It’s called the Big Lie
Interesting column from Kevin Drum about the GOP debate: The Power of Flat Out Lies. What he’s talking about is the Big Lie, though of course he doesn’t go there. Godwin’s Law, etc. But this kind of colossal lying is hardly limited to the Nazis. It’s a standard part of the modern propaganda toolkit. The technique hinges on the fact that human beings are predisposed to believe what other human beings say. It’s a basic component of linguistic communication: the default assumption that speech is reliable. If somebody screams out that a lion is coming up behind me on the savannah and I’d better run, I’m going to believe it.
This is why modern Republican propaganda is so effective. “Why would they say that if it weren’t true?”
11 Responses to “It’s called the Big Lie”
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myiq2xu says:
Sure, we cherry-pick evidence, we spin world events, and we impose our worldview when we talk about policy. Everyone does that. But generally speaking, our opinion leaders don’t go on national TV, look straight into the camera, and just outright lie about stuff.
ROFLMFAO
September 23rd, 2011 at 6:37 pm EST -
Violet Socks says:
Yeah, he should have said, “except for Obama.” But he would never do that.
There’s a craziness to Republican propaganda, though, that I don’t think the Democrats have matched yet. Obama just lies about things like whether he’s going to support a particular issue; e.g., “The Freedom of Choice Act will be my first priority when I get to the Oval office.” Complete lie. Whereas rightwingers tend to fabricate whole new worlds: “Death panels are going to decide your fate!”
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propertius says:
I have no doubt that the typical Republican voter actually believes that when the Affordable Care Act is implemented, every time one of the nation’s nearly one million practicing physicians wants to perform a procedure or prescribe a medicine, they’ll have to literally place a call to Washington and get permission from some stingy bureaucrat..
Of course they won’t. They’ll have to place a call to some stingy insurance company flack – just like now (assuming you’re lucky enough to be insured).
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Carmonn says:
Well, despite the fact that Kevin Drum does work for Mother Jones and devoting 500 words to printing some truth instead of handwringing about the power of lies would probably be a better use of his time, I’m shocked by the number of people I’ve come across who sincerely believe that more than half of their income goes to taxes. That’s the most amazing propaganda coup of them all, as far as I’m concerned.
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anna says:
I also think people still rely on the news to point out lies. “Oh, if they were lying, we would have heard about it.” Of course the news is all stenographers and no factcheckers or investigators now.
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Sophie says:
As reprehensible as I think the Republican party is and Republican candidates are (and I do), the ignorance of Republican-oriented citizens is up to the national threat level. These people cheer for excessive capital punishment, cheer for allowing someone to die without healthcare, and boo a serving soldier because he’s gay.
It’s nothing new. They blamed the Katrina fiasco on the victims for looting. They still think Saddam had something to do with 9-11. They think people remain unemployed to soak more benefits from the government. These are the folks that initially asserted that the government could do no good and have used to the past three decades to make that come true. Everything they say and do points to the idea that Republicans hate America and its freedoms (well, the ones we used to have).
Have you no sense of decency, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?
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Violet Socks says:
Of course the news is all stenographers and no factcheckers or investigators now.
Also, most wingnuts get their “news” from Fox, National Review, etc. They live in a completely self-contained bubble, so they never encounter facts.
Just a minute ago I was reading an article about Obama’s dropping poll numbers, and the very first comment was from some moron saying, “what do you expect? he’s a communist, it’s been a replay of Lenin from day one, Americans are rejecting that…” Seriously, a replay of Lenin.
These people live in fiction bubbles.
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Nessum says:
Every time I hear a republican crtisize Obama, and actually point to the very same failures that democrats do, and I’m about to congratulate them on their insight, they go and spoil it all by adding “And he’s a socialist!” Never fails.
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anna says:
I made a petition asking for Obama to formally endorse the Equal Rights Amendment and make a speech to that effect. If I get 5000 signatures it will be reviewed by the White House. Please sign it here:https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/endorse-equal-rights-amendment/pDF55rnW
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Topper Harley says:
@4 I recently moved from the US to Noumea (an overseas French territory) where I pay no local income taxes, my income isn’t subject to US income tax nor is it subject to Social Security withholding.
The gross amount of my paycheck here is a little less than half of my US gross, while my take home pay is within striking distance of where it was before. I will note that if you compare by PPP, then it’s not that great (milk is ~ $6/gallon and a loaf of sliced bread is also about $6).
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Eden says:
@10 New Caledonia is the territory, Noumea is the capital city.
Also, tax rates in the US are low relative to other developed countries. There is no way people are paying half their income in taxes in the US.
