The bigger the lie, the more they believe it

[teach1st]

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/31/Columns/The_bigger_the_lie__t.shtml

By MARTIN DYCKMAN, St. Petersburg Times
Published October 31, 2004

TALLAHASSEE - Trying to put the best face on the worst of October surprises, Vice President Dick Cheney said last week that Iraq has been "a remarkable success story to date when you look at what's been accomplished overall." That was just after some 40 of our Iraqi allies were massacred and nearly 400 tons of high explosive were found to be missing.

Did he expect anyone to believe him?

Another question cut from the same cloth is why an administration that has managed so many things so badly, including a war launched on false pretenses, is even in a close race.

The answer to both is an old truism: the bigger the lie, the more it will be believed. The German dictator who was its most cynical practitioner attributed it to the goodness of most people. Since they would be ashamed to tell big lies themselves, it doesn't occur to them that anyone else would.

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[matt819]

1. There's that, of course, plus they're stupid

Two comments: I saw a Seymour Hersh remark in an interview. * has 70 million supporters, and they don't believe in evolution.

Next was a comment yesterday on NPR's This American Life. I think it was Ira Glass interviewing an undecided voter. What an idiot (the voter, not Glass). When challenged on the assertion that Kerry is the most Liberal senator, the undediced couldn't identify any one piece of legislation Kerry voted on that scored him as a Liberal. When further challenged, he admitted that he belives that because the Republicans keep saying it, and they wouldn't do tht if it weren't true, would they?