Doublethink (Part 8)

“The result of this classification mania is the division of the public into two distinct groups: those who are privy to the actual conduct of American policy, but are forbidden to write or talk about it, and the uninformed public, which becomes easy prey for the official lies exposed in the WikiLeaks documents…” – David Samuels in the Atlantic

Transparency and Accountability

"Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing." –President Obama (D)[1]

In a world of Doublethink, we’re conditioned to admire the emperor’s new clothes.  In America, unlike in the children's fairy tale, if someone dares to shout that the emperor really is naked, the response isn’t laughter.  Instead, cries of treason and calls for prosecutions and executions in the name of national security fill the airwaves.

Transparency promotes accountability, but in the national security state there is no transparency.  The Obama administration, like each of its predecessors, never intended an open administration for citizens.  Public ignorance of government operations keeps our rulers in power.  Our ignorance is their strength. 

By leaking classified US government documents, WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, in cooperation with various news organizations, seem to have shined some revealing light on US government operations.[2][3]  Instead of a US government-sponsored “transparency,” WikiLeaks has promoted the kind of transparency which President Obama says “provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing.”

Only The Government May Spill Blood 

“Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family,” - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen[4]

According to US government estimates, one hundred thousand US troops oppose, at most, 100 al Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan.[5][6]  That’s one thousand US soldiers (not counting mercenaries) for each al Qaeda member.  Most of the killings in the war in Afghanistan are not of al Qaeda members—the purported reason for the war.  Most of the Afghan family blood spilled, for which the chairman of the JCS professes so much concern (video), is not from those 100 al Qaeda members, either. 

On April 5, 2010, via WikiLeaks, Julian Assange dared to release secret footage from 2007 of  US helicopters killing more than 12 Iraqi civilians, including children.  The cavalier attitude of the US forces shown in that video, as they treated the killings like a video game, spoke volumes of the banality of evil.  Assange has since released an additional several hundred thousand classified US documents on the Afghan war, the Iraq war, and US diplomatic cables.

Assange has enraged those who worship the state by daring to reveal US government treachery.  Wearing a chest full of decorations, high priest of the national security state and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen warned Assange not to leak secrets that could spill the blood of soldiers who willingly participate in the war.  The admiral thinks only the state has the right to sacrifice individuals on the altar of the state.

Many Americans are offended by Assange—he upsets their worship of the state as god.  The US government hates Assange—his revelations end the ignorance that is its strength.

Naked Apes

"Back in the old days when men were men and countries were countries, this guy would die of lead poisoning from a bullet in the brain..." – Rush Limbaugh, “limited-government” advocate[7]

Like the scene in “2001 A Space Odyssey” (4:30 into this video) where a collection of apes mimic their leader by clubbing an already fallen, harmless opponent, others joined in, bashing Assange:

• Rush Limbaugh, a pretend, limited-government conservative, called Assange names before calling for his assassination.  Limbaugh described Assange as a sissy: “No, I just don't like the guy in general principles.  I don't like the name. I don't like the way he looks. I don't like the way he sounds. He's a sissy; he's a waif, purely and simply an Internet creation.”  Limbaugh then hoped for Assange’s life to be wrecked: “…I asked them two questions: ‘Is there a way that it can be arranged that the identity of Julian Assange could be stolen and then with that identity we wreck his life?’"
• Nouvelle, pretend,  limited-government conservative Sarah Palin asked “Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?”[8]
• Did pretend, limited-government conservative Senator Jon Kyl (R) suggest making an ex post facto law to target Assange?  According to Kyl: "Ben Cardin and I are going to be working on some legislation I think that would enable us to more broadly be able to charge people even if they’re not handing over information to an enemy, for example."
• Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) called Assange a “high-tech terrorist.”
• Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) wants Assange prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act, ignoring the First Amendment to the US Constitution as she has ignored the rest of the Constitution throughout her career.
• Referring to a US government legal creation to avoid the Geneva conventions, neo-conservative Newt Gingrich said Assange “should be treated as an enemy combatant.”

Former candidate for the R-presidential nomination, Mike Huckabee, clamored for the blood of the source of the leaks (video).

Avert Your Gaze as the Naked Emperor Passes

“Because they don't lie in diplomatic cables. The odds are that what we're getting here is the raw truth.” – Rush Limbaugh while decrying “evil Julian Assange” who dared give Americans the raw truth.

