Our Information Sources Are Not Sources of Information
Despite being buried in so-called information sources, we live in an information desert. Somewhere along the road to the sorry state we are in, truth as a value got trounced in favor of any means to an end. Now, as we face some of the most critical decisions of our lifetime and freedom hangs in the balance, the truth takes a beating every day and the American people are the losers.
The pollsters and media violate our trust by substituting their desire to be influencers (to use the jargon of the day) for providing factual information in the truthful context essential to informed decision making. Lying and cheating take many forms and our “information sources” are hard at work to deprive the American people of a free and fair election.
Charles Franklin, Director of the Marquette Law School Poll, continues to present us with his version of voter preferences. The data presented are designed to influence thinking and are flawed by sample size, sampling method, topic choices, and the wording of questions. There is no meaningful discussion of findings and the serious limitations of these polls are not discussed, leading to the logical conclusion that this is deliberate deception.
The latest Marquette poll, released August 7, lays the groundwork for the inevitable cheating that will be part of the November election. There is no way Wisconsin voters will elect Kamala Harris in a free and fair election, yet the Marquette poll does its part by making this seem plausible.
The poll sampled 877 registered Wisconsin voters and had registered voters favoring Trump 50% to Harris 49% and likely voters favoring Harris 50% to Trump 49%. Voters ranked the economy as their most important issue by far at 38% and gave Trump a significant edge of 51% to Harris 39% in who would best handle the issue.
The poll included a nationwide sample of 879 registered voters and a sample of 683 likely voters. The results were Harris leading Trump 52% to 48% with registered voters and 53% to 47% among likely voters. Despite the small sample, large margin of error and a methodology that included forcing participants to choose Harris or Trump if they didn’t initially prefer either one, the poll provided the national media with the fodder they needed to promote the narrative that Harris is winning. The major news organizations ran it all across the country. Pollsters have a great deal of power to influence a trusting public.
The media are a large segment of our “information sources”. Along with the pollsters and the political parties, they have a stranglehold on our political process. Selective silence is a form of lying by the media.
They make no attempt to hide their preference for Harris and allow her to try to replicate Joe Biden’s campaign from the basement by avoiding any unscripted encounters with the press. They shun their obligation to pressure Harris to answer questions and often offer excuses for her themselves. Harris is attempting to run away from many of her positions including Medicare for all and the elimination of the private insurance industry; banning fracking and offshore drilling; mandatory gun buybacks and banning “assault” weapons; defunding police; decriminalizing illegal entry into the country, and many others. Members of the media are suggesting that she has grown in recent years and no longer embraces the radical positions that have characterized her entire public life. The voters now have to decide if she has changed her mind on her signature issues or is a bald-faced liar who will say anything to get elected. We can only make this judgment if she faces rigorous questions from the press.
In a single example of its extreme left bias, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently “fact checked” Donald Trump on his statement to voters that she supports “mandatory gun confiscation.” Using carefully chosen words the Journal Sentinel acknowledged that Harris on numerous occasions when running for President in 2019 said, ““We have to have a buyback program, and I support a mandatory gun buyback program” for the estimated 5-10 million “assault weapons” on the street. They concluded the “fact check” with we “could find no examples that Harris currently supports mandatory buybacks, let alone confiscation” (a distinction without a difference).
In Wisconsin, multiple vulnerabilities in the election system have been well documented and largely ignored by the media. The millions of ineligible names on the registered voter lists remain unaddressed by the legislature rendering our elections unverifiable. The cheating that will undoubtedly occur to try to pull Harris over the finish line will be enabled, in part, by the absence of investigative journalism. They will be the among the first to smear citizens who cry foul at election time.
In last week’s Republican primary, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent in a dark money scheme slandering candidates who would not march in lock step with Robin Vos. It was largely ignored by the media. Vos and the Republican Party of Wisconsin had their fingerprints all over this dark money and succeeded in defeating candidates who were running to represent the will of the people rather than do as they are told. The use of dirty tricks and money that cannot be traced to its source are dangerous to our freedom and made more so by a corrupt media that allows them to go uninvestigated.
The self-described conservative talk radio hosts in Wisconsin deserve special mention when spotlighting the widespread failure of information sources to do their jobs. With the notable exceptions of Joe Giganti and Steve Schroeder in the Green Bay market who follow the truth wherever it leads them, many of those who proclaim to be champions of conservatism talk about things that pale in importance to the real issues that threaten our freedom. Dan O’Donnell of WISN out of Milwaukee calls his program a Tour de Force for truth yet doesn’t go near the most critical issues. We haven’t heard from him on the vulnerabilities of the election system or the dark money scheme within the Republican Party. He is a defender of Robin Vos and led the charge to destroy the citizens who want to recall him. Jim Piwowarczyk and Jessica McBride from the “conservative” website ‘’Wisconsin Right Now” are darlings of WISN talk. Jim was one of the dark money recipients supported by Vos in the Republican primary signaling he will be part of the Madison establishment that must be changed. The pretenders who avoid taking on the issues that matter most betray the people who are counting on them to use their microphone to be serious leaders in the fight for freedom. They’re way too cozy with the political establishment.
Mark Belling, a WISN host, used his weekly column in the Waukesha Freeman to tout WISN being named #1 in America for listenership in the top 48 markets. Mark attributed this designation to the “compelling and professionally presented conservative content” and the talent of himself and Jay Weber, Dan O’Donnell, and Vicki McKenna, station hosts. It’s hard to believe a smart guy like Mark actually believes this. In the same article he exposed the real source of their top ranking. They are the only “conservative” option in a sea of liberal media. There is no contest without competition. Conservatives are forced to settle for the only game in town.
Our information sources are not sources of information. Corrupt government cannot exist without corrupt media. Those who shun their responsibility to chase the truth count on us to be lazy, superficial, and quick to swallow whatever they feed us. We will soon find out if they’re right.