by Len Hart, The Existentialist CowboyThe truly intelligent are not threatened; in fact, they are found among Democracy's most staunch defenders. Rather, it is the dull of wit who are threatened by truth. Unable to win with reason, the Bush regime wages war on truth with lies and propaganda. Failing even that, Bush has made truth itself illegal. He need only 'deem' you a terrorist to shut you up for good.
For the record, it was on May 9, 2007 that Bush gave us a clue that upcoming elections may be canceled and that he has no intention of leaving the White House. It was on that date that Bush signed a National Security Declaration granting him the power to declare a national emergency in case of war, suspend Congress and dismiss the Supreme Court. It was Margaret Atwood who called George W. Bush, the greatest threat to world peace. What Atwood didn't mention was that Bush derives his power from a deliberate and well-planned attack on truth by way of language. George Orwell predicted it and his works remain the textbook example of how governments manipulate people by first manipulating their language.
If all else fails, a totalitarian regime can merely make the telling of truth a crime. Traditionally, the names given those truths which threaten a corrupt or tyrannical state are treason or sedition. A young United States experimented with the Alien and Sedition Acts which gave President John Adams the power to imprison or deport aliens upon the mere suspicion that their activities posed a threat to the new national government. To his credit, Adams made no use of them but neither did he rebuke the Congress for having passed them. George W. Bush has done worse. He has simply arrogated unto himself the power to 'define' one a terrorist upon any criteria. It need not be an overt act. It need not be treason as defined in the Constitution or some 400 years of common law. It is a criterion overly broad and on its face ludicrous: Bush need only 'deem' you a 'terrorist' and you are one. Orwell's classic cautionary tale, 1984, describes a fascist, totalitarian government spying on its own citizens, denying reality, exploiting a fictional enemy in a perpetual war. Orwell's Big Brother tried and succeeded in re-writing History itself. In 1935, Sinclair Lewis, in It Can't Happen Here described the dictatorship of Berzelius "Buzz" Windrip who resembles George Bush. In both fascist states, all was done in order to maintain the regime in absolute power. The lesson of 1984 is less about the state itself than it is about the individual. When state's are absolutely powerful, the individual ceases to exist as an autonomous entity. Philosophically, individuals robbed of the ability to exercise free will are denied person hood; theologically, those individuals are thus robbed of their very souls.
In order to acknowledge the collapse of Soviet Communism and the failure of fascism to reemerge as a potent political force, I ditched Orwell's oppressive totalitarian state in favor of an entertainment-fueled nihilism in which dimwitted citizens frittered away their lives watching web TV and working at slightly overpaid jobs to buy worthless junk ... on web TV, natch. Where Orwell envisioned endless rows of soldiers marching in perfect unison to the strains of the Two-Minute Hate, I saw a world where nations had been replaced by trading blocs and the objects of hatred were the immigrants in our midst.The images from 1984 are seared into our memories --big brother, the telescreen, the grotty bedroom, the cubicle, the memory hole, the drab gray existence, the rat cage. But 1984 is as much about language. It is more than a mere sub-text. Language, in 1984, is the means by which Big Brother creates an alternate reality. It is only in the 'alternate reality' that Big Brother has power. Big Brother is really the Wizard of Oz, an illusion, an image on smoke. If millions suddenly deny the illusion, the lies, the bullshit, Big Bro is finished. The bad news is that, like the cowardly lion, we dare not challenge the great and powerful Oz.--Ted Rall, Why Bush Is Addicted To Perpetual War
The "official language" is Newspeak, remembered for its slogans: war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is Strength. A classic newspeak word is "doublespeak" which describes how both the Bush administration and the sycophantic news media have empowered Bush by perverting language. Homeland Security for the unlawful and omnipresence of Big Brother itself, operation Iraqi freedom (originally called Operation Iraqi Liberation, or OIL) for a war of naked aggression, war on terrorism for a perpetual war which, on its face and by definition, cannot be won. Wars are fought between armies representing nations. There is, therefore, NO war terrorism. Nor was there a war on drugs, a war on crime, a war on porn, a war on annoying gum chewers, a war on drunks, a war on sin, bestiality, queers, or any number of annoying things against which a military, an army is completely and utterly useless. The War on Terrorism is GOP code for global police state