Lying and deception has always been part of the National Security State's DNA. The Vietnam War was based on lies, in fact, several senators expressed their doubts about the justification for the war at the time, as reported by the New York Times last July. That trend - government deception and trickery at the highest levels - was followed predictably by the arrival of the neoconservatives in the late 80's and 90's. Their vision for permanent war and U.S. supremacy
was not a popular vision because it went against the vision of the founding fathers and American principles of freedom and self-government, which meant that they had to lie and use the techniques of manipulation to get the American people to support their agenda of domination and war.
As we now know, the Iraq War was based on lies. But the truth is even more painful. The entire War on Terror is based on lies. 9/11 itself is the biggest lie of them all. If it wasn't for lying, the traitorous tyrants in Washington couldn't wage endless war. Washington can't function without lies and official deception because it has been hijacked by traitors who have built their security state on lies. Washington's power elite lied about the assassination of John F. Kennedy 50 years ago, and nothing has changed nearly 50 years later. Anybody who points out these lies is called a "conspiracy theorist" or is mocked profusely by media commentators who (willingly or unwittingly) serve the corrupt status quo. As Ron Paul said: "Truth is treason in the empire of lies."
If the American people knew just how much the government lied, and to what ends these lies are constructed and maintained by members of the government and media, the tyrants in Washington would be peacefully overthrown in roughly the same amount of time as the Egyptian people overthrew their U.S.-backed dictator.
There is no way of describing current political reality in the United States, Canada, England, Australia, Israel, the dictatorial Arab regimes, without using the words "lie" and "liars." Simply put, we are led by liars.
But don't tell that to the L.A. Times' James Rainey. Apparently, he gets uncomfortable when news anchors like Anderson Cooper throw around the word "lies" too many times. Commenting on Cooper's Egypt coverage, Rainey wrote on February 12, "Cooper's accusations of “lies” and “lying” got so thick on Wednesday’s show that the host seemed to be channeling comic (and now U.S. Sen.) Al Franken’s 2003 book, “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.” So, as soon as a journalist calls out leaders who lie he is "channeling" a comedian? Wow.
What are journalists supposed to do, exactly? Glenn Greenwald has the answer. Criticizing Rainey's article, Greenwald wrote, "Identifying lies told by powerful political leaders -- and describing them as such -- is what good journalists do, by definition. It's the crux of adversarial journalism, of a "watchdog" press." Rainey responded to Greenwald, and others, defending his original complaints against Cooper's overuse of "lies."
I don't know what to make of this debate, if that's what it is. Rainey was taking Cooper to task for style points, which is fair, even though I think Cooper is the best news anchor on television. For proof, recall his coverage of Katrina, Haiti, and especially the Gulf oil spill. Overall, Rainey's article is much to do about nothing. Frankly, journalists should use the words "lies" and "liars" more frequently when describing U.S. political leaders, and political leaders around the world. And I'm happy that Rainey makes that point in his article. He quotes USC Annenberg journalism professor Marc Cooper, who says, "Is CNN permitted to call only foreign leaders liars? How refreshing it would be to see that same piercing candor directed at American politicians when they overtly lie.”
The truth is that America is not ruled by mankind's better angels, instead, it is ruled by devils, and devils lie. Journalists like Anderson Cooper can do heroic work by pointing out those lies to the American public, and the world.
Many journalists are probably scared to aggressively call out government officials and expose commonly held falsehoods because they're in a position of power and what they say about certain things has significant ramifications for their lives, reputations, and careers. And I totally understand this fear. But there comes a time when journalists must overcome their fears, and call a spade a spade. Journalists can help reform government, unmask lying political leaders, and do tremendous good in the world. As it is said, "with great power comes great responsibility."
Journalists can rebuild their shattered credibility, and become true heroes, if they still have the guts and the brains to do the job that needs to be done: exposing corruption and deception by the leaders in government. As I wrote on Friday:
But it is one thing to call a foreign leader a liar and another thing to call your own leaders a bunch of liars. I hope that Cooper and the rest of the U.S. media will recognize that the leaders and insiders of the American shadow terrorist state are also cruel liars who are suppressing the American people, keeping them in the dark, denying them critical information about the nature of U.S. foreign policy, and deceiving them along with the world about the events of 9/11 and the real reasons for America's war on terror.
