"Fake News" and Nations divided

I've been largely avoiding social media and news for a while now. While I miss hearing about events in the lives of friends, I don't find I  miss the rest of it. I haven't found myself feeling particularly uninformed either.

I've had some time to consider the term "Fake" News. Conservatives throw it about regarding any story that casts a bad light on them, and liberals, make fun of conservatives for doing it.

Conservatives have chosen the wrong moniker. IT isn't fake news. "Fake" suggests false. And - mostly - what is being reported isn't false.

One for-instance: Children being separated from their (illegal immigrant) parents. Not fake.

It is happening. It also happened while Obama was president. The news media fail to report that. In fact, many of the stories seem carefully crafted to imply the problem is new and unique to the current presidency. So they are in fact telling the truth, just not the whole truth. And of course with the inclusion of opinion, innuendo and unsubstantiated claims, "Nothing but the truth" is also sacrificed.

But it is not fake. Irresponsible, yes. Lacking integrity, yes. Unethical...

Yes, I know Fox News does the same. I'm not taking a side, just correcting terminology.

At any rate, I haven't missed it, and I haven't felt the least bit uninformed.


Anyhow, as I was considering the increasing divide between the conservative and liberal parties. It occurred to me that it actually a bit of history repeating.

Most of you will probably jump to the Civil War. North vs South. The winning side of course claims the cause was just - ending slavery. A few disgruntled ancestors of the losing side still claim that it wasn't really about slavery, that the slavery issue was a distraction from the real drivers behind the war (mostly they claim it was financial. The north was taxing the south to support their lifestyle). But of course, history is written by the victor, so....


But that isn't actually what I was considering. Approximately two thousand years ago, a group if people immigrated to the united states. They prospered for many years. Over time however, conflicts rose, largely motivated by the desires for greater wealth and/or greater power. They eventually split into two parties.Ultimately they slaughtered each other to the last man (see the "Book of Ether" in the Book of Mormon for details).


Of course another group arrived about 600 BC, They too ultimately divided into two factions, then reconciled, then divided again... One of the two factions survived that conflict, the other did not (Read the rest of the Book of Mormon for that saga). So I supposed the liberals and conservatives can both take heart from that. One of you might survive to write the history, and thus claim that your cause was just, was righteous, was beyond reproach... You might even manage to convince yourself that it's true

Good luck with that.