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Propaganda 
Thu Mar 04, 2010 at 10:00:00 AM EST
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Progressives in this country are at a disadvantage in winning over public opinion for many reasons, but one important one is we don't have the equivalent of the right-wing echo chamber that repeats its propaganda until it becomes accepted as fact, even when it is a blatant lie.
Let me quote just a couple of things from the man who took political lying to a new low - Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister for Adolf Hitler:
"The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over...If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it...The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
So, to us it may be obvious that Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and others are repeating obvious lies and following the advice of Goebbels. To many Americans, all they know is that they heard different people say the same thing over and over, so it must be true.
Dr. Anthony P. Young, a psychologist, says that if a person believes that a lie is real, it will become real in its consequences.
"Individuals construct reality in their own mind. If you believe something is true, it becomes true regardless of what the facts are," maintains Young, a specialist in forensic psychology. This is what we are fighting against.
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Fri Feb 26, 2010 at 12:10:00 PM EST
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For those of us who detest Fox News and the way it attempts to brand right-wing propaganda as news, this latest piece of information should come as no surprise.
Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, a funder of families of suicide bombers and terrorist groups like Hamas, has become a huge investor in News Corporation, the parent company of FOX News. Of late, he has raised his stake in the corporation such that he is now the fourth-largest shareholder.
According to Joseph Trento, a sometimes Fox commentator, Prince Al-Waleed , nephew to the Saudi king, met with Rupert Murdoch in Hong Kong on Jan. 14. The prince issued a press release after the meeting stating that the prince's Kingdom Holding Company had discussions that "touched upon future potential alliances with News Corp."
Such an alliance gives the prince an outlet for his films and other media ventures, not to mention a say in how news from the Middle East is presented on Murdoch's network.. In return, Murdoch gains a way to fight off a possible takeover of his mega-corporation by an outfit called Liberty Media, which is the second-largest shareholder after the Murdoch family.
Al-Waleed has told the press that he is "a vocal and open ally of Mr. Murdoch." The prince said he hasn't given Murdoch official control of his shares but that Murdoch "has my verbal proxy." His payback is that he influences how Fox reports news on Saudi Arabia and terrorism.
Has the prince used his 7% ownership of Rupert Murdoch's empire - worth about $4.3 billion - to affect how Fox News reports? You bet.
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Wed Sep 09, 2009 at 12:42:25 PM EDT
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( - promoted by kindler)
Two years ago, when my grandsons were 7 and almost 9, I provided day care for a few weeks. One day I took them to a kids' movie. We got going a bit late and the older one was worried we wouldn't get there in time. "Don't worry," I said, "they play lots of previews." "I'll drive safely and we'll still get there on time." The almost nine-year-old was still worried. But he knew a short cut. For only a second, I hesitated. And then, I thought, of course, he watches every street we drive and knows even subtle changes in routing. Sometimes he even warns "you're going the wrong way" when Mom tries a new route to avoid traffic. Backseat driving began at age 4! In short, he pays attention way beyond his years. I let him tell me a back-road way and we arrived early. As we bought tickets, the cashier asked, "What is your zip code?" I gave my daughter's zip and thought (I wonder what kind of commercials we're going to get?) Even my cynical mind didn't guess what we were about to see. And, even for kids wise beyond their years, it was to be a handful. Navigating this new terrain requires different skills altogether.
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