Like many Americans, I find myself this afternoon completely Thanksgiving-level sated after the orgy of lightly attended (better views for TV cameras) Trumpian celebrations on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It is entirely fitting that though our own Trump.45 declared earlier this week that Monday January 23, 2017 would be Day One, and that he would hit the ground running, Trump’s plans were retooled on a dime when that little opening weekend vacation balloon, just 6 hours into his new job, fell like a dead duck.
Whether the Twitterverse reaction or the Kellyanne Revolutionary Dress-Up Doll provided the impulse motive power, he got it done, and engaged a semi-full half work day in between swearings-in, lunch with the fellas in the Halls of Congress , the People’s Inaugural parade, and the “My Way” Ball close-up dance cinch with the long-suffering Melania, who was grabbed tight across the lower back on national TV.
A Dancing Sidebar
I’m sorry, but as a cultural observer and a White guy, I have to say it. Trump.45 can’t dance a lick. What, they have no Arthur Murray studies in the City? It’s not like rich White folks and politicians haven’t gone there for a dance practice tune up, during the past100 years, for crying out loud. I bet the local Arthur Murray Studio would even do Trump Tower in-calls if the PEOTUS were to just give them a ring.
His pupils included Eleanor Roosevelt, the Duke of Windsor, John D. Rockefeller Jr., Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Barbara Hutton, Elizabeth Arden, Manuel L. Quezon, and Jack Dempsey. Television evangelist D. James Kennedy and Little House on the Prairie actress Katherine MacGregor were instructors of Murray’s technique.
I admit to being vertically fluid-movement challenged myself at this point, and I get that White guys often don’t dance very well, though it is considered a high-value polite society skill (like for Presidents, and such). So Trump.45 may be naturally physically challenged and out of shape here. It takes a little work and effort. And Melania is obviously an enticing dance partner for any male with eyes and a brain. But Trump looks like he’s doing a double thigh brace hindered, weight bulk shifting two-step shuffle back and fro, in front of national cameras.
Worse for the team’s rep, Mike Pence has got a pretty good dance rhythm going with his wife, and they were quite obviously enjoying each other and the moment.
Trump looked for all the world like he was getting Punk’d. I was waiting for Allen Funt of Candid Camera to show up, or Alec Baldwin to make an appearance. Not to mention the spectacle of Trump belting out Old Blue Eyes’ lyrics in near orgasmic self-celebration as his first entertainment act, when unifying the country is his pledge and actual job.. Honestly, Melania could have slipped out and sat down, and I’m not sure Trump.45 even would have noticed.
Back to Trump’s Dreams & Bucket Lists
Anyway, just after noon on Friday, one of Trump’s top-tier bucket list items got permanently crossed off his list. He is now the one and only, the ‘I Alone Can Fix It’, ‘America First’, ‘I have no ethical conflicts cause my lawyers said so’, ‘let us work together’ President for all who care to join in, especially the minority 46% of U.S. voters who had the sense and raw courage to pass along their franchise ballots Trump’s way.
Double Check for Item #1.
As Trump delivered his self-written, no borrowing, full-original and hand crafted doozey of a stem winder Inaugural Address, however, he was simultaneously able to score another major item on his personal bucket list. Which I suppose has now been made by process of absorption osmosis America’s Default Political Bucket List.
What’s that you say?
Why, the constant plaint and irritable soreness Trump has suffered for 18 months, has finally been swept away.
Trump.45, as proudly we hailed, delivered the resounding call to arms on behalf of the American People. He uttered in a most firm and manly tone the sacred words for our generation “Radical Islamic Terrorism”. R.I.T. or even better RITS for short. Never again will Americans be ashamed to say it loud and say it proud.
No More RITS. Get Rid of the RITS. Down with the RITS. RITS or US- Choose Your Side.
You know there is a good national slogan or two in there somewhere. Let it be noted I got there first, but in the spirit of national unity and patriotic fervor, I freely concede a perpetual non-exclusive Trademark license to Trump.45 to use the slogan as needed to Keep America Safe.
Anyway, unlike cowardly Obama, dearly departed, who was too frightened of those three powerful words, “Radical Islamic Terrorism”, Trump.45 tells it like it is, and like it won’t be for long. Just you wait and see.
Slipped into Trump.45’s short (16 minutes more or less) entirely original word smithings was a bold new promise. Not only will the new American President proudly enunciate RITS in public, and officially to boot, he was willing to go even further and commit on this sacred occasion to a powerful Worldwide Doctrine for America, to wit: We will eradicate radical Islamic terrorism from the face of the earth
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. As Americans, we know we live as a nation only when it is striving.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones, and unite the world against radical Islamic terrorism which we will eradicate from the face of the earth.
To be extra certain the message was sent in boldface (dare I say, ALL CAPS), Trump.45 didn’t stop at his thrilling speechifying. Within minutes of the address, the official Presidential website re-do was unveiled with a brace of forward looking carefully defined and crafted policy statements.
