This is What Propaganda Is

The New York Times, by “reporting” the “disappearance” of 380 tons of high-explosives from Qa Qaa has thrown up a new “talking point.” Never mind that there were already over 600,000 tons of munitions scattered in ammo dumps throughout the country. Never mind that the IEDs used by the insurgents terrorists are mostly made from artillery shells and land mines. No, this story is about one thing and one thing only: unseating George W. Bush. And the lackeys in the editorial cartoon department hop unthinkingly on the bandwagon, as usual:

Duane Powell, Raleigh’s News & Observer

Signe Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News

Rex Babin, The Sacramento Bee

The normally thoughtful Robert Arial, of South Carolina’s The State

Kevin Siers of the Charlotte Observer

Don Wright of the Palm Beach (FL) Post

Bill Schorr, of United Media

And, finally

Sandy Huffaker, currently freelance.

Sandy obviously doesn’t read anything other than the mainstream media, or he’d know that “ALL BAD!” is an outright lie. He obviously doesn’t know anyone with family stationed in Iraq, o he’d know “ALL BAD!” is an outright lie.

But that’s what propaganda is.

And this is why it works.

And this is why the internet and the blogosphere is so crucial. Something, finally, must counterbalance the media’s ability to spin, twist, fold, distort, mutilate and spindle the news.