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On LewRockwell.com, Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. discusses the new book, The Empire of Lies, by Paul Craig Roberts. Rockwell writes:
The Empire of Lies. By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts. Korsgaard Publishing. Xi + 346 pages.
Paul Craig Roberts knows government from the inside. He is a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. His experience and his studies of economics and history have made him deeply suspicious of government propaganda, and in The Empire of Lies, he shows how forces behind the scenes plot to destroy us through manipulation.
In “Why Disinformation Works,” he explains his guiding principle: “Have you ever wondered how the government’s misinformation gains traction?
What I have noticed is that whenever a stunning episode occurs, such as 9/11 or the Boston Marathon bombing, most everyone whether on the right or left goes along with the government’s explanation, because they can hook their agenda to the government’s account.Empire of LiesBest
The leftwing likes the official stories of Muslims creating terrorist mayhem in America, because it proves their blowback theory and satisfies them that the dispossessed and oppressed can fight back against imperialism.
The patriotic rightwing likes the official story, because it proves America is attacked for its goodness or because terrorists were allowed in by immigration authorities and nurtured by welfare, or because the government, which can’t do anything right, ignored plentiful warnings.
Whatever the government says, no matter how problematical, the official story gets its traction from its compatibility with existing predispositions and agendas.
In such a country, truth has no relevance. Only agendas are important.
We have reached the point where evidence is no longer required. The government’s statements suffice. Only conspiracy kooks produce real evidence.”
Roberts fears that government control of opinion will doom us. “Will Truth Be Criminalized?” he asks. “The Establishment’s determination to close down narrative-challenger Alex Jones has put Sandy Hook back in the news. As First Amendment protection is fading, I checked to see what I had written about Sandy Hook. I was relieved to see that I had only reported on the skepticism and asked questions.
My search of the IPE archives brought up my articles on other controversial shootings–Las Vegas and Orlando–and the Oklahoma City Bombing. The common thread in all of these incidents is that the narrative is established the minute the news is reported, and officials and media never vary from the narrative. As soon as it happens, the government and the media already know what happened. No investigation ever takes place. It was the same for President Kennedy’s assassination, his brother’s assassination, 9/11, the Gulf of Tonkin, Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, Assad’s use of chemical weapons, the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, etc.
Legitimate questions about the narratives are ignored by officials and media who seem to be involved in a conspiracy to bury the truth. Skeptics, no matter how prominent or fact-based are demonized as ‘conspiracy theorists’ unworthy of attention.
Clearly, America no longer has a media watchdog. America has a propaganda ministry for official narratives.
Read more here.
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