Sunday, June 17, 2018

Make the lie big, and they will believe it

I collect things we cannot say anymore, and here is a new one to me. The NY Times reports:
A Massachusetts high school student captioned his senior photo in the school’s yearbook with a quote generally attributed to the Nazi leaders Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler, the school’s principal said in an apologetic letter to parents this week. ...

The quote, which reads “Make the lie big, keep it simple, keep saying it and eventually they will believe it,” is widely associated with Hitler and Goebbels’s use of propaganda to build the Nazi empire.
So how is this offensive? It is just a well-known statement of how propaganda works.
Nationally, reported anti-Semitic incidents surged 57 percent in 2017, up to 1,986 from 1,267 in the previous year, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which believes the increase is linked to the divisive state of American politics, the emboldening of extremists, and the effects of social media. ...

Robert Trestan, regional director of the A.D.L. in Boston, which is helping the school respond to the episode, ...

Mr. Trestan said he hoped the school would hold sessions in the future to teach students about anti-Semitism.
Wait a minute -- do the Jewish organizations really consider this an anti-Semitic incident?!

Most of those anti-Semitic incidents have turned out to be hoaxes by Jews and other minorities. Some turned out to be natural causes, like the weather. But this is neither. It is just an innocent quote that has no obvious connection to the Jews.

There is a Wikipedia article on Big lie, but it says Goebbels was talking about English leaders. It also says Hitler used a related phrase in his famous book in connection with blaming Jewish Marxists. I would not call it anti-Semitic to accuse the Communists of lying about something, as that was what Hitler was doing. The Communists really do have a long history of big lies.

Anyway, when you hear some Jewish group complain about anti-Semitic incidents, remember that it might have just been someone using the phrase "big lie."

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