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UPDATED: My $1000 Challenge to Shark Tank’s Javier Manjarres

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Being a blogger can be a fun hobby and even a source of income for a select few, with much of the attraction being the ease of entry into the industry. Not only does one not need any formal qualifications, training, or actual political experience; but one doesn’t even need a solid ethical core. In fact it could be argued that many of the most prominent bloggers out there have traded ethics in exchange for some quick cash.

The poster child for this new breed of blogging is Florida’s most notorious dumpster-diver, Javier Manjarres of The Shark Tank. Manjarres first rose to fame as Marco Rubio’s tracker, the guy who followed Marco around the state and videotaped his appearances for later display on his blog and YouTube. He somehow managed to turn that experience into winning a much-questioned CPAC “Blogger of the Year” award in 2011, confounding a number of people who actually blogged that cycle.

I’ve written about El Sharko in the past, and so have many, many others (Google is your friend), including this latest post questioning his association with congressional candidate Karen Harrington.

Last night, Manjarres used the BlogCon email list to go on a rant about yours truly. According to a friend, here is what he wrote (grammar and spelling are not changed):

Jacob Perry, who I have never met, and is very close to the most rancid liberal blogger in Florida, Saintpetersblog. has a bone to pick with me, for something or another. I dont think its because Allen West shrugged his business request in his new congressional district, Oops! did I do that? LOL

Perry take so seriously, that he feels compelled to tweet lies about me. God I love this job!

This guy Perry is a real toolbag…he is one of those ol Charlie Crist GOP’ers that is still pissed off his girl lost to Marco. Everyone who is anyone in Florida politics thinks he is a toolbag

I’m using this episode as a perfect example of Manjarres’s typical M.O. You see, sleazy bloggers like Manjarres care only about traffic to their sites, for which they receive a few pennies from Google and Blogads. What they normally do is to turn around and charge exorbitant prices to campaigns in exchange for advertising (or “consulting”), although it’s common knowledge around Florida that what Manjarres does is imply that he will mercilessly attack you on his site if you refuse his overtures. For example, check out his juvenile attacks on Karen Harrington’s opponent, Ozzie DeFaria.

In my case, I am making this specific offer to Mr. Manjarres:

I will gladly and happily make a $1000 contribution to the Republican campaign or charity of his choosing if he is able to provide any evidence at all that I even approached the campaign in question.

You see, I know that he can’t, simply because such a discussion never took place. What Mr. Manjarres actually witnessed was a simple exchange of business cards between myself and Jonathan Blyth, who happens to be Congressman West’s Chief of Staff, a very routine happening between professionals in this industry.

But to El Sharko, we exchanged cards, I didn’t go to work for Mr. West, therefore I must have made an unsuccessful pitch for my services, for which he then takes the credit. I mean, could you even imagine the West campaign giving a glorified tracker with Manjarres’s reputation that much control over campaign staffing decisions? One would have a very good reason for questioning the Congressman’s judgement if that were the case.

That is exactly what he does time and time again, taking a tiny sliver of factual information (in this case a simple exchange of business cards) and turning it into this grand drama that includes his blocking me from working for a campaign, never mind the fact that 99% of his assertion is completely and totally false. At this point he normally uses lines like “sources tell The Shark Tank” instead of actual provable information.

We saw this in a recent story this Spring where he claimed that the Florida GOP was working behind the scenes to damage Congressman West and prevent his re-election, when literally the exact opposite thing was taking place. The Florida GOP was working with several strategists (as well as Congressman Tom Rooney) in order to find a way to accomodate West, leading to the deal where Rooney and West both eventually relocated.

Allow me to repeat this: Manjarres literally made up a story without one single shred of evidence to support his hysterical claims. Would anyone take a news outlet seriously after doing that?

In other words, he lies. And suckers keep falling for it.

Your move Sharko.

UPDATE: So far, here is the only response from Mr. Manjarres:

EL SHARKO‏@THESHARKTANK1 @jacobperry <<Resident FL toolbag making more false allegations-Issues at home, perhaps?

UPDATE: Mr. Manjarres has chosen to make his response in an arena that he seems to think is protected, that being the BlogCon email list, the majority of which is made up of personal friends of mine (whoopsie!) instead of confronting me directly.

