Rants by Mac: Just the Facts, PLEASE

I have shocking news for some readers. Donald Trump did not actually fly a fighter jet over a group of No-Kings protesters two weeks ago and dump excrement on them.

I never really thought that the Trump fighter-jet video was real — Juvenile? Yes – Real? No — but apparently some folks did because it was on the Internet.

Last week I wrote criticism about the tearing down of the East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom. A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll this week found that 56 percent of respondents oppose the project (28 percent favor it).

When I noted that Trump took on this project without permission or oversight, six people responded to inform me that President Obama tore down parts of the White House to build a basketball court.

They each sent me a picture to prove it.

Yes, THIS PICTURE.

However, after examining the picture and quickly thinking, “something’s wrong with this,” I proceeded to check the validity of the information and found that the picture, sent by multiple people to justify Trump’s demolition, was shot in 1934. Obama was born in 1961.

Snopes confirmed it, stating that “Based on similar photographs from the Library of Congress, it appeared to show construction at the White House’s West Wing in 1934, during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.”

The site added that Obama, “did adapt an outdoor tennis court at the White House to also serve as a basketball court during his administration, adding hoops and lines. This conversion did not require extensive construction.” He added “HOOPS and LINES?”

So, as a public service message: DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE. When you discover something to support your “What about” argument, check the facts. Two questions that immediately hit me when I looked at that picture were:

1)    Does anyone believe that kind of demolition was necessary to add a basketball hoop?

2)    Who actually believes that picture was taken this century?

Come on guys?

I replied with corrected information, citing my proof, to those six. I got a response of “you missed the point. Other presidents modified the White House.” Really? That’s your argument? I’m sure that others, who did not respond, found and believed that same fabrication? I think that may be the point.

A few folks pointed out that Harry Truman closed the White House down in 1948, so that “the first family couldn’t even live there for years.”

Yes, he did, and here are those facts: Wikipedia reported on the reconstruction, stating that Truman received a report from the Commissioner of Public Buildings warning of the “imminent collapse” of the second floor. In February, the president invited “a structural survey of the safety of the White House,” which concluded that the second-floor structure was a fire hazard and in danger of collapse.

The interior walls and floors were pulling away from the exterior walls leaving large gaps, leaving the interior of the house sinking and in danger of collapsing inward; the entire mansion was unsafe.

To address the crisis, President Truman sought the most economical solution that would maintain the White House’s historic appearance. Hmmmm

Sure, Nixon put in a bowling alley, and FDR added a pool. Obama did lines and hoops. But none of them tore down a 100+ year-old historical structure without any permission or oversight. No other occupant asked to more than double the square footage of the complex. Of course, Trump didn’t ask either, despite public opinion that is two to one against.

What I have learned from my writing, and from the responses I get, is that we have reached a point where we don’t just have sides in politics. It goes further now in that neither side can accept any discussion, any debate, any criticism, about their team without a ”Yeah, but your side did that.”

I did not think Biden was a good president. I despised open borders, his continued push to write off college loans and other obligations that people knowingly agreed to, the liberal giveaways. I’ve always considered those bad policies, and as a Republican (until 2016), I argued against them. I wrote here that he should opt out of the 2024 presidential race, long before he made that decision.

I do not think Donald Trump is a good president. I oppose masked federal agents in the streets, arresting grandmas and U.S. citizens based upon their “look,” muzzling the press, and now even Congress, in their access to governmental agencies, and assuming executive power without limits, while Congress shrugs.

Oh, and I think Congress has abandoned its responsibility to legislate altogether – where are they?

Both parties, and all candidates, have flaws. But if no one can admit mistakes, everyone becomes blind to them. We tell our side that the other side is gullible, naive, hysterical, radical, extreme, misinformed, partisan, brainwashed and stupid.

Meanwhile, we share fake posts and modified pictures and videos from Facebook and TikTok as “proof,” proving only that fiction spreads faster than truth.

I love debate and welcome your feedback, always. But let’s listen to each other and use real data to hold each other accountable. How will we have meaningful discussions with alternative facts? How will we make informed choices if we don’t get informed?

Holding your own side accountable, too, shows integrity, not betrayal.

Curt MacRae, a resident of Coldwater, MI, publishes regular opinion columns.

To be notified by email when a column is published, or to offer feedback email rantsbymac@gmail.com