Understanding Confirmation Bias in the Face of Irrefutable Facts

The last 18 months assaulted the American people with the concept of “alternative facts,” “fake news,” and “lies, lies and damn lies.” Stephen Fry attempts to explain just why it is that many have tied so much of their own identity in the erratic behavior of a questionable leader.

Media Literacy: Lessons in Bias

We get so many messages asking us if Left-Center and Right-Center are trustworthy sources. The answer is YES! Sorry to yell, but we have tried and perhaps failed to indicate that bias is separate from factual reporting. A left or right biased source may link to solid facts, but they will use words to influence you […]

via Media Bias Fact Check- The Purple Zone — Media Bias/Fact Checking

What the US President Reveals About Himself & Where He is Leading Us

When Donald Trump sat down for an interview with The Economist, it was like any of his many very, very revealing talks that say nothing, but reveal so, so much. It is such a very tremendous problem that he must take care of, but he is a negotiator like no other negotiator, who wins better…wait a minute. Maybe it’s not Russia or Putin that should worry us, but the dumbing down of the way in which we communicate. Words no longer matter, only what can be projected on the speaker’s meaning. Even with overt statements that would reach the level of impeachment hearings, he holds a consistent bottom 1/3 of the nation in support of his words & actions. He has even barred the American Press from a meeting with Russian diplomats, but gave exclusive access to the Russian TASS News Agency, something that should concern those Baltic NATO nations already dealing with state-sponsored hacking. Repeatedly, those that ask the tough–even the simple–questions are forced to ask them, well, repeatedly.

Peeling back the layers on the onion of Trump’s truth, we see a veneer of answers toward which he wishes the question to morph. There is a conflict between searching for the right words to provide a satisfactory answer and re-issuing the same words to exhaust the interviewer and the audience. There’s a theory afoot that describes this as a Trump tactic that acts as a foil to his real plans and activities occurring behind the scenes as he makes amazing progress. This is a theory easily graded not by watching President Trump in the media, but by examining the printed word, as in this transcript. There is no  parsing his comments, or spinning them into gold.

His words simply mean what they mean, nothing more or less. What they reveal is a man hitting far above his weight trying desperately to manage the place in which he finds himself. Fortunately, there is a provision that allows him a dignified means of returning to a space in which he feels more comfortable.