Musings:
•I have a new nickname for the Hungarian nemesis: Gaslighter.
For those who are not familiar with that term, a gaslighter is a person who manipulates a conversation in order to gain control over his/her opponent. He/she makes the opponent question their credibility concerning a given topic of discussion. A gaslighter cannot authentically argue his/her own viewpoint or stand behind his/her language and so resorts to lies and/or distortions of reality and attempts to shift responsibility from him/herself and onto the opponent.
Our very own gaslighter routinely targets other contributors to The Voice and fails miserably. He uses the word hate overly much to describe his opponent’s intelligence and point-of-view and keeps at it in the forlorn hope that he can create a crack in his opponent’s position. Not once does he use the word love; it doesn’t seem to be in his dictionary. With him, it’s hate here, hate there, hate everywhere.
One other note: A gaslighter struggles to avoid having the tables turned upon him/herself. A case in point is the obsession our very own gaslighter has with the Joe Biden family and its alleged crimes. He has parroted this viewpoint so often that he has unwittingly embraced the hate-ness he has accused others of having. A good gaslighter will avoid any counter-manipulation in the conversation with his/her opponent.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but here’s a hot news flash for our very own gaslighter. I cannot be gaslighted, no matter how much BS tries. Why? Because I know more than he does. This is no idle boast, dear reader. I read a lot, and I soak up knowledge like a sponge. BS will never know as much as I know, even if he lives to be a hundred years old.
•And speaking of knowing a lot, during my days of writing to/for TONIT (that other newspaper in town), I took a lot of heat for my views. One reader was provoked into issuing a rebuttal to an essay I had written on religion. He labeled me as the “Great Godless Guru.” He meant it as sarcasm, but I was so tickled pink by the sobriquet that I began referring to myself as the “GGG.” (And that’s how I learned to “hide” myself behind a third-party identity.)
•And speaking of religion, you may be shocked, dear reader, when I tell you I have a favorite biblical verse, in the King James version, of course. It is 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12-13. Look it up, won’t you? I put away childish things, religion being one of them, long ago and “now I know even as I am known.” Paul the Apostle meant the verses in a different fashion, but they certainly apply to the “Great Godless Guru” as well.
•Are you following the election polls, dear reader? Do you find them confusing? I do.
The polls are supposed to represent the current regard the electorate has for one candidate or another. As such, the polls fluctuate from day to day, depending upon who’s doing the polling for whatever purpose. The problem here is that the persons polled are small groups, a few hundred at most. Their opinions are then extrapolated to represent the electorate as a whole. Moreover, the groups tend to be homogenous in character in order to single out opinions based on age, gender, ethnicity, profession, economic status, and educational level.
The discrepancies are legend. And so the pollsters throw in what they are pleased to call margins of error (plus or minus), in order to avoid bias. Polling a heterogenous group, i.e. the “man-on-the-street” interview, is more accurate, but it is time-consuming. The pollsters want/need instant answers in order to meet their headquarters’ deadlines. Generally, then, one poll often contradicts another poll, even if the source is the same. Confusion reigns, and the average voter is at a loss as to which to believe.
I read polls with a grain of salt, a barrelful on some occasions. I base my understanding of a given candidate on what he/she says instead of what pollsters attempt to foist upon us. There is one “poll,” however, that I find completely accurate. It is conducted on Election Day, and only a sore loser can refute it.
Make sure, dear reader, that you are “polled” correctly November 5.
Just a thought.