Iraq: Roll Over, George Orwell

[bluestateboomer]

Published on Sunday, January 9, 2005 by CommonDreams.org
Iraq: Roll Over, George Orwell
by Bob Burnett

In "1984" George Orwell described a "Ministry of Truth," which operated a system of mind control, "Newspeak," used to keep the citizens of Oceania under the thumb of a totalitarian regime headed by the ubiquitous "Big Brother." The slogans of the Ministry were: "War is Peace," "Freedom is Slavery," and "Ignorance is Strength."

It's not clear whether George W. Bush ever encountered 1984 - he often appears to have read only the Bible and "My Pet Goat" - but Orwell's ideas about mind control have found a home in the Bush Administration. This is a regime that delights in its own version of newspeak, "Bushspeak." Through its own Ministry of Truth, the Administration parades a series of illusions before an ever more gullible public; for example, the same George Bush who was asleep at the wheel before 9/11 and who responded to the threat of Al Qaeda by diverting our resources into a disastrous war in Iraq, is portrayed as a strong leader who will keep us safe; the Administration "balances" the budget by leaving out the cost of the war.

Make no mistake, Bushspeak is working: the 2004 Presidential exit polls revealed that Bush supporters believed that Iraq supported the 9/11 attacks (75%) and had weapons of mass destruction (73%). They saw the war in Iraq as directly connected to the war on terror, and they trusted President Bush to do the right thing to win. In a trenchant analysis in the New York Review of Books, UC Professor Mark Danner observed that in the election Bush voters, "faced a stark choice: either discard the facts, or give up the clear and comforting worldview that they contradicted. They chose to disregard the facts."

*snip*

The success of the Bush Ministry of Truth produced the paradoxical situation where, although a majority of Americans feel the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, they still expect George W. Bush to lead the nation to victory. Meanwhile, the rest of the world watches in astonishment as the US swirls slowly down the toilet. Of course, foreigners haven't fallen under the spell of Bushspeak, and therefore, don't understand our new mottos: "In George we trust," and "Ignorance is strength."


<http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0109-20.htm>

[KlatooBNikto]

1. Discarding the facts about brown skinned people with a strange

religious belief is easy.

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Brainwashing America

From Brainwashing America by Dr. Norman Livergood:

In an earlier article, I reviewed the varied aspects of personality profiling and simulation. While serving as Head of the Artificial Intelligence Department at the U.S. Army War College, 1993-1995, I conducted studies on profiling, psychological programming, and brainwashing. I explored and developed personality simulation systems, an advanced technology used in military war games, FBI profiling, political campaigning, and advertising. Part of my discovery was that:

* unenlightened human minds are combinations of infantile beliefs and emotional patterns

* these patterns can be simulated in profiling systems

* these profiling systems can be used to program and control people

Personality simulation systems are being used to create political campaigns that apply voter profiles to control their voting behavior. TV commercials and programs use personality simulation to profile viewers to control their purchasing and viewing behaviors. And sophisticated propaganda and brainwashing techniques are being used by the Bush junta to keep American citizens under control. (emphasis mine /jc)

www.new-enlightenment.com/brainwash1.htm

[Nimrod]

4. Thanks!

That's a great link.

[DieboldMustDie]

3. I don't believe for a moment that Gee Dubya has read the Bible.

:shrug:

[Bark Bark Bark]

5. Maybe The Pop-Up Version...

...by John T. Chick

Now we all understand why education gets cut first, yes?

"If you can't fool all of the people all of the time, you should start breeding them for stupidity."
--Dave Sim

"You are watching FOX!"
--FOX