Orwell and when down is up

Paul Krugman has one of his best, and he has had many, critiques of the Bush administration today, Ignorance Isn't Strength

I first used the word "Orwellian" to describe the Bush team in October 2000. Even then it was obvious that George W. Bush surrounds himself with people who insist that up is down, and ignorance is strength. But the full costs of his denial of reality are only now becoming clear.

President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have an unparalleled ability to insulate themselves from inconvenient facts. They lead a party that controls all three branches of government, and face news media that in some cases are partisan supporters, and in other cases are reluctant to state plainly that officials aren't telling the truth. They also still enjoy the residue of the faith placed in them after 9/11.

This has allowed them to engage in what Orwell called "reality control." In the world according to the Bush administration, our leaders are infallible, and their policies always succeed. If the facts don't fit that assumption, they just deny the facts.

This line is the key to the administrations success; "news media that in some cases are partisan supporters, and in other cases are reluctant to state plainly that officials aren't telling the truth". Yes, reality control is only possible when the media is controlled and as we have seen the corporate media is very much controlled. In another departure from reality the Republicans and the administration have the nerve to still talk about liberal bias in the press.
Krugman goes on to talk about reality control (AKA lies) on the tax cuts, the economy, the environment and, of course, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. And let us not forget the War on Terror. The administration policy has made this a much more dangerous world and all the while they tell us we are winning.

Why has the pursuit of terrorists been so unsuccessful? It has been obvious for years that John Ashcroft isn't just scary; he's also scarily incompetent. But inside the administration, he's considered the man for the job - and nobody can say different.

Back in the real world:

The point is that in the real world, as opposed to the political world, ignorance isn't strength. A leader who has the political power to pretend that he's infallible, and uses that power to avoid ever admitting mistakes, eventually makes mistakes so large that they can't be covered up. And that's what's happening to Mr. Bush.

You can't hide or hide from reality forever, it will eventually rise up.