“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don’t want to hear.” ~ George Orwell

So, listen up Liberty Lovers…

You and I are being controlled by a cacophony of noise. There’s no meat, no meaning, no merit, and no message; it’s a tool to keep us distracted. There is no substance, no soul, no deeper spirit, and no scheme, except its scope to distract us from knowing the truth of what’s going on in our republic. If these hidden actions and intents need to be obscured, are they constitutional, lawful?

I’ve never tracked the number of times I’ve mentioned Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) in my articles and columns, but that shouldn’t diminish that this tactic underlines the processes in play in American Partisan Politics, the government of these United States of America.

For the past fifty years at least, the mainstream media promotes the messages that our country is in peril from internal and external forces that want to cripple or even destroy everything that we hold precious. It began with the Communist’s, turning us inward to implicate anyone and everyone suspected as an enemy of the partisan political party in power.

Can you see the pattern here?

With only two predominant partisan parties involved, it’s the party in power that’s the enemy and the party not in power who makes the accusations.

Again…

It’s the party in power that’s the enemy and the party not in power who makes the accusations. And it’s their assertion that this internal enemy will – will destroy America.

You can introduce the other 53 recognized political parties into this mix, but the tactics, like the song, remain the same. Each has a vested interest in seizing control for their own reasons, and each will use whatever methods they deem necessary to win.

The Ends Justify The Means… (There… I worked it in again…)

But are they not all internal?

America doesn’t allow outsiders to participate in our elections, do we?

Do we??

Confused?

Why, I’m glad you asked…

“Because it’s easier to rule the distracted than to govern the wise.” ~ Thomas Paine

Before you proceed further I ask that you stop and really ponder that statement.

What does this mean to you?

If your answer is nothing, that’s OK, but hold on to that image, because that image is precisely what the overseer’s of this republic want you to know. NOTHING! They don’t want you to know anything about this republic, except what they want you to know; and believe me Liberty Lovers… that very, very little.

The less we know, the more compliant we are…

– Compliant: obeying, obliging, or yielding, especially in a submissive way.

Paine uses two specific words in his statement: Rule – to exercise dominion, and Govern – directing or managing by right of authority. Rulers are appointed; governors are elected.

This piece started the way most of my articles do. It began with an email, and a video clip about Socrates and his philosophy, we call it the Socratic Method, which is, using probing questions to uncover the deeper truth or meaning to expose contradictions. I’ll include the video link at the end of the article.

Socrates said, “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”

Socrates’ relevance and his methods will become apparent as we progress through this article.

I am still amazed when quotes from over 2,500 years ago seem as relevant to today as when they were spoken. It’s as though modern politicians actually read them, then intentionally ignore them, but unintentionally incorporate that idea in their rhetoric. Obviously, I wasn’t there when they were spoken, but thankfully, there were scribes who dutifully recorded these words for posterity.

If you’re anything like me, you sample multiple news sources throughout the day. Mine come by way of internet feeds, but from about 8 different sources. I don’t trust anyone to be totally honest, especially the purveyors of news, and for that my friend Sam calls me a Super-Cynic. I’m not really that bad, but I am extremely aware of sources and the conduits that deliver them.

To illustrate this, look at two news companies accounts of the same event. Pick a recent story about President Trump. Read the accounts on the Federalist, then read the same story in the New York Times; you’ll see a marked difference in the interpretation of this event and its implications.

That’s why I like to read several accounts, find the common-thread, then disregard the minutia and opinion crap. I’ve noticed that most of these accounts, I’ll call them what they are – stories, are full of speculative gobbledygook and biased narrative opinions that feed a particular partisan political position. I use Socrates’ comment: “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser,” as a filter.

I asked the omnipotent AI about the word news… AI tells me the word “news” implies new information about recent events, but does not inherently guarantee it is factual. While traditional news reporting aims for accuracy and factual information, the term itself can also refer to any new information, including rumors, speculation, or opinion. The distinction between factual news and other types of information is typically maintained through the reporting process, with clear markers separating news from opinion and entertainment.

Will anyone reading or listening to this article please provide evidence of ‘clear markers separating news from opinion and entertainment…’ in any printed or electronic broadcast…

AI tells me that an exception is op-ed, a short, opinion-based essay written by an individual, not affiliated with the publication’s editorial board. The term originally stood for “opposite the editorial page,” where these pieces traditionally appeared in newspapers. Today, op-eds are published in newspapers, magazines, and online to provide a specific, informed viewpoint on a current issue. It differs from an editorial which is the official opinion of a newspaper’s editorial board and is written by a staff member.

I completely agree with the last two descriptors in the sentence above about opinion and entertainment, and have never seen anything printed or spoken that would define content as anything other than what it’s intended to be when broadcast under the auspices of NEWS, nor have I ever heard a talking-head preface a comment with… ”This is speculation or this is opinion.”

It’s all just noise, and any resemblance to fact is purely unintended.

