Through many years of work I’ve suffered layoffs, cutbacks, business closings, and pay reductions. I’ve also learned one very important rule about working: there is no such thing as a guaranteed income. Employment contracts break. Unions only have so much clout.
Current Events
Current events drive politics. Where does the news end and politics begin?
It can take years for the truth about an event to come out. A perfect example is the investigation into whatever the Russians did or didn’t do during the 2016 election. Will we find out the truth once and for all after months, maybe years of investigating?
Not likely.
Current events are easy to distort. They are simple to leverage. By the time media outlets have reshaped a controversial event to make it sales worthy and politicians decide what it’s good for we have something completely new creation on our hands. A piece of history has become a saleable commodity.
When we want to know the facts behind current events there is truth to be had. We just need to look for it, even though the truth is seldom as entertaining as fake news and distorted rhetoric.
Whenever possible posts in Civil Candor’s current events category rely on information from reputable government agencies to drill down to the truth behind a controversial event or tragedy. Failing that, it’s always good to know what voices in the House and Senate have to say and what they intend to do because that’s where the policies that shape our society come from.
The information to put current events in perspective is always out there. We just have to look for it.
FBI Hate Crime Report an Opportunity to Lie With Numbers
The 2017 FBI hate crime report is a tremendous opportunity to lie with numbers. The Tree of Life synagogue shootings and Democratic rise to power in the House add unwanted substance to this newly-released data showing hate crimes rose for three years in a row. Politicians, pressure groups, and the media will use the findings for their own purposes, but do the numbers show what they want them to show?
Rocks and Rifles: Border Troops Risk Democrats’ Anger
Trump created a new firestorm over what he did or didn’t say about rocks and rifles and border troops. On one side our commander-in-chief is determined to prevent a flood of Latin American nationals from entering the country on their own terms. On the other we have Democrats who insist that the newest horde consists of people desperate for help who should enter on his party’s very liberal conditions. What happens when people get hurt and this turns ugly?
Best Excuse Ever to Hate Your Country? Migrants.
Democrats got the political crisis they wanted. Except for the president they didn’t have to use a single citizen to get the ball rolling. Instead, they used migrants as the best excuse ever to convince Americans to hate their country and their government. We are getting hit from all sides with disinformation and propaganda about migrants and asylum-seekers. The only thing we can be certain of is that this isn’t about morality. It’s about old fashioned, self-interested politics.
First Amendment Rights Defined by Football, Cake, Hypocrisy
It is ludicrous that First Amendment rights are defined by cake and football. That’s what happened thanks to a Supreme Court case and an overblown White House decision. If we placed our trust in free enterprise none of this would have been necessary, but politicians refused to do that and chose their favorite hot buttons instead.