The American Mind

Face Crimes

William Hillman

(2/2019) "To wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: Facecrime, it was called." - George Orwell 1984

We continue to watch the sad decline of the old-school news whose vain slogans of impartial, fair, and balanced are nothing more than a sad reminder of what once was. For those of us who commentate on such things, there are few surprises. Rushed judgements and conclusions not based on facts and objective research, but on partisan, bigoted prejudices have destroyed its credibility. These Main Street News outlets are earning the title "Fake News".

In the last two years, the promotion of fake news by the old media has skyrocketed. Two years ago I remember listening to NPR while driving to Washington D.C. for Trump’s Inauguration when a report aired, that newly sworn-in President Donald Trump had removed Martin Luther King’s Bust from the Oval office. Within minutes, my phone exploded with news alerts from every major outlet reporting the atrocity.

I remember thinking, "How could he do that?" and of course, it was not true. It was a fabricated news report. Not one of the reporting news outlets took the time to verify or question this story. A photo of the wall in the oval office where the bust once stood was circulated. What was not reported was that the secret serviceman in the picture was standing in front of the bust, and a photo taken seconds later when the serviceman had moved clearly shows the bust had never been moved. To this day, I still come across people who believe the President removed the MLK bust from the Oval Office.

In the glory days of independent honest journalism, newspapers and broadcast media (the Old Media) would have had days of self-reflection, long meetings in the editorial board rooms trying to figure out what when wrong. Heads would have rolled, editors and producers fired. But those were the days when papers and broadcast news believed in the pursuit of honest, fact-based reporting. Today’s Old Media is filled with commentators and social justice warriors. Too few are interested in reporting fact-based news, but see their role as an activist, shaping politics. Events and facts are exaggerated or ignored to support the political narrative that the media has chosen to support or condemn. Consider for a fact that the face of ABC news, George Stephanopoulos’ only clam to fame was that of Bill Clinton’s apologist.

The Old New Media was never asked to explain their rush to judgement and they learned just how easily they can get away with fake reports when the story supports their narrative that Trump and his supporters are evil. Yes, evil, not wrong, or misguided, but morally evil.

The argument can be made that Trump’s victory is in part due to the fall of the Old-News Media and resulting loss of trust that Middle America now has for its reporting. According to a Pew poll, in 2016, 70% of Americans didn’t trust the national news. That number has continued to get worse.

The misinformation cuts both ways. FoxNews.com and an affiliate reported on May 16, 2017 that a private investigator had uncovered evidence showing WikiLeaks collaborated with slain DNC data analyst Seth Rich prior to his murder in 2016. The reports were later pulled back because they were based on rumors, not facts.

Just when you thought that the old media could not sink to a lower level, they break out the shovels and dig. On January 20th of this year, a video went viral from the March for Life that showed the Covington high school students, some wearing "Make America Great Again" hats, taunting a Native American man. Almost every media outlet instantly took to the air with their appointed talking point prepared for the designated two minutes of hate. The problem was, no one bothered to watch the entire video, but why should they? He’s a white kid with a MAGA hat on. There cannot be any question of his guilt. The new moto of the MSM is "First we have a trial, then we’ll hang you."

Washington Post: "The Catholic Church’s Shameful History of Native American Abuses"

The New York Times, jumped in with both feet and without looking, titling its first piece, "Boys in ‘Make America Great Again’ Hats Mob Native Elder at Indigenous Peoples March." The next day when the "Old Gray Lady" sobered up and retracted retract much of what it published, "Fuller Picture Emerges of Viral Video of Native American Man and Catholic Students."

CNN’s Bakari Sellers, "He is deplorable. Some people can also be punched in the face."

Vulture writer, Erik Abriss, "I just want these people to die. Simple as that. Every single one of them. And their parents."

GQ’s Nathaniel Friedman called for the kids and their parents to be doxed.

Ana Navarro, CNN contributor, "Nobody is born racist. Bigotry is learned from parents, teachers and society and leaders. So yes I sure as hell think Trump’s racist comments & constant dog whistles contributed to making these Asswipes Great again."

But they all got it wrong. In the days that followed, it became apparent to everyone, even the MSM, that their hatred of the Catholic boys in MAGA hats had portrayed their hidden biases and prejudices.

Joe Concha of The Hill gets it right, "Watching the video and others in full, it is clear the reporting didn't match reality and unfairly targeted the students. That especially goes for Nick Sandmann, who became the focus of media attention after staring at Phillips — who approached him, not the other way around as first described."

But still some like CNN’s Don Lemon refused to back down. The new charge was Sandmann’s "Smirk."

This idea of moral outrage that the major news media pushed for years has settled deep into the social fabric and serves to justify moral vanity and social divisiveness. The Old Media can accuse Trump for dividing this country all they want, but the truth is, they have been doing their part for a long time and most of the divisiveness can be laid at their feet.

In my own community, lawns are dotted with the moral vanity signs, "Hate has no home here". Neighbors took to social media to show their virtue and join the lynching mob.

From one neighbor: "that smug ass boy with his maga hat, because I hated that it was all about a hat. To me, the real story is not about a hat or a native. – You see a punk in the face of an old man and its aggressive and disrespectful."

That was one of the tamer comments. Many of the comments I cannot post because of the paper’s vulgarity standards. These comments were not from obscure celebrities looking for attention, but from parents, and for the above quote, a one-time Sunday school teacher with kids around the same age as the young man in the video. Maybe the Bible verse, John. 8:7, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone" was not in her curriculum.

We are doomed.