Truthiness

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A

Fri, 3 Mar 2006 22:03:17 -0600

Arianna on Truthiness and Oscar

 

 

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Truthiness (embracing what you wish was true, common with Bush

supporters)

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/truthiness

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthiness

 

1.. truthiness - truthy, not facty

2.. truthiness refers to the quality by which someone purports to know

something emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or to

what the person might conclude from intellectual examination.

3.. the quality by which one is convinced of a belief, to the neglect

of observable facts or of rational thought, (fundamentalism of all

kinds, faith-based policies which start with the conclusions, and fit

the facts

around the policies, that is the way Bush made the case for the illegal

war on

Iraq.)

4.. the quality of adhering to concepts one wishes or believes to be

true, rather than the facts (example: Bush's case for war on Iraq)

5.. variation of truthfulness, faithfulness, derivational morpheme of

" truthy " ; archaic and rare or dialectal

 

Truthiness is the quality by which a person purports to know something

emotionally or instinctively, without regard to evidence or to what the

person might conclude from intellectual examination. The term was

popularized by Stephen Colbert after he used it during the first episode

of his satirical television program The Colbert Report, as the subject

of a segment called " The Wørd. "

 

By using the term as part of his satirical routine, Colbert seeks to

critique the tendency to rely upon " truthiness, " and its use as an

appeal to emotion in contemporary socio-political discourse. He

particularly applied it to President Bush's modus operandi in nominating

Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court and in deciding to invade Iraq.

 

Colbert apparently unknowingly reinvented the word " truthiness " , as it

appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, where it is defined as a

variation of straightforward truthfulness, and indicated as rare or

dialectal. However, Colbert did invent its new definition, and

popularized it among a mainstream audience. " Truthiness " was selected by

the American Dialect Society as the 2005 Word of the Year, and by the

The New York Times as one of nine words that captured the spirit of

2005. " Truthiness " has also been discussed in the Chicago Tribune,

Newsweek, MSNBC, the Associated Press, The Huffington Post, and Chicago

Reader, on ABC's Nightline, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show (see below).

In January 2006, " truthiness " was featured as a Word of the Week by the

website of the Macmillan English Dictionary. [1]

 

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Bush and the Truthiness Taliban

by Arianna Huffington

02.27.2006

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/bush-and-the-truthiness-t_b_164\

60.html

 

When it comes to our desire for the truth, Americans couldn't be more

conflicted.

 

On the one hand, we're obsessed with forensic TV shows dedicated to the

search for an utterly objective, scientifically immutable truth. CSI,

CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, Cold Case, Numb3rs, Bones. When Bill Petersen

or David Caruso break the facts down to the level of DNA and

sub-microscopic particles, they always get their perp.

 

Wiggle room dies a rapid death in their labs. And we love getting to the

truth.

 

But when we turn off the TV and turn our attention to far weightier

matters, we seem willing -- indeed eager -- to forget about the facts

and throw our arms around truthiness.

 

As Stephen Colbert, the godfather of truthiness puts it: " I'm not a fan

of facts. You see, facts can change, but my opinion will never change,

no matter what the facts are. " Or, as the Colbert Report's mocking

caption writer summed it up: " Heart good, head bad. "

 

Of course, while Colbert uses the concept of truthiness to satirize our

collective embrace of what we wish were true -- even when it's not,

George Bush, Karl Rove, and the spinmeisters of the GOP message machine

use it as their primary mode of communication.

 

Trust us. It's true because we say it is. What are you going to believe,

your eyes or our soundbytes?

 

It's how they sold us the invasion of Iraq (Saddam-unleashed mushroom

clouds could be the logo for the Truthiness Society). And it's how they

are trying to sell us the consequences of that invasion as something

other than an unmitigated disaster.

 

You'd think that only a satirist would try to spin the horrors of the

last week in Iraq as a sign of progress. But it wasn't Colbert who

surveyed the bloody sectarian violence pushing Iraq to the precipice of

all-out civil war and declared that the bombing of the Golden Mosque

would " likely " turn out to have been a good thing. It was Rove.

 

And it wasn't the irreverent caption writer of Colbert's " The Word " who

put up chyrons asking " 'Upside' to Civil War? " and " All-Out Civil War in

Iraq: Could it Be a Good Thing? " . It was Fox News.

 

And it was George Bush, the walking, talking, swaggering,

shoot-from-the-gut embodiment of truthiness, who went in front of the

American Legion -- as the death toll in Iraq was hitting 130 in the

previous 48 hours -- and said, " I'm optimistic... Out of negotiations

now taking place in Iraq, a free government will emerge that will

represent the will of the Iraqi people, instead of a cruel dictator, and

that will help us keep the peace. "

 

Jesus may be the president's favorite philosopher, but when it comes to

spinning the facts, Bush seems to be asking himself WWCS? (What Would

Colbert Say?). The truthiness will set you free.

 

Indeed, the Truthiness Taliban scored anther coup against facts, truth,

and reality with the announcement that Halliburton would be getting

almost the entire $250 million in disputed charges the Pentagon's top

auditors had identified as potentially excessive or unjustified.

 

The auditors had looked at the facts and decided that Halliburton

subsidiary KBR had charged, in some instances, " nearly triple what

others were charging to do the same job " -- as a result of which the

cost of the $2.41 billion no-bid contract had skyrocketed.

