Summary: Today both Left and Right in America are dysfunctional, but they are neither equivalent nor equal in power. Today we look at the Right’s revealing love of fake quotes. {2nd of 2 posts today}
“Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.”
— Jonathan Swift, The Examiner (1710).
One astonishing aspect of today’s America is our credulity, our willingness to believe whatever matches our tribal prejudices — without the slightest evidence, no matter how improbable.
The bogus obsessions of the Right highlight this — Obama was not born in the USA, Obama is Muslim, and Benghazi Benghazi BENGHAZI! But a more common mode of propaganda is the fake quote, preferably with a nice picture attached. These memes are launched daily, spread by gullible conservatives by email and social media.
It makes these people easy to manipulate (lousy citizens, but good followers). The Right talks big about responsibility, but apparently it does not apply when passing on information — no matter how slanderous. Or, as you’ll see from many of these quotes, idiotic.
- “The Right’s Library of Fake Quotes: Putting words in dead people’s mouths“, Steve Rendall, FAIR.
- “Did Jefferson really say that? Why bogus quotations matter in gun debate“, Nicole Saidi, CNN.
- “Right-Wing Bloggers Use Fake Quotes To Criticize Occupy Wall Street“, Jillian Rayfield, TPM.
- “Top Ten Fake Thomas Jefferson Quotes“, Steve Straub, The Federalist Papers Project.
- “Right-wing smear machine falls for fake Obama quote labeled as ‘satire’“, Matt Gertz, Media Matters.
- “Tea Party Whacko Allen West Publishes Book Full Of Fake Founding Father Quotes To Explain His Political Views“, Randa Morris.
- “Fabricated quote used to discredit climate scientist“, The Independent.
Examples from the Left
People on the Left use fake quotes — just less often (the two sides of the political spectrum are not identical, but neither are they opposites). For example see these fake quotes attributed to Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh.
The Left has its own favorite modes of credulity: exaggerated or outright fake stories. Like the “North Pole is a lake, you idiot” story. Sometimes even contradicting scientists.
Fighting the lies
Crowd-sourcing lies creates a flow that stimulates the Right into a frenzy and buries the Left. It’s easier to create fiction than research and debunk them. It’s asymmetrical political conflict. To see the difficulty read “How Lies Spread Faster Than Truth: A Study of Viral Content” by Craig Silverman at PBS, and “Curse of the Internet age: lies spread faster than truth, says Rowan Williams” at The Telegraph — “Former Archbishop of Canterbury warns that instant communications making misunderstanding more common not less.”
For a bold example of political lies see this tale about ObamaCare: “How an Astounding New Right-Wing Lie About the Economy Was Born” by Joshua Holland at AlterNet, 14 December 2012.
For More Information
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. You might enjoy other posts about Information and Disinformation, plus these posts about false quotes about gun rights: But Hitler confiscated guns, leaving Germans helpless! and The Founders talk to us about guns for a well-regulated militia. Also see this famous quote about the fall of democracies,