Cheney and Rove seek to persuade America with perverse rhetoric

By Lee Salisbury
(Lee lives in Stillwater and this editorial appeared in the Stillwater Gazette)

How often do you turn on the TV and see movies of Adolf Hitler’s rise and fall in Germany? Commentators express amazement that an educated, civilized, Christian people could be beguiled by such a tyrant. In the early stages of the Nazi party’s rise to power, Hitler sold Germans on his sincere concern for the nation’s welfare. The armaments industry prospered. Employment rates were high. Germany could be proud of its brave soldiers and military might.

After the devastating losses of WWI, Germany could finally be confident that God was on their side. Hitler declared, "Today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator.” Germany’s pledge of allegiance included the phrase “eine Nation unter Gott”, i.e. “one nation under God.”

Hitler allied Germany with orthodox Christianity. Hitler wrote to the Nazi party, “The fact that the Vatican is concluding a treaty with the new Germany means the acknowledgement of our National Socialist state by the Catholic Church.”

In the 1946 Nuremberg war trials, Gustave Gilbert, a German-speaking U.S. intelligence officer and psychologist, recorded the insights of Hitler’s second-in-command Hermann Goring on how the populaces are manipulated into supporting and fighting wars by their political leaders. Goring stated, “People can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”

Authoritarian leaders are ineffective when people have confidence to think critically. The tool to neutralize critical thinking is ‘fear.’ There is always a percentage of people for whom ‘fear’ is a motivator in both religion and politics. These people would rather ‘believe what they’re told to believe’ than look objectively at evidence. As Goring said, it “is easy.” After playing up fear, demonize any who dare to think differently.

Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels declared, "We are waging this war for a better peace, we are fighting for the happiness of people…No power in the world will make us deny our duty, or forget even for a moment our historical task of maintaining the freedom of our people."

Goebbell waged war for peace and happiness. George Bush wages war for peace and happiness. Goebbell sought freedom for people. George Bush seeks freedom for people. Holland, Poland, Belgium, etc. were never a threat to Germany. Iraq was never a threat to America. Who profits from war? Only the armament industry profits. War is the profiteer’s dream world of cost overruns and no bid contracts. Can Americans be assured that its political leaders differ from the Goring/Goebbell/Hitler strategies?

Leonard W. Doob’s book Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda by reveals extraordinary parallels with the Bush White House:

1. Control the intelligence gathering agencies.

2. Plan and execute all propaganda by only one central authority.

3. The consequences of every action must be considered from the standpoint of its propaganda value.

4. Suppress information that contradicts desired outcomes.

5. Disseminate information/disinformation that supports desired outcomes.

6. Propaganda must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium, i.e. controlled media.

7. Believability alone must determine whether propaganda output is true or false.

8. Material from enemy propaganda may be utilized when it helps diminish that enemy's prestige or lends support to our propaganda objective.

9. Propaganda must be carefully timed, reach the audience ahead of competing propaganda, begin at the optimum moment, and the theme must be repeated.

10. Propaganda must label people with distinctive phrases or slogans consistent with desired responses.

11. Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level.

12. Propaganda must facilitate aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.

13. Propaganda must provide diversion from negative events or news.

Republican rhetoric and policies as directed by Dick Cheney and Karl Rove closely parallel Goebbell’s principles. What does it tell us about Michele Bachmann when Cheney and Rove come to Minnesota to raise funds for her? These men have one obvious motive: they want a “rubber stamp” legislator who will support without question an agenda of unchecked presidential power exactly as required for any dictator’s unrestrained power. The Minnesota visit of Cheney and Rove to support Michele Bachmann speaks volumes about Bachmann. The state and national GOP adherence to the Goebbell principles should provide strong warning to those who love America.

George Santayana, philosopher best summed up America’s predicament, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”