The US government, embarrassed by the leaks, has strong-armed the Domain Name Server for WikiLeaks, Amazon, and Paypal in an effort to cut off the funding and operation of WikiLeaks (see list of WikiLeaks mirrors).  The US government warned federal employees not to read WikiLeaks.[9]  Columbia University warned students that they endanger future job prospects if they download the publicly available material.[10]  Raytheon, as did other military contractors, warned employees:

"U.S. Government agencies are releasing guidance to contractors. Reviewing information on WikiLeaks or subsequent disclosures is strictly prohibited. As a contractor to the Federal Government, this means ... personnel are prohibited from accessing WikiLeaks whether on company-issued or on personal equipment."[11]

The emperor has commanded that people must pretend that the emperor’s new clothes are marvelous, when all the world should know: “The emperor has no clothes.”

President Obama (D) and his open administration (Doublethink translation—he lied to you, he didn’t close Guantanamo, he didn’t end the war in Iraq, and he doesn’t have an open administration) threaten to prosecute Assange:

“Published reports suggest that a joint Justice Department-Pentagon team of investigators is exploring the possibility of charging Assange under the Espionage Act, which could lead to decades in jail. "This is not saber-rattling," said Attorney General Eric Holder, commenting on the possibility that Assange will be prosecuted by the government.”[12]

The US government pressured other countries to expel Assange:

“…American ambassador to Switzerland, Donald S. Beyer Jr., responded to signs that Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks might seek refuge in that country, warning in the weekly magazine NZZ am Sonntag that the Swiss ‘should very carefully consider whether to provide shelter to someone who is on the run from the law.’”[13][14]

On December 7, 2010, Assange appeared before a magistrate in London and faced extradition to Sweden for rape charges.  He is being held without bail.  According to Swedish authorities, the charges had nothing to do with the WikiLeaks website.[15][16]

On the same day Assange was jailed, the US Department of State released a press statement about hosting a planned World Press Freedom Day event May 1-3, 2011 in Washington, D.C.:

“We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.”[17]

The US government mocks us by pretending to support the free flow of information while the government:

• Forces businesses to refuse service to those who disagree with it
• Warns employees and contractors not to read the leaked information on company or personal equipment
• Threatens students not to read the leaked information at the price of future job prospects
• Threatens nations harboring individuals who reveal the dirty laundry of the US government
• Threatens the individuals who reveal classified information—information classified only because it embarrasses the US government.

Classified Documents No Longer Hidden From Our Prying Eyes

“The prying eyes that caused Dulles most concern belonged not to the president, Congress, or the press—all of whom, if for different reasons, tended to defer to the CIA—but to the American people.” – Andrew Bacevich describes the formation of the CIA–one-third of the US national security state[18]

Assange has not given in to the threats of prosecution or assassination.[19]  WikiLeaks distributed an encrypted “insurance file”  over the internet containing more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables.[20]  In a news conference, Assange warned that if he is imprisoned or killed, “the key parts will be released automatically.”[21]

In a world of Doublethink, our ignorance is the government’s strength.  Releasing information to end that ignorance gives power back to the people.

Why else would Assange be such a danger to the state?

________________________________________

[1] “Transparency and Open Government,” Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies, (Accessed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/ on Dec 7, 2010).

[2] “Respected media outlets collaborate with WikiLeaks,” AP News, Dec 3, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i0Vruimmvy8loGklsz34QyGDKMDA?docId=120c7bf5d3a34dbaadf1280dace2e456 on Dec 7, 2010).

[3] “WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Tells TIME: Hillary Clinton 'Should Resign',” By Howard Chua-Eoan, Time, Nov. 30, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2033771,00.html on Dec 7, 2010).

[4] “Gates Calls on FBI to Join Leak Investigation,” By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service, July 29, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.jcs.mil/newsarticle.aspx?ID=341 on Dec 7, 2010).

[5] “New Estimate of Strength of Al Qaeda Is Offered,” By DAVID E. SANGER and MARK MAZZETTI, NY Times, June 30, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/01/world/asia/01qaeda.html?_r=1 on Dec 7, 2010).

