There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread..., nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'
-- Isaac Asimov
⬆ #Wisdom #Quotes #IsaacAsimov #AntiIntellectualism #FalseEquivalence #Ignorance #Knowledge #UnitedStates
⬇ #Photography #Panorama #CoyoteButtesNorth #TheWave #VermilionCliffs #Utah
I was reminded that recently, I was talking about #equivocation, and failed to talk about the #fallacy of #FalseEquivalence. A lack of understanding about false equivalence is very prominent in our society.
That is to say, that the mere fact that differing #opinions on a particular topic may exist is no indication that all opinions are equally supported by factual evidence and reason.
No, Biden and Trump Are Not the Same
"It’s an easy position to hold loosely, especially when the alternative means confronting the fragmentation of power, complexity of trade-offs, and inconvenient necessity of compromise in any functional democracy. To say both parties are the same is less an insight than an escape hatch.
But like all comforting myths, it only works until it collides with reality.
2025 has been that collision. And the wreckage is everywhere."
"There could not be a more grisly method, even when it involves no violence, to cover up ghastly crimes committed by a people than to indulge in the fallacy of false equivalence. In this fallacy, two incomparable things are compared and declared to be equal because there are always two sides to the story."
Source in image ALT text.
https://en.wikiquote.org/w/index.php?title=False_equivalence&oldid=2992785
While it sounds like an awful collision, that apparently-newspaper-frontpage-worthy anecdotal story is just yet-another-distraction from the real dangers on the roads: huge vehicles, speed, mobile phones, drugs, poor enforcement...
It's interesting how we often label what kids say as silly or stupid, when in reality, we judge them from an adult's perspective. In fact, what they say is far from silly or stupid when you consider their peers and the way they approach learning and understanding the world.
Only immature adults would judge any level of intelligence and are probably seeking validation by comparing themselves to a child.
#kids #falseequivalence #ImmatureBully #threadsExodus #InstagramExodus
Can we go back to calling "the left" society please? If nothing more, it'll upset Steve Bannon.
#BothSides #FalseEquivalence #Marginalisation #OvertonWindow #AltRight #FarRight #FascistPlaybook
Biden challenged Registered Republican NBC Host Lester Holt for his false equivalence on rhetoric.
President Biden confronted NBC host Lester Holt, a registered Republican, for making a false equivalence between political rhetoric, emphasizing the dangers of misleading comparisons in media.
#falseEquivalence #joeBiden #LesterHolt #NBC #RegisteredRepublican #Republican
"If you are old enough to remember the first time Trump came to power, then you’ve seen this movie before. During his tenure, President Barack Obama was constantly besieged by the worst pundits in America for his failure to bring Republicans—who were at the time following Mitch McConnell’s monomaniacal pursuit of obstruction at any cost—to the table to support broad bipartisan initiatives."
#Democrats #Republicans #media #CorporateMedia #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #MediaFail
/4
"The media will soon be leaving their fetish for bipartisanship, compromise, and comity behind since the only people on whom they ever impose these standards—Democrats—will be out of power."
~ Jason Linkins
#Democrats #Republicans #media #CorporateMedia #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #MediaFail
/3
"The vast majority of mainstream media pundits, and the most prominent political party analysts are simply ill-equipped to speak or report with knowledge, context, sophistication, or authority about how race shapes American politics and electoral outcomes.
~ Sherrilynn Ifill
And because of this, corporate media are perfectly happy to pave the way for fascism.
#Democrats #Republicans #media #CorporateMedia #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #MediaFail
/2
https://sherrilyn.substack.com/p/why-have-race-and-gender-been-erased-b5f
Josh Marshall speaks plain truth:
"Democrats need to organize their future politics around the simple reality that the establishment media is structural hostile to the Democratic Party. This doesn’t mean every journalist individually, of course. But the establishment media generally — the Times, the Post, the Journal, CNN and the business news channels, all of them…."
#Democrats #Republicans #media #CorporateMedia #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #MediaFail
/1
"Like I said, a successful relationship requires reciprocity otherwise it’s simply an exercise in abuse.
After 9 years, I’m done.
I have no desire to reach out to or understand any Trump voter, especially after the 2024 election. I’ve seen enough. They voluntarily chose the most corrupt, dishonest, criminal, unqualified man on Earth to lead the most powerful nation."
#Trump #media #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #Thanksgiving
/2
"The year is 2024 and I have yet to see a major story or report commissioned by a cable news show, newspaper, or magazine that demands that Trump voters go to urban diners and talk to Democratic voters. I have yet to see any finger-wagging paternalism from these establishment leaders asking Trump voters why Donald Trump has yet to crack 50% support from the voting population."
~ Wajahat Ali
#Trump #media #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #Thanksgiving
/1
https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/when-will-trump-voters-be-asked-to
"They have already dangerously normalized a criminal con man grifter, making him just a coin flip away from the White House.
If Trump regains office, a substantial part of the blame will rest with our media, just as it did in 2016. How they sleep at night knowing this is beyond comprehension."
#Trump #KamalaHarris #media #NewYorkTimes #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #normalization
/16
Todd Beeton cites Stuart Stevens' response to the two New York Times headlines about Trump and Harris that Josh Marshall highlighted yesterday (see /10 in this thread for that graphic). Stevens says,
"These two headlines should be studied in journalism classes for decades.
Trump headline could apply to a Nobel prize winner in genetic studies."
#Trump #KamalaHarris #media #NewYorkTimes #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence
/15
https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/harris-trump-media-double-standard
I don't know why but I keep thinking of this time someone took my house and I tried to stop them and then they got mad and carpet bombed my friends and family. I don't know why, but I keep thinking of that. #power #imbalance #falseequivalence
"In the wake of two devastating hurricanes, Helene and Milton, that’s a question we should be asking in context of climate change: What is the cost of failing to address the increasingly dangerous combination of increasing air temperatures, warming waters, and rising sea levels in terms of loss of human life, destruction of property, and the quality of our existence?"
#Trump #KamalaHarris #media #WashingtonPost #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #Helene #Milton #hurricanes #ClimateChange
/13
Mary Trump notes that Washington Post has jumped on Kamala Harris for saying she would like to see Medicare expanded to cover long-term at-home care. WaPo asks where the money will come from.
Mary Trump responds:
"Here’s a question I never hear the corporate media ask: What is the cost of not addressing an issue that affects millions of Americans?"
#Trump #KamalaHarris #media #WashingtonPost #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence
/12
