Cal Thomas - Controlling the narrative

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Thursday, May 19th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Last month, the Department of Homeland Security launched a new initiative called the Disinformation Governance Board. It immediately caused an uproar over potential challenges to free speech. On Wednesday, DHS put the project on hold—at least for now.

EICHER: Like many people, commentator Cal Thomas said it was a bad idea from the get-go.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: As with many things, propaganda can be used for good or ill, depending on who dispenses it. During World War II, American propaganda was considered a necessary tool in the pursuit of victory in a moral cause. Germany and Japan had their own propaganda machines to advance an evil agenda.

Joseph Goebbels headed the Nazi propaganda effort. He’s credited with coining the term “The Big Lie.” It means if you tell a lie often enough, people will come to believe it’s true. Japan aimed propaganda at American forces through several women called “Tokyo Rose.” Their messages were aimed at demoralizing troops by claiming they were losing the war. Most soldiers who listened on their radios treated it as entertainment.

In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin employed newspapers, Pravda and Izvestia, and TV “news” shows to lie to his people. He and his successors used jamming devices to block signals from Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Liberty. The Soviet leaders didn’t want the truth to reach Russian ears.

Now comes the announcement of a new office within the Department of Homeland Security to police “disinformation” and “misinformation.” Some critics are comparing it to the fictitious “Ministry of Truth” in George Orwell’s novel 1984.

Why would anyone believe the U.S. government—or any government—could be an arbiter of what is true and what is false? A brief trip down recent memory lane should dispel such misplaced faith.

Dwight Eisenhower lied about U-2 flights over Russia. John F. Kennedy lied about a “missile gap” between the United States and the Soviet Union. Lyndon Johnson lied about the Gulf of Tonkin incident that got us more deeply into the “big muddy” of Vietnam. Richard Nixon lied about Watergate. Ronald Reagan lied about aid to the Contras in Nicaragua. George H.W. Bush lied about not raising taxes. Bill Clinton lied about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. Barack Obama lied when he said, “if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor.” The Washington Post calculated Donald Trump made more than 30,000 false or misleading claims over four years! They can’t all be “fake news.” And now we have President Biden, who lies about how well the economy is doing and whose Secretary of Homeland Security lies about the southern border being secure.

Americans who are unsure about what is true and what is not have plenty of places to look for information independent of any administration. As history has shown, those in power understandably have a personal and political interest in the public believing only what they tell us.

I’m Cal Thomas.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.