Commenting on an article published on its website by the Stop The War Coalition (the same coalition which recently published an article calling for Western democracies to, um, start a war against Israel), headlined Dear Tony Blair: all this bloodshed in the Middle East is yours – you own it, and shared by a page called - I am not making this up - Lamestream Media, the Facebook friend of a Facebook friend writes: It may be hyperbole but it gets people who are usually not interested in whats going on to have a read, i have had 4 shares from people who normally would not even ask whats going happening let alone look into the history of it. So yes the headline is tabloid but it gets people interested, we need more and more people to be engaged. Im trying to think of a better summary of propaganda - that is, something disseminated without regard for honesty or accuracy, with the intention of generating a reaction on behalf of a particular agenda - and I dont think I can. The blithe admission, indeed boast, that such conduct is fair game strikes me in turn as an indicator of where we are in what it is no longer possible, if it ever was, to call a debate. Screw the truth. All I care about is getting the result I want, because the end justifies the means, and anyway, truth is what I say it is, and I decide whats for the greater good. A particular irony here being: that is also, to my mind, a useful summary of the attitude of Tony Blair (for whom the aforementioned poster expresses absolute loathing) in taking us to war in Iraq.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 12:30:20 +0000