or police action. Like Reagan's War on Drugs or the war on porn, the war will take just as long as the GOP finds it necessary to maintain themselves in power. The most glaring use of Newspeak is the invention of what I have chosen to call "focus group phrases" because they are invented, full cloth, in a focus group. "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is just such a phrase. "911 Deniers" is another. "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is designed make a lazy populace forget that the war was begun upon blackhearted lies about WMD. "911 Denier" is designed to shift the burden of proof from Bush to prove his own stupid 911 theory for which there is not a shred of evidence or proof. The Bush administration has used up several ex post facto war rationales --none of them true! "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is merely the latest in a string of such nonsense. They use it because it tests well and saves the news media the trouble of describing the real situation which defies summation simple or simple-minded words. Indeed, Orwell understood as few have the power of language and in, 1984 the "tool of power" is language. Language empowers the all-powerful party which dictates the nature and use of language. The institutions of state maintain their power by exploiting the power of language to shape the nature of thought itself. That is, in fact, the protagonist, Winston Smith's, job. Examples abound in the Bush administration. The Bush regime's use of the phrase "Total Information Awareness" very nearly gave the game away. In response to criticism, the regime stopped using the name "Total Information Awareness" to denote their program of widespread domestic surveillance. But that does not mean Bush stopped spying on you, invading your privacy, violating your Constitutional right to be safe and secure in your own home. "Total Information Awareness" is no doubt called something else, a name designed not to attract the attention of the media, a less scary name to lull the "folk". Orwell is, of course, most famous for 1984 but his great essay on politics should also be required reading. [See: Orwell: Politics and the English Language.] Orwell explores how politicians explore language to accrue absolute power.
As I have tried to show, modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug. The attraction of this way of writing is that it is easy. It is easier -- even quicker, once you have the habit -- to say In my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that than to say I think. If you use ready-made phrases, you not only don't have to hunt about for the words; you also don't have to bother with the rhythms of your sentences since these phrases are generally so arranged as to be more or less euphonious.All who have read Orwell's essay on how easily politicians debase the language for nefarious purposes have recognized in the Bush administration the very techniques that Orwell warned us about.--George Orwell, Politics and the English Language
The White House saw September 11 as a golden opportunity. The first catastrophic terrorist attack on American soil sparked an unprecedented case of leadership projection: desperate for protection and answers (why do they hate us? can we kill them before they kill us?), Americans wishfully compared Bush to FDR and Churchill. Approval ratings hit 92 percent. But Bush's political advisors knew that peaking early wouldn't guarantee reelection in 2004. Bush's father had been turned out of office just 20 months after the Gulf War ratcheted his score up to 91.The Bushies have lifted their reelection strategy straight out of "1984," and not just by creating ominous-sounding agencies like the Office of Homeland Security, the supposedly-closed Office of Strategic Information, and a "Shadow Government." As in "1984," the Bush regime tolerates zero dissent --a two-party system in name only has been distilled to one in which only Republicans express acceptable opinions. And an absence of follow-up attacks has been met by endless alerts, advisors and empty hysterics in the name of security, most recently culminating with Tom Ridge's much-mocked color-code warning system.To be fair, it is not only politicians but bullshit artists who have made us vulnerable to tyranny. This has been done by dumbing down the language and, thus, our ability to think critically. Until Bush, even Republican "Presidents" paid lip service to the Constitution.--Ted Rall, Why Bush Is Addicted To Perpetual War
“"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."”Sinclair Lewis wrote It Can't Happen Here and, in it proceded to show just how it might and, perhaps, has and in pretty much the way both Lewis and Orwell predicted. The characteristics of the fascist state so vividly described by both authors are to be found in abundance in Bush's fascist regime. That millions are in denial is merely evidence of the truth that is denied. A quote from Sinclair Lewis' "It Can't Happen Here":—Sinclair Lewis, author of "It Can't Happen here!
