I'VE BEEN WORKING MY WAY THROUGH an email sent out by Lou Pritchett, "one of corporate America's living legends," pointing out the errors of fact, and the propaganda techniques it contains.
He uses the phrase "you scare me because..." over and over, both to create a hypnotic effect and to bury his real claim deeper in the sentence, where he doesn't need to defend it.
The latest example is:
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
Part of the tactic here is to simply hurl these accusations so fast and thick that some will be believed without scrutiny. Notice he didn't put this one at the beginning of his list, because many people wouldn't have read any further.
"Class"? We haven't had such a classy president since JFK.
As for blaming others, I think Lou's confusing Obama with the previous Republican president. Remember how everything was Clinton's fault according to Bush and Cheney?
Here are a couple of samples of Obama "not taking the blame", in the first few months of his presidency:
"I consider this a mistake on my part, one that I intend to fix and correct and make sure that we're not screwing up again," Obama said. "Ultimately I have to take responsibility for a process that resulted in us not having a (health and human services) secretary at a time when people need relief on their health care costs.
"So this is a mistake -- probably not the first one I'm going to be making in this office, but what I'm absolutely committed to doing is fixing it," he said.
From Fox News
"Did I screw up in this situation? Absolutely. I'm willing to take my lumps," Obama told NBC's Brian Williams, one of five interviews he gave yesterday afternoon. Obama told the network anchors that there are "not two sets of rules" for people, and said that average taxpayers deserve to have public officials who pay their taxes on time.
From The Washington Post
And while Pritchett is slipping nonsense by us...
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
This tactic, of presenting lies as reasons in order to keep them from being questioned, is becoming monotonous.
Who are these "radical extremists" that Obama has refused to denounce?
The three people we are supposed to associate with this remark are, of course, Louis Farrakhan, who gave Obama his unwelcome and unsolicited support during the campaign, William Ayres, whom Obama served with on a committee for a conservative organization, and Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who made inflammatory remarks during the campaign.
Obama denounced Louis Farrakhan and rejected his support.
He condemned William Ayers violent actions, which happened when Obama was only eight years old.
He denounced his own pastor when Rev. Jeremiah Wright's comments became too extreme. He did it reluctantly, just as he is now resisting his own party's desire to prosecute members of the Bush administration, but he did it.
How many people would denounce their own pastor publicly? It's not an easy thing to do if you're human at all.
Next:
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
Notice the hidden implications in this one:
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There's a "blame America crowd". Presumably a group of people who think everything is America's fault.
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Obama is one of them.
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He goes abroad, and spreads the idea that everything is America's fault.
The first implication is there in order to get the conservative base on board—to move their thinking to a black and white, good and evil, world view.
Pritchett wants us to accept the hidden premise that there are just two kinds of people—two "crowds"—in this country: people who think America is always right and never to blame for anything, and people who think that America is always to blame for everything, always wrong.
He wants us to believe that there is no middle ground. If you belong to the the first group, you're a patriot and a good person. If anyone belongs to the second group, they're anti-American and evil.
You either "blame America" or you don't.
I have no idea whether Lou Pritchett, "one of corporate America's living legends," believes this or not.
In either case, it's obviously aimed at people who think that there's something noble about a person or country that can't admit to a mistake or accept any responsibility.
But I'd like to remind him that the ability to do that, to accept responsibility, as an individual or on behalf of your country, is part of what we call "class".
Wait. Is there an echo in here?
Didn't he just criticize Obama for lacking that very quality?
Yes. Obama will admit that America has made mistakes, just as he will admit that he has personally made mistakes.
It's called being a grown-up, and showing the world that America is an adult nation.
More next time...
