As IF Times

Source: Pope Francis Mourns Excess Carbon Emissions Given Off By Notre Dame Fire | The Babylon Bee

It’s a sign of the times we’re living in when reading a story such as this makes you groan in exasperation rather than immediately dismiss it with a big ‘as if’.  In the past few years, you would think that a contest is being held to see which officious, high profile person can provide the stupidest utterance. We’re not talking about random slips of the tongue or the occasional brain hiccup that makes someone say that there are 57 states. We are talking about full blown, twilight zone whoppers which are often completely untethered to logic.

As this is being written, elected government representatives on the left are categorically denying that a crisis of any kind is happening at the US’s southern border with Mexico….even as irrefutable video proof of the invasion is readily available. It’s reminiscent of the classic Monty Python skit in which a customer brings back a parrot to the pet shop because it is clearly dead only to experience the vehement denial of thus by the owner.  There are Presidential candidates who openly welcome illegal aliens into their self proclaimed  sanctuary cities but howl in protest as plans are afoot to actually send them there.  As well, there are Presidential contenders running on the platform of reparations for slavery, even though that condition hasn’t existed in the U.S. for over 150 years.  Oddly, there are those that are pushing for the segregation of students along racial lines on campuses, even though the ancestors of the minority kids fought their entire lives for desegregation.  Also from the twilight zone of course, is Joe Biden running on a platform of ending the rule and domination of old white men, not to mention capitalist success story Bernie Sanders expounding on socialism.

Not that many years ago, The Onion was the only outlet publishing all manner of satirical stories on topical issues. They offer witty articles lampooning the newsmakers of the day.  Now, virtually all of the major news outlets are apparently battling for that same audience and truth is now as  bizarre as fiction. Alexia Cortez has become a franchise unto herself.  Naturally, politicos and entertainers are the ones most often captured embarrassing themselves with slips that expose their vapidity. Who can forget Rep. Hank Johnson’s fear that the island of Guam could tip over because of an influx of US troops? Who can forget Rep. Pelosi exhorting the house to pass a bill so they could find out what was in it? Entertainers are, well, entertainers, so the majority of their bleats are just that….for entertainment.

We observe that the TV news networks are increasingly willing to give voice to those that are only tenuously hanging on to sanity. The reason for this is that the 24 hour news cycle needs edgy stuff to keep people interested in the same boring news stories. Rather than any concern with the veracity of a story, they instead manufacture personalities to create brands and push wild narratives. So it’s entertainment masquerading as news. Nobody watches Rachel Maddow to find out the news. They watch it to find Maddow’s spin on the day’s events as if it were the next installment of Game Of Thrones.

But dear god, not the Pope! We don’t really know if he really uttered the concerns about the fire at Notre Dame worsening global warming as stated in the linked article. But based on the eyebrow raising comments he’s made during his tenure on other sacrosanct Church issues…. it’s possible that he may have! And that’s the point. The Pope isn’t supposed to say stupid things. He’s supposed to be sober and learned, his opinions well researched and his pronouncements measured and to be absorbed with gravity by all. He’s not supposed to be uttering the same things as Miley Cyrus.  It would be like attending a shareholders’ meeting at IBM and the chief financial officer declares that he’s going to convey the last quarter’s financial statements via interpretive dance.

With so much of today’s news coming from outlets that have morphed into entertainment vehicles, the line between hard news and infomercials for the latest social justice cause barely exists. With everyone getting into the Fake News game the average person would be hard pressed to find out what is really happening in his world. Instead, the consumer has a wide variety of versions of reality and he then chooses the one that fits his worldview. We are at that point in history when people have reason to be skeptical of everything.  In the end, we have to hope that people will tire of the circus acts and gravitate to what they observe with their own lyin’ eyes.

update: Pope urges hairdressers to cut gossip

Source: Joe Biden’s affectionate, physical style with women comes under scrutiny – The Washington Post

There’s not a chance that I would be defending a man like Joe Biden.  This person has spent his entire lifetime in the political arena, doing essentially nothing of any import and who has a value system that is as slippery as eels in a oil can. Biden has been and still is the Poohbah of pandering; he’ll bend to any demographic and interest group that he may be able to wring some votes from. However, the unspoken truth  is that he’s a relatively harmless character; sort of an Elmer Fudd without the hat and gun. Thus, his gaffe filled career, which could be comedy gold in a Netflix series, flourished despite demonstrable ineptitude.

But suddenly, he seems to have outlived his usefulness.  The warm confines of the Democratic Party have become decidedly less friendly as the recent allegations of improper behavior from his past are being levelled at him from women appearing  out of nowhere.  Take that Brett Kavanaugh! In Joe’s case, there are no explicit accusations of any actual sexual misconduct; rather they all fall into the realm of creepiness, as in, they were made to feel ‘uncomfortable’.  Oddly, after a lifetime of being a Democratic pillar, suddenly women are rushing to tell their tales of hair sniffing, shoulder touching and nose rubbing.  Women and hurt feelings.  Well that’s kryptonite.

It’s amusing to see Uncle Joe being hoisted on his own petard since he was at the forefront of the ‘women must be believed’ narrative when the flames were under the feet of his Republican opponents.  But whatever schadenfreude satisfaction we may derive is eclipsed by the dark reality of the evil of the default tactic being used today to discredit and neutralize political opponents.  That heinous crime of course,  is hurting someone’s feelings.  To make matters worse, there’s no statute of limitations on the transgression.  If someone feels like venting after 20 years and even with fuzzy recollections, it’s as good as yesterday’s crime….if you can get the right media attention.

Women, but also gays, lesbians, transgenders, cis-genders and of course minorities and certain religious sects are apparently particularly vulnerable to hurt-y feelings and consequently, those not in the aforementioned groups, which leaves mostly men, are expected to yield to their demands for all and sundry manner of reparations and concessions.

In direct contrast to the just and equal society that everyone bleats about, we have instead balkanized the population into discrete subclasses of the oppressed, the aggrieved and the slightly inconvenienced. The idiocy has extended past actual transgressions, to include even things that merely make someone feel unsafe.  The not yet fully formed minds of college kids are convinced that such a thing as a safe place can actually exist. If you’re not a male, especially a white male, then the chances are good that you are being oppressed or somehow violated even if you don’t know it.  Some may recognize this as the famous communist dictum that all are equal, but some are more equal than others.

This pervasive spread of delusion is not isolated.  It has brought forth political aspirants who espouse the most unhinged views which only years ago would have gotten them fitted in suits with the fancy arms that tie at the back. Now, these nutters have their hands on the levers of power, of the military and the future of the nation’s children. Vague and squishy notions borne of irrational emotions and weepy sentiments are eclipsing the logic and sobriety required of  public policy.

Joe Biden may be a marginal character but if they are willing to throw that old Democratic warhorse under the bus in pursuit of an even nuttier agenda, you know that the zombies have taken over that party.