Making Connections Based on Pure Lies

Since the Empire’s secret emails were released through WikiLeaks, we have been made to understand that it is normal that things work in this way, especially by all the famous people who have to make a living off of re-created lies.

However, the right-wing media not only tries to turn these lies into truths, but in addition they sell the lies and magnify them, and are very effective at cultivating the politically partisan fruits of their labor.

As reflexive beings, we Salvadorians should understand that one of the oldest forms that the people in control of the mass media are still using is that of deceit. It is like a sweet lullaby that puts us to sleep and does not even let us think.

One of these big lies was precisely the one that made people believe that Michael Moore’s film, “Sicko,” nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary, was banned in Cuba. “It is a stunning look at the Orwellian nature of how bureaucrats for the State spin their lies and try to re-create reality (I assume to placate their bosses and tell them what they want to hear),” wrote the well-known filmmaker in his article “¡Viva WikiLeaks! ‘Sicko’ Was Not Banned in Cuba.”

So, what is the right-wing media doing? What the newspaper The Guardian did is a good example of the unethical practices habitually used to deceive. It took some innocuous gossip revealed by WikiLeaks to be a complete falsehood and construed it as fact. It reads: “…Cuban authorities have banned Michael Moore’s documentary, ‘Sicko,’ as being subversive. Although the film’s intent is to discredit the U.S. healthcare system by highlighting the excellence of the Cuban system, he said the regime knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them.”

Moore negates the information with sarcasm: “Sounds convincing, eh?! There’s only one problem — ‘Sicko’ had just been playing in Cuban theaters. Then the entire nation of Cuba was shown the film on national television on April 25, 2008! The Cubans embraced the film so much so it became one of those rare American movies that received a theatrical distribution in Cuba. I personally ensured that a 35mm print got to the Film Institute in Havana.”

The sad thing about the media’s power is that this big innocuous lie was run as if it were true, and The Guardian highlighted a deceiving headline:

“WikiLeaks: Cuba Banned ‘Sicko’ for Depicting ‘Mythical’ Healthcare System: Authorities feared footage of gleaming hospital in Michael Moore’s Oscar-nominated film would provoke a popular backlash.”

This is the sad thing about the media; there was not even a minimal investigation to untangle itself from an absurd lie. They wanted to make it true in the minds of those who do not reflect, who do not think, those who sleep the sleep of the unjust. This is why, when we look at WikiLeaks, we are what it is: a discoverer of the lies the Empire is using to make the connections it wants to make.