One of the more unpleasant aspects of a state of war under modern conditions is the appearance of a swarm of individuals, too clever by half, in positions of authority, excited, conceited, prepared to lie, distort and generally humbug people into states of mind supposed to be conductive to a final military victory.
*bolds are mine
- The new world order by H.G. Wells
According to Cambridge dictionary the word distort means:
to change something so that it is false or wrong, or no longer means what it was intended to mean:
Where does the word "distort" belong to? To the people like, they are prepared to distort people? If so what can "distorting people" mean in this context?