Our Government Lies to Us Man

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Our government lies to us man.
No shit Sherlock, everybody knows that.
Wait! Everybody knows that and the government still lies to us?
Yep. That's a fact Jack.

"A former contractor for a UK-based public relations firm says that the Pentagon paid more than half a billion dollars for the production and dissemination of fake Al-Qaeda videos that portrayed the insurgent group in a negative light.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that the PR firm, Bell Pottinger, worked alongside top US military officials at Camp Victory in Baghdad at the height of the Iraq War. The agency was tasked with crafting TV segments in the style of unbiased Arabic news reports, videos of Al-Qaeda bombings that appeared to be filmed by insurgents, and anti-insurgent commercials – and those who watched the videos could be tracked by US forces.

The report of Bell Pottinger’s involvement in the video hearkens back to more than 10 years ago, when the Washington-based PR firm Lincoln Group was revealed to have produced print news stories and placed them in Iraqi newspapers. According to the Los Angeles Times, who obtained the 2005 documents, the stories were intended to tout the US-led efforts in Iraq and denounce insurgent groups."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/us-government-pentagon-fake-al-q...
http://labs.thebureauinvestigates.com/fake-news-and-false-flags/

They were making fake Al Qaeda videos and presenting them to us. And spending half a billion dollars to do it, for one company. Who knows how many more. What about all those Osama bin Laden videos? Ya, you know. You believe them right? Because they had a movie, it had to be true.

Hey, what about ISIS? What video lies have the Pentagon and State Department concocted about ISIS? Nah, they stopped with Al Qaeda and Iraq right?. Everyone knows everything nefarious stopped with Al Qaeda and Iraq because then Obama became President. He won the Nobel Peace Prize. Don't forget that. We should never forget that.

Hey Henry, you too you bastard.

Imagine that, our own tax dollars and plenty of them go into making films to lie to us. It's like, "tell you what, we'll give you billions of dollars in taxes and you spend it to lie to us. That's what we want".

Whaaat???

I propose we expand government. Not much when you count the total United States budget, but enough to try to change things. And it would be more than offset by the changes it would foster. You've probably heard the stories of how the Pentagon "can't account for" trillions of dollars spent. What that means is there is an insufficient audit trail to show where they spent the money. DOD and the government in general stopped doing audits during the Clinton administration under the "Reinventing Government" initiative led by Clinton and Gore. That contributed to what led to Donald Rumsfeld announcing on September 10th 2001, that 2.3 Trillion Dollars in transactions could not be accounted for. On September 11th 2001 the Accounting offices in the Pentagon were blown up. What a coincidence.

[video:https://youtu.be/IVpSBUgbxBU]

"Donald, Donald, what about that 2.3 Trillion? Oh never mind, we're going to have a War OF Terror instead."

I was a government auditor early in my federal government career. I thought it was a career position but I ended up changing after only a year into it. Part of my decision was seeing the writing on the wall for auditing positions in the government and choosing a career path with more promotion potential. But in my short experience I learned how effective independent audits can be in ensuring the mission of an organization is adhered to and proper procedures, regulations and laws are followed. They're very effective in saving the taxpayers money and insuring the government does it's job properly and cost effectively.

Naturally they were the first ones cut under Clinton. "Get rid of the Auditors!!"

So let's do it one better, create a Citizens Auditing Council. Instead of letting government agencies audit themselves, which they mostly don't do anyway, create an independent agency responsible for administering a rotating citizens auditing program for all government agencies. The benefits would far outweigh the costs to implement such a program by insuring taxpayer money is spent on legitimate programs, instead of propaganda films to lie to the taxpayers. It would create a more accountable culture in government agencies and provide a way for more citizens to get involved in what their government does and why.

Or we can just continue to let the government lie to us.

Everybody knows it.

The Pentagon spent all that money to pay just one contractor to prepare lies to tell U.S. citizens. Imagine how much more they spent. And think of what they're spending to lie to us about Syria, Libya, Iran, Russia, and China. Then count the "free lies" spread by the ruling class corporate media monopoly. The amount of money being spent on lies is amazing. We're a country of lies.

A country of lies that Christopher Columbus discovered.

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tapu dali's picture

I was confronted by a very right wing Russian-Estonian Orthodox priest, who accused me of being a "rahupropaganda viljeleja".

A sower of peace propaganda.

And this from a Priest!

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There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know.

Big Al's picture

Obviously against church rules. Which means God said so at one point, somewhere, to someone.