 

And it's a fact that over the last three years, in cases involving

thousands of military contracts, the military usually followed the

recommendations of the Pentagon auditors. According to the New York

Times: " In 2003, the agency's figures show, the military withheld an

average of 66.4 percent of what the auditors had recommended, while in

2004 the figure was 75.2 percent and in 2005 it was 56.4 percent. " But

with this audit, the Army decided to withhold just 3.8 percent of what

the auditors recommended.

 

Those are the facts. But, for some reason, the Army decided that, given

how hard it is to do things during a war and all, it would cut

Halliburton some slack. " The contractor is not required to perform

perfectly to be entitled to reimbursement, " explained an Army

spokeswoman.

 

How very early-James Frey Oprah of them. The cut-the-crap late-James

Frey Oprah would have said, " That's a lie " and withheld all the money.

 

Responding to the Army's decision, Hallburton watchdog Rep. Henry Waxman

said: " Halliburton gouged the taxpayer, government auditors caught the

company red-handed, but the Pentagon ignored the auditors and paid

Halliburton hundreds of millions of dollars and a huge bonus. "

 

It's truthiness as government policy.

 

Right now, Stephen Colbert is smiling. The rest of us should be

outraged.

 

P.S. Colbert seems to be everywhere right now, with stories on him in

the New York Times and Roll Call. And on Wednesday night, I'll be on the

Colbert Report discussing truthiness among other things.

 

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Memo to Jon Stewart: Tread Lightly and Carry a Big Schtick

Arianna Huffington

03.02.2006

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/memo-to-jon-stewart-trea_b_1664\

2.html

 

Dear Jon --

 

I have a sneaking suspicion you're kinda busy right now, holed up in a

windowless room somewhere with a bunch of funny guys trying to figure

out what will make a reputed 1 billion people laugh on Sunday.

 

And I can only imagine all the last-minute advice you are being given on

matters small (what to wear) and big (who are we kidding: what to

wear!).

 

So forgive me for adding to the cacophony of suggestions you're getting

but I feel the need to offer my two cents on the water-cooler question

of how much of your signature brand of scathing political humor you

should work into your Oscar-hosting gig.

 

I know a lot of people are hoping you'll hit the stage of the Kodak

Theater with your political guns blazing and the Bush crowd in your

crosshairs but -- and it pains me to say this -- I'm hoping you proceed

down that road with extreme caution.

 

It pains me because I'm not exactly a flashing-yellow-light kind of

girl. Indeed, I've always been a big believer in putting the pedal to

the metal -- especially when it comes to mercilessly ridiculing our

leaders on their lies and hypocrisies.

 

But politics and the Oscars have a long history of going together about

as well as Muslims and Danish cartoons. And I can't stand the thought of

you ending up a bug on Oscar's windshield.

 

You see, you are too valuable an asset. I don't mean to come across like

Kathy Bates in Misery, but your work on the Daily Show has turned you

into a national treasure, one of the very few public figures willing to

speak truth to power -- and able to do it in a consistently and

brilliantly funny way. You are carrying on the noble tradition of

comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable.

 

So the last thing we need is have you fall on your face at your big

coming-out party (this ain't basic cable, my friend).

 

I'm not telling you anything you don't know: the Academy Awards is a

notoriously rough room for comedians. The Oscar stage is littered with

the carcasses -- and damaged reputations -- of many of those who have

come before you (Two words: " Uma, Oprah. " Letterman is still trying to

get that stink off of him eleven years later).

 

And trying to transform the Oscar podium into a bully pulpit has an even

worse track record. Think Brando and Sacheen Littlefeather. Documentary

producer Bert Schneider reading a telegram from the Viet Cong delegation

at the Paris peace talks (and Frank Sinatra's rebuke). Vanessa

Redgrave's comments about " Zionist hoodlums " (and Paddy Chayefsky's

rebuke). Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins complaining about the treatment

of HIV-infected Haitian refugees. Richard Gere lobbying for an

independent Tibet. Michael Moore's " fictitious times " rant. Each of

these did little to advance the cause being espoused and more to ensure

a spot on future Most Annoying Oscar Moments lists.

 

And it's not because most of the points being made weren't important or

worthy. But the Oscars are a self-congratulatory celebration of

Hollywood excess. A night for fashion and gossip and $100,000 bags of

swag. Interjecting too much political commentary -- no matter how

trenchant or hilarious -- is like interrupting the eulogy at a funeral

to make a political point.

 

At the same time, there is no denying the fact, Jon, that you are going

to have the rapt attention of some 40 million Americans. Or that

political satire -- done right -- can alter people's perceptions

(there's a reason emperors have always banned court jesters in times of

crisis). Or that a heaping dose of your perception-altering mockery

would do the American body politic a load of good.

 

I mean, just in the week that you've put the Daily Show on hold to prep

for the Oscars, we've had the president make the bold claim that America

is " better prepared than woefully unprepared " for a terrorist attack or

natural disaster (talk about setting the bar low), and a videotape that

makes Brownie -- Brownie! -- look like a marvel of competence and

efficiency compared to President Bush.

 

So, Jon, if you and your team can somehow catch lightning in a bottle

and find a heretofore undiscovered way to take the Oscar spotlight, make

the political points that surely need making, and not have half of

America reaching for its collective remote and muttering about Hollywood

liberals, by all means go for it.

 

Otherwise, just put on the tux, be funny, charming, witty... and get the

hell out of town -- and back to the Daily Show desk, where you are so

desperately needed.

 

Best of Luck,

 

Arianna

 

Copyright 2006 © HuffingtonPost.com, LLC

 

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