The idea of a government "Department of Information" is not new. After all, the Nazis had one. So did the Soviets. All good little dictatorships need one in order to get the "facts" out to the people.
HuffPo blogger - brain dead psychologist Jim Taylor - originally came up with the idea as a serious measure to get the "facts" out to the people. And like any enthusiastic authoritarian, he wants the government to determine what the "facts" are:
Here is my proposal to return fact-based reality to our national dialogue (note: please don't miss my ironic tone):The federal government should create a Department of Information whose responsibility it is to determine the facts behind any decision that confronts our country. ...
Here's the next part of my proposal. Anytime there is a factual dispute, the Department of Information would render a decision on what the facts are. Those parties who come out on the short end of those decisions would not be allowed to use their "facts" any longer (just like having potentially dangerous drugs or products taken off the shelf). If they do, there would be fines levied to punish the transgressors. This system would not only make clear what the facts are and empower those who want the facts to be known, but it would also discredit the lunatic fringe and reduce the influence of their views on the majority of people.
If you continue reading this tripe, you realize that there is absolutely nothing "ironic" about Taylor's screed. It's a very good thing there were no psychologists around when the states were debating the First Amendment. How many ways does this numbskull's proposal violate our Constitutional rights? Stifling contrary opinions to the "facts" by not "allowing" people to use them? Fining them for speaking their minds? Comparing speech to a dangerous drug?
Addle brained idiots like Taylor will keep trying to stifle opinions with which they disagree. And simple minded - make that "childlike" - notions regarding the nature of "facts" and how grownups interpret them will always confuse those who, in their arrogance, are so sure of themselves and their own interpretation of the facts that they are oblivious to their own totalitarian impulses.
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