Newspeak 2005: One Woman's Rage Against the Bush Propaganda Machine

by Nancy Green

Remember, when we were in high school, having to read George Orwell’s 1984? In Orwell’s vision of the future, the government spoke to the people in an invented language called Newspeak.

Newspeak took away the words for ideas Big Brother didn’t want you to have.

" ...words such as honor, justice, morality, internationalism, democracy, science and religion had simply ceased to exist. A few blanket words covered them, and in covering them abolished them." 1984, George Orwell

In Newspeak, day was night and black was white. The Ministry of Peace, the Ministry of Truth, and the Ministry of Love took care of War, Propaganda and Torture respectively.

Could it ever happen here? We used to have a Department of War, but America never starts a war, so in 1947 we changed it to the Department of Defense. We’re ready to go anywhere in the world to defend ourselves.

We don’t tolerate a government that uses lies and propaganda, we just put up with some ‘spin’. And of course, a lot of information is classified because of...

HOMELAND SECURITY

The term, Homeland, had been in use before 9/11, but now we hear it all the time. It’s much trendier than those older words for our country, like Nation, Republic, Democracy. Actually, you don’t have to be a citizen to live in a homeland. In apartheid South Africa, Black South Africans were deprived of political rights and forced to live in Homelands, a kind of reservation within their own country.

I’d rather live in a Democracy. America is a nation of immigrants. Everyone came here from somewhere else, except for Native Americans, who were forced to live in Homelands and deprived of political rights.

Before we had the Department of Homeland Security we had to rely on the National Security Agency. Condoleeza Rice, the National Security Advisor, received a memo entitled: Bin Laden Determined to Attack in the United States. She says she got memos like this all the time, no big deal. She said that no one could have imagined using airplanes to attack a building.

Someone else did, though.

If you were a fan of the TV show, The X-Files, you might have watched a spin off series, The Lone Gunmen.

In the first episode the bad guys plotted to destroy the World Trade Towers using a jet plane that had been taken over by remote control. Our heroes saved the day, of course.

I was a little creeped out by the show, especially since the World Trade Towers had already been attacked once before, in 1993.

JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE

I was afraid the episode might give people ideas. It’s too bad Condoleeza Rice wasn’t an X-Files fan, then she might have hardened the cockpits in the jet planes, something she admitted regretting not doing in the 9/11 Commission hearings. But that’s ok, now all our pilots can carry guns onto the planes, so they can shoot and fly at the same time.

VOLUNTEER ARMY

After 9/11 I really believed that things would change. I was ready for a call to action. I know a lot of Americans were ready to volunteer their time. In fact, this crisis was the downfall of the president of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross got so many people showing up to donate blood that they couldn’t handle all of them.

As I recall, President Bush responded to the 9/11 crisis by more or less telling us all to go shopping.

"I ask for your continued participation and confidence in the American economy," he said in his address to the nation on Sept. 20. Sure, the economy matters, but think about how our politicians describe us. They call us consumers, they call us taxpayers. After 9/11 we were ready to stand up and be citizens. We were ready, but the leadership wasn’t. There was no new national service corp created. The tax cuts weren’t put on hold due to emergency.

Shopping’s fine, but where’s the call to action? Where’s the shared sacrifice?

The sacrifice is falling on the National Guard and other service members and their families. The stop-loss and extended tours and call-ups fall on those who have already given the most. Hey, they volunteered for this. Not like other Americans who are not yet feeling a draft.

For Many Americans, Iraq War Has No Consequences

Many of us are directly affected by the war, but more of us are not. We have lost over 1,500 American soldiers in Iraq, but we are nearly 300 million in this country. The rest of us aren’t being asked to do much more than stick a bumper sticker on our Mideast oil consuming vehicle.

You know, that ribbon that says...

