ATHOL DICKSON

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Lies and the Lying Liars Who Publish Them

January 27, 2017 By Athol Dickson

Did Donald Trump really lie?
Journalism’s code of ethics, apparently.

These days my first assumption when I see a report in the news media is that it’s a lie unless I can prove otherwise. Why would I make such a whacky assumption, you may ask? Well, we’re talking about an industry that promotes lying liars to the pinnacle of their profession, like Katie Couric, Brian Williams, and Dan Rather. (If you don’t already know why I say they’re liars, please do click the links.) And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, lying journalist-wise, so when they accuse someone of lying, I always assume the person is telling the truth. It’s a Bizarro World way of looking at the news, I know, but usually it works out because they’re almost always truly lying.

For example, take the dust-up over Trump’s claim in a speech to the CIA that the crowd at his inauguration was “yuuge!” The news media says he lied, so I decided to check out his speech for myself. You can see it too, by following this link to the Mirror, which posted a video of the whole thing. If you start watching at the 12:00 minute mark, you’ll hear Trump’s own words about the crowd size at his inauguration, instead of the Bizarro World version the media has been publishing. What he actually said was this:

“It looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was, but it went all the way back to the Washington monument.”

Was that a lie?

Everyone in the mainstream media from CNN to The New York Times has piously proclaimed it was. To support their accusation they’ve been plastering a photo all over the place, which the photographer claims was shot at 12:01, while Trump was taking the oath of office. (I found a copy of the photo here, at the Daily Mail.) The photo shows a lot of empty space in the mall around the monument. But here’s the question you have to ask if you think most of these people are liars who are lying:

Was the photo really taken when they say it was, during the oath of office?

To believe that, you would have to believe the liars are not lying, which I don’t. But even if the photo really was taken during Trump’s oath, does that really mean Trump lied?

Umm… no.

Of course, nobody can get inside Trump’s head to know what he truly thought…

When you read the news media accounts of Trump’s CIA speech, most of them make it sound like he claimed there were a million and a half people at his inauguration. But look at Trump’s actual words again:

“It looked like a million and a half people. Whatever it was, it was, but it went all the way back to the Washington monument.”

Notice what he actually said. “…it looked like a million and a half people…all the way to the Washington monument.” Get that? He didn’t say there were a million and a half people. He said it looked that way to him.

Of course, nobody can get inside Trump’s head to know what he truly thought about what he saw. So are the lying liars in the media willing to claim he’s lying about what it looked like to him? Probably, because you know, liars gonna lie. But here’s a photo which was also taken during the oath of office, not from the top of the Washington monument, but from behind Donald Trump, looking out toward the monument:

Lies about Donald Trump lying
What Trump saw.

Now, I ask you, from Trump’s point of view, doesn’t it look like the crowd “went all the way to the Washington monument?” It sure does to me. Whether that’s what a million and a half people looks like, I don’t know, because I’ve never seen that many people. And neither has Donald Trump. most likely.  Up to that day the biggest crowd he had ever addressed was probably at one of his many heavily attended campaign stops. Even the Quicken Loans Arena, where he addressed the Republican National Convention, only holds 20,562 people. So if Trump was mistaken in his estimate, it’s an understandable mistake because, holy cow, look at all those people!

And out here in the real world, a mistake is not a lie.

 

Right of Way

January 22, 2017 By Athol Dickson

Right of Way, a Poem
Made of plastic, surely.
Probably not skin.
Probably not bone.

I hated writing this. When you read it, you’ll see why.

But if you’re a writer and you’re serious about it, sometimes ideas come that must be written, whether you like it or not. They will rattle around inside your skull like tinnitus, driving you crazy until you get them out. Where they come from, I don’t know. Why they’re so insistent on their birthright, I don’t know. Still, a serious writer has no choice; you must write some things, even though you hate it.

And I did hate that these words must be written. But in one form or another this idea has been inside my head for years. Clearly, it had to get out. Thank God now it has, at last.

 


Right of Way

Someone warned me not to take the shortcut.
Go the longer way, they said.
That’s a bad luck road.
But I was late,
And it would cost nine months of labor
If I didn’t make it there on time.
So I took the shortcut anyway.
A one lane mountain road.
A thrilling drive,
High and narrow.
Then something lying in the rut ahead,
Where my wheels would have to roll.
A doll?
A baby?
Could I be that unlucky?
I can’t drive around it;
Can’t get out to inspect it,
Hemmed in as I am,
Solid rock on one side
Thin air on the other.
So I watch.
And it moves a little.
I could back up;
A long reverse,
Then go the other way.
But I’d be late,
And that would cost me months of labor.
And they make dolls that move a little,
Don’t they?
And besides,
It isn’t fair.
I have a right to drive this road
Without things lying in my way,
With tiny fingers and a little button nose,
Made of plastic, surely.
Probably not skin.
Probably not bone.
Because I can’t be late.
And besides,
It isn’t fair.
I have a right to drive this road.
So I roll on.
There’s just the smallest bump,
And then it’s in the past.
I don’t look back.
I’ll be on time,
No labor lost.
That’s what matters, surely.
And besides,
It was probably a doll.

With regard to what I’ve written here, I know a little about a lot, a lot about a little, more than some when it comes to some things, less than others about others, and everything there is to know except for what I don’t.

Older Posts

  • Letter to a Disappointed Friend
  • American Success Story
  • Slave Labor Here and Now
  • When Motives Don’t Matter
  • Lies and the Lying Liars Who Publish Them
  • Design Is Like Riding a Bike
  • Right of Way
  • Give Like a Smarty
  • How to Conduct Due Diligence For A Crowdfunded Hard Money Loan
  • Why It’s Good We’re Not a Democracy

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