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Pricknick's picture

anymore. Or any less. But I am not gloomy.
As an ender, I believe that humans are well on the way to extinction. I say less than 125 years and we will end ourselves and most of all life on this blue marble.
Yet, I still hold hope. That we can change. That we can live in harmony with all and everything that inhabits here. I recycle. I use water wisely. Every year my carbon footprint diminishes. I care about all other living things. I've also learned a valuable lesson.
Rome fell to ruins. This country is in a race to beat the romans in how fast and how hard we go down. The biggest difference is, can this nation take everything else with it? You bet!
Our current government all but guarantees it. We are just pawns until we, as a nation, bring back the guillotine and pillory for those who rape, pillage and plunder.
Back to the honing.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

Big Al's picture

has to be dealt with. If we'd had done it before we wouldn't be in this place we're at. And now with Clinton and the neocons back in power, what's to stop them.

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Pricknick's picture

"We have to look forward".
Guess who.
Wasted time and effort for nothing.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

dervish's picture

the wealthiest zip codes in America were found in NYC and Silicon Valley, yet now they are all around Washington DC. Its the result of fat government contracts and little or no accountability. We are rapidly becoming just another corrupt country with a stagnant economy and immobile social classes. We are killing off what made America unique, and what's killing it is the unchecked power of DC.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Raggedy Ann's picture

"Wag the Dog." That's what is happening. Feed us the right propaganda and we allow anything to occur in our name. Americans have been taken down the lazy road. "You say you're not lazy? Well you are lazy when it comes to questioning the crap being fed to you."

Americans are perfectly fine remaining low information dwellers. More info on the rich and famous, less info on what our government is doing in our name. Let's not show the war on teevee. Let's not show the bodies coming home. Let's give up our liberties in the name of staying free. Let's watch more survivors, and dancers, and vocalists. Let's keep our eyes trained on sports. Concentrate on what's happening with your favorite star.

We have become a country of bullshit. Yummy!
Dash 1

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

kharma's picture

you were infected-"and those who watched the videos could be tracked by US forces"-Merika, fuck yeah.

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There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties.. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.--John Adams

Bisbonian's picture

There were four distinct and recognizable actors standing in for bin Ladin. It was that bad.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Bisbonian's picture

Keep an eye on "our" government, it is quickly co-opted with revolving door staffing. See EPA, FDA, et al.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

from people of good will who want to improve things without thought of personal gain get good legislation passed - like the EPA - big capital begins its steady work of coopting the agency or watering down the legislation to their selfish benefit.

Corruption never sleeps.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

They understood that a transparent government was necessary for a democracy.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

Note the phrase "all public Money".

The House of Representatives was considered the people's house, the singular part of the government which was democratically elected by the people. How can this be the People's House if the critters that infest it are completely bought by the oligarchs? They pay for their election campaigns and tell them how to vote and actually write the bills that they "author". Note that in that time we had an agrarian economy and there were few wealthy capitalists.

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years

This was their aversion to a standing army. What would they think of a nation of continuous war in multiple nations?

Plus, of course there is this accorded solely to the Congress:

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

How could it be then that we fight continuous wars spending many $Trillions without a declaration of war ever?

And this:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The clear concept here was that a free press was necessary requirement for a functioning democracy. How is a press owned by six large corporations a "free press". It is wholly captured by the Oligarchy.

My opinion is that the Constitution has never been fully implemented. Government, corporations and the courts interpret it they way they want and do what they want.

The founders were good in understanding some of the fundamental concepts of a representative democracy and tried to put these concepts into print. It's an imperfect process, and it will be up to us to bring these concepts into current times, keeping those concepts that were timeless and defining them in a way that secures a better democracy.

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Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

which would allow us to 1) subpoena and depose and do discovery and 2) would be transparent to all with no "hiddens". It would take amending the constitution unless we could somehow dispense with the coercion of witnesses and just use the transparency as the punishment.

Although with HRC cozying up to Kissinger apparently being transparent won't mean a damn thing to the dc crowd.

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glitterscale

In my brain these (bold) things are on topic for your essay because I think advertising is evil propaganda mostly, thanks for writing. The Six Living Generations In America

Generation Z/Boomlets.

