Monday, June 5, 2017

How lies have come to dominate political discourse in America


Two very useful articles address this subject from different perspectives.

Fellow blogger Larry Lambert summarizes the history of unlawful surveillance of Americans under the Obama administration.

Did the Obama Administration violate the law by spying on American citizens? (or were his presidential edicts sufficient to protect both him and his catamites?)

. . .

To better understand what may have taken place, we need to go back to January 21, 2009 when Barack Obama took the oath of office. The actual surveillance that did or did not take place is classified, and we have no access to it, so we need to look at what the Obama Administration did with it - and with LEAKS - to understand, at least in part, what was going on.

If it was only one punished leak, maybe nothing was going on. The FBI can get lucky once, but as a rule they need tools to be effective. They're not shoe-leather cops. The question for us as we investigate is whether or not there was a pattern of activity.

There's much more at the link.  Essential reading.

Not only did the left, progressive wing of US politics indulge in almost unbridled surveillance of (leading to almost unbridled harassment of) its ideological opponents under President Obama, it's now launched a massive, unprecedented smear campaign against President Trump, alleging collusion with Russia to influence the US elections of 2016.  Trouble is, there's no evidence whatsoever to support these smears.

In the 2010 hit film, Inception, the lead character—portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio—explains to his protégé—played by Ellen Page, “An idea is like a virus. Resilient. Highly contagious. And even the smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you.” The story centers around DiCaprio and his team kidnapping a corporate CEO, invading his dreams, and planting into his subconscious a false notion about why he should destroy his own company. The most effective lies—or disinformation—work in exactly this way.

What began as a simple false notion from the American Left―that the Russians hacked the 2016 presidential election to benefit Donald Trump’s candidacy―slowly evolved into a full-blown constitutional crisis. Soon, that false notion—that lie—could work its way from the far Left political fringe and into the political mainstream. If the lie is repeated enough times and by enough different voices that it becomes indistinguishable from other, more believable news (i.e., that Hillary Clinton used her family’s charity as a sop for illegal campaign donations when she was Secretary of State), then just as it did in the movie, the false notion will begin to consume the target audience. It will proceed until the target acts according to the dictates of that false notion—in this case, to impeach (or otherwise to turn against) President Trump.

It’s important to note when this story began. Because, as with all the best lies, there’s always at least an element of truth underneath the litany of falsehoods. This is to make the lie more easily digestible even to the most skeptical, well-informed observer. After all, if the false notion is immediately disregarded as patently false by the target audience, there would be no reason to engage in the perpetuation of political disinformation to begin with. A coherent timeline is thus essential to deciphering the truth.

Again, more at the link.

So, we see lies to protect a President who's at best stretching, and at worst deliberately ignoring, the law;  and we see lies to attack the validity of a President's election, thereby undermining his ability to exercise the powers of the Presidency.  The common thread?  Lies.  Falsehoods.  Untruths.  They appear to have become the stock in trade of left-wing, progressive US politicians and their supporters.

If lies are the only way the left can see itself getting back into power, or retaining power . . . what does that bode for the future of this country?  And what if those on the right take a lesson from those on the left, and meet lies with lies?

Is there anyone left in our political class who believes in, and observes, basic ethics and morality?

Peter

4 comments:

Glen Filthie said...

No.

Men of integrity and honesty will be torn to shreds by those with none. Trump is no saint either, God only knows what kind of chit he's pulling under the table.

I don't trust any of them anymore.

Dad29 said...

Peter, you may recall that Hillary had a large box of FBI files which she collected before and during Clinton's first campaign. She had access to it during Bill's regime.

She only used it once: to kill off (figuratively) Henry Hyde, a leading pro-life (R) Congressman.

That's all it took. The (R) Party never pushed hard against her again.

Now, then. Do you think that Obama did not learn from that? Why do you think that the (R) folks basically rolled over for that miserable scumbag? Do you think--for ONE SECOND--that McConnell is as pure as the driven snow? Or might he have unzipped in the presence of a hidden mike or camera? Hmmmmmm?????

Boehner? Ryan? ANY of them? Hmmmmmmm?

Unknown said...

All true.
But I don't believe that it's strictly Democratic malfeasance.

I recall a number of "principled" Republicans rolling over for Bush II on any number of issues.
I also remember the unprecedented way he injected himself into the selection of the Senate majority leader. And how the prideful Senators all turned away from Larry Craig who had the election sewn up to that point, and elected Bill Frist to much self-congratulation.
It made no sense at the time. But later, when Larry Craig was caught soliciting a homosexual liaison in an airport bathroom, the pieces fell into place.

Anonymous said...

What bothers me the most is the hypocrisy of it all. Before the election, Trump claims the election would be rigged. The Democrats, Republicans, Intelligence Agencies - even President Obama themselves all assured us that the election process was intact and safe. All of them.

Then the election occurred.

President elect Trump said it was a fine election and has been called on switching. What is rarely mentioned is that ALL of the others who had previously claimed it would be good NOW claim that Russians hacked the election. On a dime. And I don't recall any of them being asked on why they all changed their minds simultaneously.

Like a flock of birds it is.