Here is the text of his latest email to the group (grammar and spelling completely unchanged from original):

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: TheSharkTank <sharktank411@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 1:51 PM
Subject: [BlogCon] Why is Jacob Perry allowed to attend Blogcon stufff?
To: blogcongroup@googlegroups.com

http://jacobperry.us/2012/06/05/my-1000-challenge-to-shark-tanks-javier-manjarres/    FL resident wannabee blogger toolbag Jacob Perry just took the bait, pay attention Jacob.

This clown alleges that I saw him trade biz cards with Allen West’s COS, I never saw that,he is basing all on this. What a tool?! You see, I never said that he proposed business to Allen West. Listen dofus, shrugged is a lot different from shrugged off.
This is what I wrote:
Jacob Perry, who I have never met, and is very close to the most rancid liberal blogger in Florida, Saintpetersblog. has a bone to pick with me, for something or another. I dont think its because Allen West shrugged his business request in his new congressional district, Oops! did I do that? LOL

Fact is, I didn’t hear anything about his at the time, only found out later. I personally do not care. But Jacob has too much time on his hands, and felt the need to write a lengthy post. 

Btw, Perry copied and paste my email to all of you on this blogcon list, who is to say that he won’t do the same to anyone else? I am of the understanding that we keep our convo’s private on here, right?

Another point, and [REDACTED] can attest, Jacob Perry also deals with the phony and anonymous website Flconservativenews…speaks volumes. 

So be very careful with this idiot, he passes off stuff to these sites that I have mentioned, quite often. 

Jacob is too dumb to realize that he just made himself look like an idiot to the West campaign, and to Rubio-Rubio probably already knew that of him.

The poster child for this new breed of blogging is Florida’s most notorious dumpster-diver, Javier Manjarres of The Shark Tank. Manjarres first rose to fame as Marco Rubio’s tracker, the guy who followed Marco around the state and videotaped his appearances for later display on his blog and YouTube -Jacob Perry
Exactly how many times did I follow Marco around the state and videotape him? Sour grapes that you girl Charlie Crist lost?

Now I am Rubio’s tracker?! LOL I wonder how the Senator from Florida would feel about being lied about?

Now this–

We saw this in a recent story this Spring where he claimed that the Florida GOP was working behind the scenes to damage Congressman West and prevent his re-election, when literally the exact opposite thing was taking place. The Florida GOP was working with several strategists (as well as Congressman Tom Rooney) in order to find a way to accomodate West, leading to the deal where Rooney and West both eventually relocated.-Jacob Perry
My source could not be anymore accurate and viable. If this fool Perry even knew who my source was…ahahahaha

Keep up the good work of discrediting yourself, Jacob.

Now, allow me to point out a few things:

A) Javier is lying (shocking) when he claims (emphasis mine):

This clown alleges that I saw him trade biz cards with Allen West’s COS, I never saw that,he is basing all on this.

Actually, here’s where he said just that:

(CPAC being the location of my business card exchange with Mr. Blyth. Manjarres was standing roughly 20 feet away at the time, watching me intently.)

B) He writes:

You see, I never said that he proposed business to Allen West. Listen dofus, shrugged is a lot different from shrugged off.

Actually, what he wrote was:

because Allen West shrugged his business request in his new congressional district, Oops! did I do that? LOL

Before later writing:

Fact is, I didn’t hear anything about his at the time, only found out later. I personally do not care.

Well, which one is it? Did you block this entirely made up potential business relationship or did you not?

Yet more concrete evidence of Manjarres’s repeated lies. Eventually folks will figure it out, and judging from his harshly cold reception from the BlogCon email list folks, today wasn’t one of his better days.

P.S.: My offer still stands.

Help Me Build a Well

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My wife and I are currently participating in a group study of Richard Stearns’s The Whole in Our Gospel. As part of this study, our group has chosen to work with an organization called The Water Project in funding a well in an underdeveloped country.

For my involvement I have decided to contribute my talents in support of this worthy cause. Therefore, if you would like to support this project, I have a deal for you:

For new clients only, I will donate 100% (yes, you read that correctly) of the fee that I would normally charge for anything contracted in the month of May.

For example, if you hire me to write an email for your campaign or business, I will donate 100% of my standard fee if you contract me to do it in the month of May.

The communications services that I provide for my clients include speech writing, emails (fundraising, updates, newsletters, etc) and blog posts. I normally bill on a flat-fee basis, but can occasionally be persuaded to work on an hourly rate.

