Greetings!
Several stories in the news recently may not seem related, but I think there’s a deep link. One was Kevin McCarthy’s boastful admission that the Benghazi hearings were inflated to discredit Hillary. Another was Bill O’Reilly’s embarrassing proclamation that childhood hunger was a long-discredited myth. Another; the Texas Railroad Commission’s finding that earthquakes were unrelated to fracking, despite the findings of scientists who studied the issue.
So what links the stories? They’re all prime examples of bias trumping reality. Are the Benghazi hearings legitimate investigations or a smear machine? Valid questions have long since been answered and yet the character assassination continues. McCarthy’s error was in admitting the reality of the witch-hunt. O’Reilly might propose whatever solution to hunger he wishes, but what value can there be in anything he says if he pretends hunger doesn’t exist in the first place? If a Texas politician thinks earthquakes are just the price of doing business then so be it, but he should advocate that position instead of pretending the observable, scientific method doesn’t exist. Global warming? Accepting climate change as real and deciding it’s too expensive to do anything about it is a morally indefensible but logically coherent position, but pretending it doesn’t exist is just negligent and dangerous.
In order to make rational decisions about anything first one must understand and accept current facts. Starting from biased perspectives doesn’t make sense in any arena, and it’s frustrating to see it so pervasive in areas as critical as public policy. We can pretend otherwise, but facts will continue to assert themselves in spite of our desires to ignore them. Ignoring reality will produce an outcome, but probably not one in line with a positive result.
Take Care and Make a Great Day!
