This is my first written article here in KOSland, and the cause of it is sheer rage. I am a terrible typist the way it is, and the fury that caused me to write this article is making me miss correct keys about 50% of the time and not just 40 or 30%.
It has to do with what's truth, and what's a lie. And well meaning people that, Number One, don't click on links to truly research Facebook posts, and Two, well-meaning Facebook friends that through Number One, unknowingly perpetuate falsehoods.
It's finally and most importantly, about the people that sit up at night and think of this stuff to please their corporate masters, thinking they'll get a nice executive bonus out of the whole deal. Or whatever.
I saw a post by a Facebook friend. A surely well-meaning, heart-o'-gold Facebook friend, that forwarded a Facebook message containing a whole bunch of exclamation points and breathless horror that Obama is supposedly taxing us for bank transactions...any kind of transactions.
You might have even seen this message forwarded on your own page.
"Pass this along to every one of your friends!!" it stated, paraphrased. "Everyone should know about this!!!" it stated, paraphrased. "This is un-American and terrible and we won't have it!" it stated, paraphrased.
The text was included language as such:
"His [originally referring to Oregonian Dem. DeFazio in the false chain e-mail where this drivel began, but now newly attributed to Obama] plan is to sneak it in after the November election to keep it under the radar. This is a 1% tax on all transactions at any financial institution i. e. Banks, Credit Unions, etc. Any deposit you make, or move around within your account, i. e. transfer to, will have a 1% tax charged. If your pay check or your social Security or whatever is direct deposit, 1% tax charged. If you hand carry a check in to deposit, 1% tax charged, If you take cash in to deposit, 1% tax charged."
No need to beat a dead horse here. I understand. Many sites have the research showing exactly what a load of garbage this whole story is.
Politifact has already called this "Pants of Fire" and
Snopes sifts through the nonsense to call it, flat out, False.
The deal is, the Facebook incarnation of this absurdity includes the very link quoted above, [http://www.snopes.com/...], attached to the Facebook post.
Now, if you see the post blockquoted above, or maybe something like
H. R. 4646 I have gone into THOMAS (Library of Congress) and printed out and read all 15 pages of this bill which has been given the Short Title of Debt Free America Act. It is the most socialistic thing I have ever read. Just think, if you deposit $5,000.00 into your checking account or savings account the bank has to take out 1% or $50.00 of that money and send it to Washington. Then, any checks or cash you take out of your bank they will deduct 1% from what is still in the bank and send it to Washington. Total put in the Bank $5,000.00. $100.00 of that you give to Washington. This bill, spells it out that everyone will pay the Government 1% of their gross income. Page 9 states the House and Senate shall convene not later than November 23, 2010 and Page 11 states the vote on passage shall occur not later than December 23, 2010. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO CONTACT THEIR CONGRESSMAN AND SENATOR AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO ON THIS BILL.
with a nice little link to Snopes,
doesn't that look legitimate?
...minus the word "socialistic" of course.
The problem is, nowhere on the post was it ever mentioned that one of the first words on that very Snopes link is:
FALSE.
in nice, large-point-count letters.
Let me run that by ya again. Conservatives make up a "pants-on-fire" rating narrative. Popular truthy website debunks it. Folks still interested in perpetuating the lie, mark up the lie to look legitimate by including the very link that debunks it, with no indication in the forwarded post that the narrative has been debunked by the very link provided.
When I replied to the friend's post with a "um, you know that Snopes link says this entire thing is false?" the first reaction was disbelief (because, as written, the post makes the lie look true!), then almost immediate removal of the post altogether.
We can hear things from The Donald and write him off as a bloviating ignoramus. We can listen to Rush and blow things off he says because he's a hateful chauvenist with an unprosecutable penchant for prescription meds.
But these falsehoods are being perpetuated by our friends and otherwise intelligent contacts who are fooled into thinking the above quote of a falsehood is the whole story, because a legitimate link to a legitimate website is provided. And the originator of this stuff simply sits there, praying to Mammon and who or whatever else that you don't click on it.
As much as you all want to say, "It's our responsibility to do our own research, DUH!" or something like "You shouldn't just forward everything you read", "You know what happens when you assume", or whatever, you're absolutely right.
However, I got this post in my feed. It had to be sent by someone. And it was sent by someone who saw the legitimate link, read the post, and hit "share", without actually taking the time to click that one crucially important link.
And the cycle goes on, and on, and on.
Vigilance!!