QOTD
by digby
“Manufactured doubt and moral atrophy”
The function of lies is no longer to persuade; it is to challenge the primacy of facts. Relativism has been weaponised by the powerful to eliminate the very possibility of justice.
This doubt is distinct from the kind of legitimate scepticism that might check against unqualified belief. It is ersatz and functional, manufactured to thwart action and allay guilty conscience. Politically immobilising and morally liberating, it sustains political inertia among cynical politicians and the will to disbelieve among jaded publics.
This opens the door to authoritarianism — you can believe me or you can believe your lying eyes.
It’s happening everywhere..
That quote is from an excellent article about what’s happened in Syria. It’s profoundly disturbing.