Interesting bit on truth and the media, from the WSJ:
There was a time in the former Eastern Bloc when what you read in newspapers was the exact opposite of the truth.
Ironically, the Soviet newspaper that was bursting with lies was called Pravda, or The Truth. There was another one, Izvestia, which means The News. The two were so committed to the truth that Russians would say “V Pravde nyet izvestiy, v Izvestiyakh nyet pravdy” — There’s no news in the Truth, and there’s no truth in the News.
So if communist-controlled papers said the authorities wouldn’t devalue their currency, it meant that was exactly what they were planning to do and people immediately tried to get rid of worthless cash and buy dollars on the black market.
When newspapers talked about “unbreakable friendly bonds and Slavic brotherhood” with the Soviet Union, it meant the people behind the Iron Curtain wanted to break free from Soviet tyranny.
And the Polish communist party’s slogan “The party’s program is the nation’s program” actually meant that nobody, not even party leaders, believed in that program.
Have we reached such a point here in the US? Not quite, I don’t think — though we’ve been well on our way for some time: a left-leaning activist press is normally at pains to denigrate conservatism and classical liberalism, while simultaneously lauding progressivism and collectivism, which, not coincidentally, more often than not puts them at odds with the truth.
Reality is what it is, and no amount of massaging of the various narratives will change that.
What concerns me is that soon, what has heretofore been a voluntary distortion of the truth — shielded by the guise of “objectivity” that we all know is a false front — could soon be coerced, should government step in and bail out the newspaper industry and other “news” sources (while in the process, defining what counts as news precisely by how willingly its purveyors provide cover for the government).
In the meantime, though, we still have access to at least some market-driven correction for standard progressive “reporting,” reporting that continues to try to beat back the tide of anti-government-run health care sentiment by, at best, barely casting a critical eye at what the promise of health care “reform” would mean economically and socially in the long term (or pretending to cast a critical eye, only to then absolve the reform measures of any but the most trivial of problems); or at worst, parroting official Democratic party talking points, which they pawn off as objective coverage of the issues.
So while we have the corrective power, we may as well use it. As Brad O’Leary tries to do here:
No one should be surprised that congressional Democrats and the Obama administration continue to hide their health care bill from the American public, choosing instead to write the legislation behind closed doors. Their playbook has been nothing but secrecy, lies and bribes since day one.
They hid a bill that even they had not even read from the public eye — and from the eyes of their Republican colleagues — and then forced a vote on it. They bought off members of their own party — members who already supported the bill — with hundreds of millions of dollars in pork.
And when that wasn’t enough, they looked the American people in the eye, and, in Clintonesque finger-wagging fashion, dared anyone to challenge their “truths.”
Recall that President Obama repeatedly blasted Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary for her support for an individual health insurance mandate that would force all Americans to either buy insurance or face a fine.
“If a mandate was the solution, we could try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody buy a house,” Obama taunted his rival. “The reason they don’t have a house is they don’t have the money.”
Yet shortly after taking the oath of office, when he no longer needed to worry about public approval for votes, Obama endorsed the same individual mandate that he had spent months holding over the head of his opponents. And now that same mandate is included in both the House and Senate passed versions of Obamacare.
Obama also claimed that his health care overhaul wouldn’t require taxpayers to pay for elective abortions.
[…]
Yet the Senate version of Obamacare includes a provision whereby Americans would be taxed to pay for abortion coverage. And it is all a part of the plan, as Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius recently explained:
“The Senate language, which was negotiated by Senators Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray, who are very strong defenders of women’s health services and choices for women, take a big step forward from where the House left it with the Stupak amendment. Everybody in the exchange would do the same thing, whether you’re male or female, whether you’re 75 or 25, you would all set aside a portion of your premium that would go into a fund, and it will not be earmarked for anything, it would be a separate account that everyone in the exchange would pay. It’s really an accounting measure that would apply across the board and not just to women and certainly not just to women who want to choose abortion coverage.”
