The fears of many critics of Donald Trump were realized on January 22nd, when Kellyanne Conway, Advisor of Donald Trump showed how dangerous the outcome of the election in the US could become. In an interview where she was confronted with the fact, that the press secretary spread lies about the number of people that followed the swear-in ceremony Donald Trump as the new president of the US, she used the euphemism “alternative facts” to describe the untruths given to the press.
Sure, even many national or international organisations use euphemisms to let the truth appear more harmless than it actually is. But this avoiding of negative language, the dodging of confrontations and the twisting of inappropiate behaviour into something good is actually scary if you consider that this is the behaviour of a leadership of a country with over 300 million citizens.
The fact they lied about the number of people which have watched something live or in TV, is not the problem – the fact that the first thing the press secretary tells to the country is a falsehood and the way people are manipulated in the earliest stages of a presidential term gives a fundament to argue, that you can not trust the US government – and a nation that can not trust the ones who are supposed to represent it, will be torn and can not stand “united” for its ideals and goals, even though the name United States lets you suppose it to do so.
This manipulating of citizens of course is not unique, but the other states where this is happening we don’t call democracys. Probably Putin also is the only one who would call his way of leading Russia a democracy and this might also be a reason why Putin and Trump get along with each other so well. This comparison might seem far-fetched, but you have to keep in mind that Putin has developed to what he is today over nearly 17 years* and Trump on the other hand is the american president for nearly a month now.
A leadership like this can not be healthy for the power and the unity of the US and if these untruths and also the declaring of these untruths as “alternative facts” were not just an individual case, the protests and revolts from the citizens are to be expected sooner or later.
*13 years in total if you dont consider the 4 years in which Dmitri Medwedew was the president who then changed the law so Putin can become president in 2012 for the third time with a presidential term of then 6 years. (another clear hint for a non-democracy)
UTOPIA 2017 
I agree with your statement that it is not the wrong information about the number of spectators itself that is alarming but the government’s way of dealing with the truth, especially the use of the euphemism “alternative facts” for a blunt lie. Do you see parallels between Orwell’s depiction of a dystopian society and what happens right now in the United States? In Oceania, the falsification of truth is systematic and follows a purpose. Is what the US government does the same? And if yes, what is their purpose?
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I think that of course this case was not an accident or a singularity, also Trump has already mentioned his view on the media and articles or questions in interviews (!) That criticize his decisionmaking.
The developments in US need to be observed and judged with the scales of humanity
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I agree with you: it should be observed and I am glad that many journalists, politicians, and others pay special attention to the “facts” (or “alternative facts” – ha ha) the new government and the president publish. I am just not sure whether what Trump’s government does is systematic or not. Do they want to confuse the public by knowingly uttering falsehoods in order to obscure the view of reality? That would be quite “1984-ish”. Or do they lack facutal information?
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Of course almost everything Trump does is observed and rated and it´s a very necessary thing that other politicians and journalists are sceptical about what he does. But on the other hand he is really not trying to hide it, but telling untruths to the public is also not okay if you do it authentically and real.
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In my opinion you illustrate in youre comment realy good how alarming the fact is that the leader and his representatives of the USA – as a democracy – tell consistent lies and cover them as “alternative facts” . And that the disturbing part is not the lie itself, but given the fact how powerful the USA is and which position and effect it has not just on the american citizen, also the meaning of democracy loses his meaning! And referring to MrsP, of course there are parallels. In 1984 the own language of the totalitarian state “Newspeak” has the political purpose to shape peoples minds to what the state wants them to think. They removed words with negative meanings in euphemism. Trumps manipulation works according the same concept, by calling lies “alternative facts”, so the word falsehood loses his negative connotation and become “facts”
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I completely agree to what you’ve said 🙂
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You made a good point here, fluffy_unicorn/allesflauschig. And also picked a very good example!
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In my opinion you illustrate in youre comment realy good how alarming the fact is that the leader and his representatives of the USA – as a democracy – tell consistent lies and cover them as “alternative facts” . And that the disturbing part is not the lie itself, but given the fact how powerful the USA is and which position and effect it has not just on the american citizen, also the meaning of democracy loses his meaning! And referring to MrsP, of course there are parallels. In 1984 the own language of the totalitarian state “Newspeak” has the political purpose to shape peoples minds to what the state wants them to think. They removed words with negative meanings in euphemism. Trumps manipulation works according the same concept, by calling lies “alternative facts”, so the word falsehood loses his negative connotation and become “facts”.
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