Tag Archives: Orwell

Let the GOP Gaslighting Continue

Posted on by

From the Washington Post Daily 202 newsletter round up for 27 July 2021:

House GOP leaders attacked Pelosi before today’s hearing. “House Republican leaders sought to blame Pelosi for the events of Jan. 6, arguing that she was responsible for officers not being sufficiently prepared to repel the pro-Trump rioters,” Wagner and Donna Cassata report. “‘January 6 should have never happened,’ House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said outside the Capitol. ‘We should have prepared and been prepared for the officers, made sure they have the training and the equipment that they needed.’ McCarthy and other House GOP leaders also took aim at Pelosi for removing from the select committee Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio) and Jim Bank (Ind.), two of the five Republican members McCarthy selected. McCarthy later withdrew his three other picks in protest.

Excuse me, Mr. McCarthy (and no, I am not sure you deserve any title beyond the Mister, unless it is seditionist.), but what sort of preparations was the Speaker supposed to have made in advance of what the President at the time called a social gathering? Are you implying that the Speaker and the head of the Capital Police should have been expecting an armed attempt on the US Capitol like nothing we have ever seen before because of a disagreement (insert BIG LIE) over a paperwork process that in the last 200 odd years has occurred with little more fanfare than the box scores from the night before?

I am pretty sure that repelling boarders…er…US Citizens from the ramparts like soldiers invading Troy was not in their job description, much less any other training materials they are exposed to on a day to day basis. If so, then the Capital Police were not the right people to guard the Capitol. That should have been the job of the United States Army. However, in the United States we have a law (Posse Comitatus Act) that actually prohibits the Army from enforcing the law. Good thing.

Which brings us back to the core question Mr. McCarthy. What exactly should the Capital Police been trained to do on January 6? Because repelling a horde of brainwashed, misguided, and mislead citizens certainly should not have been it. And that falls squarely on the shoulders of the GOP, their President, and their continued gaslighting of America.

Welcome to 1984, er, 2019…NewSpeak Is Alive And Well

Posted on by

Trump told lawmakers he prefers word ‘strike’ to government shutdown, sources say | WTOP

President Donald Trump told congressional leaders during a meeting Friday to try to negotiate terms to re-open the government and that he preferred the word “strike” in describing the ongoing government shutdown, a person familiar with the meeting and a Democratic aide told CNN.

George Orwell wrote, in the opening line of his essay Politics and the English Language:

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it.

This was before he wrote his novel 1984 in 1948. One of the hallmarks of 1984 is the discussion of Newspeak. I am sure Orwell would be delighted to see how the current President of the United States has not only adopted his vision but implemented in such as way as to make it a vital part of the political discussion!

The current government shutdown is not a strike. It is not a refusal to work organized by a body of employees as a form of protest, typically in an attempt to gain a concession or concessions from their employer. It is the temper tantrum of an adult who is not getting his way. Period. Also, worse, it is a temper tantrum that has now expanded to include a group of mostly white men who are upset that they are not going to get their way, so they are taking their toys and going home, putting thousands of Americans at risk, economically and socially. This is not about security. It has never been about security, despite what the current holder of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would have you believe from his tweets. This is about the unbridled lust for power and what happens when someone says No.

For 45 to call this a strike is another example of how he is twisting the narrative to shield his actions from those that are not paying attention. At this point, do not be surprised to find him saying we have always been at war with Oceana. But good luck trying to understand just who that is.