[6] “President Obama's Secret: Only 100 al Qaeda Now in Afghanistan,” By RICHARD ESPOSITO, MATTHEW COLE and BRIAN ROSS, ABC News, Dec. 2, 2009, (Accessed at http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/president-obamas-secret-100-al-qaeda-now-afghanistan/story?id=9227861 on Dec 7, 2010).

[7] “Rush Analyzes the WikiLeaks Waif,” Nov 29, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_112910/content/01125107.guest.html on Dec 7, 2010).

[8] “Exclusive: Sarah Palin Under Cyber-Attack from Wikileaks Supporters in 'Operation Payback'*,” Jake Tapper, ABC News, Dec 8, 2010, (Accessed at http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/12/exclusive-palin-under-cyber-attack-from-wikileaks-supporters-in-operation-payback.html on Dec 9, 2010).

“’No wonder others are keeping silent about Assange's antics,’ Palin emailed ABC News. ‘This is what happens when you exercise the First Amendment and speak against his sick, un-American espionage efforts.’”

Palin is a mistress of Doublethink.  She cries about her First Amendment rights, but had no problem seeing them denied to Australian Assange.

[9] “Don’t Look, Don’t Read: Government Warns Its Workers Away From WikiLeaks Documents,” By ERIC LIPTON, NY Times, December 4, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/world/05restrict.html?ref=world on Dec 6, 2010).

[10] “Columbia students told job prospects harmed if they access WikiLeaks cables,” Ewen MacAskill, guardian.co.uk, 5 December 2010, (Accessed at http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/05/columbia-students-wikileaks-cables on Dec 6, 2010).

[11] “Raytheon forbids employees to access WikiLeaks website,” By Muhammed El-Hasan, Daily Breeze, 12/03/2010, (Accessed at http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_16762048?source=email on Dec 6, 2010).

[12] “The Shameful Attacks on Julian Assange,” Dec 3 2010, David Samuels, The Atlantic, (Accessed at http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/12/the-shameful-attacks-on-julian-assange/67440/ on Dec 6, 2010).

If Obama has an open administration, it is only due to Assange:

“For his part, Assange has not been shy about expressing his contempt for the failure of traditional reporting to inform the public, and his belief in the utility of his own methods. ‘How is it that a team of five people has managed to release to the public more suppressed information, at that level, than the rest of the world press combined?’ he told The Sydney Morning Herald. ‘It's disgraceful.’"

[13] “Hundreds of WikiLeaks Mirror Sites Appear,” By RAVI SOMAIYA, NY Times, December 5, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/world/europe/06wiki.html?hp on Dec 5, 2010).

[14] “Homeland Security seizes domain names,” By Sara Jerome, The Hill, 11/26/10, (Accessed at http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/130763-homeland-security-dept-seizes-domain-names- on Dec 7, 2010).

Each time the government arrogates power to protect people from some abuse, they also gain power to inflict their own abuse.  This is part of Freedom is Slavery double-thinking.

[15] “The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked a worldwide hunt for Julian Assange,” By Richard Pendlebury, 7th December 2010, Daily Mail, (Accessed at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1336291/Wikileaks-Julian-Assanges-2-night-stands-spark-worldwide-hunt.html?ito=feeds-newsxml on Dec 7, 2010).

[16] “Assange Vows To Fight On After Bail Refusal,” Alison Chung and Richard Williams, Sky News Online, Dec 07, 2010, (Accessed at http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Julian-Assange-WikiLeaks-Founder-Meets-Police-In-Britain-Over-Sexual-Assault-Claims-In-Sweden/Article/201012115849036?lpos=UK_News_Carousel_Region_1&lid=ARTICLE_15849036_Julian_Assange%3A_WikiLeaks_Founder_Meets_Police_In_Britain_Over_Sexual_Assault_Claims_In_Sweden on Dec 7, 2010).

[17] “U.S. to Host World Press Freedom Day in 2011,” US Department of State Press Statement, Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs, Washington, DC, Dec 7, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/12/152465.htm on Dec 7, 2010).

[18] Washington Rules, Andrew Bacevich, Holt and Company, NY, NY, 2010, p. 42.

[19] “WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 'will release poison pill of damaging secrets if killed or arrested',” By Ian Drury, 6th December 2010, (Accessed at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1335888/WikiLeaks-Julian-Assange-release-damaging-secrets-killed-arrested.html on Dec 7, 2010).

[20] “WikiLeaks Ready to Release Giant 'Insurance' File if Shut Down,” Foxnews, Dec 05, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/12/05/wikileaks-ready-release-massive-insurance-file-shut/ on Dec 7, 2010).

[21] “WikiLeaks Founder Warns About More Dispatches,” By SCOTT SHANE, NY Times, Dec 6, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/world/europe/07assange.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a22 on Dec 7, 2010).

Doublethink (Part 7)

“For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.”

Nineteen Eighty-Four  Part 2 Chapter 9, p. 156-7 by George Orwell.[1]

Ignorance is Strength

Applied to innovation, “Ignorance is Strength” might describe a physicist working relentlessly to prove the existence of some marvel previously considered impossible.  If you’re the physicist, your “ignorance” is a good thing for you, your refusal to accept conventional wisdom is your strength. 

Applied to the state, “Ignorance is Strength” means the strength of the rulers depends upon the ignorance of their subjects.  In that case, unless you’re a ruler, your ignorance hurts you.

Our rulers want us to believe that democracy is a special form of government where they work for us.  Our rulers would have us all believe that in a democracy the will of the people—whatever that is—prevails.  That belief is the “ignorance” part.

“This Time It’s Different…No Really, We Mean It”

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor and House Republican Leader John Boehner

"This is not a time for compromise, and I can tell you that we will not compromise on our principles." – House Minority Leader and Soon-to-be Speaker of the House John Boehner (R), Oct. 27, 2010 on the Sean Hannity show (audio)

“The people have spoken” once again after the November 2, 2010 elections.  Rs picked up at least 60 seats in the US House and six in the US Senate.  Those elected and the media tout this overwhelming victory for Rs a result of voter backlash against D-supported growth of the federal government that permeates our lives.

Born two summers ago of voter outrage over healthcare “re-form,” the tea party movement grew after Ds forced Obamacare down the throats of voters last year.  The tea party made Obamacare and the failure of the $787 billion Recovery Act of 2009 the main issues of this election.  Tea party voters believe they can limit the growth of the federal government by forcing it to follow the US Constitution.

Playing to the voter anger and pro-Constitution sentiment reflected by the tea party movement, the opposition party in Congress released “A Pledge to America” on September 23, 2010.[2]  Full of pretty pictures and emotional paeans to liberty, family values, and national defense, the R-pledge (pdf) also pays lip service to the Constitution:

“We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its framers and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been consistently ignored – particularly the Tenth Amendment, which grants that all powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” – Page 3 of “A Pledge to America”

The party that in the last decade gave America two undeclared wars, the TSA, a $1.2 trillion Medicare Prescription Drug bill, and the $700 billion TARP banker bailout finally pledges to honor the Constitution.  Finally.  Do you believe it?

Prepare to get milked

Even a casual study of recent history shows that democracy simply means that the cows get to pick who milks them.  The state makes sure that any bulls in the herd supply prairie oysters instead of milk.

Angry voters this election opposed socialist Obamacare, but apparently forgot that Rs sponsored the socialist $1.2 trillion Medicare Prescription Drug bill and the $700 billion TARP banker bailout.  John Boehner (R) just won re-election this year in Ohio with 66% of the vote.  Ohio voters must have forgotten that Boehner voted aye for the $1.2 trillion Medicare Prescription Drug bill and voted yea for the $700 billion TARP bailout (video) during the Bush (R) administration.  They must have forgotten that John Boehner, the same guy they just re-elected, voted yea for the Bush-sponsored creation of the TSA—the monstrosity that peers under clothes and gropes the crotches of “free Americans” to keep them safe.

Now Boehner, who will soon be Speaker of the House, says Rs “will not compromise” on their principles:

“Our plan stands on the principles of smaller, more accountable government; economic freedom; lower taxes; fiscal responsibility; protecting life, American values, and the Constitution; and providing for a robust national defense.” – Page 5 of “A Pledge to America”

Where were Boehner’s “limited government principles” in 2008?  Or did he just grow them?

Soon-to-be House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) of Virginia was re-elected with 59% of the vote.  If this election was a repudiation of big government, how did Cantor, who voted for the $1.2 trillion Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2003, for the $700 billion TARP banker bailout of 2008, and for the creation of the TSA monstrosity, get re-elected? 

After the election, TARP-supporter and “limited government advocate” Cantor unveiled 22 pages of hypocrisy (pdf) in his campaign to become the House R-majority leader:

“I don’t think any of us ran for Congress with the idea that we could finally provide a subsidy to this industry or that, or to this community or that. Or that we would vote to continue the same federal programs and agencies that are failing our citizens and bankrupting our children and grandchildren.”[3]

One of the writers of “A Pledge to America,” congressman Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin, ranking member of the Committee on the Budget, knows federal government spending is unsustainable.[4]  Ryan’s “Roadmap for America’s Future” advocates “re-form” of Social Security and Medicare.  Days before the 2010 election, Ryan argued for changes to Social Security and Medicare: 

“The government's own experts are telling us that our health and retirement security programs -- Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security -- are on a path to bankruptcy unless we take action soon. In addition to overwhelming the entire federal budget, the collapse of these programs will result in painful cuts for seniors and society's most vulnerable.” – Paul Ryan, Oct 16, 2010

Yet during the Bush (R) administration Ryan voted aye for the $1.2 trillion Medicare Prescription Drug bill, moving Medicare that much more toward the bankruptcy he is now so alarmed about.  Ryan himself contributed to “overwhelming the entire federal budget” when he voted for the $700 billion TARP banker bailout.  Ryan also proved he is no friend of the Constitution when he voted for the creation of the TSA monstrosity which violates the Fourth Amendment rights of all travelers to be “secure in their persons…against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

In this election of voter outrage, Ryan was re-elected this year by a wide margin with 68% of the vote.

Rs touted this election as a repudiation of big government.  If that is so, how did these three leading members of the opposition party, who supported and voted for big government when an R was President, get re-elected in 2010?

The cows have made their choices.

End the Government Takeover of Healthcare

“We offer a plan to repeal and replace the government takeover of health care with common sense solutions focused on lowering costs and protecting American jobs.” – Page 6 of “A Pledge to America”

In 1965 the federal government started its takeover of healthcare with the Social Security Act of 1965 under LBJ (D).  By 2003 both Rs and Ds saw government socialized healthcare as a right for Americans: the Bush (R) administration pushed legislation to pay for Medicare Prescription Drugs that will cost an estimated $1.2 trillion through 2016.[5]

The federal government has unfunded liabilities of $200 trillion.[6]  Most of those liabilities are for Medicare and Social Security.  Nowhere in their Pledge to America (pdf) do Rs mention ending  Medicare.[7]  Rs pretend they’re the party of fiscal responsibility and that they follow the Constitution, yet they lie to themselves and the American people just as easily as the Ds.

End TARP Once And For All

“Americans are rightly outraged at the bailouts of businesses and entities that force responsible taxpayers to subsidize irresponsible behavior. We will cancel the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a move that would save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.” – Page 21 of “A Pledge to America”

Like exterminators releasing pests in a home to drum up business, the Rs who voted for TARP now pledge to cancel it.

This year’s crop of the fruits of democracy yields legislators who supported the $152 billion Bush-Economic Stimulus Act and the $700 billion TARP banker bailout in 2008, but not Obama’s $787 billion Stimulus bill in 2009; who support socialist Medicare, which is bankrupting the federal government, but not socialist Obamacare, which will bankrupt the federal government.  All of these federal government programs encroach on your freedom, but double-thinking voters pretend there’s a difference between the programs.  That same double-thinking lets voters pretend that this time a difference exists between the Rs or Ds who create the programs.  (Much like double-thinking Obama supporters pretended they were voting for a change from warmonger George W. Bush.)

This election was different—at least that’s what they tell you.  The Tea Party is spontaneous they say—or it was until it was preempted by politicians.  The people are angry and will change things they say—deep down you should know better.  Rs or Ds in the US, black cats or white cats in Canada (see six minute Mouseland video [8]), there’s no real difference.

Your ignorance is their strength.  Moo.

_______________________________

[1] Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, New American Library, N.Y., 1949, pp. 156-7.

[2] “House Republicans Unveil 'Pledge to America,' Call for Tax and Spending Cuts,” September 23, 2010, FoxNews.com, (Accessed at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/23/house-republicans-unveil-pledge-america-tax-spending-cuts/ on Nov. 2, 2010).

Read a Pledge to America (pdf) and remember Rs voted for the bailout (HR 1424) during the Bush (R) administration.

[3] “Eric Cantor lays out 22-page game plan,” By Jake Sherman, 11/3/10, (Accessed at http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44641.html on Nov. 4, 2010).

Another snippet from Cantor’s plan:

“We came to Washington to eliminate the deficit, to tear down barriers to job creation, and to reform a government that has grown out of touch with the governed.”

[4] “Republicans unveil Pledge to America, but where was Paul Ryan?” By Linda Feldmann, Christian Science Monitor, September 23, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Election-2010/2010/0923/Republicans-unveil-Pledge-to-America-but-where-was-Paul-Ryan on Nov. 2, 2010).

[5] “Medicare Drug Benefit May Cost $1.2 Trillion,” By Ceci Connolly and Mike Allen, Washington Post, Feb 9, 2005, (Accessed at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9328-2005Feb8.html on Nov 9, 2010).

[6] “U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don't Even Know It,” By Laurence Kotlikoff, Aug 10, 2010, Bloomberg Opinion, (Accessed at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-11/u-s-is-bankrupt-and-we-don-t-even-know-commentary-by-laurence-kotlikoff.html on Nov 9, 2010).

[7] From Page 6 of “A Pledge to America”:

“Of course, Americans remember that President Obama argued his government takeover of health care was the single most important thing we could do to address our growing debt crisis. This notion has since been thoroughly discredited: we now know the new health care law will mean more financial pain for seniors, families, and the
federal government. We offer a plan to repeal and replace the government takeover of health care with common
sense solutions focused on lowering costs and protecting American jobs. We will enact real medical liability reform; allow Americans to purchase health coverage across state lines; empower small businesses with greater purchasing power; and create new incentives to save for future health needs. We will protect the doctor-patient relationship, and
ensure that those with pre-existing conditions gain access to the coverage they need. We will permanently end taxpayer funding of abortion and codify the Hyde Amendment.”

[8] In the video, the lone mouse on the pipe is really a cat in a mouse suit.

Doublethink (Part 1)

“Then the face of Big Brother faded away again, and instead the three slogans of the Party stood out in bold capitals:

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH”

Nineteen Eighty-Four  Part 1 Chapter 1, p. 17 by George Orwell.[1]

Slogans from Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four are absurd—oxymoronic gibberish—contradictory words that don’t belong in the same sentence together except as an example of opposites.  Double talk.

How does war equal peace?

Or freedom equal slavery?

Is we ever stronger when we is ignorant?

The slogans are born of “doublethink”: a word Orwell coined for a technique his fictional future dictatorship used to control its citizens.  The dictatorship controls citizens’ access to facts, limits their vocabularies, and clutters their minds with inconsistencies.  Those ruled in Orwell’s novel live with their heads filled with contradictory concepts for so long that they lose the ability to distinguish fact from fiction.  They can’t think clearly—which makes it very easy for their rulers to lie to them.

Doublethink goes beyond gullibility.  Double-thinkers willingly switch off their reason.  Point out the lies and they get angry—not at the liar for deceiving them, but at the messenger for stating the obvious—they’ve been believing a lie.

But Nineteen Eighty-Four  is only a story.  Doublethink doesn’t happen in real life does it?

PACIFICATION

OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM

FIGHT FOR PEACE

VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE

DEFICIT SPENDING

SOCIAL SECURITY TRUST FUND

Pacification—In military terms, pacify: “to hit an area as hard as possible in order that it would be reduced to rubble—that is, ‘pacified.’”[2]  E.g. “Pacify Fallujah.”

Operation Iraqi Freedom—The US “liberated Iraqis” with a preemptive invasion of Iraq.  But wait, weren’t they fighting for “our freedoms” too?

Fight for Peace—President George W. Bush congratulated US military personnel on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln: “In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world.”

Voluntary Compliance—You’re free to pay your income taxes voluntarily.  You’re not coerced, right?

Deficit Spending—When the Federal Government pays its bills, it does it with no money.

