A year ago yesterday, a mob attacked the United States Capitol, with the express purpose of stopping Congress from certifying the election of Joe Biden as President. In a nation that prides itself on a history of calm transitions of power: from Adams to Jefferson, from Carter to Reagan, and even from Obama to Trump; this was the absolute opposite. It was what the Founding Fathers worried about and the reason George Washington voluntarily gave up the Presidency in 1796 in the first place (teach them how to say goodbye)<\/em>. Remember when we were upset (or amused) when the Clinton staffers stole all the \u201cW\u2019s\u201d from the keyboards as they left the White House? Now that was a real \u201crebellion\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t just a riot. It was a crime in and of itself \u2013 attempting to disrupt the Congress. Had it been just slightly more \u201csuccessful\u201d, and actually captured Mike Pence or Nancy Pelosi or the \u201cOld Jew\u201d Chuck Schumer (his words yesterday), it would have succeeded in decapitating our legislative branch of government. Don\u2019t forget, the gallows were already erected on the Capitol lawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is a truth of our current political world, that there are two different universes of what we call \u201cfacts\u201d. So here are the Fox News <\/em>headlines from yesterday, the first anniversary of \u201cthe Insurrection\u201d (just a \u201criot\u201d to them).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not going to compare that to\u00a0MSNBC<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Not to be snarky, but it isn\u2019t\u00a0MSNBC\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0leading commentator being asked to testify to the January 6th Committee (though that is the lead article on the\u00a0MSNBC<\/em>\u00a0website).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But let\u2019s look at the \u201ccenter\u201d of the \u201cmedia bias\u201d chart \u2013\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just out of curiosity \u2013 which news outlets \u201cled\u201d with the President\u2019s speech?<\/p>\n\n\n\n So most of America\u2019s media, even those in the middle and some on the right (Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner)\u00a0<\/em>recognized the obvious.\u00a0\u00a0What happened on January 6th, 2021 was important, and is not \u201cover\u201d.\u00a0President Biden recognizes that, and so do the Law Enforcement Agencies who are tasked with protecting our government.\u00a0\u00a0But if your primary news sources are\u00a0Fox News<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0Newsmax,\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0The New York Post<\/em>, I guess nothing happened. According to the\u00a0Post,\u00a0<\/em>the first mention of January 6th was six stories down, about Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot by Capitol Police.\u00a0\u00a0Her mother is defending her actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem always was, different points of views, different visions for America.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s what our country has been about since before Hamilton and Jefferson started arguing in Washington\u2019s Cabinet.\u00a0\u00a0And even they found a \u201cmiddle ground\u201d: the Capitol in the South, the Federal government to fund the American debt (In the Room where it happens).\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But when they are different bodies of \u201cfacts\u201d, it\u2019s hard to find any common ground. Here\u2019s the obvious example. How do we explain what happened on January 6th?<\/p>\n\n\n\n To one side, there is a sincere belief that they were following the \u201corders\u201d of the President of the United States. They were told to \u201cdefend their country\u201d, and as believing Patriots, they thought that\u2019s what they were doing. They \u201clegitimately\u201d felt betrayed by Vice President Pence, and saw the actions of Speaker Pelosi and Democrats in general as literal traitors. And they select (or the algorithms select for them) the media that reinforces their view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To the other side there is a similarly sincere belief: that they won the election and saved the Nation from a catastrophic second term of President Trump. They know there wasn\u2019t a \u201cstolen\u201d election, and they don\u2019t understand why the other side thinks there was. And the media \u2013 from center to left, supports their views (and the algorithms make sure they keep seeing it). <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is easy to say, \u201cI\u2019m right, you\u2019re wrong, get over it\u201d. But, of course, there is no way to prove who\u2019s right to the other side, if there are no commonly accepted facts. Joe Biden hoped to find a way to unite \u201cthe middle\u201d against the edges, but it seems that the information bias has made that impossible. Hillary Clinton was excoriated for her \u201cbasket of deplorables\u201d description, but she was only saying \u201cout loud\u201d what her side is still thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden, in his speech today said:<\/p>\n\n\n\nFox<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Middle<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Lead<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Two Worlds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m Right<\/h3>\n\n\n\n