Since the Bolsheviks inaugurated the first edition of their party newspaper Pravda (the Russian word for truth) the left has shaped truth to serve its goals. On an individual level there are plenty of progressives who are honest and plenty of conservatives who arent. But truth is just not a left-wing value -- feminism environmentalism material equality and fighting racism sexism homophobia and Islamophobia are far more important.
The myriad falsehood-based hysterias unleashed by the left in our country -- the alleged heterosexual AIDS epidemic in America the number of homeless people the number of deaths from anorexia the current charges of a war on women in our society and of a culture of rape on American college campuses the immediate assertion that the killing of a black teenager in Ferguson Missouri was caused by racist police -- testify to the lefts cavalier attitude toward truth.
The latest shaping of truth is almost funny because the lefts claims are so transparently self-serving. Since last Tuesdays elections commentator after commentator on the left has declared American politics dysfunctional. When Democrats win by a landslide the left regards the vote as testimony to the great message of the left and the good sense of the American people. Only when Republicans win by a landslide does the vote reflect dysfunction.
Here is the first sentence of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristofs post-election column:
Lets face it: The American political system is broken.
Here is the first sentence of New York Times columnist Tom Friedmans post-election column:
Weve just had a nonsense midterm election.
According to the left the lopsided Republican win last Tuesday wasnt a repudiation of the Democratic Party let alone of its belief in ever-expanding government. Rather it was a repudiation of Washingtons dysfunction. The voters were sending a message the argument goes not to Democrats but to Washington. The message? That they are sick of the inaction and dysfunction there.
A second explanation on the left is related to the first. The elections were a repudiation of Congress. Thus Kristofs second sentence: A poll last year found Congress rated lower than cockroaches.
I checked that poll. It is no wonder Kristof didnt cite the name. Readers might ask What poll is that? and Cockroaches? Are you serious? It was conducted in October 2013 by an obscure polling group Public Policy Polling that showed that Americans prefer cockroaches to Congress.
Does Kristof really believe that? Doesnt anyone not predisposed to believing in self-serving explanations not recognize how absurd that is? Who prefers cockroaches to Congress? And that poll gets even more absurd: Americans it claims have a lower opinion of Congress than ... hemorrhoids and even witches.
But it was so important to Kristof to explain last weeks vote as a rejection of Congress and Washington dysfunction that he favorably cited such transparent nonsense.
Another example of the Democrats dishonesty regarding the election is that of President Obama.
As the Washington Post reported Despite saying repeatedly that his policies were on the ballot Tuesday Obama insisted Wednesday that the message of the election wasnt a rejection of those policies.
How does anyone let alone a president say Make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them shortly before an election and thoroughly deny that on the day after the elections?
There is one incontrovertible proof that all this talk about the elections being about a dysfunctional Congress -- in the presidents words a sign that the American public wanted politicians to work together to get things done -- is to put it nicely phony. That proof is the state elections. People dont vote for their governor or for their state assemblies because of how they feel about Washington and its alleged dysfunction.
Yet the Democrats were trounced in state after state elections including some of the most liberal states.
As reported by the National Conference of State Legislatures on Wednesday Democrats lost their majorities in the West Virginia House Nevada Assembly and Senate New Hampshire House Minnesota House New York Senate Maine Senate Colorado Senate Washington Senate and New Mexico House. The vote also increased the number of state legislative chambers with Republican majorities to 67 from 57 (out of a total of 99).
Tim Storey the bipartisan groups election analyst observed Democrats will control the lowest number of state legislatures since 1860.
Not to mention the fact that Republican governors were elected in such liberal states as Massachusetts Illinois and Maryland and retained in liberal Michigan and Wisconsin.
All because of Washington dysfunction?
Apparently the left really believes its version of truth.
For Americas sake lets hope they continue to do so through 2016.
Dennis Prager is a SRN radio show host contributing columnist for Townhall.com and author of his newest book Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph.
