How the Bad Guys Get Away With It

There was an intriguing but long article in Washington’s Blog called “How the Bad Guys are able to Get Away with It”.   The first factor was “The Big Lie” and there were enumerated all the follies and foibles of human nature that seemingly compel them to believe that Saddam Hussein was behind the terrorist attacks of 9 – 11.  There was also poll data on the entire length of the Bush Administration.  People who say “President Obama’s poll numbers at forty percent are at record lows for any President” don’t know what they are talking about.  Bush never had so much as ONE poll number ABOVE forty percent since mid 2006 and a lot of that time his poll numbers were in the twenties.  But what’s really strange is that Bush’s approval and disapproval numbers now are almost even at 47 against and 50 for.  But a few months after Bush left office there was almost a universal concencus that Bush had been a horrible President.  I wonder if FOX news had anything to do with that turn around.  Norman Goldman points out that many over the air FOX news presentations borrow word for word from the Cable FOX news.  I didn’t know that Adolph Hitler came right out and admitted he was going to use “The Big Lie” to gain power.  This is by telling such a big whopper so grandiose that people are almost shocked into believing it.  He observes “People themselves will allow for a little lie because they themselves tell this kind, but nothing on so big a scale”.  Goebles is also quoted.  But there are other factors people defend a repressive, yes Fascist government.  They identify with “the system” and see an attack on ‘the system’ as a fight or flight attack on them personally.  They believe that people like Mitt Romney are basically just “one of them”, when they are fundamentally different in their brains.  Then there is a discourse on psychopaths and sociopaths.  Politicians are to a large extent sociopaths.  They seem impervious to any negative impressions they may be making, but forge ahead anyhow driven on by “Manifest destiny” or something.  Where I will take definite exception to the article is in claiming that drugs such as stimulants turn people into socioipaths.  Not so.  Yes people on booze or drugs will take risks and “not count the consequences”.  But first of all sociopaths “Don’t care”.  Consequences are irrelivent to them.  You see this on the soap opera with Teresa Donavin.  Even though she’s completely cornered and defeated in a confrontation - - even THEN she takes the offensive acting as if she’s the only one who’s perfect.  But more importantly, as this writer had said before- - Mitt Romney and people like him are highly “risk averse”.  That’s why they want to change the laws, change the judges, change the politicians in every endeavor.  They are so scared shitless of losing in a fair fight they will move heaven and earth to prevent such a thing.  You didn’t see the John Birchers of fifty years ago being bold at all.  They happily met in their little cloisters and never bothered anybody, because they couldn’t win.  Of course when Mitt Romney says “Americans should trust in God and not in Man” then my response is “Good.  Then I have a good reason for not trusting YOU”.  Norman Goldman says he wants to look into research that says the more educated you are, the less use you have for any Religion in your life.  As I have said in a recent posting “Debaters should make it clear their beef is not with God, but the jackass at the other podium”.

People are wired to believe our leaders’ big statements, even if they are ridiculous:

As Adolph Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf:

All this was inspired by the principle–which is quite true in itself–that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.

Similarly, Hitler’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, wrote:

That is of course rather painful for those involved. One should not as a rule reveal one’s secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.

Science has now helped to explain why the big lie is effective.

As I’ve previously pointed out in another context:

Psychologists and sociologists show us that people will rationalize what their leaders are doing, even when it makes no sense ….

Sociologists from four major research institutions investigated why so many Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11, years after it became obvious that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

The researchers found, as described in an article in the journal Sociological Inquiry (and re-printed by Newsweek):

PRESIDENT BUSH'S BIG LIE OF 9 - 11

§  Many Americans felt an urgent need to seek justification for a war already in progress

§  Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe.

§  “For the most part people completely ignore contrary information.”

§  “The study demonstrates voters’ ability to develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information”

§  People get deeply attached to their beliefs, and form emotional attachments that get wrapped up in their personal identity and sense of morality, irrespective of the facts of the matter.

§  “We refer to this as ‘inferred justification, because for these voters, the sheer fact that we were engaged in war led to a post-hoc search for a justification for that war.

§  “People were basically making up justifications for the fact that we were at war”

§  “They wanted to believe in the link [between 9/11 and Iraq] because it helped them make sense of a current reality. So voters’ ability to develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information, whether we think that is good or bad for democratic practice, does at least demonstrate an impressive form of creativity.

Sony Pictures will be releasing "The Interview" in some form on Christmas day.  I think the President shamed them into reconsidering their decision to pull the movie completely.  There arises a question as to just HOW North Korea could have hacked Sony Pictures considering how backward they are on their Internet skills, and whether they had Help.  It's that "Help" who we need to track down and deal with.  So it could be that just maybe they were sincere in their plea to "Let us investigate this computer hack together".  If they weren't involved at all, maybe they thought "Just by being Around smart people, we might get smarter.  There is a claim that people look for confirmation of "What they already believe".  There is also a fact that "The less people actually KNOW about a subject the surer they are about it, and also the LESS likely that they will want to learn anything NEW, that might actually contradict what they already "Know".  I am not like this.  You've probably guessed that.  When a Blog fawns all over Putin and Russia and the information doesn't "jive" with the information in the rest of my Universe- - I'm basically going to discount it- - even if by accepting it it would bolster my "Anti Establishment arguments".   We hear things like Winston Churchill proposed the gassing of the Arabs in the Mideast "To put a lively terror into them".  We hear that President Woodrow Wilson launched a contingent of US troops into the Soviet Union in 1918 "To kill communism at its birth".  It would make an utterly intriguing Movie plot for sure.  But I don't think it happened.

Joe Cocker died yesterday of lung cancer at age 70.  I would say his “Classic Hits” include (in the order I heard them on the radio) “Feeling All Right”,  “Delta Lady”, “She Came In Through the Bathroom Window”, “With a Little Help from my Friends”, “The Letter” and “Cry Me a River”.   Just to get in some cosmic news- - last night I learned that "Mal Evans has currently gone off on Holiday" using that British expression.  There was a strong implication that Mal Evans had been demoted, and perhaps less of an implication that now he had so few duties he could afford to take more time off.  The low-down on Joe Cocker is that the Delanians laid claim to his Soul waving a contract around saying they had rights, and barged in among the souls (of a different species) gathered around him.  The next day a Delanian himself stated that "I hadn't heard the whole story" and that the Delanians lost that battle for Joe Cocker's soul.  They had a level two claim on him.  But level two is always trumped by a level three.

This is a quarter to three.  I just went through Money Draw line behind John Powell only to be told that I didn’t have any money in my account from Jennifer.  Tess was at the other desk so if I protested I’d be taking them both on, and it wasn’t worth it.  I just won’t be putting any money in my checking account before Christmas with Terry, who is probably busy visiting relatives or something anyway.  Not going to the bank was wise.  Olivia gave me a whole thing of fried zucchini which I ate, and a banana, which I ate later.  She also gave me an orange and some bottled water, which I still have.  It was a very busy dialog day on Days of our Lives.  Nicole talked her way out of a jam by lying.  Eve was caught in her lie by Kayla and Kim.  And Serina mentioned wanting children to Eric, who she’ll be spending Christmas with.  They hosed down the east section so I went to the west section and greeted Marsha.  I still have money but I know it won’t last till Saturday.  If Mom, likewise, tells me I won’t get any money from her, I’ll be in dire straits after Christmas this year, rather than before.  I have this sword of Damocles feeling now when it comes to Saturday but it’s something I can’t put my finger on.