Satan is the Father of all Lies

I never used to be very interested in politics, but since the alt. right is promoting the lie that Trump is Christian and that his policies are Christian, I feel I have to jump in, now and then, and defend the faith. Trumpian values are the opposite of Biblical values.

I know it must be very satisfying for religious folk to imagine that our country is finally being run by a God Fearing, Bible believing Christian instead of those Godless commie liberals, but it is all a sham. Donald Trump claims to be Christian, but the church to which he says he belongs has never seen him in the five short years he has claimed membership with them. It looks very much as if Trump joined the Christian club in a cynical effort to coerce religious people to vote for him.

Why aren't Christian Trump supporters more invested in Truth? Most of them seem to just believe whatever Trump, Fox News commentators, and various "religious" outlets say about him, and the messaging is cohesive from all those sources. (Sometimes, Trump lies about things he himself has said on video previously and which can be verified, and STILL his supporters refuse to acknowledge the lie. It drives me nuts.)

Meanwhile, legitimate journalists provide reams of proof, in video and in writing, consistently presenting the actual facts, but Trumpists don't typically read anything that doesn't have a positive slant on Trump. (Personally, I read everything and then fact check all of it.)

Most concerning at the present time is Trump's insistence on bleating out fantasies that contradict everything our intelligence agencies are saying, and then criticizing those agencies in his infernal tweets, in a blatant effort to get his base to avoid any information that will reveal the truth.

As time goes on, and Trump's enemies list grows, his slanderous statements find targets in all the agencies upon which Americans have, until now, depended for the administration of justice. His vulgar taunts are leveled at judges, senators and even the wives and children of people he hates.

If I were to list all the dangerous, repulsive, treasonous, NON-Christian activities and statements that Trump is making on a daily basis, I would have to write a book, rather than a blog. All I can do is plead with people to please, for God's sake, PLEASE, do some actual research, and stop mouthing the slogans and fake stories invented by the Alt Right for the purpose of inflaming its base. Don't be a tool in the hands of anyone else.

With regard to researching factual matters, the most important thing to do is evaluate one's sources. Opinion is not news. This blog is not news. Why? "News" is the presentation of facts. Who, what, when and where are factual. "Why" is not factual. It is commentary. While some commentary is often necessary to put facts into context, the "why" of a thing must not be presented as factual without specific proof of causality. Proving causality is no simple matter.

One of the classical fallacies of logic (which, apparently, is not widely taught in American schools) is "post hoc ergo propter hoc." The translation is something like "before, therefore because of." The meaning is this: Just because something happened just prior to another thing does not mean that the first thing caused the second. In its more ridiculous form, it would appear thus: "I ate a banana for the first time this morning, and this afternoon I had my first auto accident, therefore bananas cause auto accidents."

Everyone's opinion should be based in fact and truth. If it is based on anything else, you are standing on shifting sand, and anyone interested in the Truth is not going to give you any credibility at all.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Anecdotal stories are not proof of larger statistical issues. If you knew one disabled person that you suspected of cheating the government, that does not mean that a lot of people cheat the government. If you read a story about an "illegal alien" committing a crime, it doesn't mean that illegal aliens commit crimes to a greater degree than American citizens. As a matter of fact, it has been proven, over and over again, that undocumented folks commit appreciably fewer crimes than citizens! (Don't believe me. Check it!)

2. "News" programs produced by religious or philosophical or political groups are biased in nature, do not adhere to accepted journalistic standards, have no oversight and are explicitly partisan. Watch them all you want, but think of them as entertainment rather than purveyors of fact. They should be honest, but frequently aren't, skewing the "news" to suit philosophical wishful thinking. EWTN, CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network), Church Militant, Lifesite News, The Heritage Foundation, and other organizations that exist to support and promote a particular point of view are included in this category of biased programming and writing.

If you are really concerned about "fake news" - stick to the actual news, rather than a political, religious or philosophical organization.

Just because a television program expresses opinions that reflect your own does not mean that those opinions are  based in fact. You're just listening to yourself talk.

