Teaching NO SPIN to an English class in Texas
My assistance to the high school teacher seeking examples of media propaganda and opinion control is getting interesting (I have to watch tenebrous and benighted "info-tainment" bloviating and blarney like the "No-Spin Zone," but it's for a good cause). Last night, "Correspondent" O'Reilly took Jane Turner (I think, we came in on the middle of the segment, and I don't know the lady), a former FBI agent, to task for her intended "support" of certain supposedly (How the hell do you know if a guy like this says so? As the old Spanish proverb says, "En boca del mentiroso lo cierto se hace dudoso"—In the mouth of a liar even what is certain is doubtful.) "left wing" factions. The Left, of course, is EVIL. Anything that agrees with them is, therefore, EVIL.
Now, mind you, O'Reilly doesn't really believe that. He's not stupid (not many are that stupid). The talk show host recognizes the logical fallacy he's arguing, but accuracy, much less truth, are not his purpose. He is a propagandist. Have look at his reasoning. It says that one shouldn't point out that the king is naked, if someone evil - an outlaw, for instance - is also saying it, that if I see someone in trouble, I should not go to their aid if someone who espouses something bad is also going to help. By helping the guy in need, I support the outlaw's cause.
Of course, if everyone actually believed that, especially where the matter in question is concerned, there would be no opposing view. The Bush League would continue feeding our soldiers' bodies into the pyre of sacrifice being offered up to the great god greed and its Halliburton-like devout. Everyone would be happy, because there would be no doubt that we were doing the right thing. No one but me sees BIG BROTHER in this?
Mr. O'Reilly also supports his argument with the assertion that Fox News has become very popular, and he equates popularity with power. That's also exemplary of the kind of logic and reason you find on the media today. The fallacy is that of Argumentum ad Populum, sometimes called the bandwagon or authority of the many fallacy. That MacDonald's and Budweiser are very popular certainly doesn't mean they have great food or beer. Pornography is very popular, as are cocaine and heroine. Like Budweiser, this stuff is insipid pap, and it serves no one but emotion-driven, vacant heads. It's painful to watch, realizing that "Americans" have become too stupid to know better.
But the kids here will have a chance to learn the diction, rhetoric, and composition of propaganda. They may wonder, too, how a republic is possible where the people aren't permitted to know the truth. Well, here in Oceania, "Freedom is slavery; Ignorance is Strength."
Oh, one more thing. Ever notice how you'll never hear the body count (six today; sixty for the month) on shows like the NO SPIN Zone? No pictures of the caskets coming off the plane. No mention of the fact that many of the wounded will also die. No mention that the casualty figures don't include the private military (that's "security, " mind you).
You won't hear anything about Halliburton's latest excesses in billing to the taxpayer, either. And this is the NO SPIN Zone.
See why I say the government NEVER tells the truth?
Now, mind you, O'Reilly doesn't really believe that. He's not stupid (not many are that stupid). The talk show host recognizes the logical fallacy he's arguing, but accuracy, much less truth, are not his purpose. He is a propagandist. Have look at his reasoning. It says that one shouldn't point out that the king is naked, if someone evil - an outlaw, for instance - is also saying it, that if I see someone in trouble, I should not go to their aid if someone who espouses something bad is also going to help. By helping the guy in need, I support the outlaw's cause.
Of course, if everyone actually believed that, especially where the matter in question is concerned, there would be no opposing view. The Bush League would continue feeding our soldiers' bodies into the pyre of sacrifice being offered up to the great god greed and its Halliburton-like devout. Everyone would be happy, because there would be no doubt that we were doing the right thing. No one but me sees BIG BROTHER in this?
Mr. O'Reilly also supports his argument with the assertion that Fox News has become very popular, and he equates popularity with power. That's also exemplary of the kind of logic and reason you find on the media today. The fallacy is that of Argumentum ad Populum, sometimes called the bandwagon or authority of the many fallacy. That MacDonald's and Budweiser are very popular certainly doesn't mean they have great food or beer. Pornography is very popular, as are cocaine and heroine. Like Budweiser, this stuff is insipid pap, and it serves no one but emotion-driven, vacant heads. It's painful to watch, realizing that "Americans" have become too stupid to know better.
But the kids here will have a chance to learn the diction, rhetoric, and composition of propaganda. They may wonder, too, how a republic is possible where the people aren't permitted to know the truth. Well, here in Oceania, "Freedom is slavery; Ignorance is Strength."
Oh, one more thing. Ever notice how you'll never hear the body count (six today; sixty for the month) on shows like the NO SPIN Zone? No pictures of the caskets coming off the plane. No mention of the fact that many of the wounded will also die. No mention that the casualty figures don't include the private military (that's "security, " mind you).
You won't hear anything about Halliburton's latest excesses in billing to the taxpayer, either. And this is the NO SPIN Zone.
See why I say the government NEVER tells the truth?
posted by Judo Knight-Errant at 8:01 AM
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