16 Comments
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Suzanne Holbert's avatar

I am SO ANGRY with Swalwell. I believed him. He said the right things at the right times. Why did he have to be such a creepy jerk. Why does power and money do this to people?!?

Slade Wentworth's avatar

Same. When no one stops them, they feel invincible and imagine their path to be preordained.

Leckey Harrison's avatar

Money and power don't. The problem is the lack of character in the people.

Meredith Walker's avatar

I follow "Mrs. Frazzled" - good for her for being part of this. What a complete and utter jerk Swalwell is - he just never seems (or seemed?) to stop. Thanks for this column.

Slade Wentworth's avatar

Thank you, Meredith.

Mary LeFever's avatar

"The answer isn’t to trust one kind of source and dismiss the other. It’s to build the habit of evaluating sources critically, consistently, and with eyes open." Including whether the source chooses to cover a story at all. This is more challenging, since we don't always know what we don't know! Julie K Brown in Perversion of Justice describes this often.

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/perversion-of-justice-julie-k-brown?variant=44010796908578

Hillary Chybinski's avatar

Thank you - this is one of the best pieces I've read lately. As someone who builds community on the internet (or tries to), iit was a reminder of the importance of values and intent. It was also an important note for all of us on critical thinking skills and how they've maybe never been more important. Social media moves so fast and it can be a challenge to sift out the reality from the fake . . .so thank you also - for being one of those real and reliable voices.

Slade Wentworth's avatar

Thanks, Hillary. It is a big challenge of our time.

Mary Andersen's avatar

At first, I was sure that MAGAs were trying to influence Swalwell's candidacy. So disappointing, particularly the extent of his behavior. STUPIDITY.

Slade Wentworth's avatar

His own campaign suggested that MAGA was interfering. Not so, at least not to a significant degree, although I'm sure most relished in his demise.

CathyC's avatar

Thank you. Excellent piece.

I am one of those who often waits for a verified well known news organization to confirm a story. Especially in these political times.

In this case I had not read or heard much. Just kind of an under current.

Grecia Figueroa's avatar

Great piece. It’s important to elevate great journalism as it happened in this story, and how critical it was to the overall result.

Thanks for sharing. I’ve subscribed to you.

I write about this too. Plz feel free to subscribe if my work resonates.

https://greciafigueroa.substack.com/p/eric-swalwell-and-the-selective-outrage?r=fxwzm&utm_medium=ios

Slade Wentworth's avatar

I sure did. Great piece.

Leckey Harrison's avatar

Are influencers building trust, or cultish fealty? M any influencers in the healh and wellness field peddle flat out lies.

Slade Wentworth's avatar

Well, cults demand trust despite evidence suggesting it's undeserved. That's one more reason to view all sources of information with a critical eye.