A Political Pandemic of Systemic Lying, Telling of Half-Truths and Promoting Myths

“The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie–deliberate, contrived and dishonest–but the myth–persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.” — John F. Kennedy, Commencement Address at Yale University, June 11, 1962.

Many Americans do not trust the media to tell the truth. This includes the legacy media outlets like ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN and even NPR.

Politico reported, “Americans’ trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly has dropped four points to 36%, making it the second-lowest reading in Gallup’s trend since 1979 when 51 percent of those polled said they had ‘great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in newspaper journalism.”

Watch this Tucker Carlson Tonight episode where he discussed National Public Radio:

We are now witnessing the greatest systemic lying, telling of half-truths and promoting myths in the history of our nation.

Americans watched as Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. on August 21st, 2021 pulled out of Afghanistan. During his White House speech Biden stated,

In April, I made the decision to end this war.  As part of that decision, we set the date of August 31st for American troops to withdraw.  The assumption was that more than 300,000 Afghan National Security Forces that we had trained over the past two decades and equipped would be a strong adversary in their civil wars with the Taliban.

That assumption — that the Afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military drawdown — turned out not to be accurate.

[ … ]

So, we were ready when the Afghan Security Forces — after two decades of fighting for their country and losing thousands of their own — did not hold on as long as anyone expected. 

We were ready when they and the people of Afghanistan watched their own government collapse and their president flee amid the corruption and malfeasance, handing over the country to their enemy, the Taliban, and significantly increasing the risk to U.S. personnel and our Allies.

The withdrawal was a disaster costing the lives of 13 Americans and hundreds of Afghanis.

Fast forward to April 6th, 2023 when John Kirby, the spokesman for National Security Council said this,

Spokesman John Kirby: "There's a lot to be proud of" on Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal.

"There was a lot that went right, and a lot of Afghans are now living better lives." pic.twitter.com/qwqmg4DZaP

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 6, 2023

Really, a lot to be proud of? A lot went right? A lot of Afghans are now living better lives?

Amnesty International reported in 2022,

Restrictions on women’s rights, freedom of the media and freedom of expression increased exponentially. Institutions designed to support human rights were severely limited or shut down completely. Peaceful protesters faced arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearance. The Taliban conducted extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, torture and unlawful detention of perceived opponents with impunity, creating an atmosphere of fear. Extreme poverty increased, exacerbated by drought and other natural disasters. Public executions and floggings were used as punishment for crimes such as murder, theft, “illegitimate” relationships or violating social norms. Women’s rights continued to be attacked, and women’s participation in public life was severely limited. Afghanistan was the only country in the world where girls were banned from attending secondary school. Almost all institutions set up to address gender-based violence under the former government were shut down by the Taliban.

[ … ]

Already a poor country, Afghanistan plunged deeper into poverty due to its international isolation and the economic upheaval brought on by the Taliban takeover in 2021. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 97% of Afghans were living in poverty, up from 47% in 2020. The lack of social protections led families to resort to measures including child marriage and the selling of organs. The level of humanitarian assistance did not meet the population’s needs. The economy continued to be seriously hampered by the freezing of Afghan foreign reserves and the cutting of development assistance, steps taken by the international community following the Taliban takeover. The aid received by Afghanistan in 2022 was mostly humanitarian assistance, aimed at preventing starvation, but not contributing to other social needs. As a result, access to healthcare, employment and education continued to suffer. The exodus of doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers and government officials left those sectors severely under-resourced.

Read more.

In a Brookings article titled Afghanistan in 2023: Taliban internal power struggles and militancy Vanda Felbab-Brown, Director of the Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors Co-Director of the Africa Security Initiative, and Senior Fellow – Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, reported,

Afghanistan in 2023 will be shaped by whether or not the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, retains his tight grip on all decisionmaking. The second crucial dynamic will be terrorism and militancy. The Taliban is unlikely to get a better handle on the Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK). But the feeble National Resistance Front (NRF) and other groups seeking to restore the Afghan Republic will not seriously threaten the Taliban’s rule. Two questions remain: Can the Taliban prevent significant defections? And can it contain terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, so external powers stay reluctant to support anti-Taliban groups?

[ … ]

Individual rights have been eviscerated, and women’s access to education, jobs, and even the public sphere for travel and medical care has been decimated.

The General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) under Sirajuddin “Siraj” Haqqani’s Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have become principal tools of repression.

Repeating the Republic’s mistakes and reversing the Taliban’s prior more decentralized processes, Taliban decisionmaking has become concentrated in the hands of a few – Amir Haibatullah and his Kandahar-based clique.

Read more.

Perhaps Kirby didn’t read these reports? CNN hasn’t reported on these lies. Neither have ABC, NBC, MSNBC, CNN or the White House.

QUESTION: What’s going on here?

ANSWER: The biggest coverup of a SNAFU in American history.

And the media is not holding the perpetrators accountable.

Lie, cheat and steal is now the new normal. Systemic lying, telling half-truths and promoting myths is Wokeism on steroids.

General Mark Milley admits US oversight of weapons going to Ukraine is ‘not as rigorous as you might think’ https://t.co/SgQyD677GT pic.twitter.com/at0wSeT0Rd

— Conservative News (@BIZPACReview) March 29, 2023

Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum, a.k.a. Ayn Rand, Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter wrote, “The uncontested absurdities of today are the accepted slogans of tomorrow.”

Sadly Ayn was right.

©2023 Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

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