If It Looks Like A Cult And Acts Like A Cult
White House spokesperson, Dana Perino, characterised herself and
the White House as "puzzled" by excerpts just released from former spokesperson Scott McLellan's new book. The question is, why? While this blog has often noted and commented on the alternate reality that seems to envelope 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the allegations in Mr. McLellan's book do not appear to be particularly shocking. It's just that he had the bad taste to confirm them while Mr. Bush happens to still be in office.
Let's see here . . . the president doesn't possess a curious mind . . . check . . . Cheney and Rumsfeld are bad . . . uh-huh . . . Hurricane Katrina was a huge disaster . . . o.k. . . and the administration lied about the Valerie Plame affair. Yep, that pretty much covers most of the highlights.
These topics have been well ruminated on by progressive news sites, written about in blogs such as this one, and mildly covered by the mainstream media. Some of the issues have even been the subject of Congressional hearings and investigations. In other words, they are not exactly unknown to a large portion of the American populace or the greater world for that matter. What should puzzle Ms. Perino is not that Scott McLellan finally fessed up, but that it's taken him so long.
The problem is that everything in the White House is self-referential. If they say something is true, then it is and everyone believes it. In this context, truth isn't so much about what is true as it is a tenet of faith, like creationism and the effectiveness of abstinence only sex education. Those in the Bush administration defend this truth vigorously and wash it down with the Kool-Aid, which makes it infinitely easier to swallow.
It's all part of being in the cult.
Thankfully, as is the way with many cults, once out of their clutches, a former member's ability to grasp reality appears to return. And when that day comes for the currently puzzled Dana Perino, we'll look forward to reading her book.
the White House as "puzzled" by excerpts just released from former spokesperson Scott McLellan's new book. The question is, why? While this blog has often noted and commented on the alternate reality that seems to envelope 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the allegations in Mr. McLellan's book do not appear to be particularly shocking. It's just that he had the bad taste to confirm them while Mr. Bush happens to still be in office.
Let's see here . . . the president doesn't possess a curious mind . . . check . . . Cheney and Rumsfeld are bad . . . uh-huh . . . Hurricane Katrina was a huge disaster . . . o.k. . . and the administration lied about the Valerie Plame affair. Yep, that pretty much covers most of the highlights.
These topics have been well ruminated on by progressive news sites, written about in blogs such as this one, and mildly covered by the mainstream media. Some of the issues have even been the subject of Congressional hearings and investigations. In other words, they are not exactly unknown to a large portion of the American populace or the greater world for that matter. What should puzzle Ms. Perino is not that Scott McLellan finally fessed up, but that it's taken him so long.
The problem is that everything in the White House is self-referential. If they say something is true, then it is and everyone believes it. In this context, truth isn't so much about what is true as it is a tenet of faith, like creationism and the effectiveness of abstinence only sex education. Those in the Bush administration defend this truth vigorously and wash it down with the Kool-Aid, which makes it infinitely easier to swallow.
It's all part of being in the cult.
Thankfully, as is the way with many cults, once out of their clutches, a former member's ability to grasp reality appears to return. And when that day comes for the currently puzzled Dana Perino, we'll look forward to reading her book.
posted by John Fracchia at 5:48 PM
1 Comments:
While my initial left-wing reaction to the McClellan was schadenfreudian glee, that feeling soon gave way to infinite sadness. I think of the families and loved ones of the thousands of dead soldiers and wonder what their reaction to the book will be. Their slender shred of hope that the war really was necessary is frayed a bit more today. I cannot imagine the depth of their loss, but it saddens me.
Maybe, if nothing else, McClellan's book will serve as a warning to future commanders-in-chief to be more honest about their claims that their proposed war is only necessary as a last resort.
The Hague is expecting you, Mr. President, and can free up space on their docket to accomodate the outcry against you. Your war crimes can and will catch up to you. Will our own Congress ever have the will to conduct their own investigation into your criminal activity? If you've done nothing wrong, then you have nothing to fear.
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