Monday, May 20, 2013

A government that lies but never deceives

Richard Fernandez has a very deep insight into the political and cultural sea-change taking place under Obama.

Excerpt:
The Lying King
"Was the White House involved in the IRS’s targeting of conservatives? No investigation needed to answer that one. Of course it was. 
President Obama and Co. are in full deniability mode, noting that the IRS is an “independent” agency and that they knew nothing about its abuse. The media and Congress are sleuthing for some hint that Mr. Obama picked up the phone and sicced the tax dogs on his enemies. 
But that’s not how things work in post-Watergate Washington. Mr. Obama didn’t need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he’d like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action. 
Mr. Obama now professes shock and outrage that bureaucrats at the IRS did exactly what the president of the United States said was the right and honorable thing to do. “He put a target on our backs, and he’s now going to blame the people who are shooting at us?” asks Idaho businessman and longtime Republican donor Frank VanderSloot..."
Listen to the “dog whistle,... don’t listen to the fancy, eloquent speeches. That’s just for show. The real goodies are inside the wrapper...
The Obama administration may be the first since World War Two to attempt a new and innovative policy best described as “trust me to lie to you.” If you were astute, then you wouldn’t believe us. If you were sophisticated you would make the default assumption that the... policy was for public consumption, since only rubes and simpletons could have possibly believed that the Obama administration was telling the truth...
[But] trust exists for very good reason, even among gangsters. In ordinary commerce its value is obvious. Many products rely on trust: the security of our communications and data storage; the integrity of accounting; the impartiality of the public institutions. Whether we are using Office 360, email, or Google Drive, a medical storage device that stores our sugar levels and blood pressure numbers or files an income tax return, the presumption is that the information we generate is reasonably private. Once that expectation is destroyed, once we are certain that a political hack whose principal qualification is snooping has been appointed to head Obamacare, then an economic cost is inevitably incurred. 
Lying isn’t free. 
One of the reasons that the United States has remained the last refuge for money fleeing instability abroad is that those investors trust its institutions. They believed — reasonably until now — that in America the rule of law reigned supreme. They thought — until the administration cast the question into serious doubt — that America was not the banana republic that the possessors of those fortunes sought to flee. That’s why the money comes to America and not, let us say, to the Congo. 
Similarly... the word of an American president was trusted enough in the past to make the actual use of arms unnecessary. All that was necessary was for the United States to send a signal and that message would have the effect of armies. 
But what happens when an administration makes dishonesty and untrustworthiness a feature? What occurs when the president conditions us to subliminally think — perhaps in spite of ourselves — that in God we Trust but of Obama we can expect nothing but lies? What then? 
Well, we’re about to find out.

Please read the whole thing. It's brilliant. Fernandez describes Obama's salient trait: he lies reliably. He lies like he breathes, but you never need to guess what he's doing or what he thinks-- in Benghazi, he spun it anyway he had to to win the election. In the IRS scandal, of course the White House organized and endorsed the thuggery. In the AP phone scandal, of course the Administration used it to intimidate reporters who interfered with pre-election messaging. On Sebilus' slimy pressure on health care regulatees to fund Obamacare implementation-- that's just how gangsters do things. On gay marriage, of course Obama was always for it-- he lied for a while that he was against it, but nobody actually believed that, and nobody was surprised when he came out for it. Yawn.

Obama lies reliably. You know exactly what he's up to (filthy hard-left politics), and you know that he's always lying about it, but on one level it doesn't matter that he lies, because everyone-- on the left and in the middle and on the right-- knows exactly what he's doing. He is perhaps the most dishonest, and most predictable, president in modern times.

How will our new normal-- a government that lies but never deceives-- change us?

The change could be more radical than we imagine. Lying-without-deceit is a hallmark of totalitarian government. 'People's Democratic Republic of...' . It fosters not only cynicism, which can be good (why trust the government anyway?), but it sows the seed of an amoral polity. It unlinks principle and acts.

Look at Russia. Read the rights guaranteed in the Soviet Constitution. All lies, and no deceit. Every Russian knew what it said, and every Russian knew what it meant. Every Russian knew they were ruled by sanctimonious gangsters. Even after the goons are tossed out, the rot lingers. In the long run, it changes people's souls. Look at Russia now.

