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Malfeasance - April Fools or Fake News


 Malfeasance - April Fools or Fake News

Well, April Fools Day has come and gone. Did you get hoodwinked like I did this year?  Can you believe that I actually believed an April Fools story that I saw on online?  I should know better, but I actually found myself repeating nonsense that I saw online.  I was embarassed at first, but then I started thinking about it and embarassment quickly turned to disgust.


I like a good joke or prank as good as the next person, but in an era of "fake news", I believe that we may have jumped the shark.  If you don't know what the phrase "jump the shark" means, then chances are that you weren't around to watch TV in the 1970s.  So, look it up after you finish reading my malfeasance this week.


Since you've decided to continue reading, I'll share some of the so called "April Fools Pranks" that I stumbled upon. 1) A submarine entered Murrells Inlet, surfaced at the Marshwalk and ordered 140 takeout seafood plates. 2) A casino is opening in Myrtle Beach in 2025 and it will be located at the old Pavilion site.  3) Duke would replace NC State in the Final Four due to bad calls by the referees in the second half.  4) Clemson and Florida State are leaving the ACC to join the Big 10 conference.  5) Joe Biden says he rode a train across the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore.  Can you guess which one of those five examples fooled me?


I can promise you that it wasn't Joe Biden riding the train.  He never rode a train across that bridge, but he said that he did. Even though Biden said it, I knew it was a lie.  For the record, I distrust most things that Biden says.  I knew that a submarine would probably not enter Murrells Inlet, so I didn't bite on that one either.  So, it had to be the casino, right?  Wrong!!!! I've heard lots of talk about a casino coming to Myrtle Beach, but not in the old Pavilion location.  That's all that I'll say about that.


Well, it had to be the Duke basketball team, right.  No way!!! Anyone who follows college basketball knows that whenever Duke loses, it is always the referees.  In my opinion, UNC Tarheel fans are much, much worse complaining about bad calls on the court than Duke fans. So, that leaves me biting on Clemson and FSU leaving the ACC.  I bought it...Hook, Line and Sinker.  It's believable and that's why I'm disgusted.  In an era of "fake news", why would any organization with any credibility at all feel the need to pull pranks on April Fools Day?  I already have trust issues with most of the media, government and corporations and now because of "fake news" disguised as a harmless April Fools joke, I'm supposed to laugh it off.


Once upon a time in America, a joke like that might have been funny. I enjoy Mad Magazine, Cracked Magazine and The Onion, so I get satire, but those publications are in the business of satire.  They do it well.  Most of the organizations, media personalities and influencers that feel the need to dupe their followers, viewers and customers, even on April Fools Day, run the risk of breaking a sacred bond built on trust.  


Here's the bottom line.  In a cynical world, and we live in one, no one should ever gamble with the value of trust and loyalty with those that support them, embrace and love them...even on April Fools Day.   If you have a dissenting opinion, then you've already missed the train, even the one that Joe Biden rides.

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