The World Turned Upside Down
(thanks Hamilton, I’ll see you next week!!!!)
The American Revolutionary forces defeated the British at Yorktown, forcing them to surrender their entire army. Shocked at being defeated by the “ragtag rebels;” they marched out of the town towards the American lines, their band playing “The World Turned Upside Down.”
Ever since Donald J. Trump came down the golden escalator in Trump Tower and declared his candidacy for President, he has engaged in hyperbole, propaganda, and outright lies. There have been so many “falsehoods” or “inaccuracies,” that the media stopped calling them lies and has created new categories, from inadvertent, to unwitting, to outright whoppers. There are multiple news agencies keeping count (well into the three-thousands) and an entire website dedicated to cataloging those since he became President (well over two thousand) by the Toronto Star.
The master propagandist of history, Joseph Goebbels, said the following about “the big lie:”
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
There is always danger in quoting Goebbels, especially in our present political climate, but his eminently practical view of lying is absolutely on point. A great example is the President’s view of MS-13, the gang he continually cites as a threat to America. He uses MS-13 to justify the extreme expense of building “the wall,” and for his draconian measures at the Southern Border.
MS-13 is a gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, USA; mostly made up of El Salvadoran migrants. The Clinton Administration rounded many of them up and sent them back to El Salvador, where the gang grew in power. While most of the MS-13 members in the United States are here illegally, their numbers represent only 13% of gang arrests in the US. And at the border, where the President claims that MS-13 is coming in under the guise of families, there were NO documented casesof that happening.
But it doesn’t matter. Under the Goebbels theory:
- the lie is big and repeated
- the State is shielding us from the consequences (or reality) of the lie
- the Administration is using its power to repress dissent (and truth).
So, the great “boogie man” of immigration, MS-13, is out to “get us.” And anyone who disagrees with that thesis, must be in league with them. Pelosi, Schumer, and many other Democrats who argue against the current border policy must all be “cooperating” with MS-13.
The President also takes the actual facts, and turns them upside down to his own advantage. The most obvious example of this, is his pre-election claim that the voting would be rigged against him. This was made famous in his debate with Hillary Clinton, where he refused to accept the eventual outcome of the voting if he were to lose. What we now know, is that the election process (and potentially voting itself) was in fact rigged by Russia, and that Mr. Trump may well have had fore-knowledge of it. So what he was claiming for the Democrats and Hillary Clinton, was in fact occurring, but to his benefit.
Currently emerging in the President’s “pep rallies” is the “Qanon” phenomena. This internet based conspiracy sees the United States in the throes of a battle between the evil “Deepstate” and those few heroic leaders who stand “for the people.” The “Deepstate” criminals of course include Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but also both Presidents Bush, the FBI and the CIA. And of course Hollywood and the media are included. Arrayed against them are the “good;” Presidents Kennedy and Reagan, the US military, former General Mike Flynn, the NSA and DIA. and of course, President Donald J Trump.
The evil criminals have caused world turmoil, war and destruction. Thus both Iraq Wars were unnecessary, means of advancing the power of not only the Bushs, but the powerful economic forces behind them (such as Halliburton.) This puts enough truth into the conspiracy to make it feel “real.” And Donald Trump now offers a new path, one where the great leaders of the world (like Putin) unify to stand against the criminals.
It goes on and on, but given the evidence about the Trump Organization’s dealings with Russia, and the sordid Cabinet members from Price to Pruitt to Ross to Zinke, it’s hard to picture that these are the “good guys.” And while many see this as foolish internet nonsense, the President himself gave a “wink and a nod” to the movement in his Florida rally, where he mentioned the “sacred” number seventeen to the Q sign bearers (“…I went to Washington maybe seventeen times before I became President, you know what I mean…)
According to the President, Russia didn’t interfere, no matter how many times National Intelligence Director Coats, or Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen, or FBI Director Wray say they did. And the vast majority of the media is “fake news,” making up stories to make the President look bad. Who needs Nancy Pelosi to attack, when you can go after CNN’s Jim Acosta as Goebbel’s “enemy of the people.”
When lies become the truth, and good becomes evil, it becomes difficult to know what to believe. When there is no single “arbiter” of the truth, then everyone is free to choose their own reality. And with the internet giving us all direct access to the wise, or the foolish and crazed; many are choosing the latter. It’s The World Turned Upside Down.