Second Tab, Second Menu Item says it plain as Day: America First Foreign Policy. RITS: Second verse, same as the first.
America First Foreign Policy
The Trump Administration is committed to a foreign policy focused on American interests and American national security.
Peace through strength will be at the center of that foreign policy. This principle will make possible a stable, more peaceful world with less conflict and more common ground.
Defeating ISIS and other radical Islamic terror groups will be our highest priority. To defeat and destroy these groups, we will pursue aggressive joint and coalition military operations when necessary. In addition, the Trump Administration will work with international partners to cut off funding for terrorist groups, to expand intelligence sharing, and to engage in cyber warfare to disrupt and disable propaganda and recruiting.
Finally, in pursuing a foreign policy based on American interests, we will embrace diplomacy. The world must know that we do not go abroad in search of enemies, that we are always happy when old enemies become friends, and when old friends become allies.
The world will be more peaceful and more prosperous with a stronger and more respected America.
You just can’t say it any plainer than that. America First Foreign Policy Job One. RITS here we come. We’re gonna bomb the shit out of you, with a coalition if they want in, otherwise on our own and happy about it. We will surveille every last camel in the deserts of Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, and anywhere else they hang out, by means of our technically superior NSA and military cyber, and track your ISIS couriers wherever they go, when ever they go, however they go. If RITS happen to have any smartphones or computers, the U.S. is prepared to compromise and fry them suckers too.
In all the happy celebrations yesterday, most of the news media outlets sped right on by this milestone of America First Diplomacy, the first borning elements of the Global Strategic Trump Doctrine. A sort of Don’t Tread on Me for the International Set. Or better yet; Run and Hide You RITS But It Won’t Help. America’s a comin’.
Here’s the Hillbilly version of Train’s a comin’ (1995) by Steve Earle**
There’s a train a comin’ There’s a train a comin
Hear them tracks a hummin’ There’s a train a comin’
Can’t you hear her blowin’ Can’t you hear her blowin’
Wonder where she’s goin’ Can’t you hear her blowin’
Run down the station Run down to the station
Dread and fascination Run down to the station
Don’t you want to ride her Don’t you want to ride her
Wonder what’s inside her Don’t you want to ride her
She ain’t bound for nowhere She ain’t bound for nowhere
Engineer just don’t care She ain’t bound for nowhere
She run down the mountain She run down the mountain
She won’t even slow down mmm down the mountain
There’s a train a comin’ There’s a train a comin’
Hear them tracks a hummin’ There’s a train a comin’
Steve’s lyrics infuse the dread to come for the bad guys. And he even has a hand on some of Trump.45’s jingle-jangle syntax, man.
America’s got the Trump.45, the Drones, the top-notch Flynn’s New Intelligence Boys, and a whole lot of gumption and gunpowder. We are ready to spend ‘em both in quantity, on your territory. Keep our American streets clean and ready for infrastructure repaving on tap. Trump.45 is even working on a plan to make the RITS pay for it all, after the fact, of course. America will be loved and respected around the world. Some of the slowpokes out there just don’t know it yet. They’ll learn soon enough.
Now that’s settled.
Big Mouth, Blowhard. Cruisin’ For a Bruisin’
A Couple More Items
Just a few more items to clear up then.
Trump.45 has had some issues of political recycling in the past. In fact, you might say his whole political house is built on recycled piles. To start with, we have his main political slogan until now. That is a pure rip off from Saint Ronnie, who is not here to defend himself.
Now Trump will say, correctly, that Ronald was stupid and didn’t bother to trademark his invention, even though Reagan used it throughout the 1980 Republican campaign, and everybody knows it’s his. Trump, being the clever boy he is and with a stable of $500 or more per hour lawyers, dropped a word thereby fundamentally transforming the slogan, and filed for trade mark protection, and the commercial goodies they could squeeze from the body politic.
The government, God only knows why, gave it to him. As if it was some new and original work of political art or genius. Legalisms aside (yes, it is apparently a legal registration until someone attempts to challenge it, if the statute limit hasn’t passed), it’s as plain as the nose on your face that Trump.45’s main 2016 political slogan is a pale imitation, lacking originality or new thought, though it is one word shorter. Simpler for the 4th grade Twitter crowd to take in at a single glance or a casual listen.
There is nothing wrong with borrowing and building on , provided that you pointedly, promptly and prominently acknowledge the borrowing as such. No subterfuge or fiddle faddle. What Trump has done is unethical and dishonest and violates accepted norms of decent behavior in the public sphere. No doubt he is solidly ringed legally with protections, duck outs, and fine print. Okey Dokey. That doesn’t change the flavor and aroma of his conduct by even a molecule or two.
