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A friend recently posted a meme with Roger Waters in it, to which another friend replied “His politics are worse than Trump!”. Now, I know Roger Waters is not shy about his political views, but suffice it to say, I was a little caught off guard by that statement. If anything, Roger is a warrior against oppression, a humanitarian, and someone who believes war is failure. So how exactly is that worse than Donald Trump? So I said to the “worse than Trump” poster, I assume you are not a Pink Floyd fan then? Or maybe you liked the music but not the lyrics? He said “LOL! No, I’m a huge fan, I just don’t like Roger Waters’ personal politics”. Then he said “He compared Israel to Nazi Germany”!
Roger Waters Did Not Compare Israel To Nazi Germany
First of all, anyone can check this out and discover it’s a horrible spin. A Jewish spin done by Jewish “news” websites. A very deceitful and unfair spin done by people who constantly disparage anyone who challenges Israel in any way shape or form. Including anyone who suggests the very possibility that maybe the Palestinians are being treated unfairly, as Roger did. These lies travel the fake news corridor right the your friendly A.M. Talkradio station where they are rehashed for your listening pleasure. They’ll spew garbage based headlines at you that are intended to shock you and make you dislike people like Roger Waters.
Fake News Sticks Like Professional Gossip
My dialog with the poster continued until we got to the core of the issue, Mr Waters comments on Israel, which I pointed out never happened. I told him that Roger Waters never compared Israel to Nazi Germany and pointed to the spinners and A.M. radio. Astonishingly, that didn’t make any difference at all. The cognitive dissonance in his brain was too much and he simply shut me out and stopped responding. So he will go on hating Roger’s politics that don’t exist and spreading lies about him that never happened. He will tell others that lie and they will hate Roger too. Which, of course, is exactly what the framers of those spins wanted all along. Professional gossip works. Right, Hillary?
Tommy Lee Jones Is Not Gay!
Comedian Tom Segura does a very funny routine about hearing from his dad that Tommy Lee Jones is gay. Tom goes on to repeat this “fact” for years until he happens to tell it at party where it is overheard by a friend of Tommy Lee Jones. Tommy’s friend says “Tommy Lee Jones is absolutely not gay. He’s a happily married man with a beautiful wife and kids”. Tom Segura then goes back to his father and says “Tommy Lee Jones is not gay! Why did you tell me that?”. His dad says “Huh. I thought he was”.
This story illustrates very well how fake news travels and how it sticks. There was no basis in reality for the statement to begin with. Just somebody’s projection along the way. And though this case may be somewhat innocent, when there is bad intention behind the gossip, it can travel like wildfire and stick like molasses. I’m quite sure my dear friend will continue to hate Roger and spread fake information about him because he WANTS to believe it. He’s been programmed to believe it and will have it reinforced every time he turns on A.M. talkradio. This is ignorance in action. My friend now knows what the truth about Roger is, but chooses to ignore it and continue to believe (and act) falsely anyway.
It’s The Same Old False Stories
This nonsense is nothing new. Remember John Lennon fighting against war? The more he fought, the more those in power tried to diminish him. He’s a druggie! A loser! He’s against America! He’s a communist! John Lennon said The Beatles are better than God! Of course, it was all bullshit and gossip for the ignorant masses to consume and spread. All the while, John was promoting peace above all. That’s it. Peace. And he was mocked for that.
I don’t have any brilliant answers for how to combat fake news or professional gossip. My only suggestion is to ask yourself “Does this make sense”? Keep your guard up and ask who benefits from this? Is is possible that this odd fact has some basis other than truth? Does Roger Waters well documented dislike of Donald Trump likely have anything to do with someone spreading lies about him? Weird that nobody questioned Roger’s views until Trump came along. Until then, it was just Pink Floyd playing great music with meaning. Now that Trump’s POTUS, suddenly all that music are just songs with unwelcome political views. It’s all just Pink Floyd politics.
By the way, there is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact, it’s all dark.
#notevenhuman