This page was last updated on June 1, 2018.
Folks, We Have a Problem; Carl Davidson (KD); Facebook; May 17, 2018.
You can learn more about BCR’s leftster management here. “Leftster” is the combination of leftist and gangster, inspired by the left-originated “bankster.”
“FOLKS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. It starts with what I’ll call ‘Dunderheadism’, and this GOP Congressman is just one example. But it’s more than that. Back in 2015, I had no idea our upcoming political battles would center on EPISTEMOLOGY. That’s a $10 word meaning the study of how we know things, and know them with some degree of certainty, and in ways that are useful to us, to help us survive and thrive. More simply, how do we know what are truths, what are mere opinions, and what are falsehoods.”
[RWC] All Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) did was demonstrate something we’ve known all along. There is no shortage of knuckleheads regardless of ideology or political party. You may remember Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) expressed concern Guam might capsize if we relocated too many Marines there from Okinawa. Mr. Johnson later claimed he was joking.
“These days I’m oddly finding myself defending the Enlightenment, which started in the early 1700s, and brought reason and scientific inquiry center stage in how we looked at life. Thomas Paine was the Founder who was our best voice on the topic. It rose against feudal monarchy, magical thinking, superstition, enforced ignorance and denial of scientific truths, like the Earth revolving around the Sun.”
[RWC] From what I can tell, The Enlightenment (aka Age of Enlightenment) began sometime during the 1600s (17th century), not “the early 1700s” as KD asserted. Perhaps KD meant to write “early 17th century.”
“OUR PRESIDENT IS THE PRIME OFFENDER HERE. He can’t get through the day without telling at least five obvious whoppers. We don’t know whether he actually believes them, or doesn’t care, which is worse. The man is a huckster from a medieval faire. Likely, he doesn’t even know what the Enlightenment is, let alone why it matters.”
[RWC] I could write the same paragraph about KD. You can find examples in my “They know they can’t win if they don’t lie” series.
“But he has a third of the country behind him, and the major media, FOX and talk radio, sucked into his denial of truths, whether the truths are instrumental or reflecting an objective reality. He can attack his intelligence agencies with abandon, because he has no need of their product, knowledge, even if it’s knowledge partisan to our ruling class.”
[RWC] Let me get this straight. President Donald John Trump, the current President Trump, the 45th President, has “the major media … sucked into his denial of truths?” When did that happen?
“Why does it matter? BECAUSE THIS IS HOW FASCISM BEGINS, when you’ve lost the ability to think critically, to know there’s a difference between truths and falsehoods, and that there’s a way to find out. There is nothing ‘normal’ about Trump, and we must not surrender one inch of our ability to know what is normal and what isn’t. If he’s not compelled to resign first, then get rid of him in November 2020.”
[RWC] I’m sure KD knows the definition of “fascism,” but, as many others, KD simply uses “fascism” here as a pejorative. It allows people to invoke the image of Hitler-like actions without actually using the name. Calling someone a “brownshirt” (Hitler’s stormtroopers) has the same intent.
The last thing KD wants is for people “to think critically, to know there’s a difference between truths and falsehoods, and that there’s a way to find out.” If KD really wanted this, he would not mislead his followers over and over.
“But we also have the job of bringing at least one third of the country back to its senses. They don’t have to agree with our opinions. They can be conservatives if they like. But they can’t be kept in the dark, with no way to tell whether the Sun revolves around the Earth or not.”
[RWC] The late-Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) once said, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.” If KD tells you the Sun rises in the East, my 10+ years of reading and researching his comments tells me you should look out a window at sunrise to be sure.
In Peace, Friendship, Community, Cooperation, and Solidarity. <g>
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