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This is not a loaded word. I'd accept the argument that "lied" is a loaded word, although I don't agree with it. "Inflated" is the water-down attempt at appearing unbiased. It's also 100% accurate, and thus not biased.
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Inflate is loaded, implying an attempt to make something bigger or more significant.
Except regarding tires.
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This would be misleading, suggesting that the question is one of disagreement. There is no disagreement. There's an actually correct number, and it is less than what Trump said. Thus he inflated the number.
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Or he got the number wrong. You don't know what was in his head. You're making an assumption. You're free to assume in opeds. Do it there.
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Your way is biased against objective truth.
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Objective truth regarding what Trump said is unknowable unless one is in Trump's head. If you wish to go there, please, take one for the team. I've a policy against entering Superfund sites.
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It's often said that a journalists job is to report the truth. You're explicitly arguing they should not do so.
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The truth is Trump said the Saudis were buying half a trillion of something. In fact, they weren't. Did he inflate the number? Probably. And in an Oped, I'd be fine with saying he inflated it. I've written here that W committed a war crime by lying us into Iraq. But even here, among W haters (and Slave), I took flack for saying that which I could not prove. This is why I'm not a reporter. I'd say Trump "inflated" the number as well. But guess what? I'm biased against Trump. I think he's a fool and a bullshitter. I should never be a journalist for exactly this reason. I would almost always:
1. Decide a position; and,
2. Let that position infect my assessment of facts on which I was reporting to the point that I would so shade my reports all the time.
