Last year at this time, I noted that "we are living in a time of hoaxes, an era of deceit on an unprecedented scale."  That assertion is, remarkably, even truer this year.  Hence, I decided that a Second Annual Hoax of the Year Award was logical, even necessary.

Last year, I concluded: "The remarkably rapid pivot from the Russian Collusion Hoax to the Great Election Hoax of 2020 clearly constitutes the greatest back-to-back hoaxing in recorded history.  Therefore, I award them a tie for 2020 Hoax of the Year."  With that in mind, let's have a look at this year's hoaxes, shall we?

Incredibly, there was an even richer field of hoaxes to pick from in 2021, and it's possible I may regret the fact that I have once again decided to declare a winner so early.  After all, in this climate, who knows what could happen in the next six weeks?  That said, I am confident that no new hoax has time enough to supplant the ones currently considered.

First off, there is the continuing Climate Change Hoax, previously known as the Global Cooling Hoax and later the Global Warming Hoax.  Unfortunately for those who are ultra-invested in promulgating the belief that man-caused warming will render the planet uninhabitable in the next decade or two, the Antarctic Ice Sheet grew at a record pace this past year.  The climate has always been changing and always will change...with or without us.  That is why we have terms like "climate" and "weather."

Next up is the Critical Race Theory Isn't Taught in Our Schools Hoax, a relatively recent one.  CRT is prevalent in our schools, at various levels, and has also infected corporations and media outlets alike.  Coca-Cola, for example, went to great trouble and expense to coax its non-colored employees into renouncing their whiteness.  Then there is the Antifa Is Only an Idea Hoax.  Tell that to all those who have had their businesses torched and looted.  Tell that to Portland and Seattle.  Antifa is very real — and steeped in violence and, ironically, Fascist tactics and thuggery.

The Ivermectin/Hydroxychloroquine Anything Else in the World Other Than the Blessed Vaccines Doesn't Work Against the Coronavirus Hoax has been a stunningly consistent one throughout the year, especially given that anecdotal evidence — and nearly every measure — illuminates the lie behind the hoax.  Regardless of results abroad or here in this country, nauseatingly smug pundits repeat "expert" claims that such "horse paste" or "livestock de-wormers" don't work and/or are dangerous.  (Given what is happening in the world today, one could more reasonably make that claim against the vaccines themselves.)

Another year-long theme-hoax "progressives" attempted to perpetrate on the American public was the All Black People Who Aren't Radical Leftists Are White Supremacists Hoax.  So-called progressives delighted in preposterously denigrating Candace Owens, Larry Elder, Winsome Sears, and many others for daring to traffic in "white ideas."

This brings us to the epic Jan. 6 Was Worse Than 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the Civil War Combined Hoax.  This is a particularly pernicious prevarication, as anybody who lost loved ones on 9/11, at Pearl Harbor, or in the Civil War (more than 600,000 dead) would tell you.  As would Ashli Babbitt's husband.

Yet another immaculate deception was the Joe Biden Is a Calm, Stable Moderate Who Will Unite the Country Hoax.  Yes, and so is Kamala Harris.  This one was initiated last year, in an attempt to get Biden elected.  It was much ballyhooed after the New Year, as Biden prepared to — and did — take office.  Against all odds, it still survives in some quarters today.

I'll stop here, though I'm virtually certain readers can add several more hoaxes to this list.  (Perhaps some will do so on the American Thinker Forum at MeWe.)

Nearly everything that you see and hear today, whether in the mainstream media, in your schools, from the heads of Big Tech, your government leaders, or "experts" like Dr. Fauci is a hoax.  In fact, I would be perpetrating a hoax myself if I told you it wasn't.  Sad but true.

So which hoax to pick as the "Best of 2021," the "Second Annual Hoax of the Year"?  The choice was extremely difficult once again.  I didn't want to proclaim a tie again, as I did last year.  No cop-out.  (I hope that "cop" wasn't triggering upsetting to anyone.)

Much like last year, each and every one of these hoaxes has great merit and is truly preposterous in its own right.  Once again, they are all related, virtual crimes perpetrated by progressives on the American people.

The winner?  (Drum roll, please.)

The Biden Is a Calm, Stable Moderate Hoax, as all the others arguably are either a result of this one or have been aided and abetted by it.

Congratulations!  Let's go Brandon!

Image: Ivan Radic via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.