The family, spread out over time due to work, had come together from all over the country on this special day. Putting aside political differences, if even for only a day, everyone could agree on one thing — Turkey! And more of it, please. The table was full of other good things to eat – cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans with bacon, and more! And for desert, of course there was pumpkin pie, and maybe even some vanilla ice cream. The day was Thanksgiving, and it was a day that everyone stopped what they were doing, spent it with family and those closest to them and said thanks for all of the good things that had happened to them that year. In fact, this celebration had happened every year since the bountiful harvest of 1620, when the Pilgrims, in all of their wisdom and benevolence, invited the Indians to share a meal with them. Every American knows this story since grade school, right? But, what if the story didn’t happen like your second grade teacher taught you? What if this was more “fake news”?
Zerohedge, a propaganda-ish website according to a recent report, wrote about the “Thanksgiving myth”. There, they noted — “The official story has the Pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, going to America, and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620–21. This first winter is hard, and half the colonists die. But the survivors are hardworking and tenacious, and they learn new farming techniques from the Indians. The harvest of 1621 is bountiful. The pilgrims hold a celebration, and give thanks to God. They are grateful for the wonderful new abundant land He has given them.” And, that is nothing new, right? In fact, that is pretty much the story that most Americans are taught in school.
But, the article doesn’t stop there. It continues — “In his History of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford, the governor of the colony, reported that the colonists went hungry for years because they refused to work in the field. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with "corruption," and with "confusion and discontent." The crops were small because "much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable." Oh, wait. What is this? Is the storyline between what is taught in school and actual history beginning to diverge? What is happening here?
Again, it is noted that — “In the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622, "all had their hungry bellies filled," but only briefly. The prevailing condition during those years was not the abundance the official story claims, it was famine and death. The first "Thanksgiving" was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men.” Hmmm, something strange is going on here. What could it be? Is your fake-news meter going off?
The article at Zerohedge, again propaganda-ish according to the Washington Post, notes that — “But in subsequent years something changes. The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, as Bradford wrote, "instead of famine now God gave them plenty, and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God." Thereafter, he wrote, "any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day." In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn. But, what happened?
To answer that question, we go back to the article — “After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, "they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop." They began to question their form of economic organization.” To make a long story short, the Pilgrims switched from an early form of socialism to a free-market capitalism, and that was the end of the bad times. Of course, this is NOT what people understand or know about Thanksgiving. In fact, the history of early New England failures could be likened to the views that Bernie Sanders espouses, in some regards. Less work? Good! Deserve more while doing less? Better! Free for all? Best! In fact, the fake news aspect of Thanksgiving is not so much that the story was reimagined and a positive spin put on it, but that America began with a form of socialism, it failed and only after a desperate attempt to save the colony was greed unlocked, allowing capitalism to emerge– and thus allowing the country to survive.
As America slowly comes to grips with the words — “President-elect Trump”, others are not so sure. News has it that Green Party candidate Jill Stein is raising money to contest the outcome of the election and the Guardian has reported that —“The drive has already raised more than $4.5m, which the campaign said would enable it to file for recounts in Wisconsin on Friday and Pennsylvania on Monday, (November 29). Crazy, right?
And speaking of crazy, the newest and hottest topic for the second week in a row is – Fake News. In fact, the Washington Post recently ran a story combining two of the biggest talking points – Fake News and Russia. And their recent article, they get bonus points for combining both of them. The article was headlined — “Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election”. In that article, numerous points were discussed, and one was – “Clinton (falling) ill at a Sept. 11 memorial event in New York”. You see, it was nothing more than her catching the flu, and if reported otherwise, like she might have poor health, it is fake news according to Wapo (forget all those easy to find pics of her being held up at various campaign events and of her being followed by some guy with some strange looking medical pen device). Those images are also part of the ploy, you see.
In fact, the premise of the article basically rests on the study by Propornot, a group of people from various backgrounds. In that article, it was noted that-“The way that this propaganda apparatus supported Trump was equivalent to some massive amount of a media buy.” Sounds good, right? But by clicking through to that website, you can see that among some questionable sites being listed as fake news, other sites are listed, such ZeroHedge and even the Drudge Report. That’s right. Drudge is now Russian propaganda and even fake news. The same guy that back in the 90’s defied the mainstream media to report on Bill Clinton’s involvement with Monica Lewinsky. Funny how things have come full circle, right? Drudge took on the mainstream media, and now the mainstream media is taking on Drudge, or trying to.
Wrapping it up, William F Buckley put it best when he said — “Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views."
So, what do you think dear listeners — “Wapo says Drudge is fake news, what say you?”
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com
