The Big Lie
The "Big Lie" Theory originated with the Nazi regime in Germany. The belief was that in order to get people to believe a lie, it has to be a whopper; make it big enough and tell it often enough, and they will go for it. After all, who would have the audacity to make up something that's so hard to believe?
According to a conservative website I recently visited, the necessary components to successfully applying the Big Lie Theory are as follows:
- Make the lie a really BIG one.
- Keep the public in a frenzy over it, so they don't have time to consider alternatives.
- Don't allow for the possibility that there are other options.
- Single out one enemy on whom to place blame for everything that goes wrong.
- You must repeat the lie frequently.
And, yes, you read it correctly - I found that on a conservative website! Actually, I wasn't the least bit surprised. After all, conservative Republicans have turned application of this theory into an art in recent times ... at least in my opinion. Right after Paul Ryan delivered his acceptance speech at the RNC, an op-ed piece in the Washington Post outlined at least six instances of blatantly misleading or incorrect statements designed to make the President look bad. Take, for example, the Ryan statement that President Obama has raided Medicare to the tune of $716 million in order to pay for Obamacare. Check any number of objective news sources, and you'll find that this lie is outrageously big - the amount represents a reduction in payments to providers (not beneficiaries) in order to improve the quality of services rendered, and at least part of it will be offset by provisions of Obamacare. And Ryan himself proposed the exact same amount of reduction in his budget! But this very lie has been repeated ad nauseum in political ads, and no amount of questioning by reporters has caused Ryan or his cohorts to waver from their line. Big Lie Theory applied perfectly!
But the instance of applying this theory that most upsets me is the Mitt Romney reaction to the September 11, 2012 attack on the US consulate in Libya. After this tragic event became public, Romney released a statement saying “It’s disgraceful that the Obama administration’s first response was not to condemn attacks on our diplomatic missions, but to sympathize with those who waged the attacks.” A few hours later, it was learned that the 'response' Romney referenced was made not by the administration but by the US embassy in Cairo, and that it was made six hours before the tragic Libya attack.
So, of course, when confronted with the correct timeline, the Republican standard-bearer apologized for his erroneous conclusion ... Oh, wait ... No! He reaffirmed his position! That's our boy - continue telling the Big Lie often and loudly, and people will believe it.
By now my Republican friends are aching to tell me that Democrats use the Big Lie as well. I don't pretend to believe that the Republicans have the market cornered on the technique. However, you have to admit that in this instance, two truths are evident. First, the folks who now dominate the Republican landscape have honed the Big Lie Theory to perfection, and second, its use in this case is reprehensible.
I know I can't change who is running for President this year. What I can change is how I interpret what I hear. I know how the Big Lie works, and I'm constantly watching out for it. That just makes sense to me. How about you?
I welcome your comments on this and other posts - just click on the "__ comments" link below
To follow my blog, use the email gadget at right
Always a pleasure to read your thought-provoking posts.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the Big Lie, then, is that Romney got the order wrong regarding what happened.
Here's what's funny, though: Conservatives dislike the apologetic approach because (as we've said since Obama started his “Apology Tours”) to middle eastern culture, an apology means weakness, not politeness. But, even if Romney was mistaken, EVEN IF DELIBERATELY SO, about the order of events, then it seems the Obama administration actually MAKES Romney's point: DON'T APOLOGIZE to these people, especially on 9-11, it only goads them into violence. Apologizing didn't work. Cairo kinda proves what we've been saying all along about apologizing.
And, it would seem the administration has its own problems with truth as well: The initial report to the media was that no one was hurt. Later, various members of Obama's team indicated that they blamed a film whose trailer was released in July: C'mon, the riots were NOT caused by a film trailer. The riots were caused by the same people who strap bombs to their children and send rockets into residential areas of Israel, and drive explosives into buildings, because they are too cowardly to sit down and talk with people they hate. Arab TV played the trailer 3 days before 9-11. For the timing to be coincidental stretches the limits of credulity. Maybe if he hadn't missed so many of his intel briefings, the President would have known what I know from my own experience with arab culture: They love anniversaries, and they love to mark them in “special” ways.
But the Even Bigger Lie told by the Administration is the idea that a man with no visible talent, skills or experience would prevent attacks like these, simply by being inaugurated: Because he knows “their perspective.” If that were true, then why did he commit the most incredible insult against Muslim countries, by making A WOMAN his Sec of State? Why did he continue to “spike the ball” about killing Bin Laden, many times during the convention and since? Either he doesn't get “their perspective” at all, or if he does then he must be trying to subvert his own foreign policy.
Looking at the results, I'd have to judge THIS Even Bigger Lie as extremely effective. But as I watch Obama steering his ship of state into the rocks, I don't like it. I'd rather his Even Bigger Lie was true and that he was succeeding and that I'm wrong. But my experience tells me otherwise.