Famous journalist Bernard Goldberg wrote a book, “Bias”, about how he accidentally destroyed his career in a single act of admitting that the mainstream media had a left-leaning political bias. He wrote a letter to the editor of, I recall, the WSJ, thinking that it was a worthy discussion to have. Goldberg himself was not opposed to the bias–Jewish CBS news anchor, go figure–but he was honest enough to wonder if the truth might be getting skewed too much.
In the book, he recounts bringing the letter up in conversation pre-publication with his friend Dan Rather. Per Goldberg, Rather’s immediate reaction was, quote, “THAT’S LIKE RAPING MY WIFE AND KIDNAPPING MY KIDS!”, end quote. Friendship dead.
Publicly admitting that CBS had a soft spot for liberals was like raping his wife and kidnapping his kids. Goldberg’s other superiors were similarly intolerant and he was quickly fired.
Now, both Goldberg and Rather were hard Leftists. When presented with the truth “Big Media is biased liberal”, however, Goldberg stopped to think about it and Rather went ballistic.
That’s a world of difference.
We can make a litmus test out of this. Many, oh so many people are wrong today about very important matters. But are they ignorant or evil? Is there any chance you can reach them? You need a quick sorting rule, a test to see if a particular guy is worth your effort.
Tell them that their beliefs are wrong. Just a simple statement. “Tradcon, it’s the women who are to blame for men’s bad behavior. Mr. Liberal, socialist healthcare is bankrupt everywhere it’s been tried.” If they stop and think about what you say then they’re reachable. If they refuse outright, and especially if they go ad hominem, put them on your personal Defarge list and save yourself the effort of giving them a clue.
That’s the Goldberg test.
The book “Bias” is worth reading. The content is nothing new for the Red-Pilled but it’s a recounting of the “early days” of social justice activism, when the Left’s monopoly on American awareness of the outside world began to crack. Also, a heartwarming story of how an honest Leftoid was backstabbed by his own, recovered in masculine fashion and ultimately reinvented himself to be an honest Man.