Subtle conditioning of American minds
By PAT MURPHY
Pat Murphy
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The plan: condition Americans to believe ?liberals? are bad, ?conservatives? are good.
The final objective: to subtly, gradually persuade Americans to accept authoritarianism of ?conservatives? as patriotic and reject wishy-washy permissiveness of ?liberals? as unpatriotic and un-American.
Mission accomplished. Almost.
The calculated conditioning to demonize ?liberals? and what they represent has been methodical and so far successful. Principle is not involved. Only power over public attitudes and thought.
Buzzwords are an essential element to the brainwashing.
?Liberal media.? ?Tax-achusetts.? ?Big spenders.? ?Big government.?
?Baby killers.? ?United Nations lovers.? ?Weak on communism.? ?Godless.? ?Sexually permissive.? ?Failed schools.? ?Teacher lobby.? ?Unpatriotic.? ?Liberal gun laws.?
?Conservative? double standards can be rationalized.
President Bush?s record deficits, record expansion of government, record federal debt (hallmarks of ?liberal? spenders) is because of Iraq. Attacking Iraq--an unprecedented U.S. policy of preemptive war--was necessary because of an ?imminent threat? from Saddam Hussein. Wrong about the threat? Then it?s good that Saddam is gone.
?Liberal? media are biased against American values. ?Conservative? media is patriotic.
?Liberal? critics of the war (including Republican Sen. John McCain?) undermine troop morale and are un-American. Unquestioning ?conservative? supporters of the war, its costs in money and lives and its purpose are patriots.
Reducing citizen rights through the Patriot Act is necessary for homeland security. (?Liberal? signatory to the U.S. Constitution, Benjamin Franklin, warned in 1759, ?They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.?)
?Conservative? White House advice: The Geneva Conventions ban on torture of prisoners is outdated. However, Al Qaeda treatment of kidnapped Western hostages is barbaric.
In Arkansas and West Virginia, evangelical churchgoers receive brochures claiming the Bible would be ?banned? by ?liberals.? The RNC confirmed the mailing. When ?conservatives? virtually banned studies of communism in schools in the 1950s, it was to ?protect? Americans from subversion. (Republican President Dwight Eisenhower objected, warning, ?How will we defeat communism unless we know what it is, what it teaches, and why does it have such an appeal for men, why are so many people swearing allegiance to it??) School textbooks being rejected by ?conservative? citizen committees are not banned, only withdrawn to ?protect? children from evil thoughts.
Declaring war on global warming would be costly to U.S. industry and cost Americans jobs. Outsourcing U.S. jobs overseas to increase corporate profits, however, is good for the U.S. economy.
Judges who rule against ?conservative? dogma are ?activists.? Jurists who support ?conservative? dogma are ?strict constitutionalists.?
Slogans. Platitudes. Promises. Patriotism. Induced fear.
The alluring ?siren song? of seduction and deception.
And maybe self-destruction?
