Obvious Smearing of Anti-Maskers/Vaxxers
September 9, 2021
The CT Mirror published an article on the protest against Lamont by anti-maskers on August 25, 2021 that essentially consisted of disparaging anti-maskers. The rest of the media essentially followed suit. In that 784-word article with links to video I was saddened to see that not one word was given to interviewing a protester to understand their point of view. I literally have to guess at why they were angry. Nice job news media.
The coverage, as you would expect, essentially consisted of how responsible all the politicians and educators were at the roundtable discussion and how their conscientious efforts to save everyone from the Plague had to be cut short because of these crazy backwards protesters. Most of the media like the “news” anchors on the lame-o local TV stations that just smile and parrot headlines portrayed these people as crazy nut jobs. Maybe they are. (You do have to admire how TV anchors can sadly cover a mudslide killing hundreds one minute, but brighten in a nano-second when covering a local kitten saved in a tree - at least they have always been consistent on that).
Seeing some of the video coverage, I was shocked and dismayed by the actions of a very small number of confrontational people that swore at the Governor when he left the meeting, especially with small children in tow (one even yelling at him herself). Not that the media should accept any blame for glorifying all the nasty, vulgar, and violent protests it covers that it agrees with like Antifa, etc. It’s no wonder that people feel entitled to cross the lines of decency (of which there don’t seem to be any legitimate, objective, nonpartisan ones left). Decency? That’s for uncool people.
The newly owned Courant also ran a 1505 word article on September 5, 2021 – in between the revenue raising click-bait - on the above protest and another protest in Hartford attended by about 100 people entitled the “The anger stage: Frustration mounts as anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers get loud while those following the rules watch gains against COVID-19 erode.” This article did contain a 35-word quote from one protester (2% of the article) who essentially said “we shouldn’t have to do this” without being asked why. That’s understandable – why waste time talking to a cuckoo?
The Courant article took the tried and true political tactic of destroying the character of ideological opponents – in this case by interviewing a neuro-science professor at Yale who studies cognitive disorders and who described those undergoing prolonged stress as losing prefrontal neurons needed to regulate anger: “If you have weaker pre-frontal, you are unable to regulate yourself and you act out of anger in ways that can be destructive.” There you go - certifiable evidence that these people may look like nut jobs but are in fact nut-jobs. Hmmm… how many times have there been protests without neuro-scientists being interviewed rather than the protesters? None that I recall.
In case you weren’t convinced by a Yale scientist, the Courant was eager to report all the bad behavior by this relatively “small minority of residents” that went on at the protest in Hartford on August 28, 2021. One woman argued with a police officer (that’s bad unless you are arguing to defund the police), shouted and fired insults amongst themselves, one carried a “shove the vaccine” banner, and they brightened when applauding crude anti-Biden/Harris flags. Clearly these people are not worth talking to. As Lamont said after his disrupted meeting: “I’m not sure me sitting down and having a conversation is going to move some of these folks…the anger was visceral.” As far as I have seen, politicians are often eager (and should) sit down with protesters to learn more about why they are angry and protesting. (Having seen the video, I can understand his reaction but as a public official representing the entire state, he and others have a professional obligation to do so).
I’m not saying I agree with these protesters – kind of hard to agree when I don’t know what exactly their position is. But this is Connecticut, we are so solidly Blue that no one will say anything about a double standard. The Republicans are just as scaredy-pants of public criticism as the Democrats - perhaps more so since it appears they will be in the minority here forever.
This is just another reason to shed which ever major party you belong to and become independent. It is harder to think objectively when you already identify with a group and that group has a position. To state the obvious, decisions need to made objectively not because the party says so for its own benefit. But alas, the developments of the last several years have shown a rise in the number of people that actually think there is no such thing as objectivity – or even truth. Note: I actually don’t have a problem with someone arguing such a position if it comes from an unbiased logical place willing to listen to opposing viewpoints as opposed to it having been indoctrinated into them and them having become unbudgeable soldiers in whatever struggle/war that they perceive in their minds.