Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

A Nation Where Lies Outnumber Truths
Glen Ford, BAR executive editor
17 Jan 2007
🖨️ Print Article

by Glen Ford

Lies so permeate the assumptions on which U.S. public discourse is based, the truth often finds no place in the conversation. The biggest concentration of lies and liars can be found on corporate TV ‘news’ broadcasts.

A Nation Where Lies Outnumber Truths

It becomes ever more difficult to hold a coherent conversation in the United States, so saturated is daily discourse with lies. It’s like a minefield of lies out there – too many to map. But, here are some key phrases to look out for when attempting to avoid lies.

Any sentence that includes the words, “War on Terror” is rooted in a lie. There is no such thing as a War on Terror, and never has been. War, itself, is organized terror. That’s why international law finally got around to making it a crime to wage war against peace, an offense for which a number of Nazis were hanged, after World War Two. Like them, George Bush wages a terrifying war against peace – under the guise of a lie with no end.

War on Drugs.” Another never-was, never-will-be phrase. The United States is the illegal and legal mind- and body-altering drug empire of the world. So, if the U.S. were waging a war on drugs, it would be attacking itself daily. The real domestic war is a war on Black people. The casualties number in the millions, making up half the U.S. prison system.

If there were a real war on drugs, the fiercest battles would be taking place somewhere widely referred to as “the American Heartland.” American Heartland is a liars term, one that really means a place that’s overwhelmingly white. It’s also where methamphetamines rule, but no one is waging a War on Drugs, there. Not enough Black people.

“Pretty soon, outright fascists will simply be called ‘conservatives.’”

Here’s another lying phrase: “Good news on Wall Street.” So-called news people throw that lie around all the time. Good news for who? When Wal-Mart succeeds in further depressing the wages of working people, its stock on Wall Street goes up. That may be good news for Wal-Mart, but its not good news for most of the rest of us. In fact, every time so-called news people proclaim there’s “Good news on Wall Street,” they are, by definition, lying to most of the audience.

 “Conservative” – that’s a liar’s word if there ever was one. What it really means is a person or party on the right of the political spectrum. In the U.S., that spectrum keeps going further and further rightwards. Pretty soon, outright fascists will simply be called “conservatives.” Maybe they already are.

 “Liberal” is also a lie. I can prove it. They call Hillary Clinton a liberal. They’re lying.

 “Strongman” is a lying word used by the corporate media to denote a foreign leader that the United States doesn’t like. In reality, the U.S. hopes that the “Strongman” is really a weak man, so they can overthrow him – which always requires a whole lot of lying.

Finally, the lying-est word in the American vocabulary: "News." The so-called news is full of words and phrases that are, in fact, lies. In that kind of environment, there's no place for the truth. For Black Agenda Radio, I'm Glen Ford.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • BAR Radio Logo
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Black Agenda Radio May 23, 2025
    23 May 2025
    In this week’s segment, we discuss the legacy of Malcolm X and the state of the political party that many Black people feel trapped in. We are joined by a guest in Libya who explains the lasting…
  • Richard Medhurst
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Independent Jourmalist Richard Medhurst Targeted by Western Governments Acting on Israel's Behalf
    23 May 2025
    Our guest is Richard Medhurst. He is an independent journalist whose work has been severely impacted by state repression in the UK and Austria. He was arrested and detained in the UK in August 2024…
  • Malcolm X
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    Malcolm X Legacy and Politics Today
    23 May 2025
    Anthony Rogers-Wright is a Black Agenda Report contributor and host of the WPFW program Full Spectrum, where Margaret Kimberley was recently a guest. They discussed the legacy of Malcolm X on the…
  • Libya
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley
    How the Libyan People Are Still Impacted By the U.S./NATO Destruction of Their State
    23 May 2025
    Our guest is Dr. Abdelkarim Kashkar. He is a physician and author who writes about politics in Libyan newspapers. He joins us from Benghazi, Libya, to discuss how the United States impacts the people…
  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Biden's Fate and Israel's Sadistic Revenge
    21 May 2025
    Israel is starving Gazans to death and continuing its bombing attacks on civilians. Israel also specializes in personal revenge, targeting men, women, and children who might be the subject of…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us