Obama as Goldstein?

I came across this story in MMFA today and it made me chuckle a little. I'm not exactly sure what this tactic is called, inoculation maybe? But a blathering idiot on fox news told the truth by condescendingly "interpreting" the president's words that: "In effect, the president is saying that the American people are a stupid, dissatisfied electorate who are poisoned and brainwashed by Fox News." Of course, this mixes things up by conflating the entire population with the stupid fox audience that is poisoned and brainwashed by fox among other sources. At this point reality doesn't simply have a liberal bias, it is entirely optional.

Why it made me chuckle is that on a whim Saturday night I watched the film version of George Orwell's "1984" starring John Hurt and Richard Burton after downloading and listening to a lecture series on Orwell's life and the world he lived it in. It is hard to hear but the opening sequence of the "two minutes hate" has the audience screaming at video of the trotskyesque Emmanual Goldstein, the traitor to the revolution of Ingsoc (English Socialism) while he basically tells them the truth about the world the party members live in. If you turn on the subtitles you can read what Goldstein says over the din. Basically that the party enslaves you, big brother doesn't exist, the party wages war on the people to preserve its power, that sort of thing. In Oceania, two minutes is all that is required to maintain the allegience of outer party members by stirring them up in a conditioned frenzy against the blasphemer Goldstein. Anyone who questions what the party says by believing Goldstein can be identified and "reeducated" by the thought police in the ministry of love.

There is a difference between what this clown said of course, and how the party operates. First is that the American Goldstein isn't a shadowy figure randomly lobbing contrarian ideas, that guy was killed by fox's Goldstein, who happens to be the president. The other thing is that the party in 1984 could only afford to rile up the faithful for short times because they needed them to maintain control. Fox's audience is largely useless for the ultimate purpose, not of power as an end to itself, but for profit creation. Serving no intrinsic function other than to mindlessly attack reality and their "enemies" conservative foot-soldiers can be riled up and maintained in a state of frantic desperation at all times. And this story is one small aspect of that. In this case, telling them the truth and counting on their conditioning to go berserk at the idea that 2+2=4.

So, despite the president's repeated, and suicidal, attempts to reach out to this party of lunatics, despite policies that would be supported by conservatives in a less fanatical time. Despite getting his funding from the same sources as his opposition, and attacking his opponents in a pale reflection of what they do. He will always remain a traitor to "the American people" and sabotaur/revolutionary desperately trying to undermine our "harmony." "Inadequate information" is what the president actually said, what a milquetoasty way of characterizing the poison and brainwashing served up to the faithful, 24/7 on fox.

At least, for now, when one teabagger believes another can float, there are people outside of the bubble laughing at them.