 Social Security Trust Fund—The Social Security Trust Fund cannot be trusted, and it isn’t funded.  There is no trust fund with money in it.  It’s all IOUs written by one part of government to another.[3]

 

War is Peace or “Mission Accomplished” Take Two

 

On August 31, 2010, President Obama (D) declared: an “end of our combat mission in Iraq.”[4]

 

On May 1, 2003, in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner, then-President George W. Bush (R) declared: “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.”[5]

On August 31, 2010, Obama disclosed that a “transitional force of US troops” would remain in Iraq.  Translation: troops remain in Iraq.

 

On May 1, 2003, Bush stated: “And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.”  Translation: troops remain in Iraq.

Obama’s historic speech fulfilled his campaign promises to remove combat troops from Iraq by “the summer of 2010” and also to keep “a residual force” in Iraq.[6][7]

Does it sound contradictory that Obama ran for President promising to withdraw troops from Iraq while also promising to leave troops in Iraq?  Together the two promises meant Obama would leave troops in Iraq, he just wouldn’t call them “combat” troops.

Both Bush and Obama have told American citizens that combat operations are over in Iraq, yet both have left combat troops in Iraq after announcing the end of combat operations.

 

Over 3,000 US soldiers and uncounted Iraqis have died in in Iraq since Bush announced the end of major combat operations.  Twelve days after Obama announced the end of combat operations in Iraq for US troops, US troops were still engaged in combat operations.[8]  Fifteen days later, US combat troops killed seven civilians in a combat raid near Fallujah.[9]

Fifty thousand US troops remain in Iraq with an additional 100,000 US mercenary soldiers after Obama announced the end of “our combat mission.”  The Iraqi Defense Minister, Abdul Obeidi says US troops may be in Iraq forever:

"Maybe endlessly," said Obeidi when asked how long U.S. support may be necessary. "As long as I have an army and I'm a Third World country, and I can't pretend that I'm better than that … I will need assistance.”[10]

Are we already double-thinkers?  Our leaders apparently think so.  For them: War is Peace.
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[1] Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, New American Library, N.Y., 1949, p. 17.
[2] JFK: the CIA, Vietnam, and the plot to assassinate John F. Kennedy, by By Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Kensington Publishing Corp., N.Y., 1996, p. 250.
[3] Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility, By David M. Walker, Random House, N.Y., 2009, p.72, (Accessed at http://books.google.com/books?id=7Ga0TEYaScIC&lpg=PR2&ots=TjzWPcLWpF&dq=Comeback%20America%3A%20Turning%20the%20Country%20Around%20and%20Restoring%20Fiscal%20Responsibility&pg=PA72#v=onepage&q&f=false on Sept. 27, 2010).
[4] “Obama Declares an End to Combat Mission in Iraq,” By HELENE COOPER and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG,  August 31, 2010, NY Times, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/world/01military.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all on Sept 3, 2010)
[5] “Text Of Bush Speech; President Declares End To Major Combat In Iraq,” By Jarrett Murphy, May 1, 2003, (Accessed at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/05/01/iraq/main551946.shtml on Sept. 29, 2010).
[6] “Blueprint for Change Obama and Biden’s Plan for America” (pdf)  p. 69, (Accessed at http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/ObamaBlueprintForChange.pdf on September 11, 2010).
[7] “Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on the End of Combat Operations in Iraq,” August 31, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/08/31/remarks-president-address-nation-end-combat-operations-iraq on September 11, 2010).

“Going forward, a transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission:  advising and assisting Iraq’s Security Forces, supporting Iraqi troops in targeted counterterrorism missions, and protecting our civilians.  Consistent with our agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year.  As our military draws down, our dedicated civilians -- diplomats, aid workers, and advisors -- are moving into the lead to support Iraq as it strengthens its government, resolves political disputes, resettles those displaced by war, and builds ties with the region and the world.  That’s a message that Vice President Biden is delivering to the Iraqi people through his visit there today.”

[8] “More Post-Combat U.S. Gunfire in Iraq,” By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, NY Times, September 12, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html?_r=1&hp on Sept 12, 2010).
[9] “Iraqi-U.S. Raid Near Falluja Leaves 7 Dead,” By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and DURAID ADNAN, NY Times, September 15, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/16/world/middleeast/16iraq.html?_r=1&th&emc=th on September 18, 2010).
[10] “Iraqi official foresees a U.S. military presence until 2016,” By Liz Sly, Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2010, (Accessed at http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-troop-presence-20100909,0,954392,print.story on Sept. 29, 2010).