"Language is a virus," says Tom Tomorrow, and there appears to be no vaccine against or treatment for Andrew Breitbart's lies

Language is a virus

[Don't forget to click to enlarge.]

DOES ANYONE ON THE RIGHT KNOW ANYONE WHO'S
EVER SPOKEN THE TRUTH ABOUT ANYTHING?

Well, yes, when they're among themselves, or think they're safely among their own kind, free of intruders from the Outside World Where Reality Exists, they are apt to relax their guard and, amid the outpourings of psychotic delusion, speak their own actual (psychotically deluded) beliefs. Otherwise, not so much.

Just the other day I wrote about historian Rick Perlstein's terrific new Mother Jones piece, "Inside the GOP's Fact-Free
Nation," which concludes:

Sure, there will always be liars in positions of influence -- that's stipulated, as the lawyers say. And the media, God knows, have never been ideal watchdogs -- the battleships that crossed the seas to avenge the sinking of the Maine attest to that. What's new is the way the liars and their enablers now work hand in glove. That I call a mendocracy, and it is the regime that governs us now.

An ongoing demonstration of the infotainment noozemedia's indiiference-slash-incompetence-slash-collusion is the continued existence of serial liar Andrew Breitbart. While the Right continues to destroy the lives and careers of decent people by flagrantly twisting their words into weapons for the wackos' propaganda of poison, there appears to be no lie, or rather network of lies, too extreme to turn them into pariahs among decent humans.

So naturally here is the vile Breitbart at it again, and being treated with respect rather than universal choruses of "Liar!" "Scumbag!" "Devil!"

Ned Resnikoff has worked out some of the details for Media Matters:

Breitbart Starts Big Push To "Go After Teachers" With His Trademark Deception

April 29, 2011 1:59 pm ET by Ned Resnikoff

Andrew Breitbart is at it again.

A week after he promised to "go after the teachers and the union organizers," his website BigGovernment.com started running a series of choppy, heavily edited videos taken from labor studies courses taught at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The posts promoting these videos claim, among other things, that the professors "instruct students on how fear, intimidation, and, even, industrial sabotage are important and, often, necessary tools," and that they teach their students that the US flag is "racist."

But given Breitbart's history of dishonesty and his declared intention to "go after" teachers and unions, do we have any reason to think Big Government's claims are credible?

In a word, no. And in fact a quick review of the full context of these clips reveals that Breitbart is up to his old tricks again.

The fraudulent editing is neatly laid out onsite, if you're up for the gory details.

Why do they lie? Because there are propaganda victories to be won, and no price to be paid.

Why are they allowed to continue lying? Because the people whose job it is to call them out are (take your pick) stupid, lazy, incompetent, or outright corrupt. (This is not multiple-choice. Pick as many answers as you like.)

Sigh.


OH YES, DON'T MISS ANDREW BREITBART TOMORROW
AT THE L.A. TIMES'S 2011 FESTIVAL OF BOOKS AT USC

He's to be interviewed by the paper's Robin Abcarian. (He's got a book out, remember, presumably on the theory that the world isn't beset with enough misinformation, not to mention disinformation.) The event, originally scheduled for the Campus Center Ballroom at 12:30, has been moved to Etc. Stage at 3:30. I'm totally unfamiliar with the venues, so I don't know what if any bearing that may have, and I haven't been able to find any explanation.

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