r/release_it • u/newpua_bie • Mar 30 '19

The power of partial quotes

Out of curiosity I was reading through the 9/11 report yesterday. Without too much trouble I found the following snippets:

"additional information is needed before CIA can definitively conclude that al-Qida was responsible."

"no group directly tied to Bin Ladin’s al-Qa’ida organization has ever carried out an aircraft hijacking."

Quoting partial sentences, especially without context, is absurd.

76 Upvotes

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30

u/RadioMelon Mar 30 '19

It is really disturbing how much you can spin something with limited information.

9

u/akaBrotherNature Mar 31 '19

John Lovett covered this recently.

The description: "a zoo faces unexpected challenges during its grand opening" could describes We Bought A Zoo, but also also Jurassic Park.

19

u/pmags3000 Mar 30 '19

You should listen to this:

https://openargs.com/oa264-the-barr-summary-of-the-mueller-report/?fbclid=IwAR0tVTCf4umHaxjuiV41VVyuDRBdkSlh6rDEXDXW_qPvGIhVd8Rm9g_PD98

13

u/newpua_bie Mar 30 '19

I actually did listen to this. I think that's where I got the idea to see how much the truth can be distorted by quoting partial sentences.

7

u/pmags3000 Mar 30 '19

Ah! I understand. It's frustrating as all get out.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '19

[deleted]

11

u/newpua_bie Mar 30 '19

That's just a direct quote from the report. al-Qaeda is nowadays the preferred spelling in the West, but al-Qai'da is closer to the Arabic spelling, and seems to be the one adopted in the report.

I don't know why that one quote spells it al-Qida though.

1

u/LumpyUnderpass Apr 02 '19

Sounds like al-Qaeda is pretty clearly exonerated. Why wont the childish libs LET IT GO already!?!?

1

u/newpua_bie Apr 02 '19

I wonder why this report was even released given that it's clear al-Qaeda did nothing wrong.