Motley Fops Part 2

Bubblevision(Bloomberg) grows a spine for this news cycle and publishes an article that should be broadcasted every day for the next quarter.

Instead I am sure it will fade away, although at least when reported on the station this morning it elicited cries from the backbenchers of 'outrageous'.

In a fevered and idealistic dream one might imagine an outrage crawl on the bottom of Bubblevision's and Hee-Haw's (CNBC) that would rotate the following :

'John Williams' of Shadowstats.com reports jobless rate of 16.5 percent.'

'Countdown to Transparency : 64 days from FOI request and counting. Does 2 trillion in collateral actually exist?'

'BLS statistics : How Birth-Death Model creates imaginary jobs.'

'CPI: How hedonics and imputation distort accurate forecasting.'

'S&P forecasts $42 earnings, equities grossly overpriced.'

'Madoff: Markopolos says every single one of the senior managers at Wall Street equity derivative trading desks knew Bernie was a fraud.'

Let's focus on the last one for a moment. Consider the folks who have been crushed by this fraud and realize that it was one of the worst kept secrets on the street. Are you telling me seriously that staffers at the SEC didn't know it?

At the end of the day it comes down to the desire to believe versus the desire to know.

When I was young you really had to work to know. 'Knowing' involved waiting at the 'stacks' (reference library) in order for your book request to be fulfilled. 'Knowing' involved painstaking research and deliberate thought.

As a lad at the university I founded a group called Political Issues Forum and I discovered first hand the validity of a quote Jesse recently put on his blog: "It is a great mystery that though the human heart longs for Truth, in which alone it finds liberation and delight, the first reaction of human beings to Truth is one of hostility and fear.” Anthony de Mello.

But today, in this year of our Lord 2009, there is no excuse for ignorance. With opposable thumbs and an able research assistant Senor Google, truth is available at your fingertips. Still though I find, in my daily life, folks choose to believe as opposed to knowing.

In the MSM, the argument is we don't make the news we just report it. However the choice of reporting obviously does make the news. Trillions have been lost because folks who report and folks who listen chose to believe instead of choosing to know.

Perhaps someday the Motley Fops will become Motley Fools and say truth to power.

Until that day I urge folks to believe that they can know the truth, if they set their mind to it and free their mind for it.

Whether it be a bully pulpit or a 'barely' pulpit the truth will set you free, and as it does make sure you recognize the obligation to tell truth to others.

The truth is out there.

Don't be afraid.