Open up your favorite news feed online and read the headlines or introductions. They are meant to entice you to read, listen to, or watch the clip. Do these lead-ins remind you of anything else you see, like in emails from the thousands of interweb retailers? There is always something to entice you to click-to-watch or read. It’s the same thing with the mainstream media. They are advertising the information they present and the more alluring the lead, the more likely you are to click, and clicks in this brave new world, equals popularity which drives profits. Profits in this sense means that you bought the pig in the poke, an idiom for buying or accepting something without seeing it first, implying that it might be a deceptive or worthless deal.

Are you beginning to see where this is going?

I’m going out on a limb here, but everything that attracts your attention is advertising, it exists to sell you a lie, or push the noise that distracts you from the truth, and this is especially true with what we loosely call news. And the truth is… We are being lied to, every day, in every way. I may address the implications of and the impact of this at a future date, but for now, realize that your every attention is part of a well-orchestrated program to distract you from the treachery going on right before our very eyes. It’s part of the overall strategy to remove ‘We the people’ from the equation of government, but to make you believe you have a part in its operation. The only part we presently play is as the electors of the representatives, but even this is being called into question with allegations of voting irregularities and fraud.

Take a look at the title of this article. It’s carefully worded to attract your attention and make you want to read or listen to the content. It’s advertising. If I’d title this article, “Here are 3,045 words about my opinion on why you do what you do and why you should pay attention to what’s really going on, because you don’t really know what’s going on.” You’d skip to the next article.

Yes, you would!

The Affordable Care Act is 11,000 pages, and about 250,000 words. Even Nancy Pelosi, the Left’s Speaker of the House, didn’t read it and instead recommended passing it into law, “so we can find out what’s in it…” As the name implies, it was intended to make healthcare affordable, but the pig in that poke, remains to be revealed. According to the Right, it reportedly increased costs nearly 1000%, although the Left’s numbers state an increase of 26%. KFF indicates that costs in 2025 will more than double for 2026. Who is right depends on your partisan political leanings, but only after you open your wallet (the poke) will that pig be exposed, because that bill is already in place and the next marker is in 2026, when tax credits, government subsidies expire.

But… the title, It’s All Noise, it’s short and to the point and obviously captured your attention.

Advertising!

Advertisers will spent an estimated $1.17 trillion this year, and that’s just the commercial side. Government spending for advertising is intermingled in other costs but estimates project about a $2 billion expenditure. It’s all to convince you that you need to choose their article or widget or thingy over everything else available. It plays to your likes and dislikes and personalities. You do realize that this is exactly why there are partisan political parties, didn’t you?

Yes, all of the partisan political parties represent alternatives and a variety of ideologies, but that variety is still about control, even inside all of the weasel-words and rhetoric is the undeniable aspect of control. One party to rule them all. JRR Tolkien wrote a metaphorical story called the Lord of the Rings about control, and the battles it creates.

Here’s an interesting lesson from world history.

Politics isn’t about policy, it’s about loyalty, and it’s about identity. It’s about who you serve and why. This goes back to the biblical quote about serving two masters. The two masters in this case are the ethnic groups and the American, civic, national society.

“When politicians demonstrate divided loyalty they lose effectiveness. They lose trust and the ability to represent anyone effectively. Identity politics will break down America; it doesn’t work when politicians represent ethnic groups instead of Americans.

When bureaucracy is full of people who saw their positions as opportunities to enrich themselves not as a duty to the civic society, it breaks down.

When society needs people to sacrifice for it, the leaders are gone and support an ethnic tribe and their own narrow interests.

That’s how empires collapse, not from invasions, but from internal dissolution. It’s ethnic identity versus civic identity, an ethnic community versus the community as a whole. History has decided every single time that a house divided cannot stand.

Societies with strong civic identities survived, and the societies that dissolved into competing ethnic factions collapsed. Divided loyalty loses every time throughout history.

America Works when people become American and it breaks down when they stay foreigners who happen to live here.

That’s the lesson.” – Victor Davis Hanson – Historian [link]

There’s a recent story illustrating this lesson in Minnesota involving the Somali refugees. Federal and state authorities uncovered a $250 million fraud case from Child Nutrition subsidies, both federal and state sponsored programs, and an estimated $1 billion from other federal and state programs being funneled to al-Shabab, an arm of Al Qaida in Somalia. The ethnic sensitivities of the Governor lean toward the Somali voter base and their plight as refugee’s in America. Who is the master in this instance, and where are the governor’s loyalties?

Can Walz, the governor, effectively serve multiple masters?

Part of this is allegation at this point, but it’s being investigated by state and federal agencies.

The situation above is a salient example of the biblical principle that no man can serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24)

How did this happen?

I can only surmise that the fraudsters saw an opportunity to filch, pilfer, embezzle, up to $1 billion in public funds while the watchers were distracted and redirected it to terrorist organizations at home. Distracted in this case includes unaware, and paid to look the other way… Regardless, every American is paying for this fraud, waste, and abuse with our taxes. Wasn’t this in the purview of DOGE, Discovering Outrageous Government Excess? But that program was also buried under monumental allegations of malfeasants, and partisan political party bias.

