The Depressing Success of the Right-Wing Propaganda Machine

Here are highlights from a truly depressing report from The New York Times:

"The language used to talk about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the language used to take the nation to war in Iraq have been so interlaced that polls show they are inextricably linked in the minds of a substantial number of voters."

"One of the most striking poll findings is the number of people who continue to think Saddam Hussein was behind the Sept. 11 attacks. Depending on how it is asked, more than a third of Americans say Saddam Hussein was personally involved in those attacks. In a New York Times/CBS News Poll in September, 33 percent of the respondents said Saddam Hussein was “personally” involved. In June, when Princeton Survey Research, polling for Newsweek, asked if “Saddam Hussein’s regime was directly involved in planning, financing or carrying out the terrorist attacks,” 41 percent said yes."

The optimisitc note is that directly after we invaded as many as 53% of americans subscribed to this canard. So after five years there is modest progress despite the fact that right-wing liars about whom I have posted before contiue to push it on the public.