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The master of propaganda in a post facts, post truth era: they make an accusation, you throw back a truthiness[0]. It will work as long as there are 63 million

The master of propaganda in a post facts, post truth era: they make an accusation, you throw back a truthiness[0]. It will work as long as there are 63 million true believers blindingly accepting everything he says. It will take a very long time (maybe 8 years), but eventually reality always break through and the trick looks stale and obvious. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness

bmelton 10y ago
I think that it's a worthwhile exercise in politics to both a) not assume that the guy you like is always telling the truth, and b) not assume that the guy you don't like is always lying My favorite (recent) reference to how to evaluate a politician's claims is this article[1] from Popehat. As a politically aware member of neither party, I've found the in many cases, diligence has been the only thing that enabled me to understand the point a political adversary was trying to make, instead of simply parroting whatever clichéd soundbite I read from whichever website that broke the news. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't be skeptical of a politician's claims. Indeed, I would prefer that more people were more skeptical of the claims of every politician, but that means not giving a free pass to the politicians they like, and being perfectly willing to call bullshit on your favorite political agents, even if you agree with them in other areas, and even if you agree with them on the claim they're making now. Allowing our politicians the luxury of getting away unchecked with lies is dangerous, but it seems that most Americans are happy to do so if they're okay with the agenda the lie is made in support of. I really hope that changes. [1] - https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/19/how-to-read-news-like-a-search-warrant-application/ https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/19/how-to-read-news-like-a-s...
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pharrington 10y ago
Why do you claim that everyone who voted Trump is a "true believer blindingly accepting everything he says?" Many Trump voters did so to vote against Clinton. At least as many were voting for the non-political establishment figure out of desperation, knowing that our country needs deep systemic change, and allowing themselves to hope that Trump could provide it. From what I've gathered so far, the number of true believers is incredibly small, and they're exactly the type of people you'd expect to be susceptible to the words and actions of an abusive narcissist.

bmelton 10y ago

I think that it's a worthwhile exercise in politics to both a) not assume that the guy you like is always telling the truth, and b) not assume that the guy you don't like is always lying My favorite (recent) reference to how to evaluate a politician's claims is this article[1] from Popehat. As a politically aware member of neither party, I've found the in many cases, diligence has been the only thing that enabled me to understand the point a political adversary was trying to make, instead of simply parroting whatever clichéd soundbite I read from whichever website that broke the news. I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't be skeptical of a politician's claims. Indeed, I would prefer that more people were more skeptical of the claims of every politician, but that means not giving a free pass to the politicians they like, and being perfectly willing to call bullshit on your favorite political agents, even if you agree with them in other areas, and even if you agree with them on the claim they're making now. Allowing our politicians the luxury of getting away unchecked with lies is dangerous, but it seems that most Americans are happy to do so if they're okay with the agenda the lie is made in support of. I really hope that changes. [1] - https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/19/how-to-read-news-like-a-search-warrant-application/ https://www.popehat.com/2017/01/19/how-to-read-news-like-a-s...

deleted 10y ago
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pharrington 10y ago

Why do you claim that everyone who voted Trump is a "true believer blindingly accepting everything he says?" Many Trump voters did so to vote against Clinton. At least as many were voting for the non-political establishment figure out of desperation, knowing that our country needs deep systemic change, and allowing themselves to hope that Trump could provide it. From what I've gathered so far, the number of true believers is incredibly small, and they're exactly the type of people you'd expect to be susceptible to the words and actions of an abusive narcissist.