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.
Flux Capacitor,
BINGO!!!
You hit the nail right on the head. Now, if only others on this thread could be made to "get it" as well...
We have a world with alot of problems BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL NOT STAND UP AND SPEAK AND FACE THE TRUTH. Silence about serious issues is very bad. Take the Muslims/Islamics, for instance...that use SILENCE AS A WEAPON AGAINST NON-MUSLIMS...take our MSM for instance...that USE THEIR SILENCE AS A WEAPON AGAINST CONSERVATIVES....
No thanks.
ridiculous article IMO.. a fallacy.. Truth is the number 1 value... let the friggin chips fall where they may. You look weak don't follow truth.
you don't think Rove has people reading this BBS? damn straight... and look what happened.. Bush didn't change his message... he just forcefully confronted a liar. possibly due to some to the upset folks here.
Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but that's an interesting choice of phrase.
Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot, its all about YOU. What was I thinking?
Meditate on these three names and how they relate to what I have said:
Lincoln Chafee, Chuck Hagel, John McCain.
yikes...very bad grammar in my post.. sorry people.
jmstein7, I've come to have a really good opinion of you because you are so level-headed and really, really bright. But you just jumped the shark, so to speak.
Honest discourse is, well, honest. We have a pretty wise crowd in FR. While I might disagree with many of the crowd on some subjects, I would never ask them to silence themselves in the interest of some greater good.
You are still the man, jmstein7.
Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but that's an interesting choice of phrase.
That was the right choice of words for what is going on here with the way of thinking of some people here. I never imagined seeing the stiffling of honest opinion on FreeRepublic.
The electorate is intelligent enough to sort out legitimate information from pandering and half-truths. Frankly, I couldn't care less what any of the above have to say, since I believe the administration is more than capable of responding. In the long-term, truth and integrity wins out over lies and political pandering. We'd do well on threads like this one to remind ourselves of that.
Yes, Rove reads it and encorporates our substantive CONSTRUCTIVE suggestions and our criticisms of Kerry/Dems.
What I'm criticizing is empty, defeatist rhetoric. For example:
"The sky is falling, XYZ is going to lose, woe is me!"
Rove doesn't use that stuff; Marybeth Cahill DOES.
I guess I'm human after all ;)
I think, though, that Hugh Hewitt makes this point more effectively in his book "If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat."
P.S. Read #51.
Good post. They're stealing and employing some of FR's best content as well spinning towards the last 4 undecided people in America by push-pulling our emotions...
Could you please follow my posts around 24/7 and make sure I'm in lock step? J/K!! :)
BTW, there's a verse or two in the Holy Bible that talks about 'blackwhite'...
We bitched about George H. W. Bush being to liberal and pandering to every liberal group who was not going to vote for him anyway and taking our vote for granted the whole time he ran via Rush and EIB that we got the fringe of our party to vote for Ross Parot. We put Hill and Bill in office.
If the election is lost because of something a conservative said about Bush, then so be it. If things are that bad, then there are bigger problems that need to be addressed. Ignoring problems or telling people to 'shut up' doesn't make them disappear.
I know what you were thinking and my ancestors have all spilled blood to protect me and all Americans from likeminded people.
I read your article, I agree with it. And as for defending you, it ain't necessary. You can do a fine job yourself. LOL.
Congressman Billybob
James Surowiecki counters it in "The Wisdom of Crowds". Tidy little read when you have the time.
BUMP! FR has unprecedented visibility since Rathergate. Let's not engage in Operation: Footbullet. LLSS.
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