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Published Saturday, February 05, 2005 by seanlmccarthy | E-mail this post

WE CAN BE LIED TO ENOUGH THAT WE'LL BELIEVE THE LIES: Whether or not you support the current administration, you'll have to admit that Karl Rove and the Bush team long-ago realized that perception is even more important than reality. Tell them Iraq has WMDs and many Americans will even think we've found them. The Wall Street Journal's science columnist weighed in Friday with reports on a study finding that other cultures can figure out when the facts are messed up, whilst us Americans ain't so clever. Sharon Begley writes, "The news media would do well to keep in mind that once we report something, some people will always believe it even if we try to stuff the genie back in the bottle." Um, Sharon, isn't that why we're supposed to do some actual reporting before we go to press/print/air? Wait. There's more in her radical conclusion: "The findings also offer Machiavellian possibilities for politicians. They can make a false claim that helps their cause, contritely retract it -- and rest assured that some people will nevertheless keep thinking of it as true." As if that hasn't happened already.