QOTD -- Outsourcing Propaganda

"It is no surprise that this febrile atmosphere, in which any lie can be justified if it paints the president’s opponents as traitors, would lead to violence. But what is particularly disturbing is that the propaganda that inspires this violence has been outsourced to private organizations, meaning no simple change of government by election can end it. Nowadays, even the president himself gets his daily talking points by parroting Fox News, which he believes over his own government officials. The rot is pernicious and deep, and it will inevitably lead to more violence." -- Andrew Gawthorpe, The Guardian.  As long as we have the villains in the Sinclair Broadcasting and Rupert Murdoch bullshit- spewing empires, the toxic conspiracy- driven far right web sites, the hate radio propagandists, and a rotted out political party dedicated to holding onto white/right power at any cost, we'll be in this cycle of lies, distractions and violence.

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“This is a president with obvious mental and moral deficits who will say and do anything to retain power. He’s backed by a runaway ‘conservative’ media feeding his rabid base a daily dose of conspiratorial lunacy. There is no mechanism to stop Trump’s division, radicalization, and calls to arms against his enemies.”  -- former Republican strategist Rick Wilson to Political Wire (via mbouffant).