As the irresistible mendacity of BushCo approaches the immovable wall of physical reality, we are about to witness a classic encounter between untruth and truth. Mendacity is the art that has ruled America since our nation became so prosperous that its leaders found they could deceive with impunity. The wall of reality is made up of energy depletion, climatic change, deficit spending, and productivity loss. In these encounters, the wall of truth always wins.
Although Republicans should bear most of the blame for what is about to occur, the Democrats will not escape unscathed. All will be punished. This diary is an anticipative post-mortem for the American Mendacity Era, and a forecast of its fatal impact with reality.
The New Mendacity
The central achievement of the Mendacity Culture in America was to elevate a particular style of dishonesty into a universally admired and richly rewarded skill. A whole generation of technicians of mendacity thrived and prospered based on a single crucial behavioral discovery: Americans had come to believe that any statement that was not immediately falsifiable was an acceptable utterance, especially if delivered by an individual with "trustworthy" mannerisms.
A simple example from the campaign to sell the Iraq War illustrates how the New Mendacity works. The untruth BushCo wished to sell was that Saddam was developing nuclear weapons. Since there was no direct proof, it was asserted that Saddam was trying to buy Uranium in Africa. Since there was no direct proof of that, it was asserted that "British intelligence" had learned that Saddam has sought to buy Uranium in Africa. Since the British never disclosed the source of this claim, the claim was not falsifiable. To this day, hardcore BushCo supporters defend the "British intelligence" theory, because it cannot be proven false, although they now generally acknowledge that Saddam did not pose a nuclear threat.
The New Mendacity takes advantage of the American public's inability (or unwillingness) to discern deceptive intent absent clear falsifiability of specific statements. This opens up vast opportunities for deception and manipulation, and it explains why huge numbers of Americans have come to believe things that are simply not true (e.g., Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks). BushCo's propaganda technicians learned how to fit together a stack of non-falsifiable claims to create a large lie.
Unfortunately the exploiters of the New Mendacity came to believe their own untruths, and inside the BushCo bubble of falsification thought themselves immune to all events. Drowned cities, failing wars, and collapsing bridges could all be dealt with by pumping out untruths that would soothe the public because they would not be provable lies, just clever webs of non-falsifiable distortions, omissions, and distractions.
Democratic politicians soon learned to emulate the propaganda masters of BushCo and used the New Mendacity to justify funding the Iraq War, continuing subsidies to student loan sharks, tightening bankruptcy regulations, and avoiding impeachment proceedings. The key principle was avoiding any grossly false statements while selling an untruth (e.g., stopping the war would endanger the troops).
Mendacity Hits the Wall
But Mendacity, however artfully engineered, packaged, and delivered, does not control the Earth's atmosphere, nor does it replenish petroleum reserves, nor does it allow jobless homeowners to pay their mortgages. Because our mendacious politicians have ignored the pressing issues of energy depletion, climatic change, and economic productivity, we are about to receive what some call an "attitude adjustment."
Mendacity is about to be associated with waiting in line for gas, having your mortgage foreclosed, and staying in an emergency shelter as your town is washed away. Mendacity will no longer be associated with military brass bands and fighter jets flying over the Superbowl. As each hammer blow of loss and privation hits the American public, the slow realization of deliberate deception will sink in. This will turn to anger, and the mendacious will be transformed from masters and hunters to outcasts and fugitives.
It would be pleasant to believe that Progressives, Kossacks, Boy Scouts, and right-thinking people of all descriptions will rescue us before we hit the wall, but it is too late. A culture of untruth does not vanish overnight. It takes at least a decade to burn it out of a decadent society. That is how long it takes to purge the Ledeens, Kristols, Feiths, and thousands of other "noble liars" from public life. That is how long it takes for honest and competent people to return to leadership roles.
The encounter between mendacity and reality in America has been a long time coming, and it is here now.