Additional links in article at site.
What did he mean? He specifically mentioned people who think that government is “inherently bad”. This, he said, puts democracy at risk.
No it doesn’t, it puts it in perspective. Only an asshole that thinks Govt is the answer to everything would assert such a thing. Hampton University, some real stunning intellects there.
And to think that the Washington Post refused to report positive news items on our military operations in Iraq "because we aren't going to carry your propaganda".
wouldn’t that be like a vegetarian opening a butcher’s shop?
Goebbels would be proud!
Orwell called it the Ministry of Truth, or Minitrue. That was 1947; funny how he saw it coming.
And Obama thinks that America and capitalism are inherently bad.
At least in a democracy, the people can voice dissent at the government. Not so in Obama's America 2.0.
Seems like Obama just smacked down the MSM for not doing its job well enough.
Didn’t 35+% of all Democrats believe Bush and Cheney blew up the WTC?
I didn’t hear 0bama bash people for thinking that way. Did any of you?
The Obummer is an a$$hole, plain and simple.
Thought Police.
Orwell was right.
This lunatic must be removed from office.
2012 cannot come soon enough.
Obamama wants a Propaganda Ministry, plain and simple.
Hmmmmm, when does this ministry start work? Are they going to ignore when Obama pounced on evil ipads, playstations, etc. when Obama himself is addicted to a crackberry (or were we not supposed to have noticed the hypocracy?)
Ping
OK, Mr Obama. Name one Government insurance program or safety net that isn’t run like a Ponzi scheme and wouldn’t be a RICO candidate if it was run outside of Government.
And tell me, Mr. Obama, how is it that so many members of Congress become millionaires while in office and then get a 100% pension to boot when they leave.
And tell me, Mr. Obama, how can we trust our Government when you set the standards for closed meetings and broken promises.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm???
Scientia potentia est
I got to see a superb example of government directed disinformation once. It was almost artistic in its own right, and was in response to “The Phoenix Lights”.
As background, the USAF does research and development on advanced aircraft in Nevada. However, about the only place where planes can go supersonic is way off the coast of San Diego. And getting between here and there is not easy, because the airspace is very crowded. The fastest and safest route is directly over Phoenix, where you will be under the watchful gaze of Sky Harbor airport.
Well, one of these advanced aircraft stripped its transmission, or the equivalent, in the late afternoon, right when it was entering the airspace over Phoenix. Apparently it could still hover, quietly, but otherwise was pretty much dead in the water, slowly drifting with the wind, a few hundred meters above a suburban area, right when people were coming home from work.
And this created a stir. So after the initial reports, that pretty accurately described what was seen, there was a very intense effort to confuse, distract, and otherwise convince everybody that what they saw with their own eyes wasn’t what they had seen.
The public figures, like an ex-governor, city councilmen, lots of police, etc., were told to shut up about it, in no uncertain terms. The local media was (easily) pressured into calling it a “hoax”, then alternatively making fun of it, condemning “UFO nuts”, and showing pictures and videos of other things, like the Phoenix skyline at night, dozens of miles away, etc., while talking about “Bigfoot” and the “Loch Ness Monster”.
But this shows the insidious nature of disinformation. That not only was a mechanism in place to create substantial amounts of disinformation, but someone or a bunch of people, in positions of power and authority, decided that it was *better* to lie to, and deceive the public, than to tell a simple truth.
That is, they could have just come out and said it was a classified aircraft, and that they were not at liberty to discuss it at all, and that they requested that the public not be overly concerned or pester them about it, because, after all, that is what the USAF is *supposed* to do. Make advanced aircraft, and keep them secret.
But they felt it was better to lie to, and threaten respectable people, and to suborn the media to lie to the public on their behalf.
If you think about it, philosophically, the long term effects of their doing this are far worse than whatever it is they were afraid of, and it reminds of how, during the Vietnam War, someone would remark that, “We had to destroy the village to save it.”
Disinformation should be used against America’s enemies, not the American public. Inherent in the use of disinformation is the belief that those you are lying to are stupid, and that you are better than they are.
Bump for later
On Glenn Beck today -— the FCC and Freepress organization want to classify the Internet as a public utility so they can control it. I think there are also plans to tax it.