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS

In these litigious times, I’d hate to offend some respectable car dealer, or middle-aged businessman searching for a way to prove his virility without any actual personal risk, so I’ll talk about a hypothetical car called the Bummer. When you stick that ribbon on your Bummer you can cruise around enjoying your government tax break. A Hummer of a Tax Break for buying a large vehicle. We aren’t doing any outmoded WWII thing like conserving fuel. We’re using our tax dollars to subsidize a toy soldier car that gets about ten miles to the gallon. When you see a Bummer with a business logo on the side you are looking at the corporate welfare Cadillac. Unfortunately for the big guys, the tax loophole is closing.

But our soldiers in Iraq drive something called a Humvee. That is the best vehicle we can possibly give them for their dangerous mission. Except that they need to install extra armor because they’re not bulletproof and flying shrapnel can go right through them. The soldiers and their families began buying protective equipment on their own, because the military was too slow in providing it. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was put on the spot this December when he was asked about armor for Humvees. He said it was "not a matter of money, but of physics." The company that makes the armor, Armor Holdings, said otherwise: that they could supply more, but no one had asked.

The families back home, who may be struggling to manage with one parent away, do qualify for some reimbursement for the equipment they buy at their own expense. That’s the law. It’s just that the feds are a little behind and no one’s seen the money yet, as detailed in this Associated Press story entitled U.S. Misses Soldier Reimbursement Deadline.

Well, if they’re having trouble paying the bills, they better not take out one of those high-interest loans from the loan sharks that the military has not bothered to chase away from the bases.

The 158 Billion we have spent on this war so far hasn’t trickled down to the troops. This month a request is in for a high level review of the failure of the Army to supply high-tech tourniquets that have been recommended for two years. Now that the attention of the press is on this, the tourniquets are being rushed to Iraq with amazing speed. Our President, who loves our troops so much he puts on a military uniform whenever he has a chance, hasn’t gotten personally involved in these concerns. He’s too busy dealing with public policy matters like the Terry Schiavo crisis.

It’s heartbreaking to think that any American soldier was killed or injured because our leaders didn’t pay enough attention to details, like equipment, but at least once they are home they get the best medical care and social support our country has to offer, right?

CUTS TO VETERAN'S HOSPITALS

Bush Budget Raises Drug Prices for Many Veterans. It’s gonna cost to do the right thing by the veterans.

We not only need veteran’s services, we need something for them to come home to. Vets, like other working people need affordable housing, jobs, education, clean air, safe neighborhoods. All the federal funding for our domestic needs is up for cuts.

It’s not surprising that recruitment is down, if the people in charge won’t look out for our troops at war, or keep their promises to our veterans at home.

The Bush administration tells us that things are getting better in Iraq. I hope that soon they are going so well we can get our people out of there. No timeline for an exit yet.

President Bush said he had an overwhelming mandate after the last election. He did much of his campaigning to military audiences, who seemed to support him enthusiastically. He says that the real Americans approve of the war, but for the last two months recruiters have failed to meet their goals. They say it’s because the economy is better and there are more jobs. Does it look that way from where you are?

My father-in-law lied about his age to join the Navy and fight Hitler in WWII. When Americans really believed in the cause young men joined up and the people at home sacrificed. Now we have a few being asked to put their lives on the line, and their families count the days till their safe return. The rest of us watch it on TV. Maybe that’s why young people are voting with their feet and walking as fast as they can away from their local recruiter.

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

The 9/11 highjackers didn’t bring in nuclear or germ warfare. They got inside one of our systems, aviation, and used jet airplanes as weapons. They had found a weak point in our security, as detailed in 9-11 Panel: FAA Got 52 Warnings in 6 Months.

We needed to look at our power plants and food supply and subways, and to do whatever it took to make the country safer, without regard to politics. We needed to find Osama Bin Ladin, and other terrorists and take apart their networks globally. We are not the only country with an urgent interest in fighting terrorism.

During the two years we’ve been preoccupied with Iraq, none of this has gone away. No weapons of mass destruction were found, but that’s okay because the real reason we invaded Iraq was to spread Democracy. We weren’t told that, when we had to decide how many American lives and how much of our national wealth we were willing to sacrifice, but now it’s a done deal. We broke it, we own it. Plus, the war has been so costly in lives and money that we can’t quit now. Sen. Jack Reed is talking about at least ten years.

Meanwhile we still have to deal with the weapons of sort-of mass destruction that are lying around all over the place, like:

LAWYERS, GUNS AND MONEY

Our former Attorney General, John Ashcroft, is a man of faith. He had prayer meetings in the office every morning, and his employees were free to attend, or not attend and be forever marked as unbelievers. He’s clearly one you can trust to maintain the delicate balance between church and state. He has faith that our government, under a Christian president will never misuse its powers over the lives and liberty of its citizens, so he created the Patriot Act. He knew that our lawmakers couldn’t be caught voting against something called the Patriot Act. It would be like voting for the Drown these Cute Kittens Act. The Patriot Act provides a few loopholes that allow the government to spy on its citizens without a warrant and hold people without charges indefinitely if the President thinks it’s necessary. Although I hold Democrats as well as Republicans responsible for the Patriot Act, I believe that as human beings all our politicians were deeply affected by 9/11. The Patriot Act was put before them just a week after that terrible event. Also, it’s real big. I tried to download a copy, but it’s 349 pages long. It’s amazing that John Ashcroft and his staff could put together a bill like that in so little time with so much going on. Unless he basically had the ideas in place and was just waiting for a chance to make them law.

Our new Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, doesn’t believe that laws should get in the way of the Chief Executive. As legal counsel he wrote that the Geneva Convention and international agreements against torture were outmoded and that the President should just wing it. Unfortunately, a few bad apples at the bottom of the chain of command got the wrong message. They did some very bad things and took pictures, which they sent out on the internet for the entire world to see. It’s hard to think of a more effective way to recruit for the anti-American side and shame our Muslim allies. I’ll never understand why we took Saddam’s evil prison and turned it into a ...prison. How are we going to persuade the Arab world that we have something better to offer? How are we going to have grounds to demand humane treatment for our troops if they are taken prisoner, when we’ve thrown out the Geneva Convention?

Colin Powell, one of the few members of the Bush cabinet who’s actually been in a war, argued that disregarding the Geneva Convention could backfire on American soldiers, if they were taken prisoner.

No one listened to him, though, and now he’s replaced by Condoleeza Rice, who did such a great job with National Security.

President Bush recently declined to support the assault weapons ban. So now it’s easier to buy real big guns.

It might be a good security measure to know who’s buying them, but it’s not politically smart to mess with the gun lobby, so there are no permanent records.

Homeland Security might wiretap your private conversations and investigate your library books, but you can collect your arsenal in peace. America is truly the land of opportunity.

Terrorists don’t have to bring any weapons with them, they can buy them here. It’s convenient.

158 Billion dollars is a lot of money, huh? Two years ago we were going to remove the weapons of mass destruction and sell off their oil to pay for it. I guess eventually Iraq will pay us big bucks for invading them, but meanwhile we’re going to have to make a few cuts here at home. Nothing important, like the tax cuts for the rich. It’s just the usual: Medicaid, Education, Health. But at least we know that the Bush administration is treating our money with the same respect we have for our own household budgets. A heartwarming story from Rhode Island gives you an idea where your tax dollars are going.

LOCAL POLITICS

It’s alleged that Custer Battles security firm from Middletown, RI paid their employees out of a bag stuffed with 2 million dollars in bills. It must have been a big bag. The Bush administration has great faith in the honesty of contractors. It’s very Christian of them, but they should be careful who they trust.

Money can be a weapon. It can buy terrorists mobility and anonymity. Cash is good for bribes and buying illegal stuff. The 9/11 hijackers paid cash for rental cars and motel rooms, it was easy for them to move around and not leave much of a trail.

The money was there for a good reason, though. L. Paul Bremer, U.S. Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority is quoted by the Providence Journal as saying that the priority was to get Iraq’s economy going.

