Big Lies, Small Lies and False Premises

There are big lies, small lies and false premises that take on a life of their own. There are inanities, stupidities and gross misrepresentations propagated by a host of single-minded activists hiding behind what they claim are well-intentioned principles. No doubt there is much snickering on the sidelines at the ability of supporters to capture headlines and foster the pretense of a rational thought process. They have all come together in recent days to create a disruptive flying wedge into whatever is left of the country’s problem-solving apparatus, many of them marching on Washington under the auspices of  “Freedom Works” and various offshoots of the “Tea-Bag” movement.

President Matt Kibbe of “Freedom Works” claims the organization has always been active promoting fiscal responsibility and monitoring government spending, but it was only when it began attacking President Obama that it received significant attention. After less than a year in office, the new administration has been targeted by the group for incessant criticism and tumultuous demonstrations. One can only wonder why that is so. An amalgam of disparate but similarly motivated factions insists theirs is a spontaneous grass-roots operation enabling rank-and-file citizens to articulate their anxiety about the economy and other issues. The notion that great swaths of the public would, on their own, suddenly grow a concern about the national debt, question the president’s place of birth or accuse him of socialist tendencies is absurd. Obviously they had to be encouraged, some might even say incited, to ‘grab a pitchfork’ and take to the streets. Ironically, at a time when there are so many good sources of information available to so many people we are in danger of entering an age of dis-enlightenment.

A formidable group of right-wing attack dogs has assembled to advocate and spread their vitriolic wares. “Freedom Works” chairman, Dick Armey, always a ready right-wing voice helps the organization behind the scenes most of the time while Glenn Beck weeps and cajoles his audience into imbibing his political brew no matter how screwy it is. Sean Hannity and Michelle Malkin enjoy convivial chats during which Malkin hawks her book that mysteriously rose to number one on the NY Times best-seller list as soon as it became available. Nightly TV plugs for one’s book must help along with perhaps a boost from buyers-in-bulk on the right.

What is most alarming and distressing about these folks, however, is the amount of false information they can transmit in a short period of time. As Keith Olbermann showed so pointedly with videos, Sean Hannity got the president’s remarks in his health-care address completely backwards. If Hannity actually watched the speech he either misheard or deliberately misstated the president’s words. What Obama said was that insurance executives weren’t bad people, they were simply trying to run profitable businesses. But a choleric Hannity claimed that the president had said insurance executives were bad people. Fox may be reliably unreliable, but Hannity was even more outrageously wrong than usual that night.

And no matter how many times it is emphasized in print and verbally that illegals will not receive medical benefits, and that government will not make decisions about doctors and procedures if health-reform legislation is enacted, Republicans keep repeating that the opposite is true. So when the president made the point about illegals in his speech South Carolina representative Joe Wilson felt comfortable shouting “you lie”, and another ill-informed, factually-impoverished, right-wing hero was born. Will a third Joe appear to form a triumvirate with the congressman and the plumber? The world awaits.

It was sad to see the president treated so disrespectfully and to have it proven once again that there are people in this country content to make heroes out of jerks, and attempt any diversion to achieve political dominance. The only good thing about the incident is that perhaps ordinary, decent Americans will reject the blatant, mean-spirited partisanship that has been dominating the national debate.

Matt Kibbe threatens that members of Congress will be held accountable for the way they vote on health care and environmental issues. It may also be the case that voters will not take kindly to those who would club them into submission with rancorous distortions that do nothing to change their lives and for whom disruption has become an end in itself.