I Give Up

I started a post yesterday afternoon regarding Senator Kerry’s financial holdings and yet another of his staff’s PR gaffes. Additionally, I taped his DNC address for future fisking analysis.

However, upon further consideration, I’m asking myself: “What’s the point?” All the information regarding the senator’s military service, his actions upon leaving the service, his senate voting record and the financial records of his family are readily available at one’s fingertips, if one is searching for them.

It’s not like it was back in the sixties when Roger L. Simon and his late father came to ideological blows over the Vietnam War. It’s not like it was when only the three network TV stations and the major American newspapers supplied information on what was going on in the world.

These days, if you don’t know, you simply don’t want to know.

Why did I give up? It’s pretty simple. I got tired of fighting a losing battle.

Some months back, I borrowed the title of M. Scott Peck’s book, People of the Lie, to point a finger towards people who lie so well and so often that they begin to believe the hype themselves. Let’s call them Group A.

Group A has spawned another group; not ideological offspring per se, but servants. This second group isn’t in the habit of creating lies, however this group--let’s call them Group B—believes what Group A says, at least under certain conditions, which are spelled out in the next paragraph. It can even be said that the members of Group B are often the arms, legs and mouthpieces of Group A, albeit often (usually) unwittingly.

Group B doesn’t have the time, inclination or ability to check the veracity of the assertions of Group A or anyone else’s assertions. All a Group B member knows is that the assertions of Group A fit neatly with his/her own convictions, beliefs, pre-conceived notions and feelings.

What happens when a member of another group— call it Group C—comes along and provides the Group B member with a well-documented fact that doesn’t fit or contradicts the supplied Group A “knowledge?” Two things can occur.

1. The Group B member says something along the lines of this: “Wow! I didn’t know that. How did you find that out?”

or…

2. At top volume, the Group B member calls the Group C member a liar, enraging the Group C member and severely damaging—if not destroying--the links of communication between the two people. (You remember what a liar is, right? It’s one who asserts something known or believed by that one to be a falsehood.)

Guess which one happened to me yesterday.

As it stands, I’m merely set to see the results of the November election. I don’t think that the aftermath will be pretty, regardless of the result. I’ll be keeping watch and praying.

Later…

My dad just called me to regale me with stories of being a Republican in a Democrat family (He and Mom, my sisters and most of that side of the family live in New Mexico.) It served to cheer me up a bit and to remind me that I’m not alone. Thanks, Dad.

Comments

[Jim]

You just hang in there sis, and don't waver.

And here now, a some encouragement for you.

With apologies for a link in your comments, Juliette, but I think Gerard (as my post leads to), has sounded already, the death-knell of the Kerry-Edwards fiasco.

It is one of the most profound works I've ever read. But it'll do you good, blogsis. Lots and lots of good.

Take heart, Juliette. And if you need to, just lean. I'm here; we're here and you will not fall.

Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX

[MeTooThen]

Juliete,

I found you via Roger L. Simon.

Air Force Reserve?

Amazing.

I have been thinking of joining up (even talked to the recruiter).

Keep on blogging.

[Dean Esmay]

I'm not even a Christian and I found "People of the Lie" one of the most thought-provoking and interesting books I ever read. I have never seen a better explanation for human evil, before or since.

The worst example of true evil I have seen in American politics in my lifetime--and I've been watching a while--is Michael Moore. And watching that evil spread its tendrils genuinely frightens me. People I thought I cared about and respected, when presented with the evidence that he's not just wrong but spreading genuinely hateful lies, things that can ONLY be lies and cannot merely be mistakes, and watching them shut their ears and laugh at me and keep speaking well of the man: devastating.

And they'll snicker and smirk and say "yeah that's just because you like Bush." I try to tell them no, I don't like liars on the right or left, I defend Kerry from his most irresponsible critics all the time, I endorsed Lieberman over Bush and even spoke up for John Edwards and Wes Clarke during the primaries and would have considered either one of them over Bush too. But they shut their ears, they don't want to hear, Michael Moore is a "little guy" who is "speaking truth" even though "some of it" isn't.

Genuinely shook my faith in humanity it did.

But ultimately I believe in America and her people. I still do, by God I do.

[DarkStar]

Politics is evil.

If you take of the ideologic blinders of what ever strip you are, step back, and take a good look, you will see it.

You will see the inconsistancy, intellectual dishonesty, lies, money grubbing, etc, of the political ruling class. This exists from the local level to the federal level.

But this just mirrors the human condition anyway.

[David C]

I've come to the conclusion that - at least for the time being - there's no longer any point in trying to "engage" the left in any kind of real debate. "Containment" - making sure we win this election big-time, and they lose - is the only option.

I think the left is literally in the grip of a form of mass insanity, choosing to live in a parallel universe formed only by "people who think like me." Any "fact" purporting to challenge their religious dogma is, per se, not a fact - it's just another lie concocted by the evil lords of Halliburton who mean to enslave us all just so they can dig up more oil nuggets, and the fascist right-wing corporate media outlets (like the New York Times!) they control.

It's sad - it really and truly is - but all that can really be done for these people now is shock treatment. The kind of cognitive dissonance that's just so huge and overwhelming that their mass delusions will be dispelled.

[Iron Mike]

Sweety,
How can you be a Republican? I thought Al Sharpton said all you black folks were Democrats!! ;)
Smooches,
Mike

[baldilocks]

Hey Iron Mike, didn't you get knocked on your butt yesterday?

Okay, maybe that wasn't you. :-)

[David]

There are people out there that you can reach. One in particular is a black female friend of mine who always votes. She has strong convictions but is always open to other ideas. I am sure there are many more out there. Hang in there.

[teal marie]

This might be good news: I saw a report on World Net Daily that Al-Zarqawi is captured.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=39728
I was reading Ben Shapiro's column and noticed this news item beside it.

[Wesley]

I'm interested that your family is from New Mexico. I've lived in Silver City, NM for 25 years. Where is your family from?

[StinKerr]

I found myself unwittingly in group B a while ago. When I found the truth I was very annoyed with the group A type who sucked me in (in a C=SPAN interview no less) .

I now look closer at what the Dems...er.. I mean group A says any more and get at least three independent confirmations of what they say and still expect to find it a lie or 'spin'.

Fool me once, etc., etc.

Oh, on Sharpton's "40 acres and a mule": as I understand it it started out as a military order that was later presented to Congress as a resolution. Do you want to guess which party shot it down?

HINT: they stole the mule and use it as their party symbol now. Dunno what they did with the 40 acres.

[Joatmoaf]

I addressed the same issue here.

The moderates and un-decided will vote what they know. They want their votes to go to the candidate that has the best interest of the country in mind. However with the way the media works they aren`t given a balanced view of the candidates. We need to fill in the huge void that the media ignores about the facts.
If not us, who?

[ErikZ]

sigh.

We now have the greatest researching tool in the history of mankind sitting at our fingertips. Anyone can look something up.

So I got into an arguement with someone at work who insisted that Clinton can come back for another presidental term. After a while I said "Prove it, look it up."

He didn't want to.

We work in a big communications center in 12 hour shifts. Full web access to the interenet and permission to browse as long as we do our jobs.

I can't stand purposeful ignorance.

Same guy came back in a fit after seeing Moore's movie. He's going to vote Kerry.

[David Blue]

"However, upon further consideration, I’m asking myself: "What’s the point?""

Yeah. I've reached that point too. Roll on the next elections. What I would like to see is Bush, Blair and Howard all confirmed in office, the public nowhere repudiating the good wars that we fought and won. That's all that's left that matters, because healing and reconciliation aren't happening.

A turning point for me was when it stopped being an issue with my friends what I said or what information I could back it up with, but where I got it.
* _Bowling for Columbine_ has inaccuracies - Ah, you've been crawling through the gun nut sites I see.
* Non-profit corporations aren't as morally superior as you'd think, there are problems. (Ironically this was not too long before food-for-oil broke.) - What right-wing Haliburton-worshipping nut job site did you get that from? It was American, wasn't it?
* The sort of stuff Little Green Footballs carries, or anything severely critical of the United Nations - I wouldn't even start, because anything that would carry such information is ipso facto a hate site or a hate publication, therefore the issue would be my moral failing in looking at that.
* Specifically, the theory that the Nick Berg decapitation video was fake because of the lack of blood: how can you convince someone that theory is wrong when they also refuse to look at the video because it's a snuff film? (And don't bother telling me there's a logical problem, I wasn't the one with - figuratively - my fingers in my ears saying la-la-la can't-hear-you.)
* Stuff critical of _Fahrenheit 9/11_ - oh forget it. I'm bored with this game. There's no point.

Anybody willing to see can find out for themselves, easily. And for the others, I have no solution.

ErikZ: you are exactly right. I've encountered the same thing, in general and specifically with _Fahrenheit 9/11_.

The era when it was possible to have reasonable conversations between friends across these lines was fun, we should remember it with affection.

But we live in a different era. We might win. We might lose. In either case, different bloody results will follow. There are no other results possible, and there is no meaningful commentary, there are only consequences.

Welcome to the desert of the real.

[McMurray]

not that I expect to see this on your site, as rightie blowhards are always cowards when they're not protected by Ripofflican dollars and legions..

Oh, I see Group A gets to pull whatever they want out of their butt to smear Group B with and even though it conflicts with eye-witness testimony by the score and every military record, and even though every one of the clearly partisan shills making the charge has contradicted his own statements, as recently as 2 years earlier. Group B are "evil people of lie" hurling abuse on Group A for not accepting this toiletroom scratch as truth.

I think you need to spend a little more with "People of the Lie", dude.

[baldilocks]

McMurray: Not that you expect to see what? If you must use cutesy little nicknames and meaningless, pointless insults, please attempt to be more coherent in the future.

Additionally, if you had better research skills you would know that,

a) I have expressly left the Swiftboat veteran story to others on purpose,

b) I have proven my lack of cowardice by serving my country, not hiding my real name and admitting when I was wrong about an ideological adversary, and,

c) I am not a dude.

And, finally, I don't throw up strawman comments on other blogs and use them to call others "People of the Lie."

Thanks for the visit.