What the Propagandist Changed

THE STORY SO FAR...

1. A forwarded email arrived, with all the markings of the usual right-wing propaganda, but...
2. The main body of the email contained a liberal message, yet...
3. The introduction and conclusion contained a standard conservative message, and...
4. The whole thing made no sense to me.

I was ready to give up, and leave the mystery unexplained, until it occurred to me that one way to figure out what a propagandist is up to is to check on what is changed or left out.

So was anything changed?

I compared the email to the transcript at CNN.

There were no significant changes to the Judge's comments.

Then I came across the transcript of the shoe bomber's statement:

I further admit my allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah. With regards to what you said about killing innocent people, I will say one thing. Your government has killed 2 million children in Iraq. If you want to think about something, against 2 million, I don't see no comparison.

Your government has sponsored the rape and torture of Muslims in the prisons of Egypt and Turkey and Syria and Jordan with their money and with their weapons. I don't know, see what I done as being equal to rape and to torture, or to the deaths of the two million children in Iraq.

So, for this reason, I think I ought not apologize for my actions. I am at war with your country. I'm at war with them not for personal reasons but because they have murdered more than, so many children and they have oppressed my religion and they have oppressed people for no reason except that they say we believe in Allah.

This is the only reason that America sponsors Egypt. It's the only reason they sponsor Turkey. It's the only reason they back Israel.

As far as the sentence is concerned, it's in your hand. Only really it is not even in your hand. It's in Allah's hand. I put my trust in Allah totally and I know that he will give victory to his religion. And he will give victory to those who believe and he will destroy those who wish to oppress the people because they believe in Allah.

So you can judge and I leave you to judge. And I don't mind. This is all I have to say. And I bear witness to Mohammed this is Allah's message.

Before I go any further, let me make it explicitly clear that I am not about to argue that he was right about these accusations.

I'm only pointing out that they were an important part of this exchange, and that the author of the email decided to reduce them to this:

After admitting his guilt to the court for the record, Reid also admitted his 'allegiance to Osama bin Laden, to Islam, and to the religion of Allah,' defiantly stating, 'I think I will not apologize for my actions,' and told the court 'I am at war with your country.'

That is, the author of the email took a statement which said:

1. That the bomber admitted his allegiance to Osama bin Laden,
2. That he admitted his allegiance to Islam and Allah,
3. That, in direct answer to the charge that he attempted to kill innocent people,"
   1. He claimed the U.S. has killed two million children in Iraq,
   2. He claimed the U.S. has encouraged the rape and torture of Muslims throughout the Mideast,
   3. He claimed he is at war with us because we have murdered children and oppressed his religion for no reason except that they worship Allah,
   4. He claimed that the reason for American support of Egypt, Turkey, and Israel is that we are anti-Muslim,
4. And that, for those reasons, he would not apologize for his actions...

And the author of the email reduced that statement to a different statement which merely said:

1. The shoe bomber admitted his allegiance to Osama bin Laden,
2. He admitted his allegiance to Islam and Allah,
3. He wouldn't apologize, and
4. He was at war with our country.

Why?

Why would a conservative email propagandist want to leave out most of the points in the shoe bomber's statement, and emphasize those few points especially?

When I asked that question the whole thing became clear.

Next time: All is revealed...