Viewers must watch for propagandists

How often do we hear, “The Emperor has no clothes.”? It’s a story of a man who maintains a pretense that he sees something that doesn’t exist because he doesn’t want others to think him dull-witted. The expression is often used when people believe something that’s not true.

This past election cycle has served to expose Fox News, long criticized for its conservative bias, lack of objectivity and outright promotion of Republican causes and candidates, as a fraud.

Unlike any other news organization, several Fox commentators predicted a significant Romney victory or even a landslide.

This, in spite of reputable polling that either showed a close election or clear win for President Obama. Romney, himself, was so isolated in his own bubble, that even on Election Day he was confident of victory.

Apparently, he not only believed the Republican flagship news network, but his own internal hype.

Worse than a so-called news entity dispensing propaganda is a large segment of the public, so wedded to an ideology, that they see Fox as a source of reliable information and act upon it.

Add to that the constant drumbeat of conservative talk radio, led by the biggest propagandist of all, Rush Limbaugh, and you have a large segment of the population being misled about a whole host of important issues. Those issues, and the many who are so misinformed, drive public policy, or, in the case of our current circumstances, obstruct good public policy.

It’s time to throw these misinformants overboard.

BOB WYNHAUSEN

Sandpoint