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


  • Ntozake Shange
    Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    POEM: Bocas: A Daughter's Geography, Ntozake Shange, 1983
    19 Mar 2025
    Ntozake Shange reminds us that whether we come from Haiti, Savannah, Luanda, or Palestine, we may not speak the same language, but “we fight the same old men.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    The Alliance of Sahel States Forges Ahead
    19 Mar 2025
    I spoke to Eugene Puryear, who traveled to the November 2024 Conference in Solidarity with the Peoples of the Sahel.
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Owl Poem (Nod to Amiri)
    19 Mar 2025
    "Owl Poem (Nod to Amiri)" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Jon Jeter
    Failing to Read the Room, Trump Treats Whites Like N-Words and Loses Ground
    19 Mar 2025
    Only 3 months into his term, there is a growing discontent among Trump’s white supporters as his policies harm their economic interests. There is potential for backlash if he continues to alienate…
  • Clau O'Brien Moscoso
    As Elections Near, Ecuador's Working Poor, African and Colonized Under Siege (Part 1)
    19 Mar 2025
    Ecuador was once a safe country with some of the best economic prospects in the region. Today, Ecuador has a nearly 500% increase in violent crimes and a marginalized population of poor, African, and…
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us