Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
Propaganda and Disinformation
12/22/2025 11:34:28 AM
One of my favorite authors is Helen MacInnes. I started reading her books when I was a teenager and I re-read them yearly. Why? Partly because I love seeing good prevail, partly because she’s a dang good writer and partly because even though her stories of espionage were originally about Nazis or Communists, her message about fighting the oppressors of freedom has remained constant since her first book, Above Suspicion, published in 1939 through her last , “Ride a Pale Horse” (1984). Today, I was in the mood for “Neither Five Nor Three” (1951) a novel pointing out the dangers of Communist propaganda spread through (at the time) an unsuspecting print media. It’s one of my favorites by Ms. MacInnes. I love being given a wonderful insider's glimpse into New York City in the early 1950s.
It’s a timeless story, with a savvy portrayal of how we all can be duped when unscrupulous people take advantage of honest people and just plain lie to push their point of view. It’s as if MacInnes has a crystal ball to the future. She talks about how, with the “right” kind of propaganda America could find itself in a new kind of Civil War…friend against friend, families divided, states at war with each other because of ideologies. All due to lies spread by politicians and media who twist the truth in an effort to take power.
If this doesn’t sound like exactly what’s happening, then you’re not paying attention to the world around you. When, for example, a so-called journalist who’s had no problem spreading untruths on TV becomes a Cabinet member with the power…literally…of life and death and no one has the guts to take him on…America is in serious trouble.
The abuse of power by a media with no problem in furthering the corruption of a country isn’t a nightmare scenario dreamt up by a novelist 70 years ago. We’re living it. One of the points MacInnes makes is that it shouldn’t be up to the “average” citizen to distinguish between truth and lies, yet if the media is corrupt, we’re all forced to ferret out the facts. It’s one reason I try very hard not to share something I’ve read unless I can verify facts through mreo than one source. Her other other word for lies and propaganda , used in “Ride a Pale Horse” is “disinformation.” How a story can be cleverly manipulated until people are so confused they’re ready to give up the search for the truth until those in power win.
In both “Neither Five, Nor Three” and “Ride a Pale Horse, the enemies of truth who are determined to end freedom are Communists. In 2025, the enemies of truth are a mix of corrupt media, politicians, cowards, the power-mad and overly-wealthy, and celebrity-seeking sycophants.
Which tosses it back to those who’d like to see the freedoms for EVERYONE protected (not to mention freedoms given to too far too many who’ve been denied even basic rights for centuries ) to fight the lies.
Fight the propaganda and the disinformation with words and truth before words are dumped in favor of armed combat.
Take the time to learn what's true and what isn't and don't be afraid to speak that truth even to those who'll despise you for saying it.
We have to fight before we completely lose those freedoms, now and for the next generation and the generation after that
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