"Senator Windrip has got an excellent chance to be elected President, next November, and if he is, probably his gang of buzzards will get us into some war, just to grease their insane vanity and show the world that we’re the huskiest nation going." – page 20, It Can't Happen Here, Sinclair LewisClearly —Orwell and Lewis not only warned us, they predicted very precisely how it would be done. As Shakespeare would have said: "All is true!"So --why didn't we listen? Because this nation has a fierce anti-intellectual streak which at its best make us independent but at its worst makes us stupid!Here's the searchable version in its entirety:
George Orwell: 1984
"V" Speech: 'There is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there?'
Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership, Global Issues, Updated: January 02, 2009
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25 comments:
The elephant in the living room: Bush is only a reflection of us. Not everyone of course. But in the main - the USA and the world is simply reaping what it sowed. Because the "head" of the Illuminati is hardly the problem. The body is. The meat of that body is every cop, judge, soldier, jury member, yuppie, family members and friends who belittle "conspiracy theories", etc. All the solid citizens who play along with the monstrous lies and group think that society is. And its not ignorance. Its a bad faith act of willful self serving ignorance. Bye 6 billion. It was shitty knowing ya. Sorry that you failed. most of you anyway. to the rest: You deserved better.
I've seen you on Buzzflash and admiring this series. Very well done and thanks for the occasional buzz.
Anonymous said...
Bye 6 billion. It was shitty knowing ya. Sorry that you failed. most of you anyway. to the rest: You deserved better.
Defeat by a worthy opponent, a formidable intellect, a proven warrior in the field like Richard Coeur de Lion is one thing!
But to simply wink out ignominiously in the blink of nuclear eye triggered by a coward, a stupid dipshit of no talent or intellect, an irredeemable flicker of humanity, a human flea, the ooze of runny sores, is simply unacceptable!
TomCat said...
I've seen you on Buzzflash and admiring this series. Very well done and thanks for the occasional buzz.
Thanks for the kind words, TomCat. Please accept my compliments on your fine blog. If you don't mind, I will add you to my blogroll.
Don't be a stranger.
>>But to simply wink out ignominiously in the blink of nuclear eye triggered by a coward, a stupid dipshit of no talent or intellect, an irredeemable flicker of humanity, a human flea, the ooze of runny sores, is simply unacceptable!
Of course. But by the writing is on the wall. Less than 10% think for themselves. do the math. What do we expect to occur to change things? The plans to depopulate are well under way. Al Gore is winning the hearts and minds. No chance to win Unless divine intervention. But don't hold your breath
re: anonymous...
Your points are well-taken! But I intend to fight the bastards with my last breath. Or --in the words of a Southern boy, William Faulkner:
"I decline to accept the end of man. It is easy enough to say that man is immortal because he will endure: that when the last ding-dong of doom has clanged and faded from the last worthless rock hanging tideless in the last red and dying evening, that even then there will still be one more sound: that of his puny inexhaustible voice, still talking. I refuse to accept this. I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poet's, the writer's, duty is to write about these things. It is his privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail."
It's a god-damned shame that apparently nobody in this clown kingdom, much less the slimy traitors in Congress, seems to know that the President can't grant himself ANY powers. He cannot sign anything into law that has not passed both houses of Congress. Is this fucking news or something?
What are all of the slack-jawed, drooling mumblers out there going to do or say if El Fascista Maximo actually tries to put this into practice? Say, "Gosh, what a bummer. I guess I'd better pack for camp?"
The Founders shouldn't have bothered. Americans are gutless, clueless mounds of jello who shake like rats on meth every time somebody coughs in the back of the bus.
A people with any guts would have strung up this entire administration by now, and then followed it up by applying the same remedy to Congress.
Sic semper tyrannis!
It's a god-damned shame that apparently nobody in this clown kingdom, much less the slimy traitors in Congress, seems to know that the President can't grant himself ANY powers. He cannot sign anything into law that has not passed both houses of Congress. Is this fucking news or something?
