Orwellian

 

"He was a flattish but active man of paralyzing stupidity, a mass of imbecile enthusiasms – one of those completely unquestioning, devoted drudges on whom, more than on the thought police, the stability of the party depended.” George Orwell, “1984”

 

Webster’s dictionary defines “Orwellian” as suggestive of a dystopian reality of knowledge engineering in a nightmare world of spies, doublespeak, and authoritarian state control of daily life.  While our nation does not yet resemble George Orwell’s “1984,” Donald Trump would have his devoted and seemingly unquestioning followers believe that that his words as echoed on Fox news are the only truth and any criticism is fake news, a hoax.

 

Trump’s press conference yesterday lasted over two hours, during which he showed a propaganda video claiming he’s done nothing wrong and in fact has saved hundreds of thousands of lives by instituting a travel ban early in February that bought the country time to prepare.  What he didn’t say was that during the ensuing four weeks he continued to hold mass rallies where he predicted that Covid-19 was no worse than the flu and that it may go away as if by magic or when the weather turned warm. CBS reporter Paula Reid then questioned DT on what, if anything, the federal government had done in February to supply hospitals with masks and ventilators or to facilitate testing.  Trump tried to interrupt by calling her a disgrace and when she persisted and asked how this rant was supposed to make people feel confident in an unprecedented crisis, he called CBS network a purveyor of fake news. Trump even claims he has absolute power to decide when to end social distancing and resume normalcy, governors (and the Constitution) be damned.

 

Former Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives Ray Smock wrote:

  The president’s daily press conferences are a study in contrast between ignorance and science.  The president goes to the podium and outright lies to the American people and offers nostrums and even pseudo-science about unproven drugs.  We need scientists and public health officials to be in the lead.  Yet Trump must be in charge.  Trump was asked what data he would use to determine if it was safe to re-open for business, he said he would use the metrics in his mind. His metrics are designed for political, not scientific results, his desire for re-election.

    The metrics in Trump’s mind represent the biggest bamboozle in American history. We have two things for which we need cures: the Covid-19 and Donald Trump.  One will take the efforts of all of us and faith in science.  The other will take a strong turnout in November and faith in the U.S. Constitution.

 

The last two daily movies, neither of which I’d seen and both of which I highly recommend, have been “Gods and Monsters” (1998) about openly gay director Jimmy Whale, whose work included “The Bride of Frankenstein” and “The Invisible Man”) and Boys in the Hood,” (1991) starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ice Cube, and Lawrence Fishburne and written and directed by John Singleton. The latter takes place in a black Los Angeles neighborhood, with the ominous sounds of rap music, helicopters, and police sirens in the background. The main character, Tre, has parents who try to keep him straight go he barely escapes that violent fate that takes the life of his two closest friends. Ian McKellen, who plays an elderly Jimmy Whale, was a Shakespearean actor best known as Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” movies.


It’s hard to find anything worth watching on TV besides “Jeopardy,” and half the time it’s preempted either by DT, the governor of Illinois, rotund J. B. Pritzker or the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, an open lesbian who evidently speaks fluent Spanish.   On now is a rerum of a college tournament. One question asked about a former president who died while serving in the House of representatives in 1848.  John Quincy Adams, easy I thought, but none knew it.  Sunday, I came across a stage version of “Jesus Christ Superstar” with a black cast, including John Legend.  On HBO I watched a documentary on the Atlanta child murders of 40 years ago, not realizing it was just the first episode in a series.  A Time critic raved about “Run” but the series debut seemed contrived. In “Rabbit at Rest” John Updike wrote that history is “that sinister mulch of facts our little lives grow out of before joining the mulch ourselves.”  Like Rabbit the “Run” protagonists perhaps simply want more adventure in their lives before joining the mulch.