Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Propaganda: misleading publicity; deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread

The following letter surely meets the definition of propaganda. It was published in the Star Tribune on Saturday, August 23.


Is he in favor of one?

I was disappointed to see that the Star Tribune did not report that John McCain is in favor of reinstating the draft! He told a town meeting this week that he would be willing to do just that when he becomes president. To me, that is news that the public needs to hear about this presidential candidate.

When I saw this I was enraged. When I listen to liberal radio, they are frequently ranting about "corporate media" and how it is biased against Democrats. I don't know what world they are living in, but it's not the same world I occupy. This letter is an example of how liberal bias will allow propaganda to be published in a newspaper on which most people in a large metropolis rely for their news.

To answer the letter writer, the reason almost no legitimate news source reported this is because it wasn't a valid news item. (There is a YouTube video of MSNBC's "coverage" of this "story" that is so incredibly biased it's almost a parody of itself.)

The letter referred to a town meeting in Los Cruces, NM, during which a woman made a statement—at best rambling and at worst incoherent—lasting one minute 30 seconds. The statement touched on several unrelated subjects and ended with a comment on the draft. McCain said he agreed with her and thanked her for supporting veterans. It seemed a polite way of getting her to stop talking so the meeting could move on.

For the letter writer to take this incident and turn it into, “He told a town meeting this week that he would be willing to do just that (reinstate the draft) when he becomes president,” is a gross exaggeration of the facts. McCain said no such thing. That doesn’t seem to matter to the throngs, particularly on the Web, who are racing to put words in McCain’s mouth. Those who use this incident for fear mongering also like to omit that it takes an act of Congress, not a presidential whim, to reinstate a draft.

The hysterical response to this non-story does, however, require a response from the McCain camp, because--to quote a very wise Republican I have the privilege to know--a lie unanswered becomes the truth.

I urge all Republicans not to let lies go unanswered. Write; shout; blog; educate your friends; pass along writings by those who stand up for the truth to everyone you know. Every day propaganda is spoken and written by so-called legitimate news sources. It often goes unanswered.

Republicans, please, do everything you can to keep these lies from becoming the "truth."

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