1984 knocking on your door

[Guest guest]

Ryan Blethen / Times editorial columnist

 

Orwell wrote Bush's script

 

 

The resemblance grows between the Bush administration and the sinister,

monolithic political party INGSOC, from George Orwell's novel " 1984, "

with every twisted and evasive defense for the violation of American

civil rights.

 

Bush and Co.'s battle against terrorism has turned into a power grab

and a war on Americans. Fear and contorted language are the weapons of

choice.

 

The administration's assertive actions after 9/11 might have made sense

in the raw aftermath of nearly 3,000 dead. With time and distance comes

perspective. Those new presidential controls awarded to help ensure the

safety of Americans now look more like the political clubs wielded by

INGSOC.

 

Orwell might have got the year wrong, but his nightmarish vision of a

super-nation at perpetual war, dominated by a government only concerned

about control and party preservation, could gain purchase in 2006.

 

I hear more of Newspeak, the restrictive language created by INGSOC,

with every presidential explanation as to why the government feels

compelled to spy on Americans. Orwell wrote that the idea of Newspeak

was to restrict the language to the point that people would have to

think in the limited language of the party.

 

In true INGSOC fashion, the administration has used Bushspeak to spin a

story broken by The New York Times about a domestic-spying program run

by the National Security Agency and approved by executive order soon

after 9/11 into a necessary program needed to weed out the deeply

integrated terrorists living next door.

 

The timing was curious when, last week, Bush revealed that a terrorist

plot was thwarted in 2002. Bush talked about the plot the same day

stories surfaced about the doubts a secret surveillance court judge had

about the legality of domestic spying. Of course, an administration

spokesperson danced around the question of whether the NSA program was

involved in stopping the terrorist plot.

 

The use of powerful and well-placed words and images worked for INGSOC.

Its slogan - war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength

- fits like a truncheon in the cradle of shattered bone with Bush's

recent State of the Union address:

 

War is peace

 

" There is no peace in retreat. "

 

Freedom is slavery

 

" The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist

attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. "

 

Ignorance is strength

 

" ... We have benefited from responsible criticism and counsel offered

by members of Congress of both parties ... Yet, there is a difference

between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that

refuses to acknowledge anything but failure. "

 

Political doublespeak is nothing new, but has become a real threat to

democracy in the hands of this administration. Bush has taken

communication strategy to new heights, said David Domke, associate

professor of communications at the University of Washington.

 

" This administration has become preeminent in crafting messages for

political gain, " Domke said.

 

The Republicans have made no secret about what they will run on this

year. A recent Pew poll showed that Americans believe the Democrats

could lead the nation better on every issue except national security.

Bush aide Karl Rove has given speeches about national security and the

president skips across the nation talking about the importance of

spying on Americans to keep us safe.

 

This strategy works only if the electorate is fearful that a hostile

world is ready to overrun America. Bush's fear-mongering resembles a

version of INGSOC's Two Minutes (of) Hate, in which party members watch

a video of legions of the enemy army marching behind a bleating

political enemy.

 

American democracy has buckled under the weight of Americans voting

scared, a weak press diluted because of consolidation by mega-public

companies, and no real political alternative.

 

It does not matter that the administration and, by extension, the

Republican Party are only doing what is needed to hold on in November

and again in the 2008 presidential election. Their actions are

beginning to eclipse our civil rights, potentially reducing freedom to

a dim flicker.

 

Ryan Blethen's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The

Times. His e-mail address is rblethen

 

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company

 

 

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