Of course, there are many other lies that will be exposed in due time, including: Obamacare won’t cost more than $1 trillion; it won’t add to the soaring budget deficit; it won’t cover illegal immigrants; it won’t lead to government-run health insurance and health care rationing; and it won’t cripple small businesses by making them pay steep fines if they don’t offer their employees health insurance.
Unfortunately, by the time these lies come to fruition it will be too late. Obamacare will be a fact of life, not a debate or an option. Future generations will suffer greatly, and the people who gave us this misery will offer new lies to cover for the old ones.
— Of course, those future generations will be told that they aren’t suffering at all by the state-approved media, so no harm no foul.
The best we might hope for? That maybe one day — say, a hundred years from now or so — some Eastern European president will call us the “Evil Empire” and pressure us into some sort of civil revolt.
At which point, Ronald Reagan can finally stop spinning in his grave. The poor dumb idealistic sonofabitch.
(h/t Terry H)
go long on pitchforks.
And that bastard Nixon. I’m tellin’ ya.
Two things comfort me in these troubling times. The first is the certain knowledge that the government will fuck up anything it touches, meaning that Novaya Pravda will be little more than a make-work enterprise for politically connected J-school grads.
The second is that sales of Squid™ brand torches and pitchforks should be through the roof!
Oh but to give Pelosi and Reid the old Nicolae Ceau?escu treatment on a lamp post in front of the Capitol. To see that look of fear flash across their faces when the reality of the situation dawned in their tiny little smug brains, just like Nikki and Elana.
And no, I do not mean the metaphorical Nicolae Ceau?escu treatment.
Squid will be one of the few rich men in the country, right before the government confiscates all of his money.
Wow, an oblique dig at FOXNews @2! Which, of course, kind of proves my point.
I knew RD couldn’t resist strapping on a fake name and taking a run at penetrating this post from the back door.
Two things comfort me in these troubling times.
How about the fact that to really turn us into USASR, they’d have to turn the force of arms against the populace, create their own NKVD.
And that no progg could possibly fill that task, as they’re all wussies.
And that the National Guard and all other military folks would never follow orders to go after the Tea Partiers or other civil disobedience.
ot
“Academics like Randall Kennedy can use the word “Negro” in a conscious manner to make a professorial point, but it’s no longer an acceptable term in casual conversation.”
link
son now the word negro is off the table too
“How about the fact that to really turn us into USASR, they’d have to turn the force of arms against the populace…”
Yet therein lies the worry, precisely that they wouldn’t have to turn to force of arms, but a large enough herd of sheep will go along willingly and no small band of rebels will commit to violent overthrough in order to undo the tyranny.
Sheesh, overthrough? sdferr’s brain lies a moulderin’ in the grave.
Wow, ol’ RD is quick. Just as I was about to say “Queue obligatory MSM leans right” post.
Of course, from the perspective of our way left leaning troll-wads, MSM does lean right.
“violent overthrough”
If it is any comfort, sdferr, I think that is what we did at Al-Kut in 2003….
Normally I wouldn’t endorse endless delaying tactics on legislation, but this rush to nationalize another 1/6th of GDP screams for them. I want to see what is being voted for, and I want the names of those voting for it well known.
RD etal never seems to have much to say about MSNBC and the right leaning press. When you start far enough left Olberman and Maddow become centrist, I guess.
Nine of ten of the richest members of Congress are Democrats, including the top six. I report, RD decides.
If you get much farther left than Olberman and Maddow the stench from the mass graves becomes difficult to bear.
But you do have to break those eggs to make that tasty equality omlette!
“and the people who gave us this misery will offer new lies to cover for the old ones.”
I don’t want to be a one-noter on this, but as I’ve said before, the opposition doesn’t play up enough the fact that these folks won’t be participants in the wonderful plans they have for the rest of us.
Yet therein lies the worry, precisely that they wouldn’t have to turn to force of arms, but a large enough herd of sheep will go along willingly and no small band of rebels will commit to violent overthrow in order to undo the tyranny.
Roger that. Boil the frog slowly, lull us to sleep with promises of a soft, easy life where you never have to worry about foreclosures, bankruptcy, pollution, poverty, or trans-fats.
;^)
Thanks out to Danger and dicentra.
Not for nothing but I suspect RD does alot of penetrating from the back door. Buggery is standard liberal operating procedure.
I tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn’t easy with that sumbitch Reagan in the White House. I dunno. They say he’s a decent man, so maybe his advisors are confused.
Thanks to you as well sdferr for making a simpleton like me think harder about things.
And to Jeff as well for a very well-placed volley.
I know I can come off like a one-note instrument and the “General Danger” style diplomacy may not be well received at times (I’m not really a General I just play one occasionaly here at PW;) but it is this issue more than any other that drives me. I don’t want to find myself someday soon waiting all day in a medical facility waiting for one of my kids to get stitches or even worse learn that some agency has determined that the cancer surgery my wife needs has been turned down because of the expense (I know costs are high now but at least I have the option to pay for it myself if my insurance turned me down).
I believe in spirited debate both within and across the political divide but I hope it’s not too unreasonable to ask that you save your best (and most frequent) shots for those that are the biggest threat. As a Service member my political actions are limited (even moreso while deployed) and in many ways I am depending on all of you to make the sacrifices my family and I endure worthwhile.
I will do my part in the bargain and I know you will too.
1st trns fat now salt @bloomberg
pw reeducate camp soon @baracky
Danger:
You were hired to take care of the enemies foreign. We’ll take care of the domestic.
It’s the least we flatfooted, nearsighted nerds can do.
samizdat news:
here
Amen on the flatfooted, nearsighted nerds. I qualify.
Give this man a cheroot. He’s written the riposte to David Brooks’s elitist rant against the Tea Partiers that we’d all have written if we’d taken the time to sit down to do it.
In the case of Mark Halperin, just not as timely as one would hope.
nicely timed to sell a book. for the rest us not so much
matt @ 20
Agreed. Did anybody here get a reacharound? I didn’t. Not me. Nope. Not once.
Just checking.
Scott Brown campaign closing in on 750k after blowing past their 500k target. Obama decides not to apply the Barack effect since it looks like Coakley can lose on her own.
I hasten to add that Brown raised these dollars without the benefit of fake small-amount donations like the ones Barack got that all came from the same card in the UAE.
Uphill battle: 44,000 requests for absentee ballots were received as of Friday, which means that Brown needs to win by 44,000 to have a chance.
There’s no news in the Truth, and there’s no truth in the News.
Don’t forget: All the News that’s fit to print.
i’m still wondering who decide that negro is a bad word. if you pronounce it with spanish flair is it ok? and did anyone tell the united negro college fund about this?
“All the News that fits the blueprint”
#34 It starts with an “n” and has a “g” in the middle. That’s enough to make it suspect.
well this african american demorat hack says negro is ok:
James Clyburn: What’s wrong with the word “negro”? posted at 7:10 pm on January 11, 2010
so from this point forward negro is ok or no? and who took negro off the acceptable list?
“#34 It starts with an “n” and has a “g” in the middle. ”
so does niger
So does NGO.
…and nagging.
Naught
Night
Nugget
Nougat
Norge (The odd first name of a comely lass I used to know)
@36
its this fear instilled that “offending” certain people is to be avoided.
New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art censors its own collection, lest displaying images of Muhammad offend Muslims
I think the assumption would be that you actually have to hear the “g” sound.
Whatevs.
you can’t say “colored people” but “people of color” is ok?
“have to hear the “g” sound.”
banning pronunciation how 84
It’s all over, kids. I have no idea what will bring people to their senses, if they indeed still have senses worth coming to.
My assumption is that people think that “negro” is the polite version of that other n word you aren’t supposed to say if you’re white. I have no idea if the words share a common root or not.
I’m going to have trouble wrapping my noggin around that.
Nuggies for you for that one McGehee.
“My assumption is that people feel
thinkthat “negro” is the polite version of that other n word“My assumption is that people think that “negro” is the polite version of that other n word”
uncf should be worried no?
“negro” is off the table? Who are we kidding? Niggard is off the table. The best part of Reid’s little quote is the reaction of the likes of the Black Caucus. All these years, interpreting everything in the most expansive manner in order to impute their rivals, and now they have to swallow this sh*t from the likes of Reid? Too funny. Guess we know they get their marching orders from the old white men after all. Sell outs…….
“My assumption is that people”
which people? who decided?
The people who decide these things, of course. Who else?
Deciderist!
The best thing about Obamanomics is that once he is done completely destroying the wealth of the American people, we can all start worrying about something other than skin color.
In the new age of post-racial/post-apocalypse interpersonal relationships that Barack is ushering in, you won’t judge a man or woman until you have clubbed them over the head and rifled through their pockets for food.
That is the kind of equality that Rahm can really get behind!
gay, negro, marriage, co2, health care, terrorist, islam
We’re back to government censorship and propaganda? When did the phony war on Christmas season end? (more importantly, can I shop at Old Navy again?)
chuck take bike ride
Old Navy is value.
Old Navy is value what has made more significant inroads with hispanics than the other Gap brands. Cause of it has a more attractive price point mostly but also it wasn’t an accident.
Why you always gotta be so negative?
No worries, it’s nugatory.
I thought that it would be USSSA (United Soviet Socialist States of America), but what do I know?
Mmmmm, nougat….
</Homer Simpson>
Something on HuffPo that we can all enjoy — left and right alike.
obama chicago paint huffer
Awesome. An opportunity to trot out my Malcolm Muggeridge bookmark
As they say, read the whole thing.
You can thank me later.
Why’s that Sebastian guy only huff Mexican paint, huh?
Racist.
I laugh at it all now, but at the time you can imagine what a shock it was to someone like myself, who had been brought up to regard liberal intellectuals as the samurai, the absolute elite, of the human race, to find that they could be taken in by deceptions which a half-witted boy would see through in an instant.
By now I’m quite sure they really don’t need any help.
n.b.: this is not a joke.
Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC
Didn’t get to bed last night
Oh, the way the paper bag was on my knee
Man, I had a dreadful flight
I’m back in the USASR
You don’t know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the USASR, yeah
Been away so long I hardly knew the place
Gee, it’s good to be back home
Leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case
Honey disconnect the phone
I’m back in the USASR
You don’t know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the US
Back in the US
Back in the USASR
Well the Huff Puff girls really knock me out
They leave the west behind
And Kossack girls make me sing and shout
And Gawker’s always on my my my my my my my my my mind
Oh, come on
Hu Hey Hu, hey, ah, yeah
yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m back in the USASR
You don’t know how lucky you are, boys
Back in the USASR
Well the Hullabuloo girls really knock me out
They leave the west behind
And Maracott girls make me sing and shout
And FireDogLake’s always on my my my my my my my my my mind
Oh, show me round your snow peaked
mountain way down south
Take me to you daddy’s farm
Let me hear you balalaika’s ringing out
Come and keep your comrade warm
I’m back in the USASR
Hey, You don’t know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the USASR
It starts with an “n” and has a “g” in the middle.
Nihilism is another one of those words.
Particularly if you’re not a great typist.
we can listen to the aussie rocker guy and also the punky japanese womens
Pravda is also an anagram of Rahm.
Okay, drop an ‘p’, an ‘v’, a ‘d’, an ‘a’, and add an ‘h’, and ‘m’, and you’re there.
Geez, do I have to explain it to you?
this is how in fucking lockstep the little president man’s Associated Press propaganda whores are with their master’s every dirty socialist whim
Pelosi, LaHood laud US investment in autos … dirty socialist AP propaganda whore Ken Thomas (general purpose whore)
Finally, US automakers start to see improvement … dirty socialist AP propaganda whore Tom Krisher (auto whore)
The truth is the number of people what have
HEY!!!
DAN HAS A BOOK WHAT HE WROTE
Our Dan! Someone should tell Darleen.
And Jeff.
[…] Jeff has a post up at Protein Wisdom discussing the government’s takeover of the media. […]
Britian could give Obama some more, (after healthcare with added NICE component) pointers on how to go about getting the USASR started right.
I’d say this is extra NICE, with a cherry on top.
That buzzing noise you hear is Orwell spinning in his grave.