This is a tough column to write, because I don’t want to demean or insult those who write me in good faith. I’ve started it a half dozen times since November but turned to other topics each time because this needle hard to thread. No matter how I present it, I’ll offend some thoughtful, decent people.

The north star here is truth. We tell the truth, even when it offends some of the people who pay us for information.

The truth is that Donald Trump undermined faith in our elections in his false bid to retain the presidency. He sparked an insurrection intended to overthrow our government and keep himself in power. No president in our history has done worse.

This is not subjective. We all saw it. Plenty of leaders today try to convince the masses we did not see what we saw, but our eyes don’t deceive. (If leaders began a yearslong campaign today to convince us that the Baltimore bridge did not collapse Tuesday morning, would you ever believe them?) Trust your eyes. Trump on Jan. 6 launched the most serious threat to our system of government since the Civil War. You know that. You saw it.

The facts involving Trump are crystal clear, and as news people, we cannot pretend otherwise, as unpopular as that might be with a segment of our readers. There aren’t two sides to facts. People who say the earth is flat don’t get space on our platforms. If that offends them, so be it.

As for those who equate Trump and Joe Biden, that’s false equivalency. Biden has done nothing remotely close to the egregious, anti-American acts of Trump. We can debate the success and mindset of our current president, as we have about most presidents in our lifetimes, but Biden was never a threat to our democracy. Trump is. He is unique among all American presidents for his efforts to keep power at any cost.

  • squid_slime@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Being British but having to talk american politics ive started looking to Wikipedia for somewhat non bias information, or more so I am able to easily follow the source which often leads to first hand testimonials, court documents and some such information.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6_United_States_Capitol_attack

    I find doing so gives me an advantage when combatting misinformation.

    My uncle who seems to get all his insight from Ben Shapiro or as I say dry muff man, and Russell brand/Howard which ever is doing a pod cast theses days.

    Anyway a lot of the right wing ideologs tend to side on conspiracy, hearsay. So be well informed and hopefully we can pull the working class away from these grifters.

    • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Ben Shapiro is an idiot and not a model American. He says shocking things for ratings and then acts like he’s a victim. He is no different than Howard Stern but on the opposite end of the spectrum.