Posted on 10/10/2004 8:32:16 AM PDT by jmstein7
Black is Black
By Jonathan M. Stein
Honesty is clearly the best policy; that is not in question. However, broadcasting one's honesty isn't always the best politics -- sometimes, in fact, it is incredibly stupid.
There is no question that, in general, conservatives are more honest than their liberal counterparts. However, conservatives have a nasty habit of crowing about just how honest they are, often to their detriment. Conservatives know when they're right, when they're wrong, when they've done well, and when they've done badly. That doesn't mean that they have to stand on the rooftops and shout about it. Loudly letting liberals know when things are going badly for conservatives doesn't make liberals think "wow, gee, look how honest conservatives are!" It doesn't make liberals feel badly about themselves. On the contrary, it is incredibly stupid in that liberals wisely, and gladly, use it against conservatives. As liberal bloggers, and John Kerry, have demonstrated, they are only too gleeful to use Republican criticisms of Republicans against Republicans in the public debate.
Now, I'm not urging dishonesty; I'm certainly not advocating lies. All I am saying is that the liberals do not need any more free advice or any more free ammunition to use against Republicans and conservatives -- they already have plenty of that. All I am asking is that, as we move into the final weeks of an election that will determine the safety and security of all Americans going forward, a life or death election, if conservatives don't have anything nice to say about themselves or their candidates, then don't say anything at all. This can be boiled down to two simple words... if you don't have anything nice to say then shut up.
The consequences of not shutting up are clear; just look at what happened after the first debate, when things didn't go as well as we liked: we criticized, we grumbled, we despaired -- and the liberals fed off it, gained strength, re-energized their base, used it against us, and made some headway in the polls. This same mistake must not be repeated. If you don't like how things are going, that's fine -- just keep it to yourself. As is often said: "loose lips sink ships."
Alternatively, what conservatives should not do is what liberals do when things go badly for them: lie, deceive, and spin. Just look at what happened after the second debate, when President Bush made a comeback. Democrats and other liberals went beyond merely keeping quiet about their losses; that would have been fine. No -- they actually went out of their way to convince others that the opposite was true -- that their loss was actually a win. That is dishonest, and it is something conservatives should never do.
What is truly frightening about all this isn't the lying, spin, or deception. What is truly frightening is that, to liberals, the lies, spin, and deception actually became their truth! They really believed what they were saying! Look no further than the rhetoric at the Democratic Underground. This is frightening because it is further evidence of just how far the left has gone down the Orwellian path.
In 1984, George Orwell describes a trio of though-control devices that make this self-deception possible -- and orthodox. The concepts are crimestop, blackwhite, and doublethink. In 1984, any thought that went against that which was considered "orthodoxy" was considered a crime. Thus, citizens were trained to consciously stop themselves, stop their though processes, before their very thoughts strayed beyond what was considered orthodox. This concept was known as crimestop, i.e. consciously stopping unorthodox, "criminal" though (crimethink) before it "polluted" the mind. The left-wingers have clearly mastered this, especially considering the things they have gone on record saying about Senator Kerry's debate performance. As their negative thoughts about Kerry formed, they simply, and clearly, stopped thinking. Scary.
Of course, crimestop is necessary when the beginnings of adverse thought have already entered the mind. Thus, to remedy the effects of some tainted thought, it is necessary to convince one's self that the opposite of those thoughts is really true. If it is bad to think that black is actually black, and you started to think about that, but stopped short, then one must convince one's self that black is actually white. If black is a bad thought and white is a good thought, you must convince yourself that black is white. This technique is known as blackwhite. If a Democrat had started to think that John Kerry gave a dismal performance, that Democrat must quickly, and consciously, convince himself that Kerry was fabulous, despite reality. Blackwhite.
The final step in this conscious self-deception is paradox resolution and reconciliation. The process of convincing one's self that black is white is a conscious one. In the back of one's mind, one knows that black is black. So, it is necessary to convince one's self that although one knows that black is black, black can also be white in fact, black can be black and white at the same time! It is necessary to believe that a non sequitur can be logical, and that, in fact, it has always been logical. Not only did John Kerry do well, despite the fact that he did badly, but the fact is that he had been doing well all along. And, by gosh, he actually did vote for the $87 billion before he voted against it! Doublethink.
This is how liberals lie so effectively -- because they really believe it, and they have mastered believing it, and they never believed otherwise. A contradiction can be consciously true and false and reconciled, and, in fact, it has always been true. They have mastered these Orwellian thought-control techniques and if they assume power, they will make sure that everyone else masters them as well.
Frightening.
I should have revised the post with that in mind before posting it.
Apparently, clarity isn't my strong suit today; I clearly haven't been getting enough sleep :)
"The problem with our liberal friends, is not that they know so much, but that they know so much that isn't so." -- Ronald Reagan
Good quote.
That's why some people who mistate facts can pass a lie detector test.
Another way of looking at it is a lie; is telling the opposite of something you know to be true to a person who has a legitimate reason to know the truth. -Tom
Sage advice.
One of the supporters of the "shut-up" theory is being a little bit hypocritical, when compared with their behavior on another thread.
Agreew ith you on this one, JM. Regarding the twisted, sick mental process of liberals, did you read this morning that a Nobel Peace Prize winner says that AIDS was created deliberately? Liberals destroy everything of meaning before them, including the Nobels.
I wish that everyone would think back to the propaganda-filled lifestyle of the old Soviet Union. Each person should ask themselves, how on earth did an entire people come to believe those things, even turning in any family member or neighbor or child that they suspected of "speaking against the party." After all, the people of the Soviet Union are basically no different from us, they weren't born to be deceived. The change was, of course, a gradual process.
Now look around the US - pretzel-shaped conspiracy theories, black is now white, taking our money is good, giving it back to us is bad, failing schools are to be defended to "help" the children!, free speech should be curtailed for the good of all, and bad "thought" must be punished. The people vote yes, one judge votes no - without a whimper from the majority. We have a RIGHT! to other people's money - those evil greedy ones. Corporations who employ millions are bad, and if they try to leave the country, the government will stop them! Every person can do anything he wants in life if he tries hard and he should be helped by the government if he cannot achieve the dream by merit. The clean Boy Scouts are a hate group, the boy child loving b*tt buddy NAMBLA is NOT a hate group...
This is how it was done in the old Soviet Union, we just resisted a bit longer...
Boos are okay if they are substantive boos. Constructive criticism is always useful. However, empty defeatism does nothing but hurt us, e.g. "the sky is falling, we're finished, woe is me, etc."
That type of stuff is not only unnecessary and unproductive -- it is harmful.
If you are going to boo, let people KNOW exactly what it is you are booing... and how to fix it.
I couldn't agree with you more.
Having known jms's very sharp viewpoints for some time now, I understand what he is saying. One of the things that makes DU so unpleasant and basically ineffective is that they are flooded with emotion - mostly negative. They are stuck in a whopper of an energy sink, and they remain stuck. I don't believe we need to do that. There's a huge difference between honest discourse and hyperemotional flailing.
I believe jmstein7 is asking us to exercise some discretion and discernment.
Yes, and there is a reason that... before you post... FR warns you, in bright, red letters: "Loose lips sink ships."
That is exactly my point, and I think Jim would agree.
Yes, please.
Is "the sky is falling" constructive criticism?
:-) That's what I got from it. And good morning to you, my FRiend!
Good morning, and THANK YOU for "getting it."
;)
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