3. News outlets that hold to traditional journalistic standards are generally the most reliable. Usually, these outlets require that facts have more than one corroborating witness. This isn't to say they are perfect. Nothing is perfect, and mistakes are made by everyone, but generally speaking, these outlets are reliable, since they specifically intend to present the truth, as opposed to outlets that intend to present a philosophy. The Atlantic Magazine, CNN, The New York Times, and other reputable journalistic endeavors that I will list below, can usually be relied upon to tell the truth. To be clear, I am talking about the facts they present. I am not saying that commentary needs to be believed, except insofar as that commentary is built on truth.

Identify the relevant facts in every article, analyze the source(s) and fact check the claims on Politifact, Snopes.com, or Factcheck.org. Reuters is also a great source. For the longest time, news agencies got their news, initially, from Reuters. Reuters does not do "commentary."

4. Compare journalistic outlets to one another to assess the truth. I include Fox News in my collection of news sources, but I often find that its "news" disagrees with all the other outlets, and I dismiss them as a result. Here is why: It is irresponsible and illogical to think that hundreds of thousands of people involved in all the other news outlets are somehow in cahoots to tell lies and present a false narrative. The philosophy behind "Akim's razor" holds true here. The simplest explanation is usually the "right" one.

Another way of looking at this is with the saying that "when you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras. Conspiracy theories are fascinating zebras and are titillating to imagine might be true, but rarely rarely are.

5. The further away from primary sources, the less reliable the information. If I read an article in some tiny little "newspaper" or blog that has an "anonymous" source, but that anonymous source is not pinpointed as a member of a group that has first-hand information, I ignore it. For example, if an article references a source "that works in the Justice Department," I will give it more credibility than a source that is just "anonymous."

6. Fact check your sources. If you read an article that seems a bit too inflammatory, check it with politifact, snopes.com, factcheck.org and/or Reuters to make sure that the writer is not just trying to get more internet 'clicks.'

Here is a list of news purveyors I read or watch daily:

• Network news programs: ABC, NBC, CBS
• The Atlantic Magazine (Published for more than 164 years)
• New York Times
• L. A. Times
• Albuquerque Journal
• Washington Post
• USA Today
• Huffington Post
• The Guardian
• PBS:
• Democracy Now
• BBC World News America
• Amanpour & Company
• PBS News Hour
• New Mexico in Focus
• To the Contrary
• Nightly Business Report
• Washington Week
• Report from Santa Fe
• Firing Line
• The Open Mind
• Focus on Europe
• Rachel Maddow
• Face the Nation
• CNN News
• The New Yorker Magazine
• EWTN
• Fox News
• Keith Olberman
• MSNBC

There are more, but I can't recall them right now. Remember to add:

FACT CHECKING SITES:

• Snopes.com
• Factcheck.org
• Reuters
• Politifact

Don't take my word for anything. Research for yourself. I feel confident that, once everyone is educated on the facts, we will all be closer in opinions than we are currently.

God bless us all

Silver "Rose"

THOSE STUPID AMERICANS

Europeans have called us "those stupid Americans" for years, and now we deserve the moniker.

A large number of people no longer believe anything an expert will say. If you're a prominent climatologist with a lot of degrees, awards, and job experience, stupid Americans won't grant you any credibility at all. They'd rather get their scientific facts about global warming from some political know-nothing talking head who has an economic agenda that will benefit the wealthy, the oil companies and big businesses that pollute the world.

If you are a professional economist with multiple degrees in the field, many years of experience in the profession, and a slew of awards, The Stupid Americans will dismiss you as "left wing," which, to them, means everything you say and do is wrong and that you have no facts and nothing to offer. Instead of listening to your expert advice, The Stupid Americans prefer to get their economic advice from know-nothings who have no relevant degrees, experience or recognition in the field.

Donald Trump has consistently demonstrated this by appointing people to his cabinet who are completely unqualified. Take the Department of Education, for one. He appointed a woman who has no education and no experience in the field. What she HAS done is spend a lot of money trying to ELIMINATE the Department of Education. The fox is in charge of the hen house, and The Stupid Americans love it.

