Birds of a Feather Chirp Together

“Clear and Convincing Evidence”
– Judge George Greer
“Fake but Accurate”
– Anchorman Dan Rather

Why is it that sometimes we hear a phrase that just makes us wince? To me, the boilerplate slogans, new or old, are often just a prelude to a forgone conclusion.

There is a story coming up! Do you want to hear it? Creative writers invent catchy titles to capture your attention. And occasionally it works. But there is something else much more important – the byline. For mine, you’ll need to look at the bottom of this editorial – Like that’s necessary! Any one of the groupies, minions, and trolls who frequent this blogsite know who is writing this piece. How? Do you recognize my style, my cynicism, my vernacular? I think so! But it is also my message, my ideology, my objectives that will flavor everything I say, and how I choose to say it!

What do George Greer and Dan Rather have in common? (This is where I insert my blatant, unsupported, biased opinion.) Each has a perfectly well defined objective and each is going to do or say anything necessary in his struggle to achieve it. In every chosen profession, there are catch phrases, such as “clear and convincing evidence”, that are intended to convey an air of legitimacy to an argument. To George Greer, the only one being convinced is King George himself. But it is not always pre-constructed phrases; it may only be words, such as “accurate”. Such revered words can be used to construct a brand new phrase, like “Fake but Accurate”. What purpose is served by this? Well it certainly convinced Dan Rather that he was right! And to this day, Ex-Dan still believes it!

Look beyond the phrases. If you know the conclusion is wrong, the justification for the conclusion is probably also flawed, or the initial postulates. But other times, the words are just words used to convince the speaker. The rest of us know the truth.

Right Wing Nut Job