And Never Forget It

Look at this paragraph towards the end of a front page Post article on the Veep's political problems:

Despite the mounting death toll and the problem in restoring basic infrastructure such as reliable electrical service in much of Iraq, Cheney said the United States is making progress as Iraqis move toward establishing a democracy and building a security force. He vowed that the United States will remain steadfast until the job is done.

Allow me to translate. Despite the obvious evidence in front of us, Cheney continues to insist there're progress in Iraq. That does several things. The first is to make sure that the Vice President's claim of progress is undermined before it's even reported. He say's there's progress -- but don't forget, there's obvious, self-evident, sign evidence everywhere you look that what he's saying is wrong. The second thing it does is reinforce the conventional wisdom that there is no progress in Iraq, by taking the two pieces of evidence for lack of progress and reinforcing them (and one of them, mind, is not evidence for lack of progress. It is not possible to fight a war without casualties, so the simple fact, without context, that casualties continue is not evidence for anything one way or the other beyond the fact that fighting continues.)

And the third thing it does it privilege a particular type of evidence (who do you trust, me or your lying eyes?). Don't trust any type of evidence regarding progress except that you can see (in a mediated sense, on the news.) Which automatically reinforces the sense that there's no progress, since evidence of progress isn't on the news.

Comments

[Charlie (Colorado)]

and, the one thing they cite as evidence that makes any sense as evidence is just flat wrong!

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 30, 2004 ) – U.S. engineers have helped place seven generators on line this month in Iraq, bringing the national electricity capacity to more than 5,300 megawatts – a level that exceeds the country’s pre-war capacity of 4,400 megawatts.

( Army News Service August 2004)

The electrical supply problems have a lot more to do with the fact that the Iraqi economy is booming so fast that new construction can't keep up.

[Kenneth]

Once again we see the classic, "Despite the mounting death toll" phrase used to set the negative tone. Yet the phrase also betrays the stunning idiocy of the writer. Specificaly this: death tolls always "mount". That's because once somebody dies, they stay dead. It is logically, numerically & biologically impossible for the "death toll" to go down. Let's put this into historical perspective. That same author might have writen, in late 1945, "Despite the mounting death toll, President Truman continues to insist the US is winning the war against Imperial Japan & Nazi Germany." This example clearly shows the stupidity of the "mounting death toll" meme. Or would that author have us believe the US lost the Second World War?

It would be quite newsworthy were the death toll ever to fall, as it would indicate a widespread outbreak of bodily reanimation. Now, that would be news!

All joking aside, the phrase also reveals the mentality of those who will accept no facts contrary to their preconceived opinions, and an unwillingness to submit those opinions to rational reflection.

[hhhhh]

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