What are all of the slack-jawed, drooling mumblers out there going to do or say if El Fascista Maximo actually tries to put this into practice? Say, "Gosh, what a bummer. I guess I'd better pack for camp?"
The Founders shouldn't have bothered. Americans are gutless, clueless mounds of jello who shake like rats on meth every time somebody coughs in the back of the bus.
A people with any guts would have strung up this entire administration by now, and then followed it up by applying the same remedy to Congress.
Sic semper tyrannis!
>>Your points are well-taken! But I >>intend to fight the bastards with >>my last breath. Or --in the words >>of a Southern boy, William Faulkner:
Of course you will. Your a good human being devoted to truth and what is decent and right. I am just saying we are a day late and dollar short. For example, does it strike anyone as odd that a leading figure in the 911 truth movement is a CFR friendly guy (Griffin) who argues for global governance? Sure he is in the EU parliament giving talks about 911. But does he finger the international conspiracy? no, only the Neocon straw men. Or is it odd that Pat Buchanan, a CIA Mockingbird agent is now tight with Alex Jones? These boys have their act together. I have to hope there is a larger context than physical survival that makes it all work out. good luck to everyone.
So lets say we Fight Fire with Fire. We need some good word smithing for our counter efforts to this Power grab. Not only some good words but a cohesive plan. We sit here perhaps 1- 10 million of us who have now awakened to the truth. We blog and blog and make documentaries etc. Ok we now know the truth, or some close approximation of it, which leads to the conclusion that we have totalitarianists and tyrants holding us under their thumbs.
The key question becomes, what do we do about it?
I would like every blogger now reporting on the facts to add one column a week about what the solutions are. At first they may be hard to come by, solutions may not seem apparent, but lets stick with it. Then lets rally the forces around the key components.
First comes the what as in what do we do?
second comes the how, How do we do what we decide has to be done.
Then finally who does it, who completes this task, who follows up this line of research.
Phase one is over, we figured it out, we uncovered the evil and are showing it to all who have the courage to look.
Phase two is we have to figure out what we're going to do about it.
Phase three is, who is going to get it done, or more specifically how do we divide up the small parts toward achieving the larger goal?
I'll start, these are the first 3 things which to me seem like the start of the "what" discussion.
1. Dismantle the Federal Reserve system and return the currency / money supply to Constitutional specifications, i.e. issue new coinage as US currency.
2. Repeal the Santa Clara Decision, which is the US supreme court precident which gives corporate entities "standing" in a court of law. or put another way, gives corporations the rights of persons in our society.
3. restore the republic of the US. If we truly try, we can restore the democratic process of our representative government, and return to rule of law, by and for the people.
Perhaps in so doing we can use technology to increase the ratio of representation. What if Congress could be convened using technology so, that we have a senate with 10,000 members instead of 100, or a house with 25,000 representatives. It would be much harder to corrupt it, over all don't you think? Sure it would be harder to manage, but you and I might actually be able to meet with our senators and our representatives. Thus, eliminating a lot of potential for blackmail and other corruptions.
Now there are several problems with these 3 proposals, but what is the alternative? I would rather die fighting for something then live as a slave.
We, thos of us, who now know what is wrong, have to find a plan of action, we can rally the people behind. Something, smart, something worth achieving. Once we find the spcific goals, then we have to fight and die for them.
I am ready and I think there are many others who are as well. We need to give them a vision, a clear path back to Civilized Rule of Law
The first step is re-gaining control of the media. The Communications Act of 1934 affirmed the principle that the 'airwaves' belong to the people.
That principle, while not explicitly repealed is effectively subverted. Big corporations are still 'licensed' but their 'public service' responsibilities are greatly diminished since the sixties. In those days, public access was the rule, 'equal time' was guaranteed dissenting views could be heard, and ownership was limited overall and market by market. Today --the big corporations have no effective limits on ownership, no fairness provisions to live up to, in effect, no responsibilities whatsoever.