  • Born after 2001*
  • In 2006 there were a record number of births in the US and 49% of those born were Hispanic, this will change the American melting pot in terms of behavior and culture. The number of births in 2006 far outnumbered the start of the baby boom generation, and they will easily be a larger generation.
  • Since the early 1700’s the most common last name in the US was ‘Smith’ but not anymore, now it is Rodriguez.
  • There are two age groups right now:
  • (a) Tweens.
  • (a1) Age 8-12 years old.
  • (a2) There will be an estimated 29 million tweens by 2009.
  • (a3) $51 billion is spent by tweens every year with an additional $170 billion spent by their parents and family members directly for them.
  • (b)Toddler/Elementary school age.
  • 61 percent of children 8-17 have televisions in their rooms.
  • 35 percent have video games.
  • 14 percent have a DVD player.
  • 4 million will have their own cell phones. They have never known a world without computers and cell phones.
  • Have Eco-fatigue: they are actually tired of hearing about the environment and the many ways we have to save it.
  • With the advent of computers and web based learning, children leave behind toys at younger and younger age. It’s called KGOY-kids growing older younger, and many companies have suffered because of it, most recognizable is Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls. In the 1990’s the average age of a child in their target market was 10 years old, and in 2000 it dropped to 3 years old. As children reach the age of four and five, old enough to play on the computer, they become less interested in toys and begin to desire electronics such as cell phones and video games.
  • They are Savvy consumers and they know what they want and how to get it and they are over saturated with brands.

Interesting future that page presents if the stats are accurate, didn't bother to check. I guess KGOY is a real thing because profit loss is something the oligarchy gives a shit for. "they know what they want and how to get it" can be frightening coupled with the eco-fatigue I think. I don't know.

Peace

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I don't think it ever has, and it's gotten so much worse - republicans and democrats united in this. Yes, deliberately no capital letters. Not anymore.
Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Clinton - think about that.
Don't hold an ounce of hope for us, not anymore.

Auditing. Another ideal. When it shows what the PTB don't want us to know, it ends.

Still think the "molotov cocktail" of Donald Trump is a possibility, and less threatening than any other option now.

Of all the death and terror we've created in the world, the image I still see is daughter of Kuwaiti Ambassador to USA, testifying before our Congress, lying and saying she saw Iraq soldiers "taking Kuwaiti babies our of incubators" - to justify our attacking Iraq when they invaded Kuwait. She was in DC the entire time. It just gets worse. It's a minor example, but still makes me feel sick about our country. I was living in DC, remember how many people I knew weren't surprised. It just keeps getting worse.

Bernie Sanders, even knowing how he was robbed, destroyed, people supporting him used, is still playing some kind of the game now too.

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Bernie Sanders, even knowing how he was robbed, destroyed, people supporting him used, is still playing some kind of the game now too.

But he could redeem himself tomorrow by coming out for Stein!

We do not have to lose this election.

The progressive Dem. leadership have a chance to save the country, and choose to play along.
They are showing us what they are made of- they are f***ing off what may be our best (last?) chance to break the duopoly.

Sanders, Warren, John Lewis, for god's sake. Just 3 of a really disappointing lot.

Orwell was an optimist.
It's stein time.

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to disinformation (that we get from our various mediated sources) has become so lopsided, that it can be a challenge for people to distinguish truth from falsity. The general public now hears far more lies than truths, about any given matter of consequence.

A veritable flood of "information" engulfs us all, and within the flood there is a great deal of sewage. An ability to filter this flow, to separate what is good and essential from what is poisonous and misleading, requires a degree of sophistication and effort that is unfortunately, not very common.

But the fact that so many "responsible" citizens - high level government officials, well-paid public servants, popular media stars - now routinely engage in deliberate and purposeful misrepresentation, is very disturbing. It's indicative of a widespread, and officially sanctioned disrespect for the very concept of truth; it's a devaluation of truth's essential virtue and centrality.

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native

lotlizard's picture

They don't care what is true; all they care about is, will spreading this message get people (the recipient[s] of the message) to do what we (the insiders / the 0.01% / the elite) want?

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that has been my experience, also. It is that way at TOP lately, to give one small example. (cue "Refugee", please)

It was really something to watch the self-professed "Christian woman" Donna Brazille lie at length when asked about passing on the CNN debate question to HRC camp. ( Jordan at CYT!)

It was also stupid. A simple apology- "My love for HRC swept me away. I throw myself on the mercy of the people and the DNC."), and she skates. BUT NO! not when lies will do. Oh boy.

I guess the idea is that if she admits what is obvious, then the Podesta emails will have made a mark. The campaign can not allow this. Hence the ridiculous display from the "Christian woman".

On the bright side, we learned how low she will go. (well, we have a pretty scary upper bound)
Her words are worthless.

Orwell was an optimist. Switch it off!
It's stein time.

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Deja's picture

Just like with the sarin gas videos, the footage and bombing/gunfire commentary "on the ground" are being heavily pushed right now.

Something is up, again.

The Car Talk rerun I'm listening to is way better!

Your Audit stuff reminded me of the woman who reported no-bid contracts under the Shrub admin who was ignored, then came down with a nasty infection. Upon returning to the office after days off to recover, she found the contracts had been approved. Can't recall the company(ies) - Haliburton maybe? Guess she should consider herself lucky it wasn't the Killary admin or she might have been suicided.

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