The Big Lie
Adolph Hitler, in Mein Kampf wrote that Germany lost WW I due to a propaganda technique used by Jews which consisted of telling a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe anyone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." Goebbels is rumoured to have later accused the British of using the same technique. More details here The rest of the world credits Hitler's Nazi regime with using the "big lie" in its propaganda.
The Bush regime is certainly using the "big lie" gambit. But it's also using the "little lie, frequently" gambit. There is not a day goes by when the Bush regime doesn't lie about something no matter how big or how small. So it's interesting to figure out why they do it.
The first reason is strategy. They're not going to sell a "Let's give my cronies in the energy industry freedom to pollute the air so they can make bigger profits" bill but they can sell a "Clean Skies Initiative." If they told the truth about what they wanted to achieve they'd be strung up from lampposts. If they lie about it the sheeple will let them do it.
The second reason is tactics. They get caught out in one of their lies so lie about it some more. "So Saddam didn't have WMDs? But he had plans to create projects to explore the possibility of WMD-related program activities." Then that lie gets exposed. "Oh, no vague thoughts of intentions of the possibility of perhaps creating WMD-related program activities? But he was an evil person with torture rooms that we closed down (actually we re-opened them and run them under our management now)." Etc. As the Scots poet put it: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." Once you tell a lie then you have to tell further lies when the first lie is exposed as a lie.
The third reason is because they can. These people are psychopaths and they get their rocks of by hurting people. Part of their pleasure is in deceiving people long enough for that deceit to get them what they want then laughing like sick fucks when the sheeple realize they've been lied to once again.
But perhaps there is another strategic reason. There are so fucking many lies it's impossible to keep track of them. The daily news cycle means that by the time you've gathered the proof of a lie it is considered "old news" and your proof is ignored. Even worse, there are so fucking many lies that people like you and me get burned out. There is just too much evil. There are just too many lies. We are overwhelmed by it all. 9-11 should have been enough to have Bush and co impeached and imprisoned for their part in it. But while we were looking at that we got distracted by other serious crimes and lies. We're forever playing "catch up" and losing.
Had we concentrated all our efforts on 9-11 then then this bunch would be in jail. Had we concentrated all our efforts on the lies that led to the Iraq war then this bunch would be in jail. Had we concentrated all our efforts on "Plamegate" then this bunch would be in jail. Etc. But we eagerly concentrate our efforts on the latest atrocity and the latest lies and so we lose.
The "lots of little lies" technique is, unfortunately, an improvement over the "big lie." Even though fewer people believe the little lies, they are continually chasing a moving target.
The Bush regime is certainly using the "big lie" gambit. But it's also using the "little lie, frequently" gambit. There is not a day goes by when the Bush regime doesn't lie about something no matter how big or how small. So it's interesting to figure out why they do it.
The first reason is strategy. They're not going to sell a "Let's give my cronies in the energy industry freedom to pollute the air so they can make bigger profits" bill but they can sell a "Clean Skies Initiative." If they told the truth about what they wanted to achieve they'd be strung up from lampposts. If they lie about it the sheeple will let them do it.
The second reason is tactics. They get caught out in one of their lies so lie about it some more. "So Saddam didn't have WMDs? But he had plans to create projects to explore the possibility of WMD-related program activities." Then that lie gets exposed. "Oh, no vague thoughts of intentions of the possibility of perhaps creating WMD-related program activities? But he was an evil person with torture rooms that we closed down (actually we re-opened them and run them under our management now)." Etc. As the Scots poet put it: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." Once you tell a lie then you have to tell further lies when the first lie is exposed as a lie.
The third reason is because they can. These people are psychopaths and they get their rocks of by hurting people. Part of their pleasure is in deceiving people long enough for that deceit to get them what they want then laughing like sick fucks when the sheeple realize they've been lied to once again.
But perhaps there is another strategic reason. There are so fucking many lies it's impossible to keep track of them. The daily news cycle means that by the time you've gathered the proof of a lie it is considered "old news" and your proof is ignored. Even worse, there are so fucking many lies that people like you and me get burned out. There is just too much evil. There are just too many lies. We are overwhelmed by it all. 9-11 should have been enough to have Bush and co impeached and imprisoned for their part in it. But while we were looking at that we got distracted by other serious crimes and lies. We're forever playing "catch up" and losing.
Had we concentrated all our efforts on 9-11 then then this bunch would be in jail. Had we concentrated all our efforts on the lies that led to the Iraq war then this bunch would be in jail. Had we concentrated all our efforts on "Plamegate" then this bunch would be in jail. Etc. But we eagerly concentrate our efforts on the latest atrocity and the latest lies and so we lose.
The "lots of little lies" technique is, unfortunately, an improvement over the "big lie." Even though fewer people believe the little lies, they are continually chasing a moving target.
posted by Brian de Ford at 3:33 AM
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