With the rise of QAnon, the insurrection at the capitol, and far-right extremism seemingly at an all-time high, one has to wonder, why is this happening now? Of course, you could argue that the Trump administration gave a voice to these groups of people, which empowered them to take action and grow in numbers. There has also been evidence of more of a political and cultural divide now than the past few decades, which feeds into the animosity that some feel towards people who live differently. So, what can be done about the phenomenon of internet-born extremism? It seems that we can not rely on the same federal intervention that keeps a close eye on foreign terroristic threats to take this domestic issue seriously. However, there are experts studying how it might be prevented. One method that seems promising is to focus on media literacy. This has to be more than formal, school-based education (even though that is equally important to set a foundation of knowledge for...
This week, President Biden had his first official press briefing since his administration came into office. I thought I would compare and contrast it to the average Trump press briefing. During the conference, the president talked about his new goals for Covid vaccinations, the economic stimulus bill that was passed, and answered questions regarding immigration and border control, voting rights, climate change, and the occupation of troops in Afghanistan. He was also asked about his promised bipartisanship with Mitch McConnell. While speaking about these issues, Biden did not call anyone names. Trump would often question the intelligence of the reporters (mainly the female ones) when he was asked a difficult question or one he felt was 'threatening' to him. Biden did not make any grand promises that he knew he couldn't keep but was reassuring that the issues would be handled with care, compassion, and to the best of the administration's abilities. Trump would often ...
Earlier this week, I asked my friends and family on Facebook, “What news source do you trust the most?” I got some interesting answers. My friends and family on Facebook are all over the political spectrum. So, I expected a variety of answers and hoped for no arguments (it is Facebook, after all). Here I will share some snippets of the comments. Scotty said, “Great question. If you watch a little CNN and then a little Fox News and then combine them, you probably get a true picture.” Daniel had a longer answer: “Fox News is consistently known for avoiding real news, and repeating white nationalist and KKK propaganda. Especially Tucker Carlson. None of the American news paints a very truthful picture, and honestly some of our comedy 'news' programs are better news than many news stations. However, watching world news from other nations is probably the clearer picture overall. In particular, BBC and German news. But in general, no matter what source, always do...
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