VOX Hubris

Beware the Censorship termites of disinformation

With Censorship on everyone’s front burner these days – especially at the Mass Indulgence WEF ‘Convention’ in Davos -  it might be instructive to see just how insidious this is. The Feds cozy, intimidating and very effective affairs with Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms removing and gaslighting mostly conservative sites and comments received atypical MSM coverage. This was one of the times Congressional oversight saw and said something worthwhile.

But mis- and disinformation takes place everywhere every day in more subtle, unnoticed ways. Call it SOP exercised mostly by outfits with a liberal bent. Like termites, If you’re not looking for ‘em, you won’t see ‘em until their damage is done.

Here’s one example: VOX, an online e-zine with a BIG mission.  

This is how VOX sees itself: “Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it.”

Personally, I’m immediately skeptical of any person, place or thing with claims only Carnac the Magnificent could claim - but without a scintilla of the humor. Helping “everyone understand” the never-ending roster of complicated worldly things, all for helpful shaping reasons is right up there with the clean-up gig at the Augean Stables. According to whom and whose standards of ‘understanding’ goes unmentioned but tone and text provide the Big Reveal.

Under the “POLITICS” tab, we find…

“Vox's politics team explains everything you need to know about what's going on in Washington and what it means for your life.”

Wow! Really? “...explains everything? (there’s that word again) …you need to know…”? Isn’t that a tad presumptuous? You (VOX) don’t know each reader or how much one knows already. From reading selected samples offered on your web site, there are more than a few things I could ‘splain to you since your own “need” is showing big time.

Unlike word choice in speaking where tone and animation imparts a usually accurate meaning from the speaker, written words often require a little help. Italics, Bold and ALL- CAPS work well; emojis have arrived recently for those with stunted vocabularies.

Nevertheless, VOX scribblers display a sufficient command of the language and scribbling techniques to let the reader know what is Acceptable and Not So Much.

For example, Ian Millhiser, author of a SCOTUS hit piece with an atrociously long title, lets you know where he stands on Federalism, the saccharine wonderfulness of Big, All-Powerful Government and the bureaucratic red tape it provides in profusion. Some examples:

“The open question is whether the Court’s four most strident opponents of this foundational ruling can find a fifth vote.” (‘strident’ ?)

“[Federal] Agencies, by contrast, are staffed by scientists, economists, physicians, and other experts who are more capable of evaluating difficult policy questions than a handful of people with law degrees.”  

 (This would include the same EPA geniuses who ruled a puddle in a field was a ‘navigational waterway”. The farmer-owner got sued and screwed. Similarly, a MD farmer was sued for filling in a ditch on his own property deemed a ‘seasonal waterway’ by the “scientists, economists, physicians, and other experts” oh-so-better equipped to make such hi-tech decisions. A recent SCOTUS ruling, Sackett v. EPA (5/23) meant the feds and the EPA ‘could no longer treat a backyard puddle like it’s a lake’. To read the predictable reactions of the usual media pearl clutchers, we’re all gonna die yesterday).

“Justice Kavanagh, in particular, seemed so eager to give himself this power that he might as well have spent the argument shopping for gold crowns and drawing up an invitation list for his coronation.”

(Objectivity is not this scribbler’s strong suit – but his mission is “to help everyone understand our complicated world…”)

“…federal agencies are inherently more democratic than federal courts.” (One may suppose this was meant as a compliment to the agencies)

One can parse articles such as this, squandering much valuable time in the process. Yes, it’s a time-consuming job but…etc. Chances are reasonably good no one reading VOX will have his/her/them/those/ mind(s) changed. Self-confirming pieces churned out by such sites are no more ‘balanced and reasonable’ than the multitude of other sources who will make the same claims to All-Knowing and All-Seeing as Carson’s Carnac. That’s not their goal; training “everyone to understand” is. Carnac’s trademarked stage-stumble entrance was totally intentional. VOX’s pratfalls are a product of political prejudice on steroids, relentlessly pushing liberal agenda fueled messages courtesy of the Ignorance & Hubris Pharmacy hoping to influence you while unaware.

Be on the lookout for these scribblers with their mind-chewing emotive code words. They are infesting all sorts of media you may be exposed to without notice.

BW

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