Curtis Dahlgren
The War on Dissent: Fibs, spin, statistics, and pure fiction
FacebookTwitter
By Curtis Dahlgren
February 28, 2015

"What need has a god of a star ship?" – Hollywood

"What need has 'settled science' of a Public Relations firm?"
– C. Dahlgren

WAR ON DISSENT: Russia, Venezuela, the Middle East, and Washington DC. Left-wing causes are all into "minimizing." Lying becomes misspeaking; spin becomes misremembering; statistics are tools for fudging the facts. When one gets caught, just call it a "mistake"!

A lawyer goes to confession: "I must confess the sin of vanity," he says. "Every time I look into the mirror, I think how handsome I am." The priest, who recognizes the voice and knows what the guy looks like, says:

"That's not a sin. That's a mistake."

That's the exception to the rule, though. Both vanity and lying are sins, but speaking of minimizing, the Old Media doesn't want you to know that the world's a mess (I guess). Page one of the Milwaukee paper is all sweetness and light while the persecution of Christians is relegated to page 11 (2-27-15):

"Extremists abduct more Christians; Militants smash ancient statues, other artifacts in Mosul."

To the A.P. and mainstream press, poll-tested terms such as "insurgents" sound better than MONSTERS. They're simply unemployed, disenfranchised "youths," y'know.

A riddle: Why did George Washington have a sleeping disorder? A: He couldn't LIE. [Two points: He really was honest. And he didn't have a degree.]

Back in the 1970s, a man went to visit his father in a nursing home and says, "Guess what? A man hit a golf ball on the moon yesterday." The old man says:

"That has to be the worst lie in the history of the sport," and the son says:

"I didn't say he hit it ONTO the moon; he hit it ON the moon." And his dad says:

"That's even worse. That is the biggest lie I've ever been told!"

National Geographic notwithstanding, lying politicians seem to be playing a game of "can you top this fib?" Like "14 of the hottest years on record have occurred since 2000."

Like the only reason we have colleges is that at some point there were politicians who said, "You know what, we should start colleges." Like, "Voters are no smarter than fifth graders."

[Seven of the eight Ivy League schools were started long before Land Grant colleges. And mostly by churches! Among our four-year colleges, 77 percent are non-governmental (so says PolitiFactWisc).]

Those who credit the government (or the "village," the commune) should read my "History of the University" in my RenewAmerica archives (look it up). Not to be nit-picky, but Vince Lombardi once said, "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence."

CONCLUSION: Fallen mankind will never make the world "perfectible" until the sons of Adam do something about their fallen condition.

P.S.
Speaking of the pure white wind-driven snow, it has been 20 below zero at my place in the banana belt of the Badger State. As you know, this is the last week of February and our average high temp is running 30 to 35 degrees below average.

Those much-esteemed climatologists can't do anything right! They've gone and overdone that climate cooling thing. The lefties can't ship us to Siberia so they're shipping Siberia to us. What's next? Sea level sinking?

They actually claimed that fallen mankind has the capability of "regulating" the planet's climate. In fact, they were against "anthropogenic global warming" before they were in favor of "Climate change for the better," before they were against "climate disruption," which it is now called. If it's "Real Science," the high priests should have no need of Public Relations. But, as Robert Louis Stevenson once said:

"Man is a creature who lives, not upon bread alone, but principally by catchwords."

In our era, those are the focus-group poll-tested catch-phrases. And when one wears out and loses its effectiveness, the P.R. "folks" just trot out another "tested" version. It's called "mass communication" – or lies for the masses. Well, as a guy in my little town said the other day:

"The next guy to complain about global warming is going to get a fist in the face."

Pardon us hicks for being so "simplistic" but it's a "settled fact" that global warming is near the bottom of our list of "challenges." No one is rooting for dirtier air, but We the People aren't buying all the "scares." First science says coffee will kill you and then it says it's good for you. Put me down as a coffee denier. As for man-made climate disruption, the dissenters are the clear majority because there are degrees of dissent:

- Some believe that AGW is a flat-out lie, a hoax.

- Some are just skeptical.

- Some are afraid to tell a pollster that they doubt man-made "change" is happening.

- Some don't believe it but are even afraid to ask any dumb questions.

SERIOUSLY, my mother used to say that sometimes in life it is better to just play dumb than to try to play "smart." Sometimes a dumb question will catch off guard even the degreed who hang around Starbucks smiling about the non-degreed.

PPS: As Julius Caesar said:

"Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; he thinks too much. Such men are dangerous."

© Curtis Dahlgren

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

Curtis Dahlgren

Curtis Dahlgren is semi-retired in southern Wisconsin, and is the author of "Massey-Harris 101." His career has had some rough similarities to one of his favorite writers, Ferrar Fenton... (more)

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Curtis Dahlgren: Click here

More by this author

 

Stephen Stone
The most egregious lies Evan McMullin and the media have told about Sen. Mike Lee

Siena Hoefling
Protect the Children: Update with VIDEO

Stephen Stone
Flashback: Dems' fake claim that Trump and Utah congressional hopeful Burgess Owens want 'renewed nuclear testing' blows up when examined

Pete Riehm
Like our Commander-in-Chief, America is clueless, feckless, and powerless

Selwyn Duke
Did anti-white, DEI bias steal a state final spot from a white basketball team?

James Lambert
It’s time to get a Republican (like Steve Garvey) elected to the U.S. Senate in CA. It’s been 30 years!

Linda Goudsmit
Chapter 10: Objective reality is required for a free society

Michael Bresciani
Gay is OK, but trans for kids is on the skids – Have Americans now become judges of evil thoughts?

Linda Kimball
Nihilism…all that exists is matter and energy: The worldview that caused the collapse of Christendom and Protestant Amer

Peter Lemiska
China doesn’t need a Trojan Horse – It has Joe Biden

Rev. Mark H. Creech
Revelation Chapter 22: Getting beyond doubt, Billy Graham’s example

Paul A. Byrne, M.D.
2024 International Gift of Life Walk – NYC

Cliff Kincaid
Biden’s bloody revolution for America

Victor Sharpe
Senator Schumer enters the annals of Shame

Linda Kimball
Prayer against evil, insane Babylon
  More columns

Cartoons


Click for full cartoon
More cartoons

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Russ J. Alan
Bonnie Alba
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites