Being Right in America.."Truth" without logic or fact
October 27th 2007 17:24
One thing that is part and parcel of any totalitarian movement has always been the willing suspension of the truth. As the far right in America is pushing for a country overwhelmed by their twisted ideological visions, they are more and more willing to circumnavigate logic, science, and sense. And now that their leader (the esteemed Mr. Bush) has painted them into a corner that may well cost them their shot at what they want America to be, they are acting with desperation.
No longer is there even an attempt by FOX News to make sure of their facts. Of course they haven't been able to claim to be "fair and balanced" with a straight face for years, but at least they used to at least not put out so many obviously false stories. The most recent, Bill O'Reilly throwing out another bomb aimed at "the liberal press" by claiming they didn't cover the awarding of The Medal of Honor to a soldier for duty in Afghanistan. Of course, it was thoroughly covered everywhere. That doesn't matter to the FOX viewer, though, they believe what they are told to believe.
It's not by accident, this bending of reality to meet the expectations of the person getting the "news." Be it on radio, television, or in the sanctuaries of fundamentalist churches, the expectation is the news. They want to be told that liberals, gays, scientists and all of Islam is out to get them. Then they can "circle the wagons" to defend God and Country.
That's been at the heart of the success of the far right. Redefining "truth." If you can demonize your enemy, then you turn your enemy into a Godless heathen worthy of not only liberty and the pursuit of hapiness....but of life itself. That bending of anything real into something patently false is the goal of any propaganda program. And it is a required element for a corporate-fascist state.
The policies brought about by the lie-policy have struck at the heart of the American Middle Class, much to the detriment of most of those who make up the rank-and-file far right. They are told their problems are the fault of immigrants, liberals, atheists, Islam, secular-humanists, nothing but the true sources.
This gives a feeling of empowerment to the relatively powerless, and they in turn enable the powerful to gain even more. The obscene corporate and CEO profits, the making of war for profit and political gain, the attacks on American civil liberties - none could be possible without the enabling coming from the fundamentalist right. Never mind that they are being hurt by the policies too. Remember, what is real isn't important as what is said.
That's why the people who make up the fundamentalist right by and large believe George Bush is doing a good job, there were WMD's found in Iraq, Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks, and so on. Beyond politics, the group denies science too. For if science is correct, dogma must be wrong. So global warming becomes a liberal fantasy. Health care, in many cases for their own children, becomes a communist attack. And the big one, evolution...cannot even be considered. Theres a popular bumper sticker for the group..."God said it, I believe it, that settles it." In their minds, a spokesperson for God has the same authority, so you could say "Bush said it" or "Hannity said it" and have virtually the same effect.
What is important to note is just how dangerous this is. The rest of us who are smart enough to sift through information to see what is real, to try to check facts, to have a questioning mind. Those who look at this amusingly, like it doesn't affect them, don't get it. The very future of America and the world may well depend on stopping the American fundamentalist movement.
credit oldamericancentury.org
No longer is there even an attempt by FOX News to make sure of their facts. Of course they haven't been able to claim to be "fair and balanced" with a straight face for years, but at least they used to at least not put out so many obviously false stories. The most recent, Bill O'Reilly throwing out another bomb aimed at "the liberal press" by claiming they didn't cover the awarding of The Medal of Honor to a soldier for duty in Afghanistan. Of course, it was thoroughly covered everywhere. That doesn't matter to the FOX viewer, though, they believe what they are told to believe.
It's not by accident, this bending of reality to meet the expectations of the person getting the "news." Be it on radio, television, or in the sanctuaries of fundamentalist churches, the expectation is the news. They want to be told that liberals, gays, scientists and all of Islam is out to get them. Then they can "circle the wagons" to defend God and Country.
That's been at the heart of the success of the far right. Redefining "truth." If you can demonize your enemy, then you turn your enemy into a Godless heathen worthy of not only liberty and the pursuit of hapiness....but of life itself. That bending of anything real into something patently false is the goal of any propaganda program. And it is a required element for a corporate-fascist state.
The policies brought about by the lie-policy have struck at the heart of the American Middle Class, much to the detriment of most of those who make up the rank-and-file far right. They are told their problems are the fault of immigrants, liberals, atheists, Islam, secular-humanists, nothing but the true sources.
This gives a feeling of empowerment to the relatively powerless, and they in turn enable the powerful to gain even more. The obscene corporate and CEO profits, the making of war for profit and political gain, the attacks on American civil liberties - none could be possible without the enabling coming from the fundamentalist right. Never mind that they are being hurt by the policies too. Remember, what is real isn't important as what is said.
That's why the people who make up the fundamentalist right by and large believe George Bush is doing a good job, there were WMD's found in Iraq, Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attacks, and so on. Beyond politics, the group denies science too. For if science is correct, dogma must be wrong. So global warming becomes a liberal fantasy. Health care, in many cases for their own children, becomes a communist attack. And the big one, evolution...cannot even be considered. Theres a popular bumper sticker for the group..."God said it, I believe it, that settles it." In their minds, a spokesperson for God has the same authority, so you could say "Bush said it" or "Hannity said it" and have virtually the same effect.
What is important to note is just how dangerous this is. The rest of us who are smart enough to sift through information to see what is real, to try to check facts, to have a questioning mind. Those who look at this amusingly, like it doesn't affect them, don't get it. The very future of America and the world may well depend on stopping the American fundamentalist movement.
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Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
I mean they do, every now and then, get out and make a killing, but it has been getting harder and harder. What with the internet and all
Comment by Damo
This year it just happens to be the NeoCons.
The Fundamentalists are pretty much just another pawn and will most likely be sacrificed as soon as they are no longer needed. NeoCons reject religion as anything more than useful political tool.
That is the one thing that many of these Bible bashing groups cannot see coming because they think history started with the American constitution.
In a way I feel sorry for them.
Comment by Mountain Fog
Good on you Jeff!
I have been bashing my head against a vitual wall, (on the net here and in the other 'real world') trying to get people to use their brains, or what is left of them, and put their self interest, or deludedly bloated egos aside, to watch 911:In Plane SIte, and any other doco, and net site, that shows the actual footage of the 911 attacks, as released by CBS etc.
911:In Plane Site gives some close exammination of the film shot that day, and what is revealed is truly terrifying! Not because of the alleged terrorists, it looks suspiciously like they were not even there, certainly no plane was at the Pentagon, nor in the ground in Pensylvannia, nor in the two that hit the Towers, they were planes, sure, but no windows...witnesses who saw them fly over state they were cargo planes, one of the witnesses was a journalist!
Probably, for a lot of people, it is all too frightening for them to accept, as their fragile world needs some sense of fair play, balance and humanity. Or just the veneer of it.
The reality of course is the antithesis of all that!
We live in extremely dangerous times, and these evil people will not give up without a fight, for it is not some sort of idealism they represent, but unadulterated greed, for power and money. Trouble is, who is on our side to help expose them for what they are?
Certainly not the main stream media and press it would seem!
sad days...sad days indeed...
fog