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Words that can shape the ‘truth’

Truth is, well, true … isn’t it? It is “an agreement with reality,” says Noah Webster. Just one problem — our perception of reality is shaped by externals, by what we hear, see or read. Keep that in mind as I exemplify it in relation to the past election.

“Baseless … baseless … baseless … unfounded … unsubstantiated … false … false … false … unproven … meritless.” Every report I have heard or read in the mainstream media — every single one and some immediately after the election — have used those descriptives ahead of the word(s) “claims,” “allegations,” etc. when referencing voting irregularities that did, in fact, occur during and after the last election. The reports invariably say “baseless allegations,” “false claims,” etc. In lockstep fashion reminiscent of jackbooted Nazis, reporters and broadcasters nationwide feel it necessary to characterize accusations of election improprieties in that fashion. Perhaps the necessity comes from job security? Doesn’t it seem odd that not a single reporter can simply say, for instance, “Trump’s claims” or “Trump’s allegations”? You see, an allegation or claim is merely an assertion and not inherently factual on its own. The only fact — the news to be reported — is that Trump has alleged this or that. Period. The shaping of the news is to say his claims are “baseless,” “false,” etc. You see the difference? Your perception of the fact, the truth has been influenced — and, I submit, with malice afterthought — by the reporter’s word association.

Adolph Hitler first coined the expression “the big lie.” His minister of propaganda (at least they didn’t disguise it as “the free press”) Joseph Goebbels said, “if you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes accepted as truth.” NPR, CBS, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, the AP newsfeed, all major newspapers and magazine and now the internet behemoths have been using that as their template to purposefully misrepresent news stories for many, many year and thus shape public opinion on a wide range of issues, from abortion to sexual deviancies.

Are you alarmed at how we are being herded like cattle into “group think?” If so, you owe it to yourself and future generations of Americans to broaden your information inputs. Counterbalance is healthy — just ask the child up in the air when her playmate decides to abruptly leave a teeter-totter. To that end, consider The Epoch Times — founded, ironically, by Chinese nationals who fled the repression and government-controlled media there. They write with a conviction that flows from experience and I highly recommend it.

It may be too late. But change starts with you.

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