The Grand Oxymoron Party

by StealthBadger

comments

1. […] ter or worse, then see 2a. Did I miss anything? Update: My revised version posted over at DCDL: Heh. Gotta love the 1% culture of life. Here are the rules: 1. If there […]

   —StealthBadger.net » Blog Archive » The Glaring Oxymoron Party • 5:27 am, July 20

2. Welcome back, SB!

   —Keith • 9:28 am, July 20

3. A Mental Exercise (Off-Topic)

   Imagine that you were a progressive American, and hated the Bush/Cheney administration for all the usual reasons: their cronyism with Big Oil, their tax cuts for the rich, the continuous erosion of civil liberties, and their lies, lies, lies….

   But what if, in spite of this, it was common belief, for liberals and conservatives alike, that Sadaam Hussein actually HAD developed Weapons of Mass Destruction, was connected to Al Qaeda, and was an imminent threat to us; therefore, our invasion/occupation of Iraq was completely justified?

   Imagine that it was such a “given” that the administration and the media were telling us all we needed to know that we steadfastly went along with their masquerade? And if we ran across bits of information that contradicted the official story, we would ignore it, much as a conservative will ignore the facts that a liberal gives them because they conflict with their established world view.

   In such a scenario, the pressure to believe the conventional wisdom would be so intense that few would have the courage to express their doubts publicly … to their friends, family, and fellow liberals. And those occasional musings from people who’ve stumbled on news stories or websites or books that doubted the official Bush story would be denounced as lies and crackpot theories.

   Thankfully, we know that the war was unjustified and was based on lies. But think for a minute…. are there any other assumptions that we as Americans from all over the political spectrum hold? Beliefs about the world that we live in that might actually have been manipulated by the Bush/Cheney administration and the media? Are there any tidbits of information that we have run across in the last few years that just don’t quite stack up, but we ignore because they contradict our established beliefs? Is there anything that a few daring souls are starting to espouse, only to be shot down, by the likes of both Kos AND Hannity?

   Perhaps it’s time to start questioning some of the beliefs that we hold about our world since Bush entered office and the reason he has been able to remain President in spite of our efforts. If enough of us start to question our assumptions, as I recently did, we might start noticing, and even welcoming, new perspectives about the current administration. We might discover something that would turn the tide against the neo-cons in a big way if it got out. Maybe we can start talking to our friends and fellow progressives about it rather than worrying about what they will think of us if we discuss such matters.

   Our leaders are far worse than most of us can admit to ourselves, and everything we need to know is out there, just slightly hidden, if we look hard enough. That’s all I’m saying for now.

   —slow boiling frog • 12:51 pm, July 20

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