Truthiness and Sarah Palinovski

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing


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When I was studying economics at Wake Forest University, the Cold War was still on and Reagan was in his second term. As part of the course, we had to read the English version of Pravda. It was an eye opening experience and a icy dip into some high class propaganda.

One issue that has stuck in my mind all this time had some guy smiling in the camera and the caption was something like "Siberians Happy With Government" or some such. The photo of the man showed him squatting, barefoot, in front of a pot bellied stove. In the background, the door was open and the landscape beyond was snow covered. Even though he was smiling, it showed the utter poverty the USSR had produced. The headline, if read by low information people, might see something different, but someone from my cynical generation would see something altogether different.

During the last eight years of Bush/Cheney/McCain has proven to have the same level of propaganda and denial of the facts. War is peace. Civil rights are weakness. Debt is stability.

Palin is like those guys on steroids. Not only is she willing to bend the truth, she has a panache to lie, not just once but in a steady stream. It is like drinking from the fire hose of hate.

Bush has been often compared to Hitler and the Nazi regime. Some of those attacks were warrantless, while some of those acquisitions were analogous. But Palin is a bit different, slightly out of phase from Cheney and his minions. To me, Palin seems to be old school Soviet. She is a whole different breed of fascist.

She is their new messiah... and we can't let them win.



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Re: Truthiness and Sarah Palinovski (none / 0)

I think you've confused your historical metaphors a bit.


by mady on Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 10:03:22 PM EST

Re: Truthiness and Sarah Palinovski (none / 0)

How so?


Town Called Dobson - Daily Political Cartoon: Not all is red in rural America!
by stormbear on Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 10:04:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Truthiness and Sarah Palinovski (none / 0)

For one thing, the problems of the Soviet state had nothing to do with fascism.  Two very different constructs.


by mady on Fri Sep 05, 2008 at 10:17:00 PM EST

Re: Truthiness and Sarah Palinovski (none / 0)

I get your point, but Siberia is Russia's equivalent of the Ozarks - there's never not been poverty there.  Pravda was trying to say that the USSR had improved their lives, not trying to cover up for impoverishing them.

The USSR would have been so much more successful if intsead of Pravda presenting ONE opinion, they had two: one saying that the people in Siberia were happy with their lives under the current administration, and the other side saying that their poverty had cultural causes rooted in social pathology, and that they needed to restore the people of Siberia to traditional Soviet values.

The two sides would argue, and every four years the people would get to vote for one of them.


by Jordache on Sat Sep 06, 2008 at 12:18:18 AM EST


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