Oceania or America (1984 or 2004)???

Despite living in an area that is resplendent with natural beauty and sunny most of the year, the sinister specter of the 2nd W term which hangs over America has cast a pallid cloud over my days. The premise of this post is certainly not original, but, as the appointments in W's 2nd term shake out and its policies become more entrenched, comparing some of the ideas raised by Orwell in "1984" to current events is timely as ever. Using the classic phrase from the book of "War is Peace" (which by now has such obvious parallels that no further discussion is necessary) as a starting point, I recently thought up of five Orwellian-sounding phrases that reflect this Administration and, deeper and more crucially, what it has done to political thought and discourse in this country. (-) Faith is evidence. Underlaid by his religious beliefs, and as recently discussed in a NYT Magazine piece, W makes a distinction between reality and belief in which what one believes actually becomes reality (if that makes any sense). Basically if you believe something that makes it true (also don't forget that in a 2000 debate he answered Jesus when asked his favorite political philosopher--yikes!!! one other point on this, which is that when asked if he spoke to his (ex-president) father about Iraq W evaded the question and answered that he responds to a higher authority---okaaay). This belief system can only lead to a refusal to compromise or see one's mistakes (remember the press conference when he was asked a similar question and replied that some appointments he had made (without mentioning names) were the biggest mistake he had made (It may have been "what are 3 mistakes that you've made, and I can't remember the specific timeframe of the question). It may incorporate a truism, but if one can only learn from their mistakes then W has not learned anything. (-) Unquestioning adherence to authority is patriotism. One need only look at the recent campaign and the ridiculous (but apparently effective to some degree) ads that cast a dangerous future for an America under perpetual fear (of terrorism and gay marriage it would seem). Also, why did the W commercial use scary-looking WOLVES walking towards the camera (for those of you who did not see it or live in a non-contested state, I am not making this up). They should have done a commercial showing sharks swimming underwater (voice-over) "Terrorists are like sharks. They feed on weakness. What will the terrorists think if John Kerry is president???" then end with the sharks going into a total feeding frenzy. By the way, in terms of credit my roommate and I came up with that one together after seeing the wolf one, and the faux-ad is not meant to disparage sharks because they, along with gators, are one of my favorite animals. THE REST OF THIS POST IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. THANKS FOR READING THIS FAR. (-) Dissent is treason (-) Eviserating civil rights protects freedom. Do FCC fines against radio and television networks promote freedom of the press? (-) Personal loyalty = Professional Conpetence (did anyone see Condi's testimony before the 9-11 Commission? It was patently disingenuous. Don't forget that her scholarly background is Russia and Eastern Europe; despite their importance these areas have not been at the top of America's foregin policy agency for a good while now).