Lies,Lies,Lies
In the current political season many different topics arise however one such particular is when candidates lie to gain esteem with the voters. However many times these lies are false narratives and lies of omission, these occur when facts are left out in order to foment misconception. Another type that has been occurring lately are lies of distortion which don't take into account important factors that change the outcome. Lately the lies have been building up to garner attention and provoke different emotions that some politicians are using to fuel their camping, recently many individuals are upset with the GOP and have viewed Trump as an alternative and he has used this anger to gain popularity among the voters. Many times individuals base their version of the truth on what they want to believe and justify their reasoning because they don't want a world where honesty is universal. In the 1970's our country believed in honesty when speaking especially in the public arena, however this later changed with Nixon in which he gave three speeches on the Watergate scandal.
Whereas before when politicians made remarks about how many job they could create or what they could do for the country to improve it they were given slack with their lies and the media calling them out on these, all of these remarks were hypothetical and used to gain momentum with the people. However Donald Trump has changed all of this because of his attacks on the media when they call him out on remarks that he has made. Many do not want to face his "scorn" however the best response to this would be to continue calling out the lies and falsified statements. When these types of lies are used in politics they change the perception of the candidate and although some may not agree with all their policies they continue to look for ways of justifying their support.
Donald Trump used an embellished number to tell the american people how many immigrants President Eisenhower removed while in office. Trumps claims the U.S. removed 1.5 million illegal immigrants during the 1954 "Operation Wetback" program. However politifact fact checked this information and concluded that their were like 200,000 immigrants sent back and the campaign was used to accompany legal immigrants initiatives. By using this half truth many viewers react to this information, and thus influencing them on political decisions. We as voters of the country have always known truths have been distorted in order to gain popularity and rise above other candidates, but at what point do we reach in which the lies become so big and unrealistic that we can longer justify our support? Candidates must be confronted on their elaborate "truths" and the comments they make, if the leader of the free world can speak the truth when running for elected office why would we think they would act any different when in the oval office and behind closed doors.
Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death explores the concept of the news being used to entertain individuals, its no longer to inform the public on current events and public discourse. Interestingly enough this book was written in 1985 but the themes explored in the book mirror those of today. Trump is an entertainer and he was before he became a candidate and the media has used his entertainment to convey his message to the masses. According the Market Watch Trump has received $3 billion in "free" advertising through his previous entertainment endeavors and social media. The book ironically is called Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, even the title itself channels today's world.
Carroll, Lauren. "Trump: Eishenhower 1.5 million immigrants" @politifact. Politifact, 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 12 July 2016.
Schroeder, Robert. "Trump Has Gotten Nearly $3 Billion in 'free' Advertising." MarketWatch. MarketWatch, 06 May 2016. Web. 12 July 2016
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