What is hyperpartisanship doing to our minds?

This is something I've been thinking about more and more. How can we function as a society if we can't even agree on the basic facts of daily news or current events? You can't have a productive discussion or debate about anything if there is no common foundation to start with.

How did we get to a place where people can choose their own version of the news based on what they want it to be? The news is supposed to be the news! After you read the news, then you can argue about what it means or who's fault it is. But these days we can't even agree on the news itself (which is a little bit scary).

Case in point is the COVID pandemic. For some reason this crisis has polarized the nation along party lines. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/06/25/republicans-democrats-move-even-further-apart-in-coronavirus-concerns/.

Some, including our President, have called it a hoax. I've seen wild conspiracy theories involving Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates. The sinister mastermind George Soros, who is depicted in some circles as the modern day Emperor Palpatine. It's some fascinating stuff.

Emperor Palpatine of Star Wars.

Today the President re-tweeted something from the former host of the "Love Connection", Chuck Woolery, saying that, quote "Everyone is lying. The CDC [federal centers for disease control and prevention], Media, Democrats, our doctors, not all but most, we are told to trust."

Looks trustworthy to me.

Now think about this for a second. This is the President of the United States telling us that we should trust Chuck Woolery of the Love Connection more than doctors and news networks. Saying that Democrats are lying to the nation about people dying. What an accusation! If this were true, might it be the biggest criminal scandal in history? Shouldn't those responsible be thrown in jail? But there will be no trial or no actual case presented, because there is no evidence of these sensational claims.

By the way, do you know that if we believed this claim, not only would we have to accept that every major news outlet in the United States is lying, it would also be that every major news outlet in the world is lying. Wow! What a conspiracy indeed.

Will we ever recover as a nation from this deep distrust of the news media, and willing acceptance of "alternate facts"? I sure hope so. Because if we are living in a reality where we need to listen to retired game show hosts above every major news organization in the world, then Lord help us now.

Sunday Night Post

As the week comes to a close, it's so hard to find good news out there right now. I take comfort in knowing that as bad as it seems, the challenges that we face now are not that different from ones that have been faced by those that came before us. Throughout history there have been cycles of good times and bad times. And some of those bad times make the current situation we are in seem like a walk in the park.

For me personally I know that I am very fortunate in a lot of ways. I feel blessed that I have a job that has allowed me to continue working through the COVID shutdown. I am thankful that my family has stayed well throughout this pandemic. I am grateful for the time I've gotten to spend with my kids during this time. When this passes, I know I will look back with some great memories of some of the moments we've shared. 

My heart goes out to those that aren't so lucky. Those that have lost loved ones or are still fighting for their lives right now. Those that have lost their jobs or lost their businesses. As we go into this next week, if you start to feel sorry for yourself about having to wear a mask or not being able to go to your favorite bar, let's stop for a second, take a deep breath, and think of those people.