The “Liberal” Media Doesn’t Get It (Part 2)
[Irving] Janis’ original definition of the term [“groupthink”] was "a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action."
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink
I really don’t know why the “liberal” media would keep covering for an administration that hates them because said administration thinks the media aren’t flattering them 24/7. When the media isn’t distracting Americans from Bush’s appointment of partisan hacks to the U.N. and the World Bank with lurid tales of Michael Jackson’s peccadilloes, they’re cheerleading him as he helps the American Inquisition insert government into a family’s private medical turmoil.
And yet, this is not enough to satisfy the GOP. It’s not enough that they control the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government and the vast majority of the media. Like a bizarre mutation of George Orwell’s 1984, they want everyone parroting the Republican talking points (or is it “shout-down-a-liberal” points?) constantly, and anyone who does otherwise is guilty of a thoughtcrime worthy of execution on sight – just ask former Green Beret Bo Gritz, who apparently wants to play James Kopp to Michael Schiavo and Judge Greer’s Dr. Barnett Slepian.
Consider also the following examples of the Grand Thuggery Party’s desire to control all thought, by hook or by crook:
- In his first four years in office, President Bush spent a total of $250 million on public relations efforts (by comparison Bill Clinton spent $128 million at the height of the Lewinsky "scandal"). Although congress has final authority on White House PR spending, it is interesting to note what Bush used the money on. The $250 million includes the lavish extravagances that lead to the payola scandal - $240,000 to Armstrong Williams to promote No Child Left Behind, $21,500 to Maggie Gallagher and $10,000 to Michael McManus for their marriage promotion efforts. It is also believed that part of the money funded Bush’s propaganda pieces disguised as news reports.
- Bush kept the meetings of his Energy Task Force hidden from public purview, even going so far as to use the same legal stalling tactics that conservatives chastised former president Clinton for. Transparent government advocacy groups like Judicial Watch had to fight tooth and nail to win FOIA access to the Task Force documents.
- In both the run-up to Election 2004 and in pitching his Social Security privatization Ponzi scheme, President Bush spoke to hand-picked crowds consisting solely of supporters. Methods to keep people who disagreed with him in the slightest ranged from ordinary Secret Service casing of each speaking location to coercing attendees into signing “loyalty oaths” that said the signer support everything Bush says or does 10000%. (Do you think Britney Spears signed one of those?)
- And then there are the scandals surrounding Tom Delay, most of which stem from his involvement in the 2002 midterm elections and subsequent redistricting debacle. After three of his corporate associates were indicted last year for their role in the dirty deeds, the House made several efforts to change the rules so that Delay might escape scrutiny or accountability.
From the above examples, it becomes abundantly clear that the GOP considers “groupthink” not as a sociological phenomenon with unfortunate consequences, but standard operating procedure, and any attendant slide towards fascism merely the cost of doing business.
(See original post on the old blog here - originally posted Mar. 21, 2005 6:30 PM)
