Sunday, January 10, 2010

Giuliani wins the Orwell Award of the Week

If the internet tubes survive the cataclysmic destruction of Western civilization I will return to this clip from my mountainside bunker wi-fi connection for the gentle reminder of what precipitated our demise as a culture.

This is only one example of the hysterical lies that are currently being expounded and expanded on every news show I have seen in the last two weeks.


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Ya. No terrorist attacks on Bush's watch---
except for the 4,000 civilians killed on 9-11!!!

Did history begin on 9-12-2001? Was Bush not required to know about the fatwa issued by Osama bin Laden in 1998? Or the bombing of two US embassies in the 1990's? Or the attack on the USS Cole in 2000? Terrorism has been around for a long time, even dating back to the Beirut barracks bombing in which hundred of US marines were killed, the Iranian hostage crisis, etc, etc. Of course, not only did a terrorist attack happen on Bush's watch... but it was the WORST terrorist attack in US history.

Rudy learned the lesson of George Orwell. If you are going to tell a lie, make sure it's a BIG fucking lie. In fact, make sure it's the biggest fucking lie you could think up.

The fact that an asshole like Rudy Giuliani (and multiple other Republican tards) can go on cable or network show and breezily lie about Bush's "clean record" on terror is one thing, but the unbelievable bit of this clip is the complete lack of push back by the supposed pundit intelligentsia. The duty of the fourth estate is to protect society from the propagation of these very untruths.

I love Mika's face on this clip: blank stare. I wouldn't expect Scarborough to call out Rudy, but the panel that morning also included Mike Barnicle, the crusty newspaperman, and Willie Geist, the slightly sarcastic pop culture aficionado. Perhaps the media are just becoming fatigued from the daily onslaught of lies by GOP operatives the past 10 years. It's like the fire hydrant principle: the flow is so voluminous, what's the point of trying to stop a few drops?

On another show, Giuliani let fly the exact same falsehood to George Stephanopoulos who also let it go unchecked. Later, George issued an apology: “All of you who have pointed out that I should have pressed him on that misstatement in the moment are right. My mistake, my responsibility.”

From wiki: "The adjective Orwellian describes the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society. It connotes an attitude and a policy of control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth, and manipulation of the past..."

I'm not sure if Giuliani actually believes these lies the he tells over and over, or if he is purposely trying to deceive, and I'm not sure it even matters. Why anyone would seek out Giuliani's opinion on anything is beyond me. These guys are bad. Really just bad people.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It floors me that not one person, be it republican or democrate has the jewels to call these liars out. It's like not correcting a child who has done wrong. They'll never learn and continually be allowed to get away with very bad behavior.