Bonk on the Head

 

What's most frustrating to me is the inability of most of my American compatriots to appreciate the facts, and then act accordingly. If the President or one of his henchmen lies to you, then not only should that be pointed out, but such a person should be punished or removed from office or both. Of course, we all know it was Bill Clinton who lied about sex with --M+?--, but the Great White Bandit merely mis-stated or mis-reported or mis-uttered the situation in Iraq. Or, maybe the Great White Bandit was mis-informed. But, was he telling lies?

It's damn hard to find out what is going on in the outer world - that's the world outside the United States. The Fascists have thoroughly intimidated the Press, so you cannot trust them to report the facts; or, they will only report a modicum of the facts. CNN has an International Service which reports on general and business news 24/7. Until last Wednesday, that service was available in the United States on CNN/fn, when it was discontinued. Now, of the hundreds of channels available on my DISH satellite service, only the conservative-dominated CNBC and Bloomberg report International news all day, and then only for an extra $10 monthly charge and then only from an American point of view. The beauty of CNN/fn was that its reportage orignated in places like London, Tokyo and Hong Kong at no extra charge, and was easily available to most satellite subscribers. And, what a difference! The minute you hear the news from Richard Quest in London, and the others elsewhere, you cannot help understanding things, let's say the war in Iraq, in a completely different way.

The cognoscenti can, of course, get the truth about what is going on the Internet from many international sources. But, you aren't going to hear or see it on American television of whatever provenance. More lies; at any rate, I believe suppression, distortion or limitation of the truth are all forms of lies. White lies, grey lies, black lies - big and small - are all lies. I am a puritan about it: liars should be punished.
 

Which is where the bonk on the head comes in: maybe some of our professional liars need someone to give them a damn good slap on the back of the head. You've seen the Mafiosi do this in the movies. "Hey, you: you, stupid or someting! Shut your trap!" Slappo. "You do what the Boss tells you."

If they can do it, why not us as well? There's a lot of people needing straightening out.