Step number one is TAKE BACK THE MEDIA!
free man: to take back the earth we would need a back door solution. cannot beat them on their terms, in which they are experts. need Something to circumvent their strengths. brains not brawn. its a real poser. Not that there is no possibility. but it would take a miracle or stroke of true genius.
this may be seen as an insane post. premise: they cannot be defeated on their own terms with might or propaganda, etc. But then maybe they can. have you seen the secrets of the US dollar video on Google? these men understand subconscious symbols and the realm of the psychic. here is an idea. Hold an image of what you want to occur. Perhaps do a test and visualize a "certain someone" with a certain history of health issues having a fatal heart attack. give it 5-10 mins per day. Who knows, maybe if enough people do it. but it IS possible if you can develop a very strong ability to persist an image. look into the Nazi's and the power they sought: the Vril. they sought it and feared it getting into the wrong hands.
Maybe not so insane...Certainly, Bushco and his illuminati brotherhood believe in all that crap whether I believe it or not! I am not sure I want to waste my life wishing Cheney's ticker craps out, but I do support rubbing Skull and Bones noses in their own shit! Lemme think about it...put another way: their belief in the occult clap trap has worked their advantage but only superficially.
In fact, these guys have NO MORE POWER than what the American people collectively have given them. Think about it!
I blame Congress more than I blame Bush. The Democratic congress could have shut Bush down but didn't! Nancy Pelosi is on my shit list.
Calling Bush an idiot is merely falling for his very successful game. He's taking advantage of basic human instinct by playing an idiot - people generally fail to see the inherent threat posed by someone who ostensibly is a bumbling fool.
Notice how EVERY SINGLE ONE of his anti-American, communist-inspired police state programs and Nazi-inspired pre-emptive wars has been carried out without any significant opposition?
Either the entire government, the Wall Street cabal that owns the government and the media are in cahoots to the gills or most people just have a hard time finding fault in a dunderer. I'd say it's the mark of a very dangerous evil genius.
Len - your series is really timely. Of little note in the old media, Berlusconi won Italy again, and Italy is expected to have a government furthest to the right since WWII.
What the electorate bought was the meme of "higher taxes brought to you by the Left." The real problem was the Left had to pay for economic excesses of the Right from the past, and even the Euro shuddered when Berlusconi was last Italy's PM.
And Berlusconi is what? Oh yeah, the major media owner in Italy.
A. Magnus Publius said...
Calling Bush an idiot is merely falling for his very successful game.
No ...Bush is an idiot! He is simply an idiot with a Nazi and privileged background. His IQ is credibly estimated at about 91. Pappa at about 95.
Giving the bastard more credit than he deserves is falling for the NEOCON plan. Treat these fuckers like the sorry scum that they are! If the entire nation had treated Bush like the IDIOT that he is, his NEOCON cabal could never have stolen the election.
Unconventional Conventionist said...
Len - your series is really timely. Of little note in the old media, Berlusconi won Italy again, and Italy is expected to have a government furthest to the right since WWII.
I hate to see that asshole get control of a beautiful country.
The USA was founded on genocide and slavery, that is a fact of history, it cannot be erased. If we want a "spring house cleaning" of the nation, which is what I'm hearing then lets get real about it and go ALL the way back, not just a few decades,OK? A nation founded upon these "principles" and "values" cannot long survive, and sure enough, after just a measly 200+ years, we are facing national suicide. Why is it that ppl are so SHOCKED! by the "monstrous lies" today, but conveniently dismiss the roots of our psychosis that got us here in the first place? You cannot go from 1 to 4 without first going thru 2 and 3. And 2+2 always = 4, not 22. If you can't figure out what that means without scratching your head and wondering, then maybe it really is time to hang it up and go the way of the dinosaur, I mean even they had to make way for what was to follow, because our so-called experiment in "demonocrazy" has caused to happen where we find ourselves today, it didn't just "happen", it has roots way back in the distant past. What we are seeing today is simply the natural outcome of a little neurosis that was easy to ignore but now is a monster that threatens the entire world. You thought that Nazism and Communism were bad? They were just rehearsals for the coup de grace.
Fuzzflash sez...
So glad you finally got around to meeting V, Len. He talks our language. There are many commonalities. Part 111 is powerful writing and there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.
