Looking up the wrong word and getting some milage out of it

[1-Old-Man]

I like to use the right words when I say (write) something so I keep a Dictionary by my side. Yesterday I started to use a word that somehow looked a bit wrong to me and so I looked it up. I had mixed the word up with another but they were close enough on the page that I saw both and so my mix-up was soon taken care of. Here are the two words I mixed up, the first is the one I had mistaken for the second: Conflagration, which is a large and destructive fire; and Conflation, which is what you get when you fuse together two variant texts, which is to say what you get when you mix together two ideas that didn't necessarily have anything to do with each other.

This morning the news was all about the growing attacks on US Embassies in the east. I get my morning news from C-Span so I didn't know what spin was being put on events until me morning perusal of the news websites, and then finally landing here to see what I might have missed and what reaction was being made. As much as anything I wanted to see if any pertinent facts might be missing from the discussion. Just as a side note, if a lot of people here spent more time watching Cspan and less watching FOX or CNN they would have a lot more fact at their disposal and a lot less bullshit.

Here is something missing from most reporting on the Embassy attack. There was a protest of the inflamatory film going on near the Embassy before it got violent. These were muslims and their protest near the embassy, on the grounds or right in front of it. Then came a second group, this is the group that stormed the embassy. The second group was described as about 50 well armed men. And then the news got hold of it and the result is a well armed muslim mob protesting a film stormed the Embassy.

Which is this, a Conflagration of thought or a Conflation being reported as if it were news rather than politically driven tripe?

[CJCRANE]

1. It's a conflation of two different events.

The Republicans want the story to be about violent protests because that opens up a discussion about freedom of speech.

However, if the military-style attack was unconnected to the protests then they become less relevant and the freedom of speech talking point is deflated.

[1-Old-Man]

2. Its how they mixed the Christian Right with the Gun-nuts and Racists to come up with the Teaparty

It exists in more than one place.

[ananda]

3. When people conflate religion and politics..

.. sometimes a conflagration results.