Rule by lying-without-deceiving creates a polity akin to the government itself: their only principles are their interests.


25 comments:

  1. Barry was also spanked by Kimberly A. Strassel in her 5-17-13 Wall Street Journal column "The IRS Scandal Started at the Top."

    This is just Classic Chicago Machine Politics--say whatever you have to say to get elected, then:
    - put people on the dole,
    - put people on the payroll,
    - reward your campaign contributors with lucrative contracts, and
    - demonize your opponents.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not just "demonize your opponents," but "PUNISH your opponents."

      Delete
  2. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 8:54 AM

    There are mental disorders that are characterized by a break with reality. For example, the Mayo Clinic defines schizophrenia as a group of severe brain disorders in which people interpret reality abnormally.

    Lies are attempts to give other people a false picture of reality. To make them interpret reality abnormally. Obvious examples like "the check is in the mail", the "Summer of Recovery", "I did not have sexual relations with that woman", and "I am not a crook" are nothing but attempts to induce an abnormal, false version of reality. And it all began with "you will be like gods".

    Sadly, the American politicians who do this are trying to force a break from reality upon the American people. In a sense, they try to induce a political psychosis on the population. Just as the Soviets did with their Wall of lies - a system so wonderful it had to be a prison.

    The really dangerous part is, committed leftists attempt to enforce the lies such that people are afraid to speak the truth. The cult figures at the top cult-ivate the loyalty of an army of bootlicking informers to report breaches in the Wall of lies (we have a little piggy informer that hangs around here - not sure hoo he is) and thugs (cf., IRS, "friends" at Stony Brook) to make sure that mouths stay shut using fear and intimidation.

    But it's always doomed to fail. The Truth will always win. The samizdat will always circulate and undermine the Wall of Lies. Because reality is hard; not hard as in difficult, but hard like a Rock. And the Summer of Recovery only lasts until Summer arrives.

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  3. Adm:

    I agree.

    I've long believed that the essence of power-- totalitarian power-- is to ability to lie in a man's face, and know that he will pretend to believe you, even though he knows you're lying.

    This was a hallmark of totalitarian governements-- the Soviets, the Red Chinese, etc. The Dear Leader would stand before the populace and spout ridiculous swill-- "We are the freest democracy on earth", "our people have the best of everything", "we made 50% more tractors this year than last" and every single person in the country knew every word was a lie, and no one said or dared say a word except "Yes!"

    The ultimate manifestation of power is the power to make people affirm the truth of lies that they know are lies.

    Obama and his goons understand this.

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  4. I see that we have a meeting of the underground Tea Party cell. Hope the tinfoil hats are just the right size.

    Act normal! The feddle gummint is onto you!

    Hoo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Hoo;

      The gummint admitted doing it.

      Are you gonna tell the people I work with what I said?

      Delete
    2. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 10:19 AM

      @egnor: "The gummint admitted doing it."

      But they apologized. And it was all just a big misunderstanding, and it's nobody's fault.

      Can we talk about high-speed rail now?

      Delete
    3. The feds will be knocking on your door any minute now. Quick! Pack a change of clothes and some toilet paper, which won't be available in gummint's Gulag.

      Hoo

      Delete
    4. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 4:15 PM

      From dirty diapers to toilet paper... You got range, piggy boy, I'll give you that. Lick a boot today?

      Delete
    5. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 4:25 PM

      That's a pretty creative reply for a Progressive, all things considered, but I can hear your knuckles dragging. :)

      Delete
    6. It ain't my knuckles, admiral. It's the sound of a conspiracy theory rattling through your empty brain.

      Delete
    7. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 4:38 PM

      I think the conspirators have admitted wrongdoing, so it's not a "theory" anymore. But you wouldn't know anything about theories, so you get the remedial pass.

      But as it happens, I found some of the specific requests (stolen from A. Petri, WaPo, 5/17/13) the IRS was using:

      * Append, along with records of all bodily functions performed by volunteers for your organization during the past fiscal year, sixteen signed copies of form 17B-c4, one folded neatly into an origami swan.

      * Staple non-blurry photo of a yeti to the back of Form 3-4-32-7.

      * Correctly complete six Cosmopolitan quizzes (Are You Uptight, Cool As A Cucumber, Or Everyone’s Doormat?) and include results as an addendum to Form 371b.

      Now that's Progress!

