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Thursday, January 28, 2021

"Klonning" - The Hate Crime Of The Century


What is "klonning?"

To answer that, I must lament the state of our media, and our country, because the one follows the other.

There's no words I can write which can express the utter and complete despair I feel when looking at what's going on in current events right now. Sure, Biden won, and he's finally been safely sworn in, but only eight days later it is abundantly clear that the underlying sickness cannot not be cured simply by Trump no longer being president.

As I said on this blog, in no uncertain terms, the right-wing pundits, who are the root cause of the seditious attack we endured on January 6th, could simply not be allowed to go back to work. Well, they were allowed to go back to work. They got back on the air, found every stupid excuse they could find for themselves and for Trump, and now we're seeing the consequences.

Only ten Republicans voted to impeach Trump in the House. Ten! On a vote which should have been unanimous! And now they, not the Republicans who voted against impeachment, are facing a huge backlash! Their constituency is actually saying to them, "How dare you vote that sedition and fascism are unacceptable!"

In the Senate, 45 Republicans sided with Rand Paul's silly claim that impeaching a president after his term of office ends is unconstitutional. Only five Republicans voted yes. Five! Out of a vote which should also have been unanimous! And they, too, are facing a backlash.

What's a little blatant treason among friends?

Nikki Haley, the sometimes oh-so-rational Nikki Haley, actually said on the Laura Ingram show Monday, "I don't even think there's a basis for impeachment."

Fucking what?!

Yeah, who cares about sedition anyway? The truth is dying. And nobody gives a fuck.

People make a serious mistake if they assume that a Biden presidency will fix it all. The underlying riptides of lying are there. Some serious urgency is needed to fix this situation right now, and all I see are people breathing sighs of relief.

As if this weren't the beginning of the battle, rather than the denouement.

What right-wing media is doing is so heinous, so criminal, that our language needs a new word for the crime. Merely saying "lying" doesn't cut it. People are too inured to the word "lying." And "treason" does not work, either. People dismiss "treason" as mere hyperbole, even when it is accurate.

What new word could possibly express how truly unacceptable their behavior is?

Here's my answer: KLON (pronounced like TRON).

It stands for Knowingly Lying On the News. K.L.O.N. Or "KLON." A person who knowingly lies on the news is a klon. What he's doing is called "klonning."

Example: If someone on the news says that Joe Biden stole the election, we know empirically that this is false. That person, assuming he or she isn't a mere guest on the show, is a "klon."

One is a klon if one knowingly disseminates false information on any form of news outlet, whether it be a news program, a news station, a news channel, or a newspaper. If it bills itself as "news," it must meet a  certain standard under the law.

The word fits. It sounds a little bit like "clown," which is both fitting and accurate. It also sounds a bit like "Klan," and for the same reason. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are proud members of the Ku Klux KLON.

QAnon commits KLON. It even rhymes.

Klonning is not freedom of speech! It is a betrayal of the public trust! It is deliberately misleading people in a way which produces real, physical, tangible harm, both mentally and sometimes physically.

Klonning is a hate crime.

There is a loophole. Klonning might be done legally, provided the media outlet is rendered as tabloid, rather than "news." "Tabloid news" is an oxymoron.

Klonning is acceptable in the National Enquirer.

There are liars, cheats, scoundrels, and klons, in descending order.

About two years ago, I invented another word that didn't really catch on, although I see it pop up every once in a long while. That word was "YARP." It's the word "pray" spelled backwards, and I invented it so that non-believers would have something to say to someone in distress besides, "I'll pray for you." Instead, one could say, "I'll yarp for you," meaning that I'm sending well wishes and good vibrations your way.

Well, I can only yarp that klon will catch on.


Eric

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