Crazy
So
how crazy are you?
“All
Democrats are insane, but not one of them knows it; none but the Republicans
and Mugwumps know it. All the Republicans are insane, but only the Democrats
and Mugwumps can perceive it. The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion
our adversaries are insane.”- Mark Twain
Plus
ca change, plus ca la meme chose. Mugwumps
are no more. They often switched party affiliations between Republican and Democrats,
but the United States will eventually revert to a two-party system, and the Mugwump
factions were absorbed into the parties that we have today. But otherwise what was observed to be true by
Twain long ago is still true. In all
matters of opinion our adversaries are insane, at least that seem to be the standard
today.
But this only covers opinions. As Sen. Moynihan famously put it, “You are entitled
to you own opinions, (as insane as I and Twain might think they are),
but you are not entitled to your own facts.”
Opinions are differing interpretations of facts. “Opinions” based on things that are not facts,
also known as lies, are worthless and can not, and should not, even be considered to be opinions. There was a fairness doctrine
that used to require the airing of all opinions.
However no “fairness” doctrine could ever be assumed to cover lies. Just because you call it an “opinion” does
not change the fact that it is a lie. If
differing opinions are insane, how bad is claiming lies to be “opinions”? Claiming the earth is flat in NOT an opinion,
it is a lie. Claiming that it is an opinion
does not make it an opinion, any more than calling a dog a cat makes that dog a
cat. It just means that you are crazy.
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