Just as an example, my work is currently featured in several e-newsletters with subscriber bases of over 150,000 each. On top of that I produce email newsletters and fundraising messages for a number of current Members of Congress, as well as several additional campaigns for U.S. Senate and House.

If you decide to contract me for a project as part of this promotion, be assured that this will not be misconstrued as an obligation on your part to continue our relationship. In other words, there is no presumption on my part of a permanent business relationship unless we specifically agree on one.

Contact me via email at: jacob (AT) jacobperry.us in order to get the ball rolling.  I would be honored if you saw fit to share this with your friends. Thanks so much.

For more information about this project (or to directly contribute), please click here: My Water Project

When Does A Letter Not Say What People Are Claiming It Does?

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When it’s written by the four top Republican leaders on the Hill and the media has an axe to grind. Such is the case with today’s rather unprecedented action where Senators McConnell and Kyle, along with Representatives Boehner and Cantor sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

First, here is the actual text of the letter, courtesy of  The Wall Street Journal:

Dear Chairman Bernanke,

It is our understanding that the Board Members of the Federal Reserve will meet later this week to consider additional monetary stimulus proposals. We write to express our reservations about any such measures. Respectfully, we submit that the board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the U.S. economy, particularly without a clear articulation of the goals of such a policy, direction for success, ample data proving a case for economic action and quantifiable benefits to the American people.

It is not clear that the recent round of quantitative easing undertaken by the Federal Reserve has facilitated economic growth or reduced the unemployment rate. To the contrary, there has been significant concern expressed by Federal Reserve Board Members, academics, business leaders, Members of Congress and the public. Although the goal of quantitative easing was, in part, to stabilize the price level against deflationary fears, the Federal Reserve’s actions have likely led to more fluctuations and uncertainty in our already weak economy.

We have serious concerns that further intervention by the Federal Reserve could exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy. Such steps may erode the already weakened U.S. dollar or promote more borrowing by overleveraged consumers. To date, we have seen no evidence that further monetary stimulus will create jobs or provide a sustainable path towards economic recovery.

Ultimately, the American economy is driven by the confidence of consumers and investors and the innovations of its workers. The American people have reason to be skeptical of the Federal Reserve vastly increasing its role in the economy if measurable outcomes cannot be demonstrated.

You’ll notice a couple of things:

  •  The letter cautions against “additional monetary stimulus proposals” and further requests a clarification of The Fed’s policies for the near future.
  •  It brings up the obvious fact that The Fed’s most recent stimulative actions have been an unmitigated failure, unless increasing inflation was a specific policy objective.
  •  The letter points out the uncomfortable fact that the U.S. Dollar, once the world’s reserve currency, is rapidly eroding in value and yet another plan to run the printing presses at full blast is likely to make that worse.

Yet, if you didn’t know any better, you’d think that this letter was nothing short than a Republican plea to tank the economy ahead of next year’s elections. Witness:

Andrew Sullivan: “They’ll sabotage economic growth for short term political advantage. They’ll sabotage their own president in negotiating with allies. They’re happy for the US to default if it means they can damage Obama.”

David Frum: “I’m not shocked by much any more, but I am shocked by this: the leaders of one of the great parties in Congress calling on the Federal Reserve to tighten money in the throes of the most prolonged downturn since the Great Depression.”

Robert Reich: “Whatever shred of doubt you may have harbored about the determination of congressional Republicans to keep the economy in the dumps through Election Day should now be gone.”

Matthew Yglesias (ThinkProgress): “In a move without precedent in the modern era, Republican congressional leaders including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz) have penned a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urging him not to take any steps to help the economy.”

Did you notice a common theme? The assumption that even more stimulus will do what all of the previous plans haven’t and actually succeed, the blatant assumption that Republicans truly want the economy to tank for election purposes and the constant statements that this move by Republican leaders is somehow extraordinary?

Those first two assertions are so absurdly false that only an idiot would continue to make those points. No sane person would accuse their political opponents of intentionally ruining the economy for partisan gain, and shame on anyone who would.

But the point about this somehow being unprecedented is disproved by liberal columnist Ezra Klein, who writes:

“This morning, I called the pressure that Republican congressional leaders are exerting on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke “unusual.” But it’s certainly not unprecedented. Here, for instance, is a 1982 New York Times article reporting that Rep. Jim Wright, then the Majority Leader of the House, had called for Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to resign.”

I guess we should stop holding our breaths waiting for Barack Obama to change the partisan atmosphere in Washington. Hopenchange just isn’t enough.

Al Gore Spits On His Daddy’s Grave

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Al Gore. His name alone is a punchline these days, yet there actually are people who take him seriously. Or, at least he thinks that there are such people out there.

In a recent interview given to something called “Current TV” (yes, I’m being sarcastic), Gore tells both of its viewers that those who understand science and reject the notion of man-made climate change are akin to… (wait for it) “racists”:

“There came a time when friends or people you work with or people you were in clubs with — you’re much younger than me so you didn’t have to go through this personally — but there came a time when racist comments would come up in the course of the conversation and in years past they were just natural. Then there came a time when people would say, ‘Hey, man why do you talk that way, I mean that is wrong. I don’t go for that so don’t talk that way around me. I just don’t believe that.’ That happened in millions of conversations and slowly the conversation was won.”

“We have to win the conversation on climate,” Gore added.

When Bogusky questioned the analogy, asking if the scientific reasoning behind climate change skeptics might throw a wrench into the good and evil comparison with racism, Gore did not back down.

“I think it’s the same where the moral component is concerned and where the facts are concerned I think it is important to get that out there, absolutely,” Gore said.

The exchange becomes funnier if you already know that Gore’s father, Senator Al Gore Sr. was one of the south’s more notorious racist politicians and was an organizer of the Democratic-led filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

What Bill Clinton & Sarah Palin Could Potentially Have in Common

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Ahh, the memories. Interns, cigars, trailer parks and constant lawsuits. If you were alive in the early to late 90′s you probably recognized that I just described the Clinton presidency. What fun times they were.

Enter former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. One of her more vociferous defenders, columnist Jedediah Bila has a Daily Caller piece today attempting to defend/clarify Palin’s record as Governor, and it’s worthy of a serious read. I can’t argue with any of the facts she presents, which is a good thing since that isn’t my intent here.

My actual point is regarding the utter slew of lawsuits that barraged the Clinton Administration during it’s second term, effectively hamstringing them and rendering those four years a virtual Clinton Global Victory Tour, with the president traveling the world giving speeches and collecting accolades as a way of avoiding the circus that his presidency had become..

Fast forward to a potential Palin presidency. As Governor of Alaska, Palin faced a barrage of lawsuits and frivolous ethics charges, such an overwhelming attack that it finally forced her to resign and collect several lucrative tv gigs, book deals and even a film in order to earn funds to (ostensibly) cover her extensive legal bills.

Does anyone truly believe that Palin’s enemies will be any easier on her if she were president than when she was governor? For that matter, do we think that they’ll go any easier on her than the right did against Clinton? It’s fair to say that they probably won’t.

Clinton’s mostly inept second term can primarily be traced to the energy drained from fighting off the constant attacks from the right (and I’m not suggesting that any of it wasn’t legitimate). One can only imagine the hassle and frustrations that a possible President Palin would be faced with and the resources that would be diverted to deal with them.

This Is What A Blogger Looks Like

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A little over a week ago I wrote a post regarding bloggers and professional ethics. While that post was primarily about bloggers who either sell endorsements or charge exorbitant fees for advertising in exchange for favorable coverage, there’s a related issue involving what an actual blogger really should be doing.

To restate: a blogger is not a journalist. There’s a big difference between the two, more differences than can be addressed in this post. Suffice it to say that a professional journalist has a code of ethics to adhere to, something that occurs to very few bloggers who are simply about gaining as much traffic/exposure with little regard to ethics or any long-term effects of their writing.

However, I would be naive to pretend that bloggers can’t be either professional or ethical in their conduct, nor would it be accurate for me to say that there isn’t a role that they can play. As an example, I would like to direct you to this post written by experienced campaign professional and blogger Sarah Rumpf as one example of an important role bloggers can play in the area of investigative journalism:

Connections between Mike McCalister and Doug Guetzloe?

After getting caught in what is, at best, a misrepresentation about testifying before Congress, and facing mounting questions about his record, new information has been discovered that is likely to further damage Colonel Mike McCalister’s credibility in the Florida Republican Senate Primary.

Previously under fire from Florida tea party organizers for his “bold self determination” declaring himself a “national Tea Party star,” McCalister appears to have made the unfortunate decision to ally himself with Doug Guetzloe.

