I wish I understood the propaganda phenomenon better. Something repeated often enough--with arresting visual images and/or endorsement by opinion leaders--will be accepted as truth, no matter how much it flies in the face of reality, of easily verifiable data.

It just comes down, I guess, to human willingness to accept the easy answer, to a need for a 'received truth' instead of critical thinking, and to the bonding which occurs when a defined group all accept the same slogan, revealed word, whatever. Like a religious affirmation.

After WWII there was a high awareness of the harms of propaganda and the thin line between public education versus the inculcation of unquestioned beliefs, particularly by the government (added gravitas), thus the passage of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 1987, which prohibit the use of government disinformation and propaganda campaigns within the U.S.

There has been an amendment to the latest defense authorization bill (which passed in the House), sponsored by Representatives Mac Thornberry from Texas and Adam Smith from Washington State, which would allow the U.S. government in the person of Pentagon Public Affairs Officers to knowingly tell lies promulgate propaganda to its people (propaganda created for overseas use) in order to promote the government's own policies.

What bothers me even more is that this is pretty much under the radar, and may pass into law just by lack of awareness and inertia of the opposition.

It would give additional powers to the State Department and Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public disseminating a particular version information for unpopular government activities--with the public having no way to know if the 'information' is accurate, fair, balanced--no checks and balances--by removing the oversight provisions.

Factoid: The Pentagon now spends $4 billion a year on public information programs.