I was attempting to make any sense out of some of the recent political events here in the US, and I found that framing them with Orwell has become just a little to appropriate.
Ministry of Peace:
We spend the better part of 2 years looking for bin Laden. When it becomes clear that hunting down one man isn’t what our military is trained for, we are told that Saddam is the real enemy. I have only seen ONE report on the major news networks about the recent bin Laden tape broadcast on al jazeera, but daily updates about the upcoming war in Iraq.
It seems that even now we are seeing the switching of opponents at will.
In addition, we get our dose of Two Minute Hate in our little terrorism scale…want the public to jump? Up the “threat”.
Ministry of Information:
I suppose that everyone saw the report by some in the government that Duct Tape and plastic sheeting was a good thing to have around in case of a terrorist action involving a dirty bomb or biological agents.
First off, as someone who worked in a pathological microbiology lab for the better part of 4 years, I can ASSURE you that the likelyhood of a modified smallpox virus caring that you have plastic over your windows is next to nothing. Unless you plan on locking yourself in for several months, and recycling your own air supply (and water….)….this is just ludicrous. But I suppose if you tell the plebes what it takes to scare them, it does make it easier to predict their behavior.
I have yet to see even one report on the major news networks questioning the upcoming war.
*double sigh*