Facts don't seem to matter in this culture because our egos have become so inflated that each of us considers ourselves the arbiter of everything that happens around us. Uninformed opinions get the most air time on Fox & Friends, wacky conspiracy theorists are quoted in debates, and your crazy uncle George, whose only platform used to be the once-a-year Thanksgiving Day dinner table, suddenly has a blog and is spewing a daily load of garbage into the world.

Humility, once touted as a positive virtue and something to which the religious once aspired, is now trampled under people's feet as they hurry to jump onto the nearest soap box to loudly belch their opinions.

Catholics are even criticizing our Pope, the leader of the faith. They're behaving as if the Pope is required to answer to THEM, rather than the other way around. These people refuse to be lead by their betters because they are oblivious to the fact that they HAVE any!

Instead of electing a president with experience, dignity, gravitas and good character, we have been saddled with a sex pervert with multiple assaults in his background who brags that he grabs women "by the pussy" and kisses them without asking. He insults every minority group, women in general, and basically everyone except his rich white male cronies, whose benefit he has in mind with every proposal that he trots out. With health care, he pushed a bill that would be more expensive for the poor, the elderly and the ill. With the tax "reform," he cuts 1.5 TRILLION dollars from Medicaid and Medicare (once again hurting the poor, the elderly and the disabled) while giving immense tax breaks to his wealthy cronies. He even criticizes war heroes who had the bad taste to have been captured and tortured for years by our enemies. "Winners" don't get captured, and Trump likes winners.

The Stupid Americans, meanwhile, are so thrilled to have someone in office who doesn't know what he is doing that they defend his every move, his support of the Nazi march in Charlottesville, his every criticism of the poor, minorities, and victims of sexual assault, as well as his constant twitter storm of lies. The gathering evidence of his campaign's treasonous relationship with Russia, though well substantiated, is dismissed by The Stupid Americans as "fake news" because the legitimate, credible prosecutor has a good reputation going back decades and he has a "professional relationship" with someone that Trump fired. Only people who have NO experience or who have a BAD reputation or who don't know anyone in government are given any credibility in the dim brains of The Stupid Americans.

Senate candidate Roy Moore may STILL win Alabama because he refuses to step down after SUBSTANTIAL allegations of pedophilia have cropped up with 4 women he molested when they were barely into their teen years. Substantial proof exists to prove that Roy Moore did, actually, molests these young girls, but the stupid Americans refuse to believe it. Roy Moore, himself, is painting himself as a victim of "political" motives and vows to never give up! Styling himself as some kind of crusader who has been wrongly maligned, he has whipped up his buddies into calling for the PROSECUTION of the girls that he molested! This is why girls are so hesitant to come forward and report their rapists - because society rapes them over and over again in the process.

This is what you get when you reject professionals, when you reject experts, when you reject truth itself.

The stupid Americans are so gullible, that all you have to do is label something "left wing" and, no matter how factual the information from that source, The Stupid Americans will dismiss it entirely. Apparently, they believe that all the employees of all the news outlets and all the top universities and all the experts are "in on" a great left-wing conspiracy to report nothing but false stories. Yep. Millions of people have called and spoken with one another in order to hide "the truth" from the rest of the American people. The only "truth" that The Stupid Americans will believe is that which is illogical, far-fetched, ridiculous, completely devoid of proof, and advocated by someone with no education or experience in the field.

The whole world is watching our system of government disintegrate like a sand castle at high tide. When The Stupid Americans have managed to completely dismantle our government, Russia or China or some other power can step in and take over. Both of those countries are skilled at propaganda.

It would be easy to enslave The Stupid Americans by whispering lies in their ears, like a smooth talking pimp. All the Russians would have to do is tell them how SPECIAL they are, how only THEY know the real truth of life. It worked on Trump. It will certainly work with his devotees!

After they pump up the egos of The Stupid Americans, the foreign power will get The Stupid Americans to put the chains on their OWN wrists and ankles, and then chase down all the other Americans and force them to do the same!

