“There’s a sucker born every minute.” – unknown
Yes, I know. Everyone thinks P.T. Barnum said it. Yet his
biographer has been unable to find any evidence the great showman ever uttered
those words.
Others – including fellow blogger Jim Wright (Stonekettle
Station) – attribute the phrase to Barnum’s contemporary and competitor David
Hannum, who perpetrated the Cardiff Giant hoax. Still no proof.
But with the advent of Facebook and other social media, the
phrase is more true today than ever.
Yesterday, a friend shared a video on Facebook purported to
be young Prince George reciting the alphabet. To each letter was attached a
Bible verse. It has been traveling the internet for a while now.
Long enough for the Captain to look into it.
No, it is not Prince George.
For one, the boy in the video has a pretty distinctive Texas
accent.
And this sort of thing makes him sad.
The boy in the video attends a Church of Christ in Tyler,
Texas. The pastor challenged the children and youth of the church to memorize
this version of the alphabet. Surprisingly, the young boy took up the challenge
and excelled.
Captain’s Note:
Be not misled. This video does not demonstrate great faith, but rather simply a
remarkable ability to memorize. A gift your Captain does not possess.
This morning, I also discovered someone is sharing a photo of a
young woman beating the side of a pick-up truck with an umbrella.
The
accompanying caption says the woman is Emma González, the teenager who has
become the icon of the Parkland, Florida shooting and the resulting “March for
our Lives”. She is supposedly attacking a 2nd Amendment supporter.
This is Emma González.
This sort of thing makes her sad too.
Turns out, the other photo is of Britney Spears from her turbulent
years back in the mid-2000s, throwing a tantrum.
Now, in the first case, it is possible that somebody just
did not do their research and assumed (or wanted to believe) that the boy is
Prince George.
We can perhaps chalk that up simply to ignorance.
You're welcome, Granny!
But when I pointed out to my friend who shared it that this
wasn’t Prince George, her response was “Looks sort of like him” and “It doesn’t
matter; it’s still precious”.
No, it doesn’t really look like him… Unless you’re saying
that all 4-year-olds look alike… "Seen one, seen 'em all"...
It does matter!
Truth!
Truth matters!
And in the second case, where someone obviously
intentionally created a mean-spirited meme to promote a particular political
viewpoint, well, let’s just chalk that up to ignorance too!
Captain’s Note:
Mates, lean in here a moment, would ye? When arguing a particular position or
belief, if you have to stoop to insulting your opponent or making up lies about
her, you have already lost your argument.
And when you do that to a teenager, well, you’re just
pathetic!
Your Captain has said it before, but I’ll say it again: before
sharing something on any social media, check it out!
Look it up! It’s not that difficult.
This
is one reason the Russians were able to so easily infiltrate the past
election. They simply posted suggestions on social media. Too often it was accepted by the great unwashed masses without checking to see if it was true.
Truth matters! Check it out!
That way you won't look so stupid!
Oh, and here’s another one.
Some people on the internet insist that this old lady is
Steven Tyler.
Wait.
What?
That really is Steven Tyler?
Well… hell!