DOGE was reportedly closed for a variety of speculative reasons, suffice it to say that pressure from the affected organizations paid a major role in DOGE’s disbanding. Pulling back the curtain at this level was a bold, if not reckless move on Trump’s part. It exposed the unimaginable level of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in America’s government, something that further weakened our impression of the government and damaged our prominence on the world-stage.

This is only a few of the thousands of instances in a distracted government. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates that up to $521 billion annually are misappropriated by fraud alone, and adding improper payments, increases the number to over $2.8 trillion annually. That’s a lot of our money with the watcher looking the other way; distracted.

This is only the fiscal side of America, what about the legal and social sides of the equation? If we’re that cavalier and nonchalant with our money, imagine what’s going on behind the curtain in Congress, the opposite of progress, while we and they are distracted.

We know that Congress, the opposite of progress, is constantly distracted by divided loyalties. Here’s my best-guess list of their Masters, I’m sure there are others, and this is in no particular order:

– Self-preservation

– Personal gain

– Their constituent’s in the state they represent

– Party affiliations

– Committee assignments

– Quid pro quo – obligations to barters with others in Congress, the opposite of progress, and influence trading

– Donor Expectations

– America and their oath of allegiance to it

How could any human manage a list like this? If no man can serve two masters, how could anyone serve the eight listed, and this is an incomplete list. By dividing our attention, only the loudest or most attractive will capture our attention, leaving the others wanting; which will they be?

There are so many lessons available to us, yet we refuse to comprehend their impact. Maybe it’s laziness, possibly it’s poor educations, and definitely our reliance on the convenience of the mainstream media for our information. It’s so easily manipulated to do the bidding of their masters. Think about it… If a person in congress has at least eight masters, think about the list for a mainstream media executive, or the master of the TV talking head. They obviously have a personal opinion and bias, but they sell their allegiance to the corporation and do its bidding.

This is going off the rails.

I want you to realize that we don’t really know what’s happening in our country, and what little we do know is curated – organized for exhibition and presentation, for our consumption. We know what we’re allowed to know, and that doesn’t work is a society where the citizens are supposed to have control over the government. What it indicates is that we do what we’re aloud to do because we have limited information, and those limitations are a form of control.

Reference Information [Worshiping Idiots]

Don’t misunderstand my thoughts here. If the citizens of this republic have limited data on important decisions like our laws and our representatives, how can we make an informed decision or choice?

Did the inhabitants of New York City know everything that they needed to know about Zohran Mamdani, or were there things intentionally withheld? The political processes usually expose most of the necessary data points to make a choice, and the rhetoric and electioneering and partisan mud-slinging uncover some skeletons, but the idea behind any election is that “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser…” or the other combatant.

One lie is enough to question all truths, calling into question everything ever said, but fortunately for the liar, our penchant for forgiveness, and our need to believe what we want to hear, erases any doubt. So even the congenital liar has a recurring chance. If this were false, most of Congress would be unelectable, jobless, or incarcerated. Can the same be said of us?

How many master’s do you serve? Don’t answer, but be aware that you are also distracted unless you live an aesthetic life, one dedicated to philosophy, science, or religion; your life is zealously committed to that pursuit. However, if you’re like the rest of us, you live a divided and distracted existence, serving multiple masters, and doing as well as can be expected.

My point in all of this is that you must be aware of where your loyalties are, and that the people we elect to represent us are human like us, but driven by different appetites, needs, inclinations, and motivations, but some of those desires compel them to take darker paths. Paths that encourage them to make choices requiring secrecy so we won’t or can’t stop them. That’s their Devil to deal with… We have our own…

Guess what liberty lovers… This was a sales pitch to open your eyes and minds to a different way of seeing the world around you.

The devil you say…

November 30, 2025

~ the Author ~
Charles R. Dickens Was Born in 1951, Is a Veteran of the Vietnam War, for Which He Volunteered, and the Great-Great Grandson of the Noted Author, Whose Name He Shares.

He Is a Fiercely Proud American, Who Still Believes This Is the Greatest Country on the Planet, With Which We’ve Lost Control and Certainly Our Direction. He Grew Up in Moderate Financial Surrounding; We’re Not Rich by Any Stretch, but Didn’t Go Hungry – His Incredibly Hard Working Father Saw to That. As Most From That Era, He Learned About Life From His Father, Whose Story Would Take Too Long to Tell, Other Than to Say That, He Is Also a Fiercely Proud American; A WWII and Korean War, Veteran Marine.

Charlie Was Educated in the Parochial System Which, Demanded That You Actually Learn Something, and Have Capability to Retain It Before You Advance. He Attended Several Universities in Pursuit of a Bachelor’s Degree, and Chased the Goose Further to a Master’s, and Has Retained Some Very Definite Ideas About Education in This Country.

in Addition, Charlie Is a Retired Blues Guitar and Vocalist – a Musician. This Was His Therapy Career. Nothing Brings Him as Much Joy as Playing Music, and He Wishes That He Could Make a Living at It… but Alas… Life Goes on!