Doublethink Now.

So John Terry womanises and Gordon Brown gets angry and throws his weight about. Terry’s a footballer and Brown’s the Prime Minister. They wouldn’t do what they do if they didn’t. So why all the denials? Does the Pope wipe his bottom? Do sources close to the Pontiff issue statements categorically denying rumours of tissue usage, urging us to believe in some sort of holy immaculate poo? When a government denies what the majority know to be true it’s time to overhaul the system. That syndrome is usually termed psychosis. It’s when a man who’s elevated to play the role of God starts believing he is God. Wouldn’t they be far better admitting they have, in playing the role assigned to them, done what the role requires? “I do get angry, I do show it and I do admonish people. What do you think I should do?” Or conversely, “Women throw themselves at me, I am well fit and I like scoring. What do you expect?” Just as the Pope might say, “I eat, I’m human, I shit. Deal with it.” What’s amazing is that we think denial works! “I have not just been stabbed, pushed out of a ten story window and crushed by an oncoming train.” OK one wouldn’t be in a position to talk about it but one’s mangled body would be evidence enough that a lie had been perpetrated. But no, we persist in doing it all the time, admittedly to a lesser extent. There before us in the ether of reality is truth but with a little work it can be viewed in such a way that a more convenient un-truth can be woven. Why work so hard? But when in the public spotlight even driven snow becomes just cold, messy slush, the cause of a million hardships. Interviewees are reduced to denial machines when faced with comparison with perfection. How would you respond to the question stroke threat, “Prove to me you are practically perfect in every way or I’ll ruin your life?” Do you lie or be ruined? Hence the typical response, “I’m not saying I’m perfect but I’ve done nothing wrong.” I’m not saying I’m perfect but I am saying I’m perfect. I’ll call it doublethink. Or has that been said before? No you heard it here first, your recollection of hearing it before is mistaken. If you admit to that mistake I’ll ruin your life. Which is it to be?