The Misinformation Age: or, Where's My Grain of Salt?

Most people consider themselves fairly well-informed, and are not likely to admit that they (personally) are vulnerable to manipulation. Those other people are, of course, but not me. And while we might think we carefully "choose" the sources of our information, our brains often store and edit things according to a different set of often less "enlightened" rules. Whatever. It's part of our psychological makeup, and not likely to change any time soon.

But this does make us inherently more vulnerable to misdirection and manipulation than we believe. We also have many internal conflicts that come to bear on the way we absorb information: on one hand, our egoism fights against the idea that we "need" more information, and on the other hand we are subconsciously desperate for guidance and advice. Which brings me around to the topic of this diary: opinion-based editorials that are agenda-driven.

When we flip the page of the newspaper from "real news" to the opinion page, we like to think that we've also flipped a switch in our brain over to the "take it with a grain of salt" setting. But that's mostly a delusion. We (most of us) flipped to that page because we either didn't get enough information out of the real news, or what we got didn't quite fit into our preconceived notions. Whatever the case, we're looking for more, and very possibly looking in the wrong place to get it.

For this diary I am going to focus on one of the JLF/Civitas puppets, namely Rick Martinez. The Raleigh News & Observer elected to add him to their editorial staff back in 2001 (I believe), and he has, for the most part, faithfully pitched the company line, even if it has him contradicting himself over and over again. For instance, his stalwart support of the Bush administration's Iraq policy and attacks on American war-dissenters:

Still, I fear the world-changing significance of the Iraqi vote will be lost on many Americans. I've already braced myself for the inevitable belittling of an election that was unimaginable just three years ago. As I wrote last month, too many Americans are uncomfortable with the concept of victory. If these folks owned a sports team, "Refuse To Win" would be their slogan and Howard Dean would be their coach.

I can't bring myself to consider these people unpatriotic even though much of their irrational dissent validates the insurgents' view that their victory will be won in the court of American public opinion, not in the streets of Baghdad. To those who favor an immediate withdrawal of troops, regardless of the consequences on the ground, Iraq is a domestic political issue, not a front line of the international war on terror. The global significance of an Arab democracy and the human rights that would accrue to the Iraqi people matter little to those who admire Cindy Sheehan.

A lot of "trigger words" in there, pitting the "victory of America" against the Howard Deans and Cindy Sheehans of the Left. Standard Right-Wing rhetoric, but it's really only going to reinforce Republican prejudices, right? Wrong. A great many Democrats have developed a contempt and distrust of the views and motivations of Dean and Sheehan, and could be part of the reason we're swinging back towards the Center.

So Martinez supports the Iraq war, and is critical of the way public opinion here can adversely effect the growth of Democracy over there. That is, until Barack Obama declares his candidacy for the Presidency early last year. So now it's time for Martinez to do a flip, and engage in some Muslim-bashing:

Count me as one of the suckers who bought the notion that unleashing democracy in the Middle East will enhance U.S. security and that increased civil and personal freedom will ultimately defeat terrorism.

I no longer believe it. Regrettably, I've concluded that democracy and Islam are anchored in incompatible world-views.

I fear that political correctness may be shielding the public and policymakers from the level of antipathy the Islamic world really has for the West, and for the United States in particular.
These are hard truths to accept, given the price America has paid in money, diplomacy and lives in the Middle East.

But they are facts I will remember the next time my president wants to put Americans in harm's way in pursuit of economic freedom and social justice in a Muslim society.

Make no mistake, folks. This isn't about a sudden realization that our efforts at Democratization in the Middle East are naive and a waste of time, it's about planting a seed in the minds of the readers that Muslims are not to be trusted. But that's not really close enough to home to tarnish Barack Hussein Obama, is it? Gotta paint those American Muslims with the same brush, or Obama might escape the point of the piece:

In a recent Pew Research Center survey of people it described as American Muslims who are generally happy, assimilated and moderate in their beliefs, an astonishing 28 percent refuse to believe that Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks. Another 32 percent said they didn't know, or declined to answer a question about who carried out the attacks despite well-documented evidence and al-Qaeda's claims of responsibility.

Shots fired, damage done, and now it's time to flip back again so North Carolinians won't be so afraid of 100 years-war McCain:

Somebody has to write this. The United States has won the war in Iraq.

I'm compelled to proclaim victory because, these days, winning wars has become politically incorrect in Western societies. So much so that some political leaders opposed to the war refuse to recognize the definition of victory or to utter the word.

The truth is, President Bush has been consistent in defining victory. Bottom line, it's leaving behind a functional and democratic Iraq capable of defending itself from internal and external threats.

There is no doubt that much work needs to be done in Iraq, particularly in political and cultural reconciliation. But for all the moaning about Parliament's failure to reach political benchmarks, Iraqis have achieved more political unity in their country than our Congress has in ours. A peaceful and stable Iraq is no longer in question. It's only a matter of time.

I'm under no delusions about the righteousness of "real news" over editorials, or that the Left is innocent of using opinion columns to further liberal ideals. But if the News & Observer management (now McClatchy) is really concerned about business, maybe they should take a closer look at how their conservative bent is perceived by the reading public. I spoke briefly with Rob Christensen in New Bern, and he blamed their drop in advertising revenue on Internet sites like Craig's List, and he may be right.

But if I'm going to spend good money taking out an ad in a newspaper, that newspaper better have a damned good reputation for targeting everybody, or my money's going elsewhere.