The Gaslighting of America

 

Editor’s note: With the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, WND takes a fresh look at the way CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite’s famous 1968 editorial altered U.S. public opinion about the war – a broadcast that was untrue, turning a monumental defeat for the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces into a propaganda victory. This is the last of a three-part series. See Part 1: ‘Lost’ Cronkite broadcast reveals 180-degree war flip and Part 2: Cronkite admitted blowing it on his famous commentary

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Today, the media commit Tet-level offenses every day. It's stunning. Often, they parrot absurd Democrat talking points. At other times, they present "settled science" that is not remotely "settled."

The word "gaslighting" has been creeping into media critiques, and for good reason. Once upon a time, the media conveyed news, albeit with a liberal slant. Now, they're into full-blown gaslighting to facilitate whatever the Left wants.

The term comes from a 1938 play by British playwright Patrick Hamilton, "Gaslight," and film adaptations, the most famous of which is a 1944 version starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman.

It's about a man who covers up a secret by literally making his wife believe she is insane. He uses all sorts of tricks, from weird lighting to pretending not to notice anything is wrong.

For decades, America's media elites have engaged in selective gaslighting. A prime example occurred in 1968, when CBS's Walter Cronkite and others parroted communist propaganda that Americans and South Vietnamese "lost" the Tet Offensive. In actuality, the Viet Cong were devastated despite aid from North Vietnam. But the false reports of a major American defeat morphed into a mantra that the war was unwinnable.

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