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White House backtracks initial claims about Alex Pretti after intense backlash
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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I was explaining this to my partner last night. It doesn't matter it's a blatant lie, what's important is the average dolt believes the lie.
"Oh, a domestic terrorist with a gun? I'm glad they dealt with him".
"Oh, she tried to run an ICE agent over? I'm glad they dealt with her."
Remember the 'big lie': if a lie is large enough and repeated frequently, the masses will eventually believe it.
I'm fairly sure the reason this latest incident is blowing up in their faces is not the blatant lies, it's that they tried to spin it so that Pretti deserved to die because he was carrying a gun. Which pisses off the 2A crowd. If they had shot an unarmed protester that wouldn't be a problem: he didn't comply, was impeding law enforcement, FAFO, etc., apply thought terminating phrase of choice. But because the conversation has become whether you should be executed for carrying a gun, that's touched a nerve.
Sure, I absolutely agree with you.
In my previous comment I was trying to highlight a slightly different topic: the fact that "the official story" and what has happened are often mutually exclusive and that it's not important the official story is correct but that it's believed.
Maybe I didn't frame it right but I'm talking about the same thing. They lied, egregiously, obviously, repeatedly. The issue now isn't that the story was a lie, and that their supporters are outraged at having been lied to. No, the issue is that it was a poorly chosen lie and not what they wanted to hear.
I guess selling the big lie was always an effective strategy, only now it's being taken to extremes. The fascists don't care about objective reality. They get their reality from the leader and the in-group, and as long as it gives them the right feels it doesn't matter how obviously untrue it is. Those of us who see the lies can point out that the lying liars have lied again, but that's boring, it happens every day. So any backlash is minimal.
But as you say, it also works on the masses who just aren't thinking critically, and given the sheer volume of that flood of lies, that's a big problem.
It sounds like we're on the same page, I appreciate you clarifying you point for me. Stay safe.