Since the Bolsheviks inaugurated the first edition of their party newspaper Pravda (the Russian word for truth) the left has shaped truth to serve its goals. On an individual level there are plenty of progressives who are honest and plenty of conservatives who arent. But truth is just not a left-wing value -- feminism environmentalism material equality and fighting racism sexism homophobia and Islamophobia are far more important.
The myriad falsehood-based hysterias unleashed by the left in our country -- the alleged heterosexual AIDS epidemic in America the number of homeless people the number of deaths from anorexia the current charges of a war on women in our society and of a culture of rape on American college campuses the immediate assertion that the killing of a black teenager in Ferguson Missouri was caused by racist police -- testify to the lefts cavalier attitude toward truth.
The latest shaping of truth is almost funny because the lefts claims are so transparently self-serving. Since last Tuesdays elections commentator after commentator on the left has declared American politics dysfunctional. When Democrats win by a landslide the left regards the vote as testimony to the great message of the left and the good sense of the American people. Only when Republicans win by a landslide does the vote reflect dysfunction.
Here is the first sentence of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristofs post-election column:
Lets face it: The American political system is broken.
Here is the first sentence of New York Times columnist Tom Friedmans post-election column:
Weve just had a nonsense midterm election.
According to the left the lopsided Republican win last Tuesday wasnt a repudiation of the Democratic Party let alone of its belief in ever-expanding government. Rather it was a repudiation of Washingtons dysfunction. The voters were sending a message the argument goes not to Democrats but to Washington. The message? That they are sick of the inaction and dysfunction there.
A second explanation on the left is related to the first. The elections were a repudiation of Congress. Thus Kristofs second sentence: A poll last year found Congress rated lower than cockroaches.
I checked that poll. It is no wonder Kristof didnt cite the name. Readers might ask What poll is that? and Cockroaches? Are you serious? It was conducted in October 2013 by an obscure polling group Public Policy Polling that showed that Americans prefer cockroaches to Congress.
Does Kristof really believe that? Doesnt anyone not predisposed to believing in self-serving explanations not recognize how absurd that is? Who prefers cockroaches to Congress? And that poll gets even more absurd: Americans it claims have a lower opinion of Congress than ... hemorrhoids and even witches.
But it was so important to Kristof to explain last weeks vote as a rejection of Congress and Washington dysfunction that he favorably cited such transparent nonsense.
Another example of the Democrats dishonesty regarding the election is that of President Obama.
As the Washington Post reported Despite saying repeatedly that his policies were on the ballot Tuesday Obama insisted Wednesday that the message of the election wasnt a rejection of those policies.
How does anyone let alone a president say Make no mistake: These policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them shortly before an election and thoroughly deny that on the day after the elections?
There is one incontrovertible proof that all this talk about the elections being about a dysfunctional Congress -- in the presidents words a sign that the American public wanted politicians to work together to get things done -- is to put it nicely phony. That proof is the state elections. People dont vote for their governor or for their state assemblies because of how they feel about Washington and its alleged dysfunction.
Yet the Democrats were trounced in state after state elections including some of the most liberal states.
As reported by the National Conference of State Legislatures on Wednesday Democrats lost their majorities in the West Virginia House Nevada Assembly and Senate New Hampshire House Minnesota House New York Senate Maine Senate Colorado Senate Washington Senate and New Mexico House. The vote also increased the number of state legislative chambers with Republican majorities to 67 from 57 (out of a total of 99).
Tim Storey the bipartisan groups election analyst observed Democrats will control the lowest number of state legislatures since 1860.
Not to mention the fact that Republican governors were elected in such liberal states as Massachusetts Illinois and Maryland and retained in liberal Michigan and Wisconsin.
All because of Washington dysfunction?
Apparently the left really believes its version of truth.
For Americas sake lets hope they continue to do so through 2016.
Dennis Prager is a SRN radio show host contributing columnist for Townhall.com and author of his newest book Still the Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values to Triumph.
