The technique is probably as old as politics itself. Tell a lie so colossal that average people are inclined to believe it because they themselves would never have the audacity to do the same. The average person is far more inclined to tell "little white" lies about why they were late for work, who they were out with last night etc.. Thus, we are all highly susceptible to fall for the big lie unless it is vigorously challenged. But even then, those who try to contest it are often at a disadvantage, for another essential element of the technique is to repeat the the lie over and over again until it becomes part of the public consciousness.
For those of you that don't know, I have been supporting Jonathan Tasini in his bid to challenge Senator Hillary Clinton for New York's junior Senate seat in the upcoming Democratic primary. On May 31 I posted I diary on Kos regarding the refusal of several of New York City's Democratic clubs to endorse Senator Clinton for reelection. One of the comments in response posted by "judybrowni" (a.k.a Judy Brown) contained the most stinging attack on Jonathan I had heard in three months of close involvement with his campaign (see
http://www.dailykos.com/...
comment entitled "No, No, No to Tasini, Hillary is preferable).
Judy's comment made Jonathan sound like such a heartless ogre that my very first thoughts were: "could this be true?" "What kind of person have I been supporting?" This is exactly how step one of the big lie technique is supposed to work. It knocks you off guard and appeals to your base emotions.
So, I mulled it over for a while and then decided that maybe Jonathan should be given a chance to tell his side of the story. By way of background, Jonathan was President of the National Writers Union from 1990 to 2003. Near the end of his tenure, the union discovered that is has contracted with a fraudulent health insurance carrier. Judy Brown's central allegation is that Jonathan intentionally kept this hidden from members for months while their health care claims were being denied. When I asked Jonathan about this he put me in contact with a woman who had served as a co-chair of the task force the NWU formed to investigate the issue. Here is a portion of her response which was included in my diary of June 5 (see Jonathan Tasini: Setting the Record Straight at http://www.dailykos.com/...).
Tasini never kept the health insurance problem a secret. In reality, it took months for the problem to reveal itself as a crisis, because union members were so dispersed around the country, and isolated complaints about non-payment of claims initially appeared to be no more than typical health insurance snafus. Tasini relied on the reassurances of the union's long-time health benefits consultants, whom everyone involved assumed had done due diligence on the company involved, as well as on counsel from the UAW's health experts, whom he asked to look into the writers' union insurance, and who reported that all was well. As soon as it became obvious that Employers Mutual had collapsed, union members received comprehensive information about the problem, and Tasini appointed a committee, including members who were NOT his political allies, to investigate how the problem had arisen and to propose solutions.
I would like to note that Judy Brown posted no response to my diary of June 5 where she would have been obliged to respond to specific defenses of Jonathan's conduct as NWU President. However, on June 3, Judy posted the exact same comment in response to an article by Jonathan on Huffington Post (see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/... keep scrolling down and you will see it) a diary posted by Jonathan on Daily Kos on June 23 (http://www.dailykos.com/...) and a diary I posted on June 30 (http://www.dailykos.com/...). Hence, we have the second essential feature of the big lie; keep repeating the lie over and over again until it works it's way into the public (or in this case the blogosphere's) consciousness.
I have worked alongside Jonathan Tasini for more than five months now. My personal experience is that he bears absolutely no resemblance to the cold hearted beast Judy Brown makes him out to be. Contrary to what Judy says Jonathan is not trying to live off of the anti-war movement. He is rather a leader on the front lines that movement, spending every waking hour trying to keep the political establishment from ignoring the unmitigated disaster they have led us into. He displays enormous courage in taking on, not just Senator Clinton, but a rotten political/media/corporate system that has been known to devour anyone with the guts to challenge its fundamental assumptions. Jonathan Tasini is exactly the kind of person we need more of in the Senate.
So let me here and now issue a two-part challenge to Judy Brown and others who have said that they are either NWU members or "know someone who is." First will you please address the defenses of Jonathan's conduct as President of the NWU I posted on June 5 and stop simply reposting the same comments over and over again. Second, are you willing to go public with these accusations? Jonathan has been written up several times in both the New York Times and Village Voice. I'm sure that you could find someone at one or both publications who would be interested in your story.
Until then, as they say, put up or...I'll let you complete the thought.
Al Ronzoni, Jr.
