02-10-2017, 05:52 AM
i think you missed the implications of my previous post. I said previous administrations wanted their communications to be treated as works of non-fiction, not that they they always were.
But the very fact that previous administrations wanted to be seen as truthful and accurate was in the public interest. It allowed journalists to probe and on occasions force the White House into humiliating backdowns. This administration doesn't care if it is "caught out". It has taken the Sarah Palin approach of just repeating falsehoods until the penny drops that no amount of negative comment will have any effect. It kills any hope of rational argument or debate. Imagine if you are trying to argue with someone as to whether Carlton or Richmond had the better team at the start of the 70s but the other guy claimed that Richmond must have been better as they won premierships and Carlton didn't. You might argue for a while that we won in 68, 70 and 72 but if the other guy insisted that they didn't you'd have to stop arguing at some point as there's no point.
But the very fact that previous administrations wanted to be seen as truthful and accurate was in the public interest. It allowed journalists to probe and on occasions force the White House into humiliating backdowns. This administration doesn't care if it is "caught out". It has taken the Sarah Palin approach of just repeating falsehoods until the penny drops that no amount of negative comment will have any effect. It kills any hope of rational argument or debate. Imagine if you are trying to argue with someone as to whether Carlton or Richmond had the better team at the start of the 70s but the other guy claimed that Richmond must have been better as they won premierships and Carlton didn't. You might argue for a while that we won in 68, 70 and 72 but if the other guy insisted that they didn't you'd have to stop arguing at some point as there's no point.