When was telling the truth a crime in the Third Reich? Give me an example, just one, of a person who was imprisoned for telling the truth.
Fuzzflash sez...
So glad you finally got around to meeting V, Len. He talks our language. There are many commonalities
V has been lurking among my bookmarks for some time now. This clip and the 'editorial' liberties that were taken with it seemed fitting. As for ideas whose time has come, I still hesitate to venture the opinion that there has been a sea change in public opinion. Even so, the fear that Bush will cancel elections following another 'terrorist attack' (read: false flag) is widespread. Everyone knows the truth about Bush now and those who don't are in psychotic denial.
Anonymous said...
When was telling the truth a crime in the Third Reich?
The premise of your question is a straw man. There is absolutely no mention of Adolf Hitler or the Third Reich or even 'Germany' in my article above.
Hitler found many ways of shutting 'truth tellers' up. The most effective method being 'DEATH'.
Hitler banned all Communist meetings and shut down the Communist press. I suspect that, among those 'commies' were many 'truth tellers'. "Ban" is often synonymous with 'outlawing' or 'making unlawful', issuing a decree against, making illegal, etc.
There's more. Hitler 'banned' (made unlawful) rallies by Social Democrats. There rallies were forbidden and broken up by the S.A. I don't have figures on how many might have been shot. Murdering truth-tellers folk saved jail space.
Leading Socialist newspapers were suspended. The Catholic Center Party was likewise targeted by Hitler. When he attempted to address a meeting, Stegerwald, the leader of Catholic Trade Unions, was beaten up by Brownshirts. S.A. troopers wounded several followers of Bruening, another 'centrist'. According to best estimates --not counting 'truth-tellers' among the Jewish, Gypsy or other targets of genocide -- fifty-one anti-Nazis were murdered by Hitler's regime during the electoral campaign. Nazis murdered other Nazis, listing eighteen of their own --murdered for having dared to tell 'truths' disliked by Herr Hitler!
Then there is the 'White Rose', a non-violent resistance group consisting of students from the University of Munich. Six core members were arrested by the Gestapo, convicted (for telling the truth) and executed by beheading in 1943.
Any more silly questions?
Anonymous said...
The USA was founded on genocide and slavery, that is a fact of history,
Indeed, it was. I am a descendant of a race that had been targeted by Andrew Jackson. That race was the Cherokee whose rights to their ancestral homeland was affirmed by the US Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall. Jackson, perhaps presaging Bush's imperious rule, simply ignored the Court and ordered genocide against the Cherokee. On my Father's side were enemies of Cromwell. I almost didn't get born.
Great post Len. The media would be a great place to start, but a close second on my list would be our system of education. I'm tired of reteaching my kids things such as history and social science. It's an everyday battle...undoing or limiting indoctrination into the system of nonthought and uncritical thinking that passes for education.
TFowl said...
The media would be a great place to start, but a close second on my list would be our system of education.
Well, we simply HAVE to take back the media. There is NO alternative if the US is ever to be a real democracy again.
Education is another MUST! The so-called 'Houston Miracle' may be a worst example but it illustrates perfectly what is wrong with American education. I was fortunate to have had some no-nonsense teachers and profs, though I probably did not appreciate them at the time. For example, I detested one of my high school history teachers. But --truth to tell --I owe to her my appreciation of James Madison and the Constitution. My government teacher was also a pain --but he got in through my skull the real meaning of the separation of powers.
I had matured a bit by the time I began university. I was very fortunate to have known some brilliant people.
How does one reduce this kind of chemistry to a repeatable formula? I haven't a clue. Shakespeare (and, yes, Shakespeare DID write Shakespeare) had only what we would call a Middle School Education. But he left that little school in Stratford reading what Ben Johnson would call a "little Latin and less Greek". There is evidence that it was enough to get him through some important works by Marsilio Ficino and other members of Lorenzo d'Medici's Plato Academy. It was also enough to have shaped his vocabulary estimated to have been about 35,000 words. No one has a vocabulary approaching that today.
Thanks Len. I don't mind at all and just returned the favor.
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