Where Is my America, and When did it Leave?

When I was a young boy, many years ago, I remember hearing the adults around me say: “Why do I bother reading the newspaper? It’s nothing but bad news.”

When I was in high school, one of my teachers gave the entire class an assignment requiring us to read the entire first section of the local paper. It was the Los Angeles Times. As I expected, it was mostly bad news.

However, what I read today and what is reported on television is far worse than it was in the 1960’s.

First and foremost, I believe that most of what I read is filled with lies of omission. I find that the mainstream media is no longer trustworthy. When I fact check their stories, I discover that they seldom contain the complete truth.

There is at least one mass shooting every day somewhere in America. Hate crimes have risen by nearly 1,000 percent from where it was in 2015. The greed of corporate America has angered most Americans to a level I once thought unthinkable. A man who shot and killed the CEO of a major healthcare company has become a hero for about 41 percent of the American people. Threats of war exist in multiple places around the world. Putin continues his efforts to destroy the democratic nation of Ukraine. Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to cease his plans to eliminate the Palestinian people. If the election was not a huge fraud, the American people chose a fascist who hates the America of our Founding Fathers, planning to replace democracy in America and end the very existence of the United States of America. Fear, anger, and hatred have replaced compassion and understanding.

Last week there was finally one positive story in international news. The murderous and evil leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, was overthrown by unnamed rebels. He began murdering and maiming his own people in 2000, and was supported by Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Iran. We don’t know what kind of government will rule Syria in the near future; it could be better or worse, but Assad was pure evil. He is now hiding in Russia.

However, the majority of stories from around the world question the future of this planet. Evil is winning battles on every continent, and most definitely in North America.

I have not watched a television “news” broadcast since November 9, 2016. I refuse to listen to the misinformation coming from today’s fake journalists who are nothing more than paid liars.

The fourth estate expired nine years ago.

Op-ed by James Turnage

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