Most often, you regret it.

And that is what happened to me today. Luckily, it wasn’t an earth-shaking, life-changing, disastrous event. But it shouldn’t have happened at all, because it could so easily have been avoided if I had followed my oft-repeated advice, namely:

“Don’t believe everything you read, especially on the internet and social media.”

I’m happy to say I did not fall so far as to take some so-called influencer’s word as gospel on any subject. But I did assume that the reportage in the legitimate press on the elections in Georgia (the country, not the U.S. state) would be accurate and objective.

Apparently, I was wrong.

What I should have done was check first with my own source — an unimpeachable source, with first-hand knowledge. But I didn’t, because I didn’t want to bother him. I had all the information I needed from the good men and women of the fourth estate — or so I thought.

I just overlooked one important fact: that journalism today isn’t what it used to be, which was — in the days of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow — the search for truth and the unbiased reporting of facts. Period. Not analysis and opinion based on personal viewpoints and prejudices. Those were reserved for the op.ed. pieces, and clearly presented as such.

And as a result, I am guilty of having formed a conclusion based on insufficient, or even incorrect, information in writing my earlier piece on the Georgia election. I am now attempting to re-educate myself, and until I have done so, my only further words on the subject will be:

Mea culpa.

Not just sayin‘ . . .

Brendochka
10/27/24