Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth. — 1984
Which way would you bet? “On what?” you ask. On whether this brief interview will be quietly suppressed:
Phillip: I should note that you did vote against the defense appropriations bill this week, the rule to…
Gaetz: Abby, this is going to be a very embarrassing moment when the internet corrects you on this. I voted for the defense rule both times.
Phillip: Well, I, uh, stand corrected. Congressman, thank you for joining us tonight.
A movement, or a regime, that demands your total allegiance and compliance at all times must never, ever allow reality to intrude. A single objective, verifiable fact, if it contradicts “The Party’s” assertions, can bring down its whole edifice. They who seek to know will always follow the trail that one fact opens to them: that there is an objective reality, and that “The Party” is its enemy.
As was so often the case, Rand knew it too:
“There was a time when men were afraid that somebody would reveal some secret of theirs that was unknown to their fellows. Nowadays, they’re afraid that somebody will name what everybody knows. Have you practical people ever thought that that’s all it would take to blast your whole, big, complex structure, with all your laws and guns—just somebody naming the exact nature of what you’re doing?”
Back later.