"Propaganda doesn't effect me!"

EJ Dionne (courtesy Tom Tomorrow):

…the larger change is that the very process Gore describes — of propaganda taken as fact, of slogans taken as arguments, of repetition substituting for logic and, yes, of lies and half-truths taken as truth — is now well-recognized. What worked against Gore during the recount and what worked for the administration in the run-up to the Iraq war doesn’t work anymore. That is an advance for democracy and for reason.

Becoming aware of the propaganda tools arrayed against us is the first step. But awareness will not help if you believe that just knowing that these tools exist somehow magically protects you from their use.

The very act of saying that you are immune from them is one of the surest signs that they will continue to work on you. When you are that certain of your immunity, you will refuse to acknowledge any instance when they actually worked on you.

We are all vulnerable to propaganda. Witness the Democrats and their handling of the Iraq War issue. They want to end the war, but they have allowed themselves to be swayed by the propaganda that says that anything they do to end it will be viewed as "harming the troops".

All the news channels this morning are leading with "Bush Wins!" headlines specifically because the Democrats have not understand this or, even worse, think that it won't effect them.