Everybody Knows It's the Big Lie

I really don't mean to feel down about humanity. I know a lot of the recent blog postings have been real downers, but I just read through the letters page each day and wonder if this is really what people think? And by people, I don't just mean the people on the fringes who are more likely to write the letters than the most of us who are in the middle. I mean those who are easily swayed, who aren't content to think for themselves, who just want to follow the crowd. There are a lot of those in this country, and the younger the person, the more likely he or she is to be in this group. And that's when it's easiest to build up a movement just by saying something that you believe is true, but really isn't, or maybe even something that you know isn't true but you know you can get people to believe it.

You've seen me refer to "the big lie" before in this blog; now I'm going to show you how it works. First, someone sees a news event happen, maybe it's someone at the think-tank level, maybe someone at the DNC or RNC, maybe even a Joe Average like you and me. He or she draws a conclusion from what he sees... but we do that all the time. The difference is this person's conclusion is factually inaccurate, and may in fact be driven by an ideological bias. This person goes to the people he knows (often like-minded individuals) and tells people his conclusion. If he gets them to agree, then it's time to inform the people who may not agree. So this group of people with a like-minded belief start writing letters to the editor, often saying the exact same things, sometimes even to the point where you wonder if they just have a form letter that they each sent copies of with their individual name on it. Then you start to the see the polls start asking about this group's conclusion, and if the group sees that a growing number of people are agreeing with them, they drop more letters or soundbytes with a deadly two-word combination...

"Everybody knows..."

This causes the people who may not agree with the conclusion but are easily swayed to reassess their own belief, and think, "Well gee, if everybody knows this, and I don't... then I'm stupid." So their minds are changed, and the more the conclusion is repeated (especially with "everybody knows" in front of it), the more people are inclined to agree with it. The next thing you know, a large enough chunk of the populace believes the conclusion, whether it's the truth or not, that things happen in Washington... hearings held, bills introduced, loud debate in Congress and on talk shows. All over a conclusion that was never factually accurate to begin with... but people swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. The big lie.

This is going on all the time in this country today, and although conservative Republicans try their hand at this from time to time (remember the supposed link between abortion and breast cancer?), it's usually liberal Democrats who excel at this. I did a simple Google search using the phrase "everybody knows" paired with "President Bush". The very first entry is from a liberal blogger who proclaims, "Everybody knows that Bush is a murderous liar now." How many of you are exceptions to that "everybody"? I know I am. I'm sure many of you reading this are. But since supposedly "everybody knows" this fact, aren't you more likely to think that, if not everybody, then at least TOO MANY people "know" that. And that's when I get frustrated and depressed.

Scrolling down, let's see what else "everybody knows" about the president... well, there's a 2004 quote from Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), declaring that the reason Bush invaded Iraq was to protect Israel, and "everybody knows it." Another blogger, saying about the Iraq war: "Bush screwed up big time and almost everyone knows it." Oh, so now it's "almost everyone." As in, "we know some people don't know it, but since almost everyone does, those people are obviously drinking Kool-Aid and are dumb enough to believe everything Bush says." There's also plenty of references to Leonard Cohen's song "Everybody Knows"... used to portray Bush as a liar ("....Everybody knows the Captain lied - Everybody's got that broken feeling - like their father or their dog just died...") Great, spreading the "big lie" through song... that's beautiful...

Sad to say, it's even being used to bring up that dead horse that's been beaten steadily for over 6 years now, the 2000 presidential election. A recent letter to the editor in the Post-Standard declared, "We know, for example, that the 2000 Florida fiasco was a purely dishonest manuever in stealing the election from Al Gore. Likewise, the Ohio vote, giving the 2004 election to Bush, is now highly suspect as having been dishonest." "We know" is just as bad as "everybody knows", because who exactly is "we?" Especially when only one name is signed to the letter. Well gee, by "we", I guess the writer must mean "everybody." Funny, though... if "we", meaning "everybody", know that both of Bush's election victories were stolen by dishonest, and indeed criminal, means, why haven't there been any Congressional investigations seeking to overturn the results? Because, and here's your proof, the percent of people who ACTUALLY believe that either election was stolen has primarily been less than 20%! Gee, not even 23% for that one...

Oh, and you'll be glad to know that a few more Google searches turned up similar things that "everybody knows", such as: "Everyone knows 9-11 was an inside job by Bush neo-cons and Mossad for Israel," "Everybody knows the Iranians are playing in Iraq and they are trying to drive us out of Iraq so they can assert their age-old ambitions for influence in the Middle East" (said by John McCain, so even presidential hopefuls are guilty of this)... Oh, and a person with a sense of humor similar in its sarcasm to mine, who says about last fall's spinach E.coli outbreak: "Everybody knows that this is the fault of George W. Bush. It's #2 on his pre-election checklist: 1) Rig the gas prices, 2) Taint the food supply."

Which just goes to show you that there are people who get that "everybody knows" does NOT mean that everybody knows, but there are always those who need to be enlightened, so the next time you see those words used to support an opinion or belief, maybe you'll take a step back and think about it. Then, you just might stop yourself from falling for the "big lie"...