Propaganda Increases Interest In Falsehoods, Bad Policies

[From article]
By emphasizing differences and distorting reality, propagandists incite mistrust and hostility, compelling followers to line up dutifully behind partisan agendas, never to Think Again.
Yet as Adolf Hitler understood — and history proves — blind partisanship is dangerous. “What good fortune for governments that the people do not think,” observed modern history’s greatest propagandist and destroyer of humanity.[. . .]
Meanwhile, the Iran deal would convey a jackpot of sanctions-relief, conventional arms and ballistic missiles, enriching and emboldening the world’s worst warmongers — the tyrannical ayatollahs whose declared goal is to establish a global caliphate and “raise the banner of Islam over the White House.”
[. . .]



Normally, far-reaching international agreements — particularly nuclear-related ones — require a two-thirds Senate majority to assure domestic support. Fearful of constitutionally mandated scrutiny, the administration framed the deal as an executive agreement requiring no congressional approval. To reassert its treaty powers, Congress agreed that disapproval requires an unprecedented two-thirds majority in both houses.
Most worrisome, the administration has circumvented voters, the Constitution and American sovereignty by obtaining U.N. approval of the Iran accord — including secret side deals — before Congress’ review. Should Congress reject the deal, administration officials argue America would be violating international law.
[. . .]
Similar to San Francisco, more than 300 jurisdictions routinely ignore immigration laws as tens of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants have been released into unsuspecting populaces. Between 2010 and 2014, 121 released illegal immigrants proceeded to commit murder — that’s two preventable tragedies per month. Yet propagandists obscuring these facts call sanctuary-city opponents racist.
Similarly, it’s a “war on women” to be critical of Planned Parenthood, even after secretly recorded videos exposed the human cost — and price — of salable baby parts, harvested from late-term abortions at their clinics.
[. . .]



George Orwell said, “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it,”
[. . .]
Think Again — by reversing Hitler’s insight, imagine the good fortune for society when the people do think.

http://www.aspentimes.com/opinion/17481140-113/sturm-search-for-truth-amid-the-propaganda

Sturm: Search For truth amid the propaganda

Melanie Sturm
Think Again
July 30, 2015