If we took two million dollars in bills and scattered it around Rhode Island it might perk up our economy pretty good. Or we could use it to keep the teachers and nurses who are being laid off from our public schools. It’s enough to build several good quality multi-family houses and get some of our kids out of homeless shelters. This taxpayer would appreciate knowing where that money went. Let’s hope it isn’t buying bombs for terrorists.

Unfortunately there are plenty of bombs to buy. High powered explosives in Iraqi ammunition dumps multiplied after the invasion. Looters got in and stole ammunition before our military could secure the sites. Almost every day we hear about car bombs going off and killing innocent civilians and our soldiers. Too bad with all those charts and graphs and satellite views we didn’t nail down the conventional weapons and guard them or blow them up with our high IQ smart bombs.

It must be hard living on a soldier’s pay. We should give them raise if we have all these bags of cash to hand out to contractors and consultants.

BIOTERRORISM

By now we’ve been through all the scary but vague reports, the color coded alerts and the call to buy duct tape. But back in 2001 I thought something was actually going to happen. I thought we would have to change to cope with this emergency. I really expected the federal government to rev up the public health system. We were all worried about Anthrax. What better way to set up a system for mass immunizations than to offer a trusted and popular vaccine for free? Then you would have your system in place in case of an emergency. Yes, I thought free public flu vaccine clinics were a no-brainer.

The Bush administration thought otherwise. Business went on as usual, and we went from expensive flu vaccine to a total breakdown of the system. There was a severe vaccine shortage. Panicked elderly and people with health problems like asthma were waiting in lines for hours, only to be turned away.

The flu vaccine distribution had worked fine for years, but it needed some government help and oversight. The only flaw was that the vaccine costs money and poor people had trouble getting it. If we ever have a real bio-attack, we’ll have a bad time trying to reach all the uninsured people who don’t have a regular doctor. Sick people will go to work and cough all over everyone because they have no sick time. If a threat occurs during flu season, the emergency rooms will be full of panicked people who just caught the flu because they couldn’t afford the shot.

FAITH

The Bush administration is fond of the term, Faith-Based. They don’t want to use the more accurate description, Religion-Based. It’s too obvious, because we have a society that believes in separation of church and state. We could have a debate about how close the government should be to religion, but why use the ‘R’ word when you can use the vaguer, gentler, ‘F’ word? Faith is a nice, generic word that you can assume means Christian, or Judeo- Christian.

I’ve never met a practicing Judeo-Christian, but I imagine it’s a happy kind of religion where you can drink wine on Passover and eat ham on Easter. But maybe the term Judeo-Christian doesn’t refer to a real religion. Maybe it means that the Christians, in their generosity, have absorbed the Jews into their fold. In that case, it’s not too much to ask that the Jews vote Republican.

Actually a lot of Jews, Christians and others didn’t vote Republican this election. Maybe they don’t have...

VALUES

Values is another great all-purpose word that can mean whatever you want it to. You can make it even more warm and fuzzy by calling it, Family Values.

It would actually be good if the Bush administration would help families more, although single people deserve help too.

That doesn’t seem to be the deal, though. It’s more like a few extreme churches claim the right to tell you whether your family is valuable.

The Republicans say they believe in the sanctity of marriage, so much so that they want to make marriage exclusive. Straight people won’t want to belong to the marriage club if gay people are allowed to join. Many Republican politicians respect marriage so much that, like Newt Gingrich, they have been married multiple times.

Newt is on his third as of this writing. The bond between husband and wife is sacred and legally respected. Except in the Terry Schiavo case. It’s like the principle of state’s rights. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft spent a lot of time chasing after states that passed laws he didn’t like, and states that objected to having nuclear waste dumps.

I have to conclude, when they seem so willing to adjust their principles to the situation, that the Republicans latched on to the word, ‘values’ because it can be wrapped around almost anything, like duct tape. Money is valuable, and so are the votes that an organized base can turn out. No kidding, politicians calculate how much they spend per vote. Don’t sell yours too cheap.

Nancy Green has held many jobs and is currently a writer and nurse. She will be performing the above rant on Cable Television in April of 2005.