Moscow on the Potomac

The recent trend under El Presidente to turn all the mechanisms of government into a propaganda machine to prop up the ruling junta continues apace. We posted a link to this story yesterday, how the Social Security administration is being used to propagandize for El Presidente's scheme to end the dependency of old people on Social Security. The NYTimes is out this a.m. with more here: "Over the objections of many of its own employees, the Social Security Administration is gearing up for a major effort to publicize the financial problems of Social Security and to convince the public that private accounts are needed as part of any solution."

As Daniel Schorr pointed out yesterday morning on NPR, Washington in 2005 is coming to resemble the Moscow of 1960, with "newspapers" like Pravda propagandizing for the sake of the ruling junta. Nobody believed the "news" in Pravda in those days, just as we have ceased to believe the "facts" put out by the Bush administration.

How do you define lying? "...Social Security officials .... question the accuracy of recent statements...."

How do you define damned official government propaganda? "Trust fund dollars should not be used to promote a political agenda," said Dana C. Duggins, a vice president of the Social Security Council of the American Federation of Government Employees.

George Will said on ABC this morning that El Presidente is really fighting his new holy war against "the culture of dependency" in America, that he wants his legacy to be the ending of our dependence on the government. Our dependency is evil and needs to be stopped. However, the dependency of big drug companies on several billion $$ in government hand-outs in the Medicare prescription drug plan is yummy. The dependency of Halliburton on no-bid contracts in Iraq is also good. It's OUR dependency that is offensive to the godly, and so we will have to be weaned off it, even if it means that the godly have to tell a few lies to get the job done.

The Commissars felt the same high-minded self-justification in old Moscow.