[a fool in paradise]

Some aspect of the psychology of mass delusion must operate at least on some level with the understanding that people are very apt to think, as I did in this particular case, that they can just read the headlines and the lead paragraphs and have a pretty good idea of what's going on.

The reality is that just reading the headlines and the lead paragraphs, leads one right into the corral of mass delusions. Thanks to the Waco charade, I know better now and will ALWAYS understand that if I really want to know what's going on in a story that catches my eye, I have to treat the story as a mere starting point and take responsibility for doing my own homework. People who rely on the MSM to do it, are going to be led down the garden path to mass delusionville.

There is a lot of "push polling" in the headlines. The lead paragraph(s) may even lead some credence to the message being sold. But sometimes you'll find that if you just read the last 2 paragraphs as well as the first 2, the "take away" buried deep in the article back pedals some of the sensationalism and hype.

[Finny]

Yes. Sometimes.

[Finny]

Bottom line: whether on reads only the headlines and the first few paragraphs, or whether one reads the whole story every time -- if one is solely accepting the media narrative (which is usually easy to surmise from the headline and first few paragraphs) and choses to bypass engaging any critical appraisal of the information presented, then one is allowing themselves to be deluded.

And NO ONE is forcing them. It is all entirely by choice.