While you owe it to yourself to read this thoroughly researched post in its entirety, allow me to make this point; a blogger can fill an important role in investigating and highlighting stories that few (if any) mainstream journalists would ever touch, in this example probably dismissing this particular story as either a personal matter or an inter-party squabble. yet investigating the motives and connections behind a dubious character and a campaign for Federal office is an important matter, a story that ten years ago wouldn’t have been heard.

Is the Texas “Economic Miracle” Due to Corporate Cronyism?

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Without the economic growth in Texas, Rick Perry would just be another egotistical politician, albeit one with a Texas twang. The economic record of Texas is truly Perry’s sole platform. The record of jobs growth and fiscal austerity is his claim-to-fame, otherwise there’s precious little that separates him from the other challengers.

But what if the economic success in Texas had far more to do with state intervention and being friends with the Governor? In that case, wouldn’t that make him just a big government Republican who uses his power to help his corporate buddies?

Esteemed Washington Times columnist Tim Carney lays out a pretty convincing case that this is precisely what happened. The entire thing is very much worth a read, but here are some highlights:

Corporate welfare king Boeing provided a formative experience for Perry. Weeks after Perry took over the governorship in 2001, the jet maker announced it was moving its corporate headquarters out of Seattle and was considering Chicago, Denver and Dallas. Undoubtedly, Texas provided the best business environment: lower taxes, less regulation, better weather, less traffic. But Chicago won because Mayor Richard Daley and Gov. George Ryan offered Boeing $63 million in “incentives,” including a $1 million buyout to a tenant who was occupying Boeing’s preferred office space.

One problem: Texas’ slower legislative process prevented the state from making a counteroffer. Perry was determined to fix this inefficiency so he would never be out-corporate-welfared again.

In his next State of the State address, Perry pushed the Legislature to create the Texas Enterprise Fund, giving the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker the power to hand out multimillion-dollar grants to businesses seeking to relocate to or expand within the state. Two years later, Perry and the Legislature created another subsidy bank, called the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, using taxpayer money to invest in high-tech companies. Perry made government a venture capital fund.

So, Governor Perry convinces the Texas Legislature to give him a slush fund that he can use to “convince” companies to relocate to Texas, with limited oversight? Hmmm. The piece goes on:

And just as President Obama uses renewable energy as an excuse for steering taxpayer money to big business, Perry also loves green corporate welfare. Perry was a featured speaker at the national wind lobby’s 2008 conference, where he touted his 2005 law requiring Texans to purchase wind and solar energy — all in the name of “job creation” and business growth. If you force people to buy a product, of course the businesses selling that product will grow.

Perry also shares Obama’s tendency to enrich drug companies, employing friendly revolving-door lobbyists. Perry’s little bit of pharma welfare was his 2007 executive order requiring all sixth-grade girls to be vaccinated for human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer. Drugmaker Merck happened to have exclusive rights to the HPV vaccine, and Merck’s top lobbyist in Austin happened to be Perry’s former chief of staff, Mike Toomey. Also, Merck’s political action committee had cut a $6,000 check to Perry. The state Legislature reversed this executive overreach.

Mandating Merck’s vaccine, Gardasil, was an extraordinary step. When governments require school kids to get vaccinated, it’s typically against the types of disease that can be spread in the classroom. As conservative columnist Michelle Malkin puts it, “young girls and boys are simply not at an increased risk of contracting HPV in the classroom” the way they could pick up measles.

Perry’s actions as governor suggest that for him, “pro-business” means “corporatism.” His words are telling, too. While critiquing Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal in his book “Fed Up,” Perry states that economic recovery came from “World War II, when FDR was finally persuaded to unleash private enterprise.” Is he talking about the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, complete with its rationing? Or maybe FDR “unleashed private enterprise” through the War Production Board or the War Manpower Commission?

One thing is absolutely for certain. The Republican Party owes it to voters to thoroughly vet it’s future nominee in a way that Democrats (with the help of the mainstream media) absolutely refused to do. A closer examination of Governor Perry’s record would be a great place to start. Be assured that should he become our nominee, the Obama folks will certainly do it.

Stuart Memorial Service For Fallen Navy Seal

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Via TCPalm.com:

STUART — The parents of Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class Aaron C. Vaughn announced Wednesday they will have a celebration of life service on Sunday at Martin County High School, a Navy official confirmed.

