I was certain it was Goebbels who said big lies were more likely to be believed than small ones. Turns out I was wrong. According to Bartlett’s
Familiar Quotations, Adolph Hitler wrote:
"The great masses of the people…will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one."
It’s from Mein Kampf.
Why am I telling you this? Because the Bush Administration’s lies keep getting bigger. (No, I am not comparing Bush to Hitler. I think Bush believes he’s telling the truth.)
Case in point: his D-Day speech at the Air Force Academy, when he likened the "war on terrorism" to World War II and the Cold War.
(Incidentally, the Knight-Ridder story in this morning’s Albuquerque Journal did not put "war on terror" in quotes as I do, proof that the White House has won a huge battle in its propaganda campaign. It’s no leap at all, is it. from "war on terror" to "Iraq was behind 9/11.")
Back to the President. He told the cadets the US was defending freedom in Iraq.
With this as background, let’s look at a few other current news items:
o Colin Powell keeps pressing the CIA to find out why his Feb. 5, 2003 speech to the UN contained so much evidence that was inaccurate. Government officials told the press he’s still angry.
o An Army report says support units "struggled" with their missions in Iraq "due to ‘savings’ realized in recent changes in organization, equipment, training resources and doctrine."
o Saudi Arabia says it will dissolve a big charity that raises a lot of dollars, some of which go to terrorists.
o In Afghanistan, Doctors Without Borders suspended operations, the day after the Taliban killed five of its workers.
o President Bush confirmed he has lined up a lawyer, in case he needs one in the probe of the White House leak of a CIA agent’s name. (You remember, her husband pointed out the lie in the President’s State of the Union address.)
o The Justice Department set a suspected terrorist free, deporting him to Syria, though prosecutors, FBI agents and Customs cops wanted to try him on various serious charges!
o Enron traders gloated as they manipulated California’s power market in 2000-2001. They also "kidded" about Enron’s contributions to the Bush campaign "and how that could translate into more opportunity for profit in California."
Enough. You see my point. You need a big lie to divert attention from all that.
PS The number of dead American servicemen in Iraq is 810.