THE PRESIDENT WHO DOES NOT
“LIE!” How the American media use
euphemisms, substitutions, and muted language to re-define and
soft-pedal the word “LIE!” TvNewsLies.org
editorial.
LIE: THE DEFINITIONS
-n.
1. a false statement made with
deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a
falsehood.
2. something intended or
serving to convey a false impression; imposture:
3. an inaccurate or false
statement.
-v.t.
1. to speak falsely or utter untruth knowingly, as with intent to
deceive.
2.
to express what is false; convey a false impression.
LIE: THE DISAPPEARING ACT:
George W. Bush possesses the most
amazing virtue of any politician in recent history: he has never,
ever, uttered a lie! In fact, the word “lie” has magically
disappeared from any account of his statements or actions, since the
earliest days of the Bush campaign for the
presidency.
In a very short time, the
Bush/PNAC administration has
accomplished a rather extraordinary feat. Using thier well
honed skills for surreptitious manipulation, the Bush Cartel has
cleverly disguised the fabrications and distortions uttered by the
President to make them more palatable to the gullible public. George
W. Bush never, ever lies! He may not be telling the truth,
but, glory be , George W. Bush, like our legendary first president,
simply cannot tell a LIE!
LIE: WHEN IT WAS STILL A
LIE
Take another look at the dictionary
definition of lie. Now, consider the concept rather than the
word. If we focus solely on the actual word we may miss a crucial
point. We also may get into an unnecessary, semantic discussion
reminiscent of the Clinton effort to define “what is,
is.”
However, - a look backward to the
Clinton presidency is merited. Let’s recall the “horrific”
lie that led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment? President Bill Clinton “lied” about his sexual
relationship with an intern. The result of that lie was predictable:
his marriage was damaged. Nobody died. No anti-Americanism resulted
from his actions. The nation was not endangered in any way. On the
contrary, some people felt that many European nations actually came
closer to the U.S. when they saw the humanity of a president whose
fatal flaw involved a sexual affair.
Of course, this rather trivial issue
was seized upon by the G.O.P. as an earth- shattering abomination to
our nation. Congress stopped doing its appointed tasks and gave full
attention to impeachment proceedings. With unabashed hypocrisy, they
set up a firing squad for an extra-marital fling. The press saw
dollar signs and went along for the ride. Some might say that they
stoked the flames.
Let’s not forget the accusation of
LIES against the Clinton’s that were headlines for eight years, in
every major newspaper and on every news broadcast: 1972
Whitewater dealings, Vince Foster’s death, Hillary’s lost travel
office records, Jennifer Flowers, - on and on and on.Fortunately for
the nation, and fifty million dollars of Ken Starr’s tomfoolery
later, Bill Clinton prevailed.
Reminder:
The word LIE became a political tool against Al Gore during the
presidential campaign. The media repeated every accusation made by
the GOP against Gore- making it seem as if he had lied about
everything from his involvement in creating legislation to fund the
Internet, to his role as in inspiration for “Love Story.” Al
Gore NEVER told the public a lie during the campaign, but the label
stuck. Magic is as magic does.
LIE: WHEN IT TURNED INTO A
RABBIT
Today we have a selected president
who entered office without having to answer a SINGLE question about
alleged lies regarding his military record, his DUI conviction, his
insider trading or his substance abuse. Congress closed its eyes and
covered its ears, and the press rolled over to have its tummy
scratched. We have a
president who has not been fully truthful about a single
issue, and yet the silence of the
opposition in Congress remains deafening. But what is worse is
that the news media – whose investigative responsibilities have been
unstoppable in the past, has assumed a new role: they exist
now as an infomercial for the Bush/PNAC agenda!
The disappearing act has been onstage
for quite a while, now. The
media, with some exceptions, act as the
magician’s assistants, doing the administration’s bidding to make
sure the illusion is effective. They obediently and in sycophant
passivity describe the actions of this administration as EVERYTHING
BUT “LIES!” Let’s take a look at their attempts. (Be sure to
check back, as this list will be updated as new “rabbits”
appear.)
In their efforts to refrain from
calling a lie a lie, the media and the Bush/PNAC group have
used more “tactful” terms to avoid the obvious. The following
are among the most creative words used
-
exaggerate - As in exaggerate the
threat that Iraq posed, as in Iraq was not quite the threat to the
U.S. that we were led to believe. (This term is most common
replacement for “lie.”)
-
twist - As in twisted intelligence, as in lied about the conclusions of the intelligence
reports so as not to represent truthfully the findings of the
reports.
-
-
-
distort some evidence - As in distort some evidence so that the truth about the evidence is not
disclosed
-
-
-
credibility gap - As in no
credibility. As in the boy who cried wolf. As in the boy who lied
about the wolf. As in the boy president who lied about Iraq, and
about everything else. You will see this term all over. The
phrases that will be uttered in conjunction when discussing the
Bush/PNAC administration will be cridiblity gap, terror, axis of
evil and WMDs. When I discuss them I will assosciate the phrases
damn lyars, war, unemployment, environmental disaster,
anti-Americanism, and overall gloom!
-
overselling - As in overselling the
facts. CNN has adopted this term.
-
More to come - Stay
tuned.
LIE: TIME TO EXPOSE THE
TRICK
Magic acts are illusions, not
reality. Still, when skillfully performed, they convince many people
that the rabbit really lives in the hat. George W. Bush has
consistently LIED. He LIED when he told the people of Poland
that we had found the WMD’s in the form of harmless vans. He LIED
when he told us that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat to our
safety. He LIED when he said (eleven times in his SOTU speech) that
Iraq was connected to the terrorists who attacked the US on
9/11. He LIED about aluminum tubes, uranium purchases, tons of chemical and biological weapons, and
about his
motives for invading a sovereign nation. He
LIED about his support of the troops whose benefits he cut.
He LIED about his education program, his AIDS concerns and his support of women’s rights. He
LIED to the Congress about exhausting every diplomatic means before
using his war powers. He LIED yesterday. He continues to LIE today.
He will LIE tomorrow. But we can pull the curtain back to
expose the wizard.
Write letters to the editors of your
newspapers. Email
the anchors and news reporters on your
television and radio networks. Print out and distribute this
article. Talk to your friends and co-workers. Demand and end
to the performance and the restoration of truth and integrity in the
media.
It’s not an easy task. But it can be
done. Public silence is deadly: the ’04 election will turn on
deception and distortion, - and the media must no longer be allowed
to hold the hat for the magicians with the illusory “rabbits.”
Fight back, or we all will
disappear in the fog of lies that now characterize the leadership of
our precious nation. More to come - Stay tuned. Send us the
headlines you find that cover up the BUSH
LIES!
Jesse - Editor, TvNewsLies.org - July 6,
2003.
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