In some places, magic and madness are high arts and are handsomely rewarded. There are always some things to be gained, whole flocks of someones to be gamed: Us.
The U.S. Supreme Court has today all but said freedom of speech protects the freedom to lie. And, a Florida Court of Appeals has already said, almost ten years ago, that they agreed with an assertion by Fox News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in these United States.
In other words, and in plain speaking, the media has no obligation to tell us the truth, the media can lie all that it wants, whenever it wants, and, about whatever it wants: sky's the limit.
Treading on even thinner shards of already-broken-through ice, are flowchart assumptions heaped upon bystanders by the justices, asking perceivers of information to be mind-readers, now up to them to judge whether statements of fact are being made at any time, or whether other motivations are afoot -- political theater, perhaps. Or, just whimsy. On a bet. For a lark.
In this particular instance, the Court was asked to decide whether a law should stand that made it a crime to lie about receiving military medals not won. That law, the Stolen Valor Act, was struck down, and, in the doing, the justices tap-danced all around the edge of limits of lying in this land -- the potential legality, or not, of lies with commercial contexts, and even, lying about dating.
This slides the hangar door wide open, one should think, allowing all manner of flights of fancy a chance to rev right up and take right off today, no waiting, right away: sky's the limit.
So much for Thou Shalt Not Lie.
Fast forward past unending what-ifs about legal lying for a sec, so that we might try to tackle and fry up some bigger, flying-fish if we can:
As lying is legal and fine, inside media and out, how will we know truth when it shoots past us, or has landed and is taxiing around and around, hoping someone in the tower has noticed that someone's ship has come in?
Time to thank our stars and anything else we consider of any value, for the people and places that work to keep the truth flying, who send up flares when hot news has just gone down. Thank goodness for all the people and places still left who work in name of bucket-brigading the truth, for carrying all our water, when something comes crashing down hard, and is on fire.
Thankfully, there are still spots where we can still get help trying to puzzle-piece together a little truth, while mainstream media is content to wallow away in whatever it is they currently call their mass-consumption-approved product over there.
Not one of the lies, mistruths, half-truths, distortions, twists, or outright propaganda, has been fed from any so-called liberal beach-head. No mainstream media fire-hoses are sourced from any vast nor hidden reserves of truth, not fed from any great liberal lakes of factual, freshwater stocks, nor pumped from any hoarded or safeguarded stashes. Was there ever a "liberal media" at any time? It's a question that implies the real rub here, one to make us all indignantly quake while we chafe.
You'd think if a nation was going to be charged with having a vast liberal press, as the charge usually goes, complete with a vast liberal agenda, grand vistas open and wide, that there should be some supposed benefit from all that massed power, that those bringing the charges should be forced to show some tangible proof of conspiratorial efforts.
Sanity Check, before you take off in that plane: How many liberal causes of any kind have you seen thriving and prospering, booming along like in the old-old days, back when the middle class -- that real haven and solid foundation for families -- was being custom-made and created on the spot for the very first time?
How many times -- still counting on that one hand, there? Made it past that one finger yet, the one and only thing they're always so happy to give us, for free?
