Olbermann: “More over, Mr. Bush, you are accomplishing in part what Osama Bin Laden and others seek–a fearful American populace, easily manipulated, and willing to throw away any measure of restraint, any loyalty to our own ideals and freedoms, for the comforting illusion of safety.”
Bush, Rummy and the F-Word
First Rumsfeld, then Bush blather publicly linking World War II — a war considered by almost everyone to be fully justified and beyond reproach — with the unfolding disaster in Iraq. And then they impune the patriotism of people who are critical of both the war and the current administration’s execution of it. Finally they have the nerve to suggest — via linkage and association — that media coverage critical of the war, the current administration, or both is part of a coordinated public information offensive by the enemy.
This is going to be the rhetorical ugly-stick the Republican strategists are going to beat us with in the run-up to the mid-term elections in November. Whew. Just how stupid do they think we are? Are they right?
Proximity plays a large role in persuasion. Mention two things together in the same sentence often enough, and people will perceive a relationship between them, whether one actually exists or not.
For further insight, I recommend Robert Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Read it. The Bush strategists certainly have. It’s very enlightening.
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