[THS] Bob Burnett: Big Liars and the Voters Who Love Them

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25300.htm

Big Liars and the Voters Who Love Them

By Bob Burnett

April 23, 2010 "Huffington Post" -- It's not surprising that Republicans oppose the
Obama Administration - they want to suck up to the rich by maintaining the status
quo. And it's not surprising that they lie - this is, after all, the Party that created the
fictional Iraqi atomic bomb threat so they would have a winning issue in the 2002
mid-term elections. What is surprising is that they've been so successful. Why are
Republican supporters so enthusiastic when they've been force-fed a diet of BS?

The Republican master plan is hauntingly reminiscent of Hitler's Big Lie philosophy:
"Never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy
at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie
sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or
later believe it." It's based on the immoral stance: "the ends justify the means."

During the 2009 Presidential campaign, the GOP big lie program started rumors that
Obama had not been born in the US, was a Muslim, and palled around with
terrorists. It worked! A recent Louis Harris poll of Republicans found that 67 percent
"believe that Obama is a socialist." 57 percent "believe that Obama is a Muslim." 45
percent believe that Obama "was not born in the United States and so is not eligible
to be president."

Once Obama became President, the Republican propaganda machine claimed
Democrats were responsible for the financial collapse - that stemmed from Bush era
mismanagement - and favored bailouts for Wall Street because Obama was a liberal
elitist.

During the yearlong healthcare debate, the GOP lie machine generated a series of
nasty falsehoods: "death panels," Washington bureaucrats interfering with the
doctor-patient relationship, seniors losing Medicare coverage, and so forth.
Meanwhile, Republican Senators feigned cooperation, dragging on deliberations with
the intent of killing the healthcare bill by attrition.

Now Republicans - guided by conservative pollster Frank Luntz - are opposing
financial reform with another big lie assault: the Democratic plan would produce
future bailouts, create a massive government bureaucracy, and stifle small
businesses.

During the past fifteen months, the Tea Party developed, a faux movement
bankrolled by archconservatives such as the Koch brothers, in order to mobilize
resentment among hard-core Republicans who'd been turned off by the McCain
campaign. They serve the same function for the GOP in the US that the Basij
volunteers do for Ahmadinejad in Iran. They hassle the opposition, pal around with
militias, and serve as a conduit for relentless negativism. Tea Party activists swallow
the Republican lies, hook, line, and sinker.

There are five reasons for their energy and gullibility: First, none of them voted for
Obama, so it's easy for them to believe he won by cheating and to blame him for
everything that's gone wrong since - including The Great Recession that had its roots
in the Bush Administration. A recent NEW YORK TIMES Tea Party poll found that 57
percent of Tea Party adherents - most of whom are Republicans - had a favorable
opinion of former President Bush. Only 7 percent had a favorable opinion of President
Obama.

Second, it's easier to attack public policy than it is to propose practical solutions.
Republicans malign the Democratic financial reform plan because they don't have
any alternatives. Meanwhile, Tea Party adherents are angry about the way things are
going in Washington and want to reduce the size of government; 90 percent believe
"the country is headed in the wrong direction."

Third, Republicans have historically played to the myth of "rot at the top," and it's
convenient to do this again. Tea Party adherents hate the bailouts, see the economy
as "very bad," and blame Congress, Wall Street, and the Obama Administration. They
oppose financial reform because they don't trust the Federal government.

Fourth, in his classic political study What's the Matter with Kansas Tom Frank noted
that fiscal conservatives - favoring deregulation and lower taxes - constantly
bamboozle social conservatives - favoring social issues such as abortion and gay
rights - by using the theme of victimization. They blame America's problems on the
"'liberal elite,' ... they eschew economic reasons in favor of accusing this elite of
simply hating America, or having a desire to harm 'average' Americans." The big liars
are using victimization again: 77 percent of Tea Party adherents see Obama as "very
liberal," 89 percent feel he has expanded the power of government "too much," and
92 percent believe he is moving the country towards socialism.

Finally, there's the role of race. Barack Obama is America's first African-American
President and the Tea Party movement has become a haven for racists. 89 percent of
Tea Party adherents are white; 52 percent believe "too much has been made of the
problems facing black people," and 25 percent believe Obama "favors blacks over
whites."

The Republican big lie campaign is immoral. It's fomenting class and racial conflict.
It's created a Washington environment where GOP politicians have abandoned
America's long-term interests for short-term political gain.

Bob Burnett, Berkeley writer, retired Silicon Valley executive