In the aftermath of the American elections, a verbal civil war is now in full swing across the political landscape in the USA.
The daily barrage of political slander now dominating the political debate is totally unwarranted. These foolish accusations are nothing but disinformation.
The architects of these wars of words probably read Sun Tzu’s book The Art of War, where he states: “All war is based on deception.” The intelligence community believes the best defence when getting caught doing something embarrassing is to attack the leaker and his loyalty, sanity and sexuality.
They go politically beserk and distract the public from their transgressions. According to a study, lies told for political purposes continue to influence voters after they have been debunked. In some instances, the lies are made more credible (in the minds of those predisposed to the message) by the debunking.
Rumours and innuendo have long influenced the conduct of politicians. With the rise of the 24-hour news cycle and rapid communication, the potential for the spread of false information is perhaps greater than at any time in our history.
It was George Orwell who said: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure mind.”
In the current post-election conflict now raging in America, truth has become the first casualty and media freedom its second victim.
Farouk Araie, Johannesburg
The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of Independent Media.