Before we had fake news we had false narratives.
Its a technique where facts are taken out of context and spun into a whole new story.
This has been done throughout history as a way to justify actions which were in fact unjustifiable.
When Hitler invaded Poland, the German people were told how Poland attacked first.
We have the Gulf of Tonkin incident which may represent a similar rearrangement of facts.
The only real defense we have is a free press. However the thing which can defeat a free press is fake news.
If you have news outlets which follow no rules and publish stories meant to confuse and contradict we can create a confused public.
This seems to be the main tactic currently being employed by the Republican party, although of course in their version it is the Democrats.
Too many Americans have bought into alternative news outlets, some of which have high ratings, because they tend to be more controversial and entertaining.
So faced with boring legitimate news vs entertaining false narratives, we have to hope Americans make the right choice.
Its a close call.
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