The face of the Left

Propaganda is not a value-neutral term. A common perception of propaganda is that truth is rarely the primary objective. Rather, the aim is to support, buttress, or further one's position at any cost, even if what is being stated is untrue. Or, the aim might be to destroy the credibility of an opponent, again regardless of the validity of what is being stated.

However, to today's Left, propaganda is merely what the other side thinks is true.

In Minnesota, where "Give us this day our daily Strib" is the extent of religious training in many households, the Left is attacking the Midwest Heroes commercials as "propaganda." Worse, they are claiming the message of the ads is "misleading."

Here is a statement from Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez:

The ad then states that the enemy in Iraq are the same terrorists responsible for 9/11, and images of Saddam Hussein are shown along with the Twin Towers. This tactic is misleading at best, as the 9/11 Commission Report states that there is no connection between Iraq and the 9/11 terrorist attack.

"Minnesota has the chance to take a stand against this kind of misleading propaganda," said DFL Chair Brian Melendez. "Right now, our state is a testing ground for this particular ad, and we can be sure that many more will follow this election season. Minnesota TV stations should pull this ad and send the message that we will not tolerate this kind of swiftboating anymore."

"WCCO has called this ad 'misleading' and only 'partly true,' said Chair Melendez. "Well, partly false advertising insults Minnesotans intelligence. We won’t stand for propaganda that can’t be backed up with fact."

The WCCO report referred to can be found here. The ads were subjected to the "Reality Check" treatment, and the result ought to give pause to any parents shelling out money for their children in journalism schools.

Since the media are very quick to make any story about themselves (witness the hunting accident involving VP Cheney), the first thing the WCCO report focuses on is a statement about the media.

The ad is a skillfully blended mix of war facts and war politics.

"The media only reports bad news," the ad states.

This is NOT TRUE. Even the harshest media critics don't say that.

One conservative study reports 61 percent of network news stories about Iraq were negative last fall. But that study didn't include the 24-hour cable news channels.

And a separate study of Sunday morning political talk shows reports the guests are mostly conservative -- 58 percent of them -- and critics of the Iraq war were largely absent.

Fair enough, Since as a matter of logic the statement "The media only reports bad news" needs only a single counterexample to be shown as false, it cannot rise to the level of axiom.

However, it is an accurate statement of the perception among the military and its supporters, and it is the reason the ads are being made. For the Left to hang its hat on this shaky peg is not a strong promise of unshakeable arguments to come.

Next up from WCCO is a truly puzzling attempt at "gotcha."

"You would never know it from the news reports, but our enemy in Iraq is al-Qaeda," the ad states. "The same terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans on 9-11."

This is very MISLEADING.

First, the ad links images of 9-11 and al-Qaeda to Saddam Hussein and Iraq. There's no evidence, according to the 9-11 Commission, that there's any real connection.

Um, I think this is very MISLEADING. Watch the ad for yourself. The ad addresses the brutal nature of Saddam Hussein's regime, and then moves to a different point. The images are not "linked" except in the sense one point follows the other. (Given the nature of TV commercials, such transitions are obviously quick.)

The ad then makes the statement referred to by WCCO. And it is absolutely a true statement. Al Qaeda is in Iraq. Al Qaeda is behind the most violent elements of the insurgency. The leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Mus'ab Zarqawi, pledged his allegiance to Osama bin Laden in October 2004.

The ad in no way, shape, manner or form was attempting to say Iraq was involved in 9/11. The Bush administration has not said that.

WCCO simply ties this straw man to a stake because they want to burn it and the ads down.

Another media outlet in town, KSTP, has refused to run the ads. They, too, latch on to this convoluted examination of the accuracy of the ads.

KSTP General Manager Rob Hubbard said the station refused to run the ad, which began running last week, because of the claim that the media are intentionally misleading citizens.

He said the station often airs so-called third-party issue ads whether the station agrees with them or not, as long as it can be determined that the ads are accurate and verifiable.

"We think it may or may not be true for other media but we know it's not true about us, which is why we wouldn't take those spots," he said. "We know it's not accurate about how we approach our news and we didn't feel it was appropriate just to take someone's money. We weren't going to let them take a shot at us that wasn't warranted."

Another example of the media making the story about them, I might add. Wuz'ums wittle feewings hurt? But notice the untruth in that account. The ad never used the phrase "the media is intentionally misleading citizens."

Again, when you have to mischaracterize what your opponent is really saying, it is a sign your own argument is on shaky ground.

In this post, I wondered aloud if the Maureen Dowds of the MSM would attribute absolute moral authority to the families in the one ad, since they lost loved ones in Iraq as did Cindy Sheehan. It goes without saying the unstated answer is of course they won't.

And we're seeing how the Left is reacting. For a bunch that trips all over itself rushing to microphones to proclaim how they support the troops, why do they fight so hard at every opportunity to denigrate what the troops themselves are saying?

In essence, the ads are saying "We are fighting Al Qaeda in Iraq, it matters to our national security that we fight them there, and the media isn't telling you that." And how does the Left, and the local media, react? By shooting down an argument about a link between Iraq and 9/11 that was never floated in the first place, thereby proving the point the ads are trying to make.

Rob Hubbard, I question your patriotism. Brian Melendez, I question your patriotism.

See also:

They are us, yet they are better than we will ever be
Indeed they are Americans

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Andy of Residual Forces wrote a letter to KSTP.

Right Wing Nut House wonders what happened to the Minnesota DFL, the party of Humphrey.