Always Question the Source

As we sit on the precipice of 2026, we need to keep in mind that many of the sources from which we get our news are hand-forming the information to fit the mold they want (or are told) to present. We can see the obvious ones, like the mess that has become CBS, killing a damning report on ICE deportations to torture prisons. But many others are much more subtle and are only revealed through questioning.

Take this article from yesterday’s Baltimore Sun:

Right off the bat, they use a Fox “News” ask/answer setup in the headline. Also note that the byline is from someone at the Sinclair National Desk. The primary owner of the conservative Sinclair media network bought The Sun last year and has given it an obvious Republican bent.

Rather than addressing the legality of these strikes, they’re playing up the recruitment potential. Doesn’t that say a lot about those recruits for whom this is enticing? Yay, they get to make things go “boom,” just like in their video games.

From the article: “Some experts say the missions showcase a clear purpose, limited scope, and decisive action-qualities that they believe resonate with young Americans considering military service.” “Some experts?” Who, I wonder. They answer in the next line:

“According to Dan Green, research fellow at the Heritage Institute…” Say no more. They get a hack from the right-wing Heritage Foundation, backer/creator of Republican policies and talking points, to shill for the Administration.

Later, they refer to unclear stats to bolster the claim. “(all branches) have reported meeting or exceeding their recruiting goals.” What were the goals? Where was the bend in recruiting numbers? And more importantly, might the goals have been lowered? That’s the easiest way to make your numbers in a tough environment… lower the bar. They want you to assume a level playing field, but when has this Administration ever used a deck they hadn‘t stacked? Without the numbers, their claim of bolstered recruitment due to these war games is meaningless.

And if it was effective, look who they’re getting… dudes who want to sit in a basement and blow shit up from afar. I think they’d better lower their physical and mental standards if they want any of these schmucks to make it out of basic training.

The Heritage “expert” goes on to rattle off a list of Republican talking points as reasons prior recruitment was low: mandatory COVID vaccines, DEI initiatives, and the botched (Trump-designed) withdrawal from Afghanistan. All of these “issues” are highly debatable as to being a drag on recruitment, but they’re listed as unchallenged proof in the article.

If this is what mainstream media now offers for basic news coverage, we will need to be especially vigilant in how we interpret what we read.

I’m fortunate that in college, I learned a great deal about the business of media and how to spot the biases within. Future generations may not have that opportunity, and conservatives are working to make it that way, with their ongoing war on education:

The list doesn’t even mention the constant denigration of colleges, students, and professors, and the use of withholding funds as a lever to bend the apparatus of higher learning to their will. All of these factors are undeniably true; they’re part of public Republican statements and actions. And they only make sense when grouped under the banner of lowering the number of people with the tools to call “bullshit” on the verbal tricks and fallacies rife in conservative rhetoric. A less educated populace makes a more pliant pool of workers, and that’s all they really want. They consider us a resource for harvesting, both our labor and our money, rather than the people a government is obligated to serve.

Corporations aren’t bankrolling political campaigns for the public’s benefit, only their own. We need to stay vigilant for this grift and demand government serve its original master: its citizens.

 

Here’s to having a Happy New Year, with hopes for a better 2026. Who knows, maybe You Know Who will choke on a steak and be toes-up in the Capitol atrium by 2027. Although I wouldn’t put it past Vance, Miller, and the rest of the posse of imbeciles to pull a Weekend at Trump’s, using AI to keep up the public illusion that their orange idol still has a pulse. But even that would be an improvement.