The Narrative

Most people, in fact, will not take the trouble in finding out the truth, but are much more inclined to accept the first story they hear.  Thucydides

It’s both overt and subliminal, it’s the narrative.  It’s spontaneous, and it’s planned.  It’s the smarmy knee-jerk reaction of journolisters any time a member of the oppressed (that’s the narrative too) is involved with the police.  Never mind the facts, construct the story to support the narrative.  Like hate crime, it’s the thought that counts.  After all, the ends justify the means, the facts are just details.  What’s important is advancing the narrative.  Remember Dan Rather’s assertion that, ok the documents might be forgeries, but the underlying story they purported to tell was true – so it was ok.

It’s President Obama announcing that, “the cops acted stupidly,” while admitting that he really didn’t know the details leading to the arrest of Professor Gates.

“Now, I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that,  but I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That’s just a fact.”

It’s President Obama presuming the guilt of  George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin.

“My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Obama said. “All of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves.”

“Obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through,” Obama said. “All of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how something like this has happened.”

Zimmerman has yet to be charged and, unless things have changed, even if he is charged, in America citizens are presumed innocent until proven guilty.  But, the magnitude of the inappropriateness of the president’s remarks apparently doesn’t matter.  It is, you must remember, the narrative.

The narrative requires no facts and no substantiation – it is a religion.  The mindless soothsayers of this new gospel are surprised, if not incredulous when someone has the audacity to question the sanctity of their words.  Witness the rapid back-pedaling of Mr. Obama upon being called on his assertion of the “unprecedented” nature of the Supreme Court daring to question the constitutionality of his health care program, or even his categorization of a “strong majority” of Congress.  Consider the left’s assessment of their Solicitor General’s performance before the court.

The purveyors of this pablum have become less and less sophisticated as time goes on.  After all, their predecessors have already done the hard work.  Most of the contemporary crowd is standing the on the shoulders of giants like Saul Alinsky.  The nation has been softened up by the education establishment, the news media, and the entertainment industry.  The ground has been plowed, and even the people who haven’t been thoroughly indoctrinated are afraid to point out that the emperor has no clothes.  To disagree is to be labeled and belittled.  If you believe homosexuality is a sin, you are a bigot.  If you think abortion is murder, you’re a religious extremist, if you dare question global warming, you’re fool (don’t you know the science has been settled?)  Should you suggest a preference for traditional families over single parenting, you’re a hater (never mind the overwhelming advantage children of stable homes have over those from broken homes).  A don’t dare point out that the plight of blacks has steadily and disproportionately worsened (tripled) during Mr. Obama’s tenure.  Please don’t confuse the issues with the facts.

But the pattern continues, and new fields are being prepared.   The next major campaign is to frighten the American people into accepting more and more government control – for their own safety of course.  Cyber terrorism is the new global warming.  This isn’t to say that there aren’t real dangers, but frequently the cure is worse than the disease.  (After all, “never let a good crisis go to waste,” and if you don’t have good crisis, manufacture one.)  Spying on American citizens and granting sweeping new powers to the federal government is about as logical as frisking grandma in the airport.  But the narrative goes on.