Cynics smile before they say, "Perception is reality." What we see must be true because we see it! If we don't see it, then it cannot be real. Anyone who has ever used Photoshop knows that "seeing is believing" is false, just as misleading as expecting politicians to do what they promise.
The mainstream (complicit) media are the worst offenders. They believe they control reality by determining what the public sees or doesn't see.
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, Daniel Henninger wrote that Democrats offer the public "alternative realities," AKA lies, as accurate and true. Mainstream media such as CNN; search engines like Google; and social engagement platforms, viz., Facebook and YouTube promote unverified progressive Democrat alternate realities in two forms: (1) that which is reported as real, but isn't and (2) that which is presented as not real but actually is.
What is presented as unreal actually is real
A dramatic example of false reality is the existential danger of COVID. This respiratory virus has been presented to Americans as a life-threatening infection likened to Ebola or bubonic plague. Data show that the real risk of death in the general, healthy population is similar to the seasonal flu. Children are at a lower risk of death with COVID than if they contract the flu. Only the elderly and those with serious pre-existing conditions are in significant danger from COVID.
Washington constantly reassures the public that messenger RNA vaccination against COVID is safe and effective. However, there are significant complications; loss of effectiveness over time; and, most important, no long-term data. Health care workers who echo these concerns are willing to lose their jobs to avoid being forced to take the "jab."
Should "my body, my choice" apply to pregnant women but not to COVID vaccination?
As reporters claim that the riots of summer 2020 were "peaceful protests," videos show burning buildings and looting of stores. Media gives us false "facts," while our senses show what is real.
Another example of what-isn't-real-reported-as-real was the Russia Collusion hoax. For nearly three years, the complicit media bombarded the public with an alternate reality that the FBI knew was false. There never was any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, despite Rep. Adam Schiff's repeated promises to show his "ample evidence in plain sight."
What is presented as real isn'tA second Democrat perception strategy is to say something is real and true when it is unreal and false.
Homeland secretary Mayorkas offers an alternate (false) reality: "the border is closed." Actual reality on the southern border confirms 1.7 million illegal crossings so far this year.
Deletion is another way complicit media distort the public's perception of truth or reality. If it isn't reported, it doesn't exist. The NIH admitted that it had supported gain-of-function studies in Wuhan's viral research laboratory. After a huge public uproar over this activity, the NIH removed gain-of-function language from its website If it isn't there, then it never happened.
The Great Barrington Declaration, published in October 2020, disputed the Washington narrative regarding COVID and suggested a data-based rather than politically-driven approach to the pandemic. Google first released it but then deleted the page, showing "Item Not Found" when one searched for the declaration. What is real is what the media allow the public to see. If the public can't see it, then it doesn't exist.
Medical data that contradict or even question Washington's COVID pronouncements are tagged as "misinformation" and banned from social media such as Facebook and YouTube. If you can't see it, it can't be real.
And when Twitter permanently suspended President Trump's account, the people in charge hoped for "out of sight, out of mind." If they stopped him from tweeting, then he did not exist, at least in the Twitterverse, and could not rally his 15.6 million Twitter followers.
Every practicing physician (that excludes Dr. Fauci) knows that following viral infections, including COVID, people develop natural immunity first with short-lived antibodies and then long-lasting protection via T- and B-cells. Yet the official narrative suppresses information about natural immunity. Fauci even rejected herd (natural) immunity, calling it "total nonsense." When Navy SEALs said they did not need vaccination and proved they had natural immunity, the Navy still required vaccination, or they were "undeployable" (couldn't work). If they deny something's existence, viz., natural immunity, it can't be real.
Another dramatic demonstration of "what is presented as real isn't" came directly from President Joe Biden. He said his social engineering "infrastructure" bill would have "zero" cost. The current estimate is $3.5 trillion — 17 percent of the entire U.S. GDP in 2020!
The difference between the reality the media present and the reality we know to be true explains why Americans have lost all faith and trust in Washington and the mainstream (complicit) media.
Deane Waldman, M.D., MBA is professor emeritus of pediatrics, pathology, and decision science; former director of the Center for Healthcare Policy at Texas Public Policy Foundation;