TUNNEL VISION: Avoiding Cognitive Dissonance

By: Joel E. Gordon

Please note: this is not meant to be divisive, insulting or disrespectful but rather should serve as a reminder to some and as a wake-up call to our die-hard progressive friends.

Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When presented with evidence that works against that belief, it cannot be accepted. That would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, individuals will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't validate their belief. For those who continue to support the Biden administration due to your own core beliefs, your level of gullibility exceeds my level of comprehension. Isn't it interesting how so much of yesterday's "misinformation" and alleged "conspiracy theory" continues to become today's fact? Everything from supply chain issues, transitory then admittedly actual runaway non-transitory inflation, to flawed ideals being portrayed as "science" and then not, to unlawful and possibly treasonous and provable spying operations at the very highest levels of government, failed military operations with denial of mistakes made, unfulfilled promises like assurance of no vaccination mandates and then announced vaccine mandates, disavowing police defunding after it was already underway while violent crime spiraled out of control, and the list goes on to include monetary support for illicit drug abuse in the name of safety and equity(?) instead of expenditure on drug rehab and treatment, etc.

Some actual headlines in case you were wondering:

· Hunger in America could get worse as supply chains tighten - CNN

· It’s Official: Inflation Is Not Transitory – Forbes

· Mask Mandates Didn’t Make Much of a Difference Anyway – Bloomberg

· Lesley Stahl Is Wrong And Trump Is Right: The Obama Administration Spied On The Trump Campaign – The Federalist

· Durham says Democrat-allied tech executive spied on Trump’s White House office – Washington Examiner

· Biden Had Firm at Center of Trump Hacking Scandal on Campaign Payroll – Washington Free Beacon

· Biden says he is ‘rejecting’ critical accounts from U.S. commanders about the Afghanistan evacuation – Washington Post · Joe Biden: COVID vaccination in US will not be mandatory - BBC

· Biden's illegal vaccine mandate is about politics, not science – The Hill

· Omicron Makes Biden’s Vaccine Mandates Obsolete – Wall Street Journal

· Pelosi: "Defund the police" not the policy of the Democratic Party – Axios

· Even Democrats are now admitting 'Defund the Police' was a massive mistake - CNN

· ‘That’s a world war’: Biden won’t send troops to get Americans out of Ukraine – NY Post

· US places up to 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe amid Russia tensions – CNN

· U.S. deploys troops to Eastern Europe; thousands more on standby - Politico

· SF group handing out free crack-pipe kits expects to expand – San Francisco Examiner

(Yes, the original 2014 San Francisco program included plans for a free crack-pipe exchange program).

And not to ignore a vital issue of importance when it comes to the strength of our economy and national security, the squandering of a newly achieved decades-old goal of American energy independence by an attack on fossil fuels Joe Biden launched on day one of his presidency. Remember when Barack Obama voiced concerns about Joe Biden's presidential candidacy and warned allies not to underestimate Joe Biden's ability to "f**k things up?" Voters should have listened.

Even “fake news” CNN is now beginning to see the truth, as are some other liberal media outlets albeit slow to become enlightened to what many “flyover Americans” in less-populated areas know all too well. The real pandemic is those not being able to admit they have largely been wrong. Believing in an artificial level of the effectiveness of lockdowns, social distancing, masks and vaccinations all while ignoring real science on many topics such as therapeutics and naturally acquired COVID immunity subsequent to contracting COVID-19 have not been the correct answers. Too many individuals have died from post-COVID complications even among those triple-vaccinated. Forget about Anthony Fauci’s 14-days to slow the spread. What happened to candidate Biden's promise to shut down COVID-19 completely? Did you believe him?

A reminder, "conservatives" and traditionalists are not the enemy if we disagree with anyone else's views and exercise our God-given and constitutional right to express same. In fact, I and many others only want the best for the common good of our country, the world and for all its people. Truth be told, many of today’s conservatives would have been considered liberals of old and modern-day liberal/progressives would be labeled radicals by many in a not so long ago bygone era. Many must believe why risk cognitive dissonance instead “explaining things away” or rejecting new information that conflict with their existing beliefs through avoidance. I know each side believes that this applies to the other ... but let’s get real. The Biden presidency is a disaster and has placed our country in crisis. How bad will it get? Will WWIII be imminent? Will our babies, pets and we go hungry due to supply chain issues and increasingly empty store shelves worsened by trucker boycotts due to mandate protests? Our safety is already severely compromised. Law enforcement and our military are being abused and misused too, often further exacerbating our standing both here at home and abroad.

I had never seen healthy people being punished for non-compliance, as many livelihoods have been taken away, while sick individuals are being denied therapeutics and care… until now, that is. I truly never would have imaged such a situation could ever exist in our country.

America: many generations struggled and fought to keep our “home of the brave” “a land of the free.” Now is the time to see things for what they are together. Our future lives, freedoms and livelihoods are likely dependent upon it.

Joel E. Gordon is a former Field Training Officer with the Baltimore City Police Department and is a past Chief of Police for the city of Kingwood, West Virginia. He has also served as vice-chair of a multi-jurisdictional regional narcotics task force. An award winning journalist, he is author of the book Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story and founded the Facebook group Police Authors Seeking Justice. Look him up at stillseekingjustice.com