Double Check Prior to Outrage

I watch posts on FB designed to incite anger.  They cover extremes of left and right political jingoism.  I just saw one claiming Megyn Kelly banned Trump from her show.  The article said nothing of the sort, and she just recently said she would not deny a sitting president's request to be on her show.  Ellen said she would deny Trump because...every tired litany of false or half false characterizations.  And I don't like the guy.  I just have no need or desire to experience that cheap thrill of piling on for no reason.

But all the racist stuff is pretty lame and many things have been highly twisted to the point of total fabrication.  The lies have been repeated like a mantra over and over.  It has been effective.  That does not make it right. That does not make those who piled on out of desperate need for peer acceptance anything remotely associated with courageous or principled.

So, I knew the headline was false.  I read the article which did not mention Trump.  The comments reflected knee-jerk outrage.  That glee that comes when you feel it OK to be as hostile as you like at someone you don't know.

They let loose on Megyn like crazy.  Obviously they did not even read the article.  And they never double checked the headline claim.  It would have been a downer to them if they knew there was no reason for outrage.  It is the thing that brings right and left together, that love of self righteous nitwittery, self righteous anger.  The more remote the subject of their ire, the better.  But we can take it out on everyone in our path right here.