Propaganda 101

It’s been less than a week since Trump took office and already his administration is proving it will be a grave threat to free speech, journalism and truth.

On Saturday, Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency. Not surprisingly, it didn’t go exactly as planned with Trump using his platform to decry the media for truthfully reporting his rift with the agency.

A beef with the CIA? Totally made up by the media, Trump said.

He also took umbrage with the media’s truthful reporting on his inauguration.

Low attendance numbers? Totally made up by the media, Trump said.

On Saturday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer doubled down on that particular lie in a press briefing, claiming Trump’s inauguration had seen massive crowds. And on Sunday, Kellyanne Conway, senior counsel to Trump, went for broke as she faced off against Meet the Press host Chuck Todd. Spicer’s account of the inauguration wasn’t a lie, she said, it was “alternative facts.”

Actually, no, it was propaganda and watching Spicer dish it out so blithely was frightening.

Some have argued we should stop arguing about crowd numbers or CIA beefs, but I say don’t ever let up. It may be exhausting to whack-a-mole every single time Trump or his team blatantly lies, but each lie must be dissected, exposed and shot down.

The second we let up on fighting against such obvious falsehoods—ones that can so easily be proven wrong—that’s the second we make it easier to accept the bigger distortions, fabrications and fictions.

Don’t let it happen.