Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Another Lie...
Watching the news (MSNBC, BTW), they ran a clip of President Bush from yesterday, saying there are millions of doses of flu vaccine available for elder and at risk citizens.
Interesting. Mainly because Monday I tried to track down a single dose of the vaccine. (Note: while not a senior, I do fall into that "high risk" category, thanks to some ongoing cardiac problems.) Doctors don't have any. Health department doesn't have any. The state health department's emergency hotline says there should be some vaccine in-state within the next several weeks.
Where are they keeping these "millions of doses"? A vault in the White House basement?
- Kim
Interesting. Mainly because Monday I tried to track down a single dose of the vaccine. (Note: while not a senior, I do fall into that "high risk" category, thanks to some ongoing cardiac problems.) Doctors don't have any. Health department doesn't have any. The state health department's emergency hotline says there should be some vaccine in-state within the next several weeks.
Where are they keeping these "millions of doses"? A vault in the White House basement?
- Kim
The Big Lie...
Who am I? Why am I here?
Oh, wait, no. That was James Stockdale.
***
Okay, confession time. I'm a lifelong Republican. The first election where I was eligible to vote was in '76. Ford v. Carter. Not only did I vote (for Gerry Ford), I was a campaign volunteer in Milwaukee. Mostly I worked the phone banks, which will astound anyone who knows of my distaste for telephoning.
Only once in my life have I voted for a Democrat for president. That being said, I do NOT intend, under any circumstances, to vote for George W. Bush in this election.
It's not because his administration is corrupt, incompetent, or even comically inept, although any one of these would be more than sufficient to back someone else. It's not even because of his regressive positions on so many different issues. I live on Social Security, so I have no direct stake in his tax policies; I have neither the desire nor the intention to marry another woman, so I have no stake there, either. I merely find his policies abhorrent.
All that pales, however, before what I'd consider the prime issue. The man and all his surrogates lie. Not just "white" lies that don't really hurt anyone (though even that concept is problematical in an election), but massively and constantly, on a continuing basis. He denies saying things that have been captured on tape, and when confronted by that fact, he continues to deny. (So who DID say them, a really good actor pretending to be Bush?)
When confronted with unpleasant facts he at best denies them and accuses his questioner of lying (or "exaggerating"), never feeling the need to deal with reality. When the buzz about his pattern of lying grew too strong, his tactic was to start accusing the other campaign of "persistent and scurrilous" lying.
Has George W. Bush no shame? Seemingly not.
What he's been doing is something I was taught about in grade school. It was (and is) known as "The Big Lie". Basically what it amounts to is that one tells a lie repeatedly and loudly. Repeat it long enough and a certain proportion of the population will believe it. Another proportion of the public will be unsure, but their faith in the target of the lie will be shaken. In the end, at "worst" the opposing factor will be neutralized, at "best" they will be defeated by the lie.
I won't belabor the point. Many of you are of age to remember (or remember being taught) about the political forces in the past century who honed "The Big Lie" into a singularly effective tool of governance.
I shouldn't even need to draw the other obvious parallels between them and the Bush administration and it's "Homeland Security" excuses for erasing centuries of hard-won liberties.
- Kim
Oh, wait, no. That was James Stockdale.
***
Okay, confession time. I'm a lifelong Republican. The first election where I was eligible to vote was in '76. Ford v. Carter. Not only did I vote (for Gerry Ford), I was a campaign volunteer in Milwaukee. Mostly I worked the phone banks, which will astound anyone who knows of my distaste for telephoning.
Only once in my life have I voted for a Democrat for president. That being said, I do NOT intend, under any circumstances, to vote for George W. Bush in this election.
It's not because his administration is corrupt, incompetent, or even comically inept, although any one of these would be more than sufficient to back someone else. It's not even because of his regressive positions on so many different issues. I live on Social Security, so I have no direct stake in his tax policies; I have neither the desire nor the intention to marry another woman, so I have no stake there, either. I merely find his policies abhorrent.
All that pales, however, before what I'd consider the prime issue. The man and all his surrogates lie. Not just "white" lies that don't really hurt anyone (though even that concept is problematical in an election), but massively and constantly, on a continuing basis. He denies saying things that have been captured on tape, and when confronted by that fact, he continues to deny. (So who DID say them, a really good actor pretending to be Bush?)
When confronted with unpleasant facts he at best denies them and accuses his questioner of lying (or "exaggerating"), never feeling the need to deal with reality. When the buzz about his pattern of lying grew too strong, his tactic was to start accusing the other campaign of "persistent and scurrilous" lying.
Has George W. Bush no shame? Seemingly not.
What he's been doing is something I was taught about in grade school. It was (and is) known as "The Big Lie". Basically what it amounts to is that one tells a lie repeatedly and loudly. Repeat it long enough and a certain proportion of the population will believe it. Another proportion of the public will be unsure, but their faith in the target of the lie will be shaken. In the end, at "worst" the opposing factor will be neutralized, at "best" they will be defeated by the lie.
I won't belabor the point. Many of you are of age to remember (or remember being taught) about the political forces in the past century who honed "The Big Lie" into a singularly effective tool of governance.
I shouldn't even need to draw the other obvious parallels between them and the Bush administration and it's "Homeland Security" excuses for erasing centuries of hard-won liberties.
- Kim
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