בס׳ד

"Where does it say that you have a contract with G-d to have an easy life?"

the Lubavitcher Rebbe



"Failure is not the enemy of success; it is its prerequisite."

Rabbi Nosson Scherman



16 Feb 2021

The Arbiters of Truth

I am sure most of you know the story abut the gossiper who felt bad about speaking badly and went to the rabbi to ask what to do. The rabbi said to bring a feather pillow, and to scatter all the feathers. Then the rabbi requested that the gossiper should gather all the feathers that had spread far and wide. Of course, it was an impossible task. Once the words went out, it was virtually impossible to repair the damage wrought by the gossiper's speech. I was reminded of the anecdote this morning when I read about the New York Times updating a story in which they initially wrote about Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died a day after the riot at Washington D>C> in January. On January 8th, the NYT wrote, "Mr. Sicknick was struck with a fire extinguisher, according to two law enforcement officials."
On Febrary 12, the same paper amended the article with an update, "UPDATE: New information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police."

USA Today published a factcheck piece titled Fact check: Democratic leaders honored officer Brian Sicknick at U.S. Capitol ceremony In the middle of the article, there is an offer:

Get the Checking the Facts newsletter in your inbox.
Fact or fiction? Find out the truth about news stories you see online.


So, if you want to find out the truth, you should register your email to receive the truth from the arbiters of the truth. However, in the same article, the authors write about Brian Sicknick, "He was struck in the head by a fire extinguisher during the riots and died from his injuries the following day." So, am I supposed to believe these arbiters of truth after there is little basis in fact for what was written about how he died? Can someone factcheck the factcheckers?

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