Vaughn was one of 30 Americans who died Aug. 6 in Wardak province, Afghanistan when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down by Taliban forces. According to Pentagon officials, those killed included 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs.

Navy public affairs officer Lt. Leslie Hubbell of the Naval Special Warfare, said the event will begin at 7 p.m. at the high school’s auditorium and is expected to last about 90 minutes.

“There has already been an outpouring of support by the local community to the Vaughn family,” wrote Hubbell in an email, “and for that, words cannot sufficiently express the gratitude they feel, and want to thank everyone for being so gracious and caring.”

Hubbell confirmed that on Aug. 26, Vaughn is expected to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

His parents, Billy and Karen Vaughn of Stuart, on Saturday were in northwestern Tennessee to join family members in Troy for a memorial service at the Obion County Central High School gymnasium to honor the married father of two children.

In addition to his parents, Vaughn leaves behind his wife, Kimberly; a son, Reagan, 2; and a daughter, Chamberlyn, 2 months. He was based in Virginia Beach, Va.

Hubbell said anyone wishing to donate directly to benefit Aaron Vaughn’s family may send a check or money order to the Navy Federal Credit Union, care of “The Children of Aaron Vaughn Fund,” P.O. Box 3100, Merrifield, VA 22119-3100. Hubbell said all correspondence should include the name of the fund, and access No. 6087605 on the check.

Obama Admin Hopes More Americans Will Die in Plane Crashes

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From The Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid fierce opposition from charter and cargo airlines, as well as alarms raised by Pentagon officials, the Obama administration has delayed new safety rules aimed at preventing airline pilots from becoming so exhausted that they make dangerous mistakes.

Charter airlines — also called nonscheduled airlines — not only fly tourists and sports teams, they provide the planes and pilots for thousands of military flights every year. Civilian airlines transport more than 90 percent of U.S. troops and 40 percent of military cargo around the globe under contracts with the Pentagon. The trips are frequently long, usually at night and often to danger spots like Afghanistan.

The rules the Federal Aviation Administration proposed last year are designed to address long-standing concerns that pilot fatigue contributes to errors that cause accidents. They would reshape decades-old regulations governing how many hours a pilot can be on duty or at the controls of a plane, to take into account the latest scientific understanding of how fatigue slows human reflexes and erodes judgment.

Congress, responding to a 2009 regional airline crash in western New York that killed 50 people, passed legislation last year requiring the FAA put new fatigue rules in place by Aug. 1.

Nice. So, in a time of economic troubles the Obama Administration seeks an easy solution to the problem of entitlements by doing their best to ensure that thousands of Americans will die in plane crashes and will therefore not receive Social Security and Medicare benefits promised to them? Even worse is that these types of flights are often taken by our military, so it seems obvious that this administration is trying to kill servicemen and women in a macabre effort to cut defense spending.

STOP. Turn On Your Brain.

Quite the leap of logic on my part, wouldn’t you say? Any sane and reasonable person would think the same, yet I’ve clearly linked to a factual story released by the very credible Associated Press.

What I’ve done in this example is to (knowingly) allow my own bias against this current administration to color both the header and my own commentary in an effort to make my presumed opposition appear cruel and reckless for the purposes of my example. It’s a stupid and reckless thing for me to do and the potential harm is immeasurable, yet this is exactly what hundreds, if not thousands of various outlets do every single day. From the formerly respected New York Times to the laughably absurd Media Matters, these (and countless other) groups take a smidgeon of facts (just like my AP piece about the FAA relaxing fatigue rules for airline pilots) and then slant them in such a way to make their intended targets (set out before even writing the story) appear in the worst light possible.

The solution is to stop considering people like Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Ed Schultz or Rush Limbaugh to be actual news sources or actual journalists instead of the bloviating opinion columnists that they are. As long as people confuse the editorial page with the front page, the sheep will continue to be lead to slaughter.

UPDATE: Based on the feedback I’ve received since yesterday, far, far too many people either didn’t read much of the piece or didn’t read beyond the headline, which itself should’ve been a clue that something was amiss. Based on all of the feedback I’ve received, from vile threats to friendly reminders of just what the investigation of the Colgan 3407 crash has accomplished, most people failed to process what I wrote in even the most basic way. The truth is this piece had nothing to do with either plane crash investigations, the FAA or the Obama Administration. It was a test to see how many people could get beyond their own biases and think logically.

Far too many people failed that test.