Ignorance is (the base's) Strength

A few days ago I wrote about the eerily growing similarity between the Bush administration’s modus operandi and the tactics of George Orwell’s totalitarian construct of Big Brother. The president’s abruptly but subtly introduced policy change -- a vague timeline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq -- was precisely what his administration had vehemently argued against, and was now for, yet no administration official would dare confirm the stated change any more than Big Brother would have confirmed that Oceania’s enemy had at any time “changed” -- that its enemy was now Eurasia, no longer Eastasia, or vice versa.

War was perpetual and immutable for Big Brother. His enemy and objectives were always the same, even when his enemy and objectives were different, for to admit any change would have been to admit fallibility. And Big Brother was never wrong.

Today the Washington Post’s Dan Froomkin also notes this eerie similarity of language manipulation between Bush and Big Brother. “Bush's avoidance of the word ‘war,’” for instance, “in the context of Iraq is the rule…. There is no war, except for the war that never ends [the ‘global war on terror’], and we're winning [despite all the glaring signs that we’re losing]…. There are plenty of potential Orwell analogies in Bush's use of language, and his historical revisionism.”

What fascinates me as much as official manipulation of language, however, is the roughly one-third of the public that persists in accepting it -- that one-third known as Bush’s base. How is it that otherwise normally functioning, reasonably intelligent adults could swallow such patent nonsense? How is it that any Party member, at this late and miserable stage, could deflect reality so effectively and thus continue buying into Bush’s surreal distortions?

And to this question Orwell had an answer that we know to be a psychological truism in the surreal politics of today. He -- rather, Big Brother -- called it crimestop, meaning “the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of misunderstanding the simplest arguments if they are inimical to [the Party], and of being bored or repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity.”

Protective stupidity -- the desperate need of, it appears from polling numbers, fully one-third of the American public to shield itself from ever admitting error and blindly follow the conspicuously corrupt and discredited leadership of the Bush administration.

Network talking heads and print pundits are almost eulogistic when citing what they label as Bush’s abysmally low numbers. But to me, one-third of nearly 300 million people is a frightfully high fraction of willful, protective stupidity.

Comments

[Jay Randal]

Bushites or Bush lovers as I call them are walking zombies for Dubya! They are in a self induced coma > they choose to be ignorant!
Nothing can wake them up to see the reality that Bush is insane!

[beavercleaver]

And right on cue, this a.m. Bush stammered about troops remaining in Iraq through his watch. Haven't we seen history repeated enough to sense when we're going down the wrong path? For those 30% loyalists...weren't they noticing the similarities between the rise of Nazi fascism, and the enabling of the corporate world? Weren't they watching when Vietnam, a third rate country, kicked our ass? Didn't they refer to the history books in regards to 19th-century Paraguay, who simultaneously declared war on Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay and fought rabbidly until 90% of the male population was dead?

I suspect consumerism has so overtaken this culture, that many people assume that their tax dollars will net unsupervised representation for their common good. The "trust me" mantra works for them. Big Brother casts a long shadow on the citizenery, while incestually sleeping with little sister. There's a reason no significant legislation has positively impacted the low and middle income levels in this country since the 70's. There's a reason why the minimum wage hasn't realistically risen in nearly a decade...while the career politicians continue to gorge at the public trough.

The crimestop of Orwell's novel has morphed into a groupthink in the mainstream media. "Dumbing down the audience" is the infelicitous phrase used by some media critics. You expect less and less of your audience and that is the audience you'll get. This also holds true for the evening television news which blots out civic actions in the home city in favor of disinformation, street crime, light news, a health story, an animal story, filler and up to a minute of contrived, spontaneous giggling and chitchat between the anchors. Result: An uninformed audience unable to make decisions based on truth and facts.

All this junk television is transmitted, without the stations paying rent, to us for the public airwaves that we the people own.

