Search This Blog

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Think About What They Tell You

Do you consider yourself well informed?  According to polls, a majority of people do.  So here's a question to consider:

Did you know that in the last three days, Russian planes in Syria bombed targets that had nothing to do with ISIS?  Were you aware that the Russians bombed a school near Aleppo and that children were killed?  Did you know that the Russians bombed a group of Syrian Sunni fighters who are backed by the USA?  Did you know that the USA protested that bombing to the Kremlin and told the Russians that there were American special operations forces in the area?  Were you aware that the Russians then bombed the same place about ten hours after the US protest was received in Moscow?

My guess is that you had not heard about what the Russians had done in Syria.  That is because the story got almost no coverage in the mainstream media.  After all, why cover it; it makes president Obama look bad.  America tells Russia not to bomb forces we support and where we have some troops and the Russians bomb anyway.  The truth is that Putin and the Russians just ignore anything that comes from Obama; they know that Obama won't actually do anything no matter what they do.

Now here's another story from the Middle East.  Did you know that the Israeli government approved a minor change to funding with regard to the so-called "settlements" in Jerusalem and the West Bank?  I saw five stories about it this morning alone, so if you are well informed, you too likely saw the news.  The Israeli government added eighteen million dollars to its spending pertaining to these areas.  Much of the money is for additional security in Jerusalem, Israel's capital.  Some is for promoting tourism.  Some is for helping small businesses. 

In the story from Israel, there were no bombs.  There were no American soldiers put at risk.  There was not even much money spent by governmental standards.  Nevertheless, the mainstream media is reporting about it.  Why?  The answer is that it fits the narrative that Israel is ignoring the USA and president Obama's demands that Israel stop the settlements. 

So when the Russians ignore Obama on matters of life and death for US forces, we get silence.  When the Israelis spend a little more on security, we get coverage.

If you really want to be well informed, you need to get your news from more than the mainstream media and you also need to think about what you are told.

No comments: