Someone answer this for me: how do you not see the parallels in today’s political theater with the more startling component’s of George Orwell’s "1984"?
Among several storyline components in the book, Oceania’s government flip-flops between its announcements of being at war with Eurasia and then Eastasia in a matter of a couple months, but no one seems to take notice.
Contrast with with how today’s Republicans and Democrats do the same:
For example, deficit spending. Republicans and conservative pundits were relentless in their apologist defenses of Bush spending policies from 2001 through 2008. In the meantime, Democrat leadership railed against the rising expenditures relentlessly — among which was then-Senator Barack Obama.
Today, you cannot criticize the Democrats’ massive run-up of spending over the last three years without being accused — by them, their supporters, and many of the media’s unabashed left — of having racist motives in many instances. Still, Republicans are frothing at the mouth over the national debt eclipsing $14.3 trillion but will dismiss and demean anyone who tries to make them answer for the $4.9 trillion expansion of national debt during the Bush years.
On war, challenging the so-called Bush doctrine on the Middle East was automatically deemed unpatriotic by conservatives. Democrats were nearly united in their steadfast opposition to the Bush warfare state. Now, we witness mainly complicity for expanded war engagements by President Obama among Democrats while Republicans are now the outspoken critics of his aggressive use of American military might.
Simultaneously, most Republicans oppose any proposals for troop reductions in Iraq and Afghanistan and are quick to label such action "Cut and Run." All the while, modern liberals have been silently burning and shredding their "Dissent Is Patriotic" T-shirts since January 20, 2009.
Finally, I find it uproariously hilarious that for years before the turn of the century, Democrats and liberal commentators have decried the activities of the Federal Reserve Bank while Republicans and their conservative apologists were insisting its continued unabated operation was vital to maintaining a healthy and stable American economy.
Now, the left is half peculiarly silent on the Fed while the other half has warmed-up to cheer-leading for it. In recent years, more and more conservatives are jumping aboard the bandwagon for reining-in the Fed’s financial powers.
I know I have maybe a very small handful of Democrat/liberal followers. So, to those of you who identify yourselves as Republicans and staunch conservatives, explain to me without silly, predictable ad hominem attacks, why you don’t agree with my assessment of 1984 parallels.
Written by Don Kissick, Lima, OH and posted with permission.
