BOLD LIES
So far, the Republican strategy has been to engage in Bold Lies about the actual achievements and policies of the Bush administration contrasted to the policies, character, and history of John Kerry. Adolph Hitler’s Big Lies involved repeating a falsehood over and over until people thought it was true. During his 2000 campaign and throughout his four years in office, Bush had regularly deployed the Big Lie concerning who his tax cuts would benefit, how much his Medicare package would cost and add to the federal deficit, why he went into Iraq, and how he represented forces of freedom, democracy, and small government. But the Big Lies had played out and Bold Lies were needed where lies about John Kerry could be told and repeated even after they had been refuted and answered.
Bold lies thus involve knowing that you are lying and doing it anyway, boldly proclaiming whoopers that informed people know are lies, and in the face of facts, counterevidence, and arguments, continuing to boldly and resolutely repeat the lie. Karl Rove and Karen Highes have long been producers and purveyors of Big Lies and with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney as performers the Big Lies could be transformed into Bold Ones. Once Tucker Carlson of CNN recounted a surreal experience with Karen Hughes where she lied boldly to him, knowing that he knew she was lying. This is BOLD LIES and it was the dominant discourse of the Bush campaign. Republicans would therefore not need to be bothered with mere facts, with evidence, or counterarguments because all they had to do was to repeat the Bold Lie and project hostility and the possibility of retaliation against anyone foolish enough to stand up to the Bold Lies of the moment (which can be easily replaced when they are deemed “inoperative”).
When the hapless Mean Old Man Zell Miller was programmed by the Republican Spin Machine to utter one Bold Lie after another about John Kerry, he was confronted on CNN and MSNBC afterwards with commentators pointing out that his claims about Kerry’s voting record and positions on defense were counterfactual. Not being clued into the Republican strategy of Bold Lies, Miller lost it when confronted with embarrassing facts and eventually challenged Chris Matthews to a duel when Matthews persisted to question him concerning his false allegations on stage.
Most Republican speakers would be better equipped to tell the Bold Lies on the podium and then spin or deflect any criticisms afterwards. Unfortunately, Bold Lies do not really provide convincing reasons to support a candidate or convince the unpersuaded that they should vote for the Republican. Bold Lies are usually put in question in one media source or another and discerning audiences may encounter such refutations and come to distrust the Republican spinners. Watch for further BOLD LIES to come and blogleft will carry out a BOLD LIE WATCH.
