FLIGHT PLANS

Midway through my normal, Farmers Market lunch, I was joined by two couples. In their mid-sixties they are all retired, middle class Californians. Though they do not watch news with the same fanatic attention as some of us, they keep pretty well informed.

During lunch, one of them related a story she had seen on FOX News. According to FOX, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was demanding a private jet to fly her back and forth from San Francisco to Washington, D. C. Her reason was that there were no non-stop flights. I hadn’t heard the story, and so, couldn’t comment. My friends took it at face value and assumed it to be true.

The story is false. The truth is this: Since the Speaker is first in line behind the Vice President in case of death or injury to the President, she is required, by law, to travel in military aircraft, for security. FOX certainly knew this, but reported the story falsely in order to create a negative impression of the Democratic Speaker. As always, though, the story contained just enough truth to sound reasonable. FOX is not a news network, it is a P. R. outlet for the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

News, like authority, should always be questioned.

a foot on either side

Bartley