WhatFinger


The Obama Administration has just undergone one of the most startling examples of Orwellian language calisthenics

Accelerating ‘newspeak’ and ‘double think’



"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."
 "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master - that's all."
 Through the Looking Glass. The Obama Administration has just undergone one of the most startling examples of Orwellian language calisthenics since Humpty Dumpty’s famous discourse on etymology. At issue is the denial that the Administration blamed the so-called anti-Islam film for the violence that took place on September 11 in Libya, a terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya.

Support Canada Free Press


Ambassador Susan Rice, Obama’s envoy to the UN claimed in numerous TV appearances that the violence was not a terrorist attack, but was directly related to the anti-Islam film trailer on YouTube. This sentiment was affirmed by other Administration officials, including the President’s press secretary, Jay Carney, as well as Victoria Nuland, a spokesperson for Hillary Clinton. In addition, the President himself implied that the attacks were a result of resentment over the film. He also referred to the Ambassador’s death as a “bump in the road” between campaign stops in Las Vegas and visits to Letterman and “The View.” What’s so shocking about the Administration’s insistence that they did not blame the YouTube posting, despite hundreds of news outlets’ video footage showing quite the opposite. It must take an amazing belief in the stupidity of the American people to even attempt to deny these statements. At least when previous administrations, such as that of Richard M. Nixon, toyed with reality, they had the good grace to acknowledge their previous statements and declare them “inoperative.” In George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984 the author foresaw that it would be advantageous for politicians to have the ability to simultaneously hold two opposing and contradictory beliefs, while accepting both as true. Orwell called it “doublethink” and defined the concept as follows: “To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just as long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies.” This would explain the President’s claim that the Mitt Romney we witnessed during the first Presidential Debate wasn’t “the real Mitt Romney,” but some figment of our imagination. It explains the President’s claim that he is one of the most fiscally conservative presidents in the country’s history (despite his adding $6 trillion in new debt), as well as his claim that his administration’s policies “have worked” and have brought the economy back from the brink. And it explains the incessant blame on the Bush Tax cuts for the economy’s still being on the brink. It’s a window into the soul of a man who clearly places his intellect above all others, despite evidence that this intellect is at or below average. And it encapsulates the reasons why he doesn’t deserve a second term.


View Comments

Klaus Rohrich -- Bio and Archives

Klaus Rohrich is senior columnist for Canada Free Press. Klaus also writes topical articles for numerous magazines. He has a regular column on RetirementHomes and is currently working on his first book dealing with the toxicity of liberalism.  His work has been featured on the Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, among others.  He lives and works in a small town outside of Toronto.

Older articles by Klaus Rohrich


Sponsored