[Goebbels was Propaganda Minister for Germany's Third Reich. Bold quotes below are his]

"ARGUMENTS MUST BE CRUDE, CLEAR AND FORCIBLE, AND APPEAL TO THE EMOTIONS AND INSTINCTS, NOT THE INTELLECT. TRUTH WAS UNIMPORTANT AND ENTIRELY SUBORDINATE TO TACTICS AND PSYCHOLOGY."

A significant number of voters believe Hillary Clinton is untrustworthy; that she lies. Why? Well, it can be traced to the Federal Communications Commission's decision in 1987, led by a Ronald Reagan appointed Chairman, that ended what was known as the Fairness Doctrine. Under this doctrine, broadcasters for many years had been required to air political issues and to present both sides of them. Seems "fair" enough. However, the Reaganites justified the termination on the grounds that it interfered with broadcasters' First Amendment rights. This reasoning is similar to that of the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority which ruled in the 2014 Citizens United case that limits on contributions in elections interfered with First Amendment rights, i.e., money, somehow, is speech. These decisions have been turning us into a country like that described in George Orwell's "Animal Farm": "all...are equal but some...are more equal than others."

Congress reacted to the FCC's decision by passing legislation codifying the Fairness Doctrine, but Reagan vetoed it. No doubt he foresaw what would happen: broadcasters need sponsors, sponsors come overwhelmingly from the business world, and the world of business is interested in sponsoring conservatism, not liberalism. That vision proved correct: it led to the rise of pervasive right-wing talk radio dominated by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. The right and need of the American public to be informed had been "Trumped" by the spurious notion that "fairness" interfered with the First Amendment rights of wealthy commercial sponsors. Within seven years, under the leadership of one of the most effective political propagandists in American history--Newt Gingrich--the Republicans took control of the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in four decades. In his 1995 inaugural speech as Speaker he noted "We have talk radio hosts here today for the first time." And why not? They were an integral part of his propaganda machine.

Yes, Newt Gingrich, the man who led the propaganda attack to discredit great newspapers and the major networks with an endlessly repeated mantra "liberal, elite, media." The attack succeeded so well that during the almost endless Republican presidential nomination debates, candidates would deflect tough questions by charging that they were coming from the despised "main stream media," and the Republican audiences would react with loud agreement. No doubt Goebbels would have applauded Gingrich's and his disciple's effectiveness in discrediting much of journalism's efforts to get at the truth in American politics. In this respect, they have created what might be termed an unofficial "Ministry of Truth," as in Orwell's "1984."

And now we have Trump, another Goebbels disciple, endlessly lying and enjoying the fruits of his lies as they are repeated endlessly. And not only on right-wing talk radio, but in all types of media. Sensationalism works. Now he is busily planting doubts about both the outcome of the upcoming debates and the election itself by charging that the debate moderators will be unfair to him, and that if he loses in November it will prove the election is rigged. Lies. Big lies. Bigger lies!

"If you tell the same lie enough times, people will believe it, and the bigger the lie, the better."

What has all this to do with the perception of Hillary as untrustworthy? What does it have to do with Donald Trump's campaign techniques? One must look at the synergy crated by Congressional Republicans, loud mouthed, policy deficient, egomaniacal non-office holders such as Trump, and radio talk show hosts personified by Limbaugh. The technique works like this: Trump shouted out the lie that Barrack Obama's Presidency was illegitimate because he wasn't born in the USA. That outrageous charge was reported and then repeated interminably, for years, on Limbaugh-style talk radio despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary. Or remember Trump's assertion that thousands of Muslims cheered the fall of the Twin Towers on the streets of Jersey City. That, too, was repeated again and again despite proof that it had not happened. Just as Goebbels' theory predicted, millions believed these lies; millions still do. This process has worked very well for "Lying" Trump. He continues to use it. He owes a great debt to the unscrupulous talk radio echo chamber.

"It would not have been possible for us to take power or to use it the way we have without the radio."

And what about Hillary? The unrelenting effort to discredit her stretches back more than 20 years into the administration of her husband. Both of the Clintons were accused of terrible crimes, murder included. Although there was no proof that any of these crimes ever happened, the charges were repeated over and over again on right-wing talk radio, leading millions to believe them; in fact, millions still do, as polls show. The unrelenting attacks led Hillary to describe them as part of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." She was reviled for that statement, but she was absolutely correct; and it has gotten worse.

Today the skepticism or outright disbelief about her honesty can be traced to the tried and true Goebbels method of repetitive lying, appealing to emotion not reason, and spreading it all on the right-wing media outlets. Here are three examples:

1. The Benghazi tragedy. Many millions of dollars spent on Republican, Congressional so-called "investigations" proved only that Clinton was not responsible for the deaths of the diplomats. But outlandish charges made against her in those numerous Congressional farces were repeated and repeated, and then amplified by the right-wing talk-radio megaphone. This went on for years, and, surprise(!), many people believed them, shaking Hillary's credibility.

2. The emails. To be sure, Clinton was clumsy in her handling of the accusations against her. Yet, after an exhaustive investigation by the FBI, its Director, James Comey, a Republican appointed by George W. Bush, concluded that despite carelessness, there was nothing to justify a recommendation for prosecution. He testified to that before another Republican Congressional so-called "investigation" which proved to be nothing more than a stage from which Republicans made more unsubstantiated accusations. Like those in the Benghazi stage show, they would then be amplified by right-wing talk-radio with the sole purpose of intensifying the doubt about Clinton's honesty.

3. The accusations of misuse of the Clinton Foundation to gain access and favors from the State Department while Hillary was Secretary. It is a timeless human quality to try to help those who have helped you. That quality is reflected in politics, just as it is in other human interactions. Thus, it is entirely understandable that an official, such as Hillary, or any other political figure, would agree to meet with someone who has been helpful either to that official or to a cause that official supports. But there is a huge difference between agreeing to meet and agreeing to do what is asked. And there is no evidence that Clinton compromised her integrity or that of the Department by agreeing to anything illegal as a result of meetings requested by supporters of the Clinton Foundation. And yet, and yet, the vast right-wing conspiracy continues to blare out accusations of impropriety.

The political right's cacophony is nothing more than a two-fold effort to besmirch Clinton's reputation and to hide this stark reality: the Clinton Foundation not only has raised multi-millions, it has given multi-millions to health and environmental causes around the world; it has saved lives. It also has received the top rating from CharityWatch, a highly respected organization that reviews the performance of charities. In fact, its rating was higher than that of the Red Cross. On the other hand, Trump's charitable giving, either from his own funds or by the Trump Foundation, is a sorry spectacle made up of little more than unsubstantiated boasts. After a comprehensive review by the Washington Post based on older Trump tax returns as he refuses to release newer returns, the Trump Foundation was shown to be almost a sham, with very little money, and a sorry record. But you will not hear the truth about Trump's empty boasting on right-wing talk-radio. You only will hear a distorted account of the Clinton Foundation's exemplary record. By the way, the Clinton's have released decades of tax returns.

Joseph Goebbels, Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, and Rush Limbaugh, all stars of a political modus operandi that rests on one immoral, but highly effective, principle: lying works. Hopefully, by election day, the American people somehow will break through this terrible distortion of reality and emphatically reject it. If not, Goebbels' philosophy of the effectiveness of lying will have worked, and we will be in for a disaster.