americans Believe -- And the Right-Wing Lies Behind Them

"...So what to do in a political and cultural landscape in which well-told lies have more validity than fact-based truth? Perlstein explained how this environment gets created by explaining what happened on Election Day this year:

“...by a two-to-one margin likely voters thought their taxes had gone up, when, for almost all of them, they had actually gone down. Republican politicians, and conservative commentators, told them Barack Obama was a tax-mad lunatic. They lied. The mainstream media did not do their job and correct them. The White House was too polite—"civil," just like Obama promised—to say much. So people believed the lie.”

We’ve entered a bizzarro world in which calling out lies is considered rude, says Perlstein, so liars are allowed to sit tight and dominate the discourse..."

<snip>

"...Perlstein notes, “When one side breaks the social contract, and the other side makes a virtue of never calling them out on it, the liar always wins. When it becomes 'uncivil' to call out liars, lying becomes free.”



From Sarah Seltzer: Reality Check staff writer and a freelance journalist based in New York City. Her work can be found at www.sarahmseltzer.com.

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/14882616 of the Dumbest Things Americans Believe -- And the Right-Wing Lies Behind Them

[political_Dem]

20. K and R.

[stevenleser]

24. K&R x 10^10^100

:kick:

[opihimoimoi]

25. KICK....A BIG KICK... :o) awesome Thread

[Raine]

26. EXACTLY on point! nt

:thumbsup: