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Tuesday, 12 September 2006

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Al Urik

George Orwell has left us an invaluable legacy in 1984. More than ever it should be required reading for all students. It was about 3 months into the Bush reign that I first noticed the similarities between his administration's use of language and Orwell's principle of Doublethink.

"His mind slid away into the labyrinthine world of doublethink. To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully-constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be conradictory and believing in both of them; to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy; to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the art of hypnosis you had just performed. Even to understand the word 'doublethink' involved using doublethink."

I now believe that the use of Doublethink is a carefully studied and consciously deliberate action of the New Republican Party and of this administration and its far-right-wing religious associates. They use words while fully realizing that the reality is exactly the opposite. "Operation Enduring Freedom", "Pro-Life", "Ex-Gay", "Clean Forests Initiative" are only a few items in a list that could be published in volumes without even beginning to examine whole sentences.

I would love to see you or anyone write an essay or column about "The Right Wing and Doublethink". And I strongly encourage anyone who sees this comment to read or re-read 1984. You will be astounded!

Al Urik

Sorry, I think I should have said "Healthy Forests Initiative"; I confused it with "Clean Air Initiative". Come to think of it, that confusion is an example of what I was talking about.

DonPato

Fucking Bush we can’t believe him neither can the rest of the world. If he says it, you can be pretty much assured it’s a lie. BUT it doesn’t seem to be a BIG deal with AMERICANS. As long as you can gas your cars, who cares how many people a day gets killed in Iraq. OR how many future terrorists our country makes by blowing up some kids house and family to nothing. These people live by and eye for an eye and in another 20 years they are going to start trying to collect.

DonPato
San Jose

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