Misrepresentation Quotes
There is no known writing of Disraeli's with this quote although it is very commonly attributed to him as in this case by Mark Twain. Disraeli was even quoted earlier in 1895 by English Parliamentarian Leonard H. Courtney who said, “…the words of the Wise Statesman, "Lies— damned lies— and statistics," and although he does not mention Disraeli by name, the “Wise Statesman” was a name commonly used for the great prime minister and the timing was right. The two together make the quotation very probably attributable to Disraeli. See linked quote.
This is a very important historical quotation in that it shows the extensive degree of anti-Catholic prejudice that existed in America in the late 1930s. Most of the anti-Catholic feeling was based in the absurd but real belief of millions of Protestants that the Pope was trying to control America. Then there was the fear and that American Catholics would take political direction from the Vatican and the Catholic bishops. The perception of the Church was hundreds of years out of date. Most of the anti-Catholic bias reduced along with anti-Semitism in the remainder of the 20th century as Americans became much more religiously tolerant. By the 21st century, religious prejudice still existed but it was limited to a small group of Americans whose views were generally condemned by the American mainstream of thought and opinion.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910
Referring to British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin:
See Ben Franklin for an earlier similar sentiment {465143}.
The then CIA Director, Allen Dulles, fostered a practice of “adjusting” intelligence reports to support ideological policies and theories that were then in vogue. The agents in the field knew what was wanted and many adjusted their reports to coincide with the overall intelligence and policy. The station chiefs and other supervisors often ignored reports of their agents that they knew were not exactly accurate. Copeland however, just fabricated reports and “information” from sources. The honesty and integrity of the CIA intelligence operations have varied from time to time and depended much on the CIA Director at the time. Allen Dulles, though brilliant and able, fostered an ideological intelligence agency. He even went so far as to lie to the President on several occasions.
This quote comes from Goebbels' text "Churchill's Lie Factory" and is believed to be the paraphrased source of the commonly misattributed quote in {583627}.
