London is now saying that the bombings there were suicide bombers and that they had "blown themselves up". If that's true, then the bombers would have been on the trains and busses when the things blew. Considering that two unexploded bombs were found, that would mean that the perps for those two bombs a) either left on the bus or train implying that they were NOT suicide bombers or b) they were sitting there right next to their bomb bag waiting for it to go when the cops showed up, which did not happen considering it took a few days to get an arrest. You know what I think? BULLSHIT propaganda. Too many holes in THAT story. Fear sells, people. And with the ratings on the war in Iraq along with Bush and Blair's popularity considering the action have been dropping drastically, why not blame Al-Queda (of course, they nonetheless STILL had nothing to do with our decision to invade Iraq)?

"People are much more susceptible to the big lie than to the small one, for they already tell little lies every day. They cannot imagine that someone would actually fabricate a colossal lie." - Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf.

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."
-- Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

Let's take a few lessons from Goebbels, shall we?

6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium. [news broadcasts]

7. Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false. [doesn't matter how factual it is]

14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans. [liberal, evil-doers, attack on freedom, 9/11 etc.]

a. They must evoke desired responses which the audience previously possesses [fear, anxiety, anger]

b. They must be capable of being easily learned

c. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations [uhhhh, no comment]

d. They must be boomerang-proof [what? You don't love freedom?]

16. Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level. [Terrorist level is now at Orange]

a. Propaganda must reinforce anxiety concerning the consequences of defeat [if we pull out of Iraq , "the terrorists" {you know them. . . uhhh, those guys, the eveil-doers, yeah, them, all of them} "win"] (whatever the hell that means). Winning an ideological war necessitates propaganda, now doesn't it?)

b. Propaganda must diminish anxiety (other than concerning the consequences of defeat) which is too high and which cannot be reduced by people themselves. [The economy is great, keep consuming so the terrorists don't win!]

Ah, yes. We've learned well, haven't we? The neocons might not be Nazis, but they are certainly, strictly speaking, fascists: advocates of the Corporate State.

From the Doctrine of Fascism, 1932:

"Fascism is definitely and absolutely opposed to the doctrines of liberalism, both in the political and economic sphere. (p. 32)"

"The corporate State considers that private enterprise in the sphere of production is the most effective and usefu [sic] [typo-should be: useful] instrument in the interest of the nation. In view of the fact that private organisation of production is a function of national concern, the organiser of the enterprise is responsible to the State for the direction given to production.
State intervention in economic production arises only when private initiative is lacking or insufficient, or when the political interests of the State are involved. This intervention may take the form of control, assistance or direct management. (pp. 135-136)"

However, to the neocons the distiction between State and private enterprise becomes blurred, to them the state ought not idctate what is necessary for proper private economic development, but the private sphere ought to dictate to the state what it needs to maximize profits.

Boy, do we have a short-term memory problem in this country.