By Chris Basten

  Ok! I've 100% had it with all of these concocted statistics that the media uses to obtain our readership! I'm especially sickened by how some hard-core political writers use this data to further their already slanted agendas. I'm beginning to think that statistics are the real reason why we have global warming, cancer-inducing pathogens, and terrorism. You can stick a number or percentage in front of anything and make it look more justifiable-regardless of whether it's true or not. Statistics tend to have strong psychological effects on people that usually don't peter out for quite some time. This is how fads are born.

Take the Atkins diet. Just because carbs have been shown to increase weight gain doesn't mean that we can all go to Joe's Steak House every night after yoga class to load up on protein and fat. Carbs actually increase weight gain in some people but not the entire nation that the government swears is obese. Everyone is different and not all people will lose weight on an Atkins diet just by replacing a bread bowl salad for a bunless burger.

If the carb-patrol doesn't irritate you, take a look at the border-patrol. According to WorldNetDaily, the number of "illegals" flowing into this country from Mexico has gone up 66% in 12 years. Apparently, this is supposed to mean something. Why are some considered illegals and others are considered immigrants? My guess is that it depends upon which terminology suits one's agenda. They're illegal if they're taking jobs away but they're immigrants if they advertise America as the beacon of freedom and the refuge for the downtrodden that politicians love to sound off on right around election time. Has anyone ever considered that they are human beings trying to survive corrupt governments and corporations like anyone else in the world? Why is one piece of soil okay for me to set foot on but then when I step over an invisible line, I am suddenly the scum of the earth, "illegal," and reckless? Governments are the ones who put walls up and barb-wire these imaginary lines because they think they are doing us a favor. We used to welcome immigrants on huge Titanic-like ships with open arms. After all, this country was founded by a bunch of rebels and drifters trying to live better lives. Why are we so quick to treat newcomers the way the British Empire did with our ancestors?

The Washington Times tries to inundate us with panicky statistics as well. Apparently, there are not only a swarm of illegal immigrants storming the U.S. but they are mostly criminals as well. They are murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and child molesters. Uh-huh, sure. The 80,000 illegals who are accused of being this dangerous pale in comparison to the number of times one political side has accused the other of the exact same things. I'd feel much safer with 80,000 immigrants than 80,000 politicians any day.

The most absurd article I encountered has a "been there, done that" Doomsday feel to it. Bob Just thinks the world is falling apart and wants you to start bugging your church leaders to fix it. He talks about one incident where middle-school children were discussing their viewing of the Playboy Channel and imitating what they saw in a girl's bedroom. Sure, this is unsettling to think about but not entirely shocking. Kids don't need to watch the Playboy Channel to experiment sexually with each other-they have hormones to do that. But Mr. Just wants us to believe that all of the nation's kids are dressing in black, becoming disenchanted atheists, and spreading STDs around like the common cold because they have no meaning in life and don't read their Bibles. There is no doubt that some adolescents have disturbing problems but there are a lot of positive, responsible kids as well and I'm tired of lobbyists using the "problem child" approach to further educational, sexual, and health agendas that don't do much of anything but waste money and try to tell parents how to do their jobs. But, hey, if you want to believe that "there are over 5 million young people between ages 16 and 24 who are out of school, out of work, with no skills, no prospects, and no hope," you go right ahead and do so-just don't forget to vote for the man who will save them all!

Fortunately, The Washington Dispatch questions the use of unbelievable statistics that can prompt the masses to go to pieces and vote this way or that. The media and the government feed off each other because they both get sound bytes of each other's messages. They can take any hack's research findings and list off a whole bunch of statistics to get your attention.

"20 million people watched this show last week. Shouldn't you?"; "My proposed budget will strengthen our nation's schools which have a 12% failure rate."; "Four out of five viewers rated such-and-such a network the best news broadcast for this year's primaries."; "The people have spoken: 85% are against gay marriage."

I just made all the above statistics up but they sure sound sexy, don't they? I'm willing to bet that 90% of you fell for it!

The media and the government often work together without even realizing it and their feeding-frenzy is making a lot of us paranoid, tired, and distraught about our choices (which is perfect because they want to confuse you and make choices for you). Don't get sucked in by the hype. No one can eliminate the world's problems with a fancy Presidential race. No one can justify using a few stats to poke at your emotional whims once you see how the majority is apparently making decisions. You are perfectly capable of making your own choices. That is something the statisticians, lobbyists, and politicians, with all of their precious numbers and percentages, are not counting on.