      Delete
    8. It's not a theory anymore, admiral. The impeachment proceedings have been successful. The president has been removed from power, Hillary Clinton is in jail, the people are rejoicing in the streets.

      Nurse, change the admiral's shirt, he has burped all over himself!

      Delete
    9. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 5:41 PM

      And I thought President Lackwit didn't know anything. I had suspected it for a long time, but then he admitted he didn't know anything. Couldn't he have claimed non compos mentis?

      Delete
    10. Adm.
      I am reminded of a line from Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty Four'
      Freedom is the ability to say 'Two plus two equals four'.
      It seems we are supposed to all smile and agree on five these days.

      Delete
    11. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 7:31 PM

      And the smile is key. Otherwise, you're a racist.

      Delete
    12. Yeah, I attended Tea Party function in April 2009 to protest the Bankster Junta in Fall 2008. I didn't change the world, but I felt a lot better and got lots of supportive honks, waves, and thumbs up.

      Any problems with my poster? Or do you like the idea of the plutocrats plundering the people?

      Delete
    13. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 7:47 PM

      No problem from my perspective. Bankruptcy law is a tried and tested means of economic creative destruction. The banksters should have bitten either the bullet or the dust. Goes for Gov't Motors and Chrysler, too.

      Delete
  5. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 10:34 AM

    From the "New Yorker" (Borowitz, 5/18/13)

    WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—President Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to reassure the American people that he has “played no role whatsoever” in the U.S. government over the past four years...

    The President’s outrage only increased, he said, when he “recently became aware of a part of that government called the Department of Justice.” [...]

    Mr. Obama closed his address by indicating that beginning next week he would enforce what he called a “zero tolerance policy on governing.”


    All Americans can be proud of our President. Too big to govern, but humble enough to to make a guest appearance on Miami's "Pimp With A Limp" radio show.

    Truly a Man of the People and a Profile in Courage.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is what politics looks like amped up with racism.

    -KW

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    Replies
    1. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 12:11 PM

      There is no more reliably leftist magazine in America than "The New Yorker" and no more reliable leftist than Andy Borowitz, Harvard grad, alumnus of the Hasty Pudding theatricals, a sensation on PBS and the Puffington Host, a co-producer of "Pleasantville", and beloved of writers at the Daily Beast.

      So yeah, he might just be a racist. Like you and the cult elders at MSNBC, KW-san. Send him an e-mail and find out, ninja-boy.

      Delete
    2. @KW:

      Deomcrats are and have always been racists and race-baiters.

      Try dealing with Obama's scandals honestly, instead of just pulling the race card.

      Delete
  7. Okay...
    I know this is a little off topic, but it still hangs withing the general theme of 'conspiracy theories'.
    My adult son asked me two questions today and I could not answer them, so I thought I would put them to the Egnorance crowd:

    1) If the Boston bomber has been charged with the use of a WMD, does that mean that Saddam Hussein's regime did not even have a pressure cooker bomb at their disposal? Or was the WMD controversy a political contrivance?

    2) Why does the national Republican party emblem (the elephant) have inverted pentagrams on it?

    I am honestly putting these questions out for an honest answer folks. I hate not being able to answer my son, and all the web stuff (all I have today, bank holiday here) sounds a little crazy.
    Your thoughts?

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    Replies
    1. Adm. G Boggs, Glenbeckistan NavyMay 20, 2013 at 7:41 PM

      In response to (1), yes, the WMD controversy was a contrivance. Just one Democrat quote of many:

      I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.
      --- J Kerry, 10/9/2002

      With regard to (2), if there is any sinister intent it obviously isn't working:

      I won.
      --- B Obama (Politico, 1/23/09)

      Delete
    2. Adm,

      Thanks for the response.
      Question 1 was less of a mystery to me. I have noticed the definitions of these devices change depending on who uses them, where they use them, and which political stripe is accused of 'deception'.

      Question 2 is a mystery to me. Why a party with so many Christian supporters would change their logo to include a blatantly occult symbolism is beyond me. I can only assume it has something to do with flying the flag upside down or a dialectic opposition to the dems donkey's upright stars.
      I would hate to think it was something more 'sinister' than that, but in all honesty would not be shocked by anything coming out of DC at this point.
      Either way, it is not a very intelligent move on their part.

      Delete