Baseless conspiracy theories

There’s an old saying “We’re all entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts.” Pastor Johnson’s column last week was a travesty of journalism. Instead of providing clear, unambiguous moral clarity on an issue of our times; the pastor promoted conspiracy theories, outright lies and innuendo under the guise of “something just doesn’t feel right.”

He attempted to establish his bonafides as an investigator and rational thinker by mentioning his previous career as a prison guard.

He made the statement that “Sometimes you know of the crime but have little or no evidence, but you have a strong suspicion about a suspect. In these times, you must be careful that your suspicions do not lead you away from evidence.”

He then proceeded to lead the gentle reader away from the evidence.

Here is the truth:

President Biden beat Former President Trump in the 2020 election by more than 7 million votes in the popular vote;

President Biden won 306 electoral votes to Former President Trump’s 232;

Former President Trump and his campaign were afforded every opportunity to challenge any and all results they questioned. They brought more than 60 court cases in battleground states across the country. Every case was thrown out for lack of evidence by judges appointed by Democrats and Republicans, many appointed by Former President Trump himself.

Pastor Johnson repeats baseless conspiracy theories found on right wing media. These lies are repeated using misleading video footage so many times that many have accepted them as truth. They have all been investigated and found to be groundless and false.

He points to the fact that “The election being rigged or stolen was something tens of millions of people believed” without entertaining the possibility that the reason so many people believe such lies is because people in positions of trust (like him) who should know better have been promoting them.

I understand that “losing the big game can be a hard pill to swallow” as one local car dealership ad tells us everyday on television. But even adults apparently retreat into a world of make believe, where their preferred candidate didn’t lose the big game during the election of 2020. They find it intolerable that the election could have been legitimately won by a man and an administration they rightly or wrongly despise.

But don’t the same rules apply to all of us that are showcased in the commercial? What do young people think when they see adults, some in positions of honor and respect, deny reality and assert loudly and often that what happened, actually didn’t happen? What kind of message about facts, truth and integrity does this send? How can we expect the younger generation of today to make principled, value based decisions about an emerging world of AI and shifting social norms when our example tells them “if you don’t like the way things turn out you can just deny reality and accuse your opponent of baseless claims of dishonesty?

The Pastor certainly knows better. He is leading people who trust him astray. And this paper certainly knows better. I’m appalled that the Early Bird would print such a scurrilous piece, just to pander to peoples’ ignorance, mendacity and lack of principle.

Matthew J Guyette

Chairman, Darke County Democratic Party and Democratic Member, Board of Elections