[Servant of the Cross]

I wish editors would use words that reflect the proper meaning. “Decimated” means that you lose one out of ten.

Decimate means destroy. A large (i.e. >50%) percentage. Drastic.

dec·i·mate/ˈdesəˌmāt/
Verb:           1. Kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage of.
                    2. Drastically reduce the strength or effectiveness of (something)

They had to lie and distort in order to accomplishment the objective of the article - to foist their hoped for negative influence on the voting public. It was calculated and intentionally dishonest.

[CommerceComet]

Actually, you're both right.

The word decimate was derived from the Roman Legion practice of punishing troops by having ten soldiers draw lots and the loser was killed by the other nine. In latin, the word meant the "removal of a tenth."

The derived word in English has taken on a meaning which is not limited to just a tenth.