"If you tell a lie big enough, and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." Joseph Goebbels, Reichsminister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, March 14, 1933 to April 30, 1945.
In Germany, before and during WWII, the Reichsministery of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda controlled all print, radio, television, and movie content. It was nearly impossible, and in fact illegal, to listen to news from any other country. The Nazi party gave away free radios to anyone who needed one; they were designed to only receive one station, which was the state-owned media.
One would reasonably believe that in this day, with the internet and 24 hour 7 day news cycle, it would be difficult if not impossible for anyone to pull a major scam over on the citizens of the United States of America.
Like this one: In December 2021, the Midland Public Schools school board heard testimony that litter boxes had been installed in bathroom stalls for children who identified as cats. The school board replied that this statement was totally false. That should have been the end of the story.
But wait, there's more, as they like to say on the television commercials. This outright fabrication was picked up and repeated by the co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, and then posted on the Twitter account "Libs of Tik Tok", a right-leaning account owned by Chaya Raichik, who has several hundred thousand followers.
Well, the cat is out of the bag, so to speak. This outright lie has been repeated by no less than 35 politicians either in office, or running for office; the offices include senators and representatives to Congress, state and local elected officials, and school board member in 29 states. Podcaster Joe Rogan and Christian talk show host Bill Cunningham both promoted the falsehood on their shows.
So, why does this matter? It matters for a few reasons; the first is a little something called truth. This cat poop has been fact-checked, and found to be false, repeatedly. In every instance where a school, or a school district, has been named it has been found to be an outright lie. When a politician, podcaster, or talk show host repeats this big lie, it gives one more veneer of respectability to the falsehood; and if Goebbels was correct, more people will believe it. (Sadly, Goebbels has been proven to be correct in this statement.) As is usually the case, truth is not as exciting to talk about as fiction. No one gets excited about not putting litter boxes in schools, in fact, no one talks about it.
Second, rumors like this cast a cloud of uncertainty around the operation of our schools, both public and private. As schools, the curriculum they teach, and the costs associated with schools fall under more and more scrutiny, cat poop like this wastes valuable time and resources; time and resources that could be spent solving the true crisis's in our schools, which include a lack of qualified teachers and contentious issues regarding actual curriculum.
Have our politicians become so slothful they would rather lie about litterboxes than present an actual policy or position on the many issues facing our country? We need discussions on women's rights, racial equality, the economy, trade issues, firearm regulation, and the threat Russia is presenting to the world.
Real issues. No cat poop.
Thanks for reading, as always your thoughts and comments are appreciated.
R.M. "Bob" Hartman