What He Said...

... right here. I know, I know, we're not supposed to compare Dear Leader to a certain deceased sadistic historical figure with a floorbrush moustache, but... gotta admit, the people Greenwald quotes bear some rhetorical resemblance to _ _ _ _ _ _-Jugen.

On this general subject, Gene Lyons has an excellent recent article, in which he quotes from an essay published by George Orwell in May, 1945, on the subject of nationalism.

But, for the present purposes, it seems this quote from Orwell from the same essay fits the subject well:

In nationalist thought there are facts which are both true and untrue, known and unknown. A known fact may be so unbearable that it is habitually pushed aside and not allowed to enter into logical processes, or on the other hand it may enter into every calculation and yet never be admitted as a fact, even in one's own mind.

Every nationalist is haunted by the belief that the past can be altered. He spends part of his time in a fantasy world in which things happen as they should--in which, for example, the Spanish Armada was a success or the Russian Revolution was crushed in 1918--and he will transfer fragments of this world to the history books whenever possible. Much of the propagandist writing of our time amounts to plain forgery. Material facts are suppressed, dates altered, quotations removed from their context and doctored so as to change their meaning. Events which it is felt ought not to have happened are left unmentioned and ultimately denied.

Good ol' George.