In comments about a recent Army Bob column, three people who regularly write in this esteemed publication attacked me for not citing references. One can assume that since one of them normally provided a link to an Internet site as a reference, that is their directive to me.
Nothing wrong with doing that but I feel you the readers are smart enough to use Google or other search engines if you have a need to know more.
Let’s play their game and make a few points:
Bigfoot exists. Google, it and you will find among others the “Sasquatch Genome Project” sasquatchgenomeproject.org, it maintains they have video and DNA evidence to prove Bigfoot is real. It must be a fact, as I could cite a link to their site as a reference.
The moon landing is a fake: The moon landings were shot in a Hollywood sound stage www.ozy.com/true-story/how-i-faked-the-apollo-moon-landing/68714. I found dozens of links to site the landings were faked, proof positive it never happened? I can provide you all a link to a site so it must be true.
The Holocaust never happened: The interesting thing is the hard left and right have sites with links to “prove” this one www.holocaust-trc.org/denying-history/. The left disapproves of the Jewish State, the extremely radical-right Jews. Dozens of sites I could reference are proof it never happened. As a child, an Army dependent living in post-World War II Germany my father took us to a death camp, hard to fake that.
Fluoridation: A plot by big business to dispose of hazardous waste https://www.infowars.com/big-government-conspiracy-theories-become-reality. A second site reports fluoridation is a Commie plot. Found a link, got to be a stone-cold fact.
All cancer treatments are fake: This hit home because I am fighting prostate cancer. Many sites maintain all treatments are a plot by drug companies in a conspiracy with doctors to make money. According to them, cancer can’t be cured with drugs or radiation. I will not dignify this with a link, my deep apologies to the enlightened three critics.
The Denver Airport is covering up a conspiracy: Yep it is a fact, I found three sites to confirm it as a slam dunk fact hechive.com/2012/03/08/something-is-rotten-in-the-denver-airport-25-photos. Under the Denver Airport is the world headquarters for The New World Order, proven true as I could cite a website or three.
FEMA has built concentration camps on American soil: Again, the hard left and right have sites we could link to, that prove this must be an unquestionable fact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnbrqYoToWo
9/11 was an inside job. President George W. Bush and Wall Street planted explosives to bring down the towers. This one has a ton of sites, we could site as proof. ww1.ae911truth.org/en/…/874-why-i-am-convinced-911-was-an-inside-job.html
The point is a column is an opinion piece. Funny thing how the liberal columnists do not need to justify opinions in this esteemed publication but Ranger Rick and I do? The bottom line is because we can find something, at a web site on the Internet does not make it true, a link is not necessarily a fact.
Hiding behind a web link to “prove” a fact is a gutless, cowardly thing to do. Our friends in the media do it daily, the retort when found to be incorrect news or fake news can be I did not say it I merely referenced a web site or a story, the cowards.
My distrust for the media goes way back to 1987, during a training operation we were conducting in Honduras a team of folks from CNN arrived at our compound convinced we were preparing an invasion of Nicaragua. We allowed them to see for themselves we were not, they agreed.
A few days later CNN reported that according to some obscure Illinois State Senator the Army was preparing an invasion of Nicaragua showing footage of our operation, CNN got around the truth and facts by quoting someone else. The truth and facts were not in the report, as they failed to prove a line of thought CNN wanted to be true.
Oh, by the way we never invaded nor got any place near Nicaragua. And folks in the media wonder why we have a President Trump?