Let’s move on to “America First”. That old chestnut dates from the 1930’s and has some nasty isolationist connotations from World War II era America, but never mind that. The point is America First is a tired old recycled chestnut
O.K., next case. “Peace through Strength”.*** That’s a potent humdinger. Unfortunately that phrase was used by Republicans, no less, starting in 1964, the era of Goldwater, when they spent $5 million in advertising the slogan for political purposes. Then Reagan trotted it out again in 1980, making this one a double-recycled effort. So here we have another recycled recycled concept, as old as Trump’s days in high school.
Not being partisan about it, I am leaving out use of the phrase by Roman Emperor Hadrian 2,000 years ago, and by FDR’s WWII advisor, Bernard Baruch, who published a book with that title in 1952. Damn, that thing is so old, it’s got mold growing on it.
On a suspicious note, at some point one might ask is there anything in Trump.45’s political philosophy or agenda that is in fact new, original or sui generis? Perhaps something will spring to mind to someone, real soon now.
Understand, it is not that this phrase should never be used in politics, it is that is horribly shopworn and tired out from endless repetition. Trump insists he is a new man, a non-politician, a broom sweeps clean, drain the swamp guy, not part of the political establishment, and dedicated to a fresh start for all the people. O.K., then.
On Day One, Trump blazes out his sparkly new foreign policy with the same dead cat bounce lingo used for 30 years continuously assaulting our ears. Shame on him to put it out, shame on his followers for not catching the musty, staleness.
Recycled, rehashed, reworked, repurposed, warmed over left overs. It seems that contributions to American political canon are not to be part of Trump.45’s Presidential legacy.
His followers believe he has other fine qualities to make up for the voids. 46% said so in November, just so you know
A Further Digression into Deep Political Thought
There are echoes and vibrations of 1949 in Trump.45’s use of “Peace through Strength”.
1949 is a special year for me, the year of my own natality****
Trump was only 3 years old at the time, and not an early reader by all reports, so he undoubtedly doesn’t remember publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four, a dystopian novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949.*****
Orwell’s novel is critical for a nuanced understanding of today’s political circus in America, despite the fact that he was a thorough going Englishman. Many readers will recall the scene in Chapter 1 of the novel, where the main character Winston, an employee of the Ministry of Truth (or more properly, Propaganda, for modern initiates) gazes at the famous three slogans of the Party.
“The Ministry of Truth – Minitrue, in Newspeak – was startlingly different from any other object in sight…From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party:
- War is peace
- freedom is slavery
- ignorance is strength.”
In the novel the organization is nicknamed Minitrue (in Newspeak, the language of love, power, and truth ). Times change, and I think for Trump’s era, we need a better, huger name like MaxiTrue.
MaxiTrue, it is then, for Kellyanne, Reince, Steve, Jared, and especially, Sean and the boys and girls of the inner truth giving apparatus (ITGA).
A full exposition of the power and intersection of the triple state slogans must await another time. But there are some awesome connections. The slogans are tripartite and triple worded. 3 X 3, a holy number matrix from the ancient times.
If we decode Orwell’s slogans (I) War is Peace, and (3) Ignorance is Strength, and map them onto Trump’s newest slogan “Peace through Strength”, through the Enigma cipher machine, at the end we get a plain text message:
The Risk of War through Ignorance
Oh, goody. Just one more 67-year old prediction that trouble lies ahead, sooner rather than later.
Of course, all of this is likely to be opaque to Trump himself, who doesn’t like books, doesn’t like to read, and wants to deep six the past and face only the future (as he eloquently demanded yesterday.
We hope trouble largely skirts our location. The real trouble is one part of this scenario (Orwell’s slogan decode) is fiction, the second (Trump’s obdurate ignorance and distain of book knowledge) is all too real.
I swear Trump.45 makes George Bush look like a veritable monkish scholar. And George Bush could and did poke fun at his own foibles, something the remarkably arrogant and stiff-necked Trump seems entirely incapable of. He acts as if he would rather have a double root canal with no novocaine or nitrous, than ‘fess up to even a minor mistake or error.
Sorry, but Trump’s hubris is not an admirable or effective personality trait in a CEO with live bombs and bullets to command.
Amen, and God Help Us.
*All your Dreams Can Come True” is a famous quote by filmmaker and animator Walt Disney (1901-1966). It is one of the most frequent quotes attributed to the American Master entrepreneurial and entertainment genius. From 1932 until 1966 he received 22 Oscars and 59 nominations, more than anybody else ever in either categories.
Not without his flaws when viewed through today’s lenses, he was a giant in his time. Like 99+% of everyone in my generation, and tens of millions born since, Disney was an icon for me. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’” (1937), “Peter Pan” (1953), Lady and the Tramp”(1955), “Pinocchio” (1940), “Cinderella” (1950), “Dumbo” (1950), “Fantasia” (1940), “Old Yeller” (!957), “Pollyanna” (1960), “The Parent Trap” (1961), and so many more were touchstones, though the titles mentioned here date