The examples abound. The point is clear. Greedy commercialism, a docile Federal Communications Commission, an unenforced Communications Act of 1934, and an unorganized viewer-listenership are leaving diverse thinkers and doers without a national or even a local audience.

We, the most powerful, technologically-equipped nation on Earth are left with C-SPAN (and in some cases Free Speech Televison/Democracy Now) and the suggestion that we can always start our own blog. Folks, Big Brother's laughing at us and taking their hilarity all the way to the bank-at our expense and that of our children's futures.

[droo]

I think part of it has to do with the fact that conservatism thrives on respect for authority. Respect and deference to those in positions of power makes this sort of manipulation almost too easy.

[Jeff R]

Imagine (if you can) George Bush giving the following address to the nation sometime this year --

[My fellow Americans:] After pondering deeply the general trends in the world and the actual conditions obtaining in our [country] today, [I] have decided to effect a settlement of the present situation by resorting to an extraordinary measure.

[I] have ordered our Government to communicate to the Government of [Iraq] that our [country] accepts the provisions of [its] declaration [calling for the immediate removal of all American troops.]

To strive for the common prosperity and happiness of all nations as well as the security and well-being of our [citizens] is the solemn obligation which has been handed down by [the Founding Fathers] and which we lay close to the heart.

Indeed, we [prosecuted the war in Iraq] out of our sincere desire to insure [America's security]and the stabilization of [the Middle East], it being far from our thought either to infringe upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandizement.

But now the war has lasted for nearly four years. Despite the best that has been done by everyone--the gallant fighting of our military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of our [civil servants] and the devoted service of our people--the war situation has developed not necessarily to [America's] advantage. . .

. . .and so forth.

Those with an interest in history will recognize it as Emperor Hirohito's surrender message to the people of Japan at the end of World War II. After substituting a few words and phrases to place it in a current-day context, it could almost be the text for a G.W. Bush speech announcing the abandonment of the war in Iraq.

But if it took Hirohito witnessing his country brought to total ruin by firebomb raids to only go so far as to acknowledge that "the general situation has developed not necessarily to our advantage," imagine what it will take for George W. Bush to give up on his war in Iraq.

[terry]

Crimestop is a form of mind control that cultist have employed for years. Please read Robert Jay Liftons'
"8 criteria of thought reform".
http://www.rickross.com/reference/brainwashing/brainwashing19.html
If you can find the book, or any book by Lifton, you will see that the professor has been talking about the stuff we are manifesting today for many years. He once said
"If I am in demand, you know the world is in big trouble".
H's right...

[Like, Duh]

Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.

Make ready, things are about to change radically.

Best of luck in the coming storm.

[Jon]

Actually, if you ask anyone of the 1/3 of Bush's base, the common denominator is religion - fundamentalist Christians. They have already been conditioned to accept things "on faith" (blind faith). No matter what truth or facts come out, they will refuse to believe anything other than what their ministers tell them.

[Jay Diamond]

Don't forget...Bush has Moronic, Low-Brow TALK RADIO to beat the message into these benighted individuals.

LISTEN....REally LISTEN to Sean Hannity.

Listen to ONE complete Sean Hannity radio program.

[Hotrod]

My sister is among the enthralled with Bush crowd and there is something amazing going on with them. If I bring up something negative about them that is provable, even from several sources, she will say "That's not true", without any evidence to back her up or even a need for rebuttal. Eerily similar to the Zombie effect. And she is not religious in the least, but she definitely "worships" Bush.

[Vic Anderson]

No thought-crimestop here; but the W-think and W-speak of the Oppressident continues unabated. Stop the son of a Bush's bombo eruptions. Impeach him NOW!

[merlallen]

And OBL is the new Emmanuel Goldstein.
These people have no problem believing that Clinton murdered 440 people, including his best friend; raped dozens of women and ran drugs.
But they will not believe that Bush lied about anything.
Some even claim the war was never about WMD and Bush never claimed it was.