The Remus Reid email

I got an email today about a horse thief and train robber named Remus Reid. It was a clever email about how politicians "spin" stories. The problem was the story was a bit too clever. So I did what i always do whenever i am uncertain about the authenticity of a story, I Googled it.

I'm sure you know the rest of the story. The email, while clever, was a complete fallacy. Someone with a creative streak made it up and now thousands of people believe it to be true.

Frankly, that is the problem I have with most biblical stories. While I count myself a Christian, and try to behave as Christ would (whether you believe he was the son of God or not you must admit he had a wonderful philosophy for how to treat people) I question most of the biblical stories. Noah's Ark, the Hindu Purnaic story of Manu, the Deucalion in Greek Mythology or Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh all speak of great floods sent by God to destroy and punish the existing civilization. Couldn't these all be clever Remus Reid stories? The fact is that when a myth gets told often enough and long enough the myth "becomes" the truth.

Listen my Children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of.......most of you finish the poem line with Paul Revere. Another myth told over and over again until it became the accepted truth. Google the name Israel Bissell and you will find a guy who rode nonstop over 300 miles to warn everyone that the Brits were coming. Revere's 20 mile gallop was a cakewalk.

I watch the show about magic revealed and I realize I can't even trust what I see with my own eyes half time.

Why am I blogging about this? We as a country need to stop believing what the politicians, and the media outlets, and the emails from our friends tell us. There is no truth in Advertising Laws that cover political commercials. George H.W. Bush Screamed "read my lips no new taxes" and he was lying through his lips! Even trusting the media is impossible these days. Watch the coverage on Fox then compare it to CNN and you wonder how the two stations could cover the same event and tell such different stories about what happened.

Why is this Health Care Bill 1,400 pages and climbing? Why is the Congressional Budget so large it is brought in in huge boxes to heavy to carry? Why do Lawyers write contracts in Leageleese? You can not convince me a Health Care bill can not be written in 100 pages, or the budget in 1,00 pages, or a contract in simple English.

We need to stop trusting and start verifying. We need to demand a Health Care Bill that can be read by someone within a few hours. We need to demand a Budget that the average person can read in a week. We need to demand the truth from our politicians and hold them to their promises or else. Most of all we should demand our contracts and all the congressional bills and laws be written in plain English. I lived in California In the Gray Davis days. The citizens rose up and held a politician accountable. Across the country we need more of that.

How do we start? The contract thing is easy. Don't sign one written in leageleese. demand a plain English Contract (it is supposed to be a trend anyway). The rest is harder. Stop accepting blindly what others say. For important things read both sides of the issue. Gather the facts before you decide. Remember to Everyone (including Politicians) an educated consumer is THEIR WORST NIGHTMARE