Repetition is the Key to Magic

[Lightning Rod]

What kind of idiots does he think we are?

My jaw drops when I hear George Bush accuse John Kerry of running his campaign on fear tactics. This was in response to Kerry's statement that Bush would reinstate the draft and privatize Social Security if he is re-unelected. We have come to expect all manner of fabrication and newspeak from this administration but this is the height. From a government that has hung its political hat on fear of terrorism this is a bit disingenuous. Maybe the Republicans think that they can sell fried ice-cream, but at some point lies repeated and repeated again can backfire.

Just yesterday Dick Cheney said, "The biggest threat we face now as a nation is the possibility of terrorists ending up in the middle of one of our cities with deadlier weapons than have ever before been used against us - biological agents or a nuclear weapon or a chemical weapon of some kind to be able to threaten the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. That's the ultimate threat. For us to have a strategy that's capable of defeating that threat, you've got to get your mind around that concept."

Talk about fear tactics. This is Dr. Strangelove wagging the dog.

The Bush II regime is based on lies. First there is the lie that they were elected. Next there is the lie that they are somehow protecting you from terrorism when actually they are promoting it. Then there is the lie that progress is being made in Iraq when in reality the place is a shambles. And, oh yes, the lie that the economy is improving and taxes are lowered when we are all paying above two bucks a gallon for gas and getting taxed every time we pass the pump. And this money is not going into the public coffers, no, it is going straight into the pockets of the cronies of this thieving junta.

The theory that if you say something often enough, that makes it true, is a favorite of the neo-cons. But theories and theologies only survive because they work. If America believes, because of advertising and rampant repetition, that we need drugs that do us more harm than good and that oatmeal will save us from heart attacks or that we can lose 20 pounds for 20 dollars, then it's no wonder that the ideologues at Bushco think they can sell us any old lie. Just repeat it often enough.

I only wish that we had a choice other than between Ford and Chevrolet. I would really like to get enthusiastic over Kerry and see him as being a real alternative to the present thieves. But I can't. I do think it would be better to have an articulate man who has demonstrated his dedication to his principles since he was a young soldier to represent our country as chief executive rather than a posturing little sophomore autocrat like George Bush, but somebody please convince me that Kerry is not a member of the same club. If he is elected, perhaps we will invade the country that has the richest reserves of Ketchup. Chile?

Repetition is the key to magic. That's why religion is so full of ritual. If you do or say things over and over again they take on a magic energy. This is also why running a modern election campaign like an advertising operation makes sense. The slogans that both parties are using are much like advertising jingles. They have no real substance but they stick in your mind. And they are repeated endlessly. It's a matter of image over message. Selling candidates is like selling toothpaste or pop CD's.

The Poet's Eye sees that even the gullible American Public has it's limits of credulity. If the candidates continue to try to tell us that black is white, eventually some innocent will proclaim the truth. I hope it happens by election day.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
  --  H.L. Mencken

[Zlatko Waterman]

Dear LR:


Here's a provocative site with more than one apt comparison.

The part about repeating the lie is a well-worn Fuhrer-ism.

(link)


http://www.zianet.com/boje/peace/docume ... Hitler.htm


Then, perhaps, you might like to try this link:


http://www.thepubliccause.net/Articles/ ... inGOP.html



--Z

[mnaz]

Not to worry, LR. I think domestic ketchup production will be equal
to the task in the coming decades. We are nowhere near "Peak Ketchup" yet.

It seems to me that those who backed Bush before will back him to the bitter end, with few exceptions. When the "lies become transparent", they'll just say that "Bush tried to do the right thing", and leave it at that. This goes way beyond mere common sense or logic, and gets into to the realm of blind faith and slavery to symbols. Bush is the heavy favorite of the religious constituency, and virtually no amount of logic or appeal to fairness can change that.

[Zlatko Waterman]

When somebody tells me his politics and decisions are "faith-based", I reach back and check to see if my wallet is still there.

That particular chestnut always makes me feel somebody's hand is already in my pocket.

--Z

[Lightning Rod]

mnaz, beautiful
Peak Ketchup
I love it
still laughing

[WIREMAN]

........ah a quote from my late neighbor H.L. Mencken.......ya know he used to live here on Hollins st....3 blocks up from us....his house is a shrine...open to the public.....3 blocks north is the Poe house on amity st......quite a literary background here.....and about bush or shrub or whatever his name is ....ya know I threw my t.v. set out the window after the last election fiasco.....wired