In America, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this is true. That does not mean, however, that your opinion is worth anything.

Don't take my word for it, though. Get advice from the EXPERTS. I would be happy with that.

Silver Rose Parnell
(c) Copyright 2017
All rights reserved.

PUT ON YOUR CATHOLIC GLASSES

Morning Walk

November 5, 2017

A fair number of Catholics have put down their Catholic glasses and put on their Republican glasses instead, trading in their faith for a political ideology that they've confused as an appropriate substitute. Many appear willing to do or say anything in support of their political candidate, even if it is dishonest, uncharitable, and slanderous.

Instead of examining what is happening in the White House today, for instance, these RepubliCatholics are fixated on Hilary Clinton, who is not in any public office, is not running for office, and has not been in office for years. Social media continues to be flooded with ridiculous conspiracy theories about her. Clearly, she's not even yesterday's news. She hasn't been in any political office for at least 5 years. Why beat the dead horse?

At the same time, Robert Mueller,  a man of sterling character and reputation, is being slandered by the RepubliCatholics, who are calling for him to be fired, supposedly because of Mueller's "professional relationship" with Comey, the former head of the FBI whom Trump fired after Comey initiated the investigation into Trump Campaign ties to Russia. If one is going to have an FBI investigation, it is obvious that the FBI employees are certainly going to know one another. Are we to surmise, then, that no FBI agent can head an FBI investigation because one of them was fired by the person being investigated? That would be convenient to the person being investigated, certainly.

Read about the motion to remove Mueller HERE

These RepubliCatholics are also mad that the FBI didn't find any wrongdoing with a Uranium deal with Russia, a deal on which 7 government agencies signed off and which was not engineered by then-secretary of state, Hilary Clinton. CLEARLY, Trump devotees are clutching at straws.


Who is Bob Mueller, anyway?

As Special Counsel for the FBI's investigation into Russian interference in the campaign of 2016, Robert Mueller's mandate is to investigate "any links and/or coordination between Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." [Rod Rosenstein's letter appointing Mueller as Special Counsel.]

Mueller is a war hero. He received the bronze star for combat for his service as a Marine during the Vietnam War. He was the director of the FBI for 12 years (originally appointed by President Bush.) He has served as a U.S. Attorney, an Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and as Acting Attorney General.

He was one of the "key players" in making America safer after the 9/11 terror attack on the twin towers. [See: "Robert Mueller, Known for His Integrity, Leads Historic Investigation as it Heats up." HERE]

Mueller has a solid reputation for equanimity and nonpartisan action. Mueller's reputation is such that, if he isn't fit to lead this investigation, then no one would be. (Read the articles through the links I provided.)

This investigation isn't partisan. Mueller, like Trump, is a Republican. The investigation has found quite a few Trump Campaign officials have strong ties to Russia. This isn't "business as usual." It's bizarre for an American politician to be surrounded by people who have so many ties to Russia, an enemy state, as I detail in the next paragraph. The timing of the Republican push to oust Mueller is suspicious, to say the least.

Charges may soon be filed against Mike Flynn, Trump's former National Security Advisor, having to do with Flynn's connections to Russia. [See: "Mueller Has Enough Evidence to Charge Flynn in Russia Investigation." HERE]

Mike Flynn

George Papadopoulos has already pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his work with Russia while a member of the Trump campaign. [Read his plea agreement and underlying confession of guilt HERE.]

George Papadopoulos

Former Foreign Policy Advisor to Donald Trump

Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, charged with tax fraud and money laundering, has Russian connections and is currently under house arrest, as is his long time associate, Rick Gates, who was also on Trump's team. [Read about them: HERE]

Paul Manafort

Trump's former campaign chairman

Rick Gates

Assistant to Manafort

As Catholics, our devotion to truth should be far stronger than our attachment to any public figure, otherwise, we are in service to Satan, the father of lies. If you find yourself in the position of fighting AGAINST the truth coming out about your favorite public figure, it may be time to rethink why he is your favorite to begin with.

God save us all.

Silver Rose Parnell
Copyright (c) 2017 - All rights reserved.