Sunday Morning Coffee with a little musing: fake news, will it ever end?

Posted on January 27, 2019

I feel like it’s a job in itself to try to muddle through the news that we are fed every day to see if there is any truth to it. It is so frustrating. The latest to irk the hell out of me is this confrontation between Nick Sandmann and Nathan Phillips. I, like everyone else, saw that initial video and like many i had the same repulsed reaction to it. I was appalled at this young man and his ridiculous smirk. There was alot of online reaction to it and as is always the case alot of reaction coming out of Hollywood types as well. Soon after this video went viral, because you know everything does, the mother of Nick spoke out stating that there were inaccuracies to the story and that her son was being wrongfully attacked. I am sure many rolled their eyes and thought, she’s a mom being a mom protecting her son. Soon after that, a longer video started to circulate adding validity to her claims. Eventually Nick spoke out as well reiterating that not all is what it seems. Anyway, the fact is that the longer video certainly paints a different picture. A narrative if you will. And that’s the bottom line, it’s all about the narrative. Edit a video to put out your narrative even if it means distorting some facts. Having said that, here are my 2 cents on this incident.
It takes two to tango. In this case there were actually 3 parties involved. There has to be a shared responsibility here. However, I don’t for one minute believe that Phillips was trying to egg on or instigate a confrontation by walking towards the youths. I also watched Sandmann’s interview on NBC. Since it took a few days for him do the TV gig you have to believe that he got prepped/guidance from his parents and lawyer on how to carry himself and what to say. Enough was said in the interview but i will focus on one point he made. He says his “smile” was his way of trying to defuse the situation. I don’t buy it. For one, it was a smirk and not a smile. He smirked while his school mates cheered him on in the background. His ego was being stroked and he was reveling and loving every minute. He certainly came across as holier than thou who saw Phillips as being beneath him. A sense of entitlement. No manipulation or editing of any video will change my mind on this.
Anyway, do you know how someone who really wanted to defuse that situation would go about it? You turn around and walk away and tell your school mates to follow suit. That’s how you do it.

Finally, i could care less about what cap he was wearing. I grew up Catholic but this is a different kind of catholic that’s for sure.

I follow many a stars on twitter, one is @Alyssa_Milano.. she wrote a piece on this incident. You can find it here: https://www.thewrap.com/alyssa-milano-red-hats-maga-hats-in-trumps-america-its-not-enough-to-not-be-a-racist/. It shocks me to read the vitriol comments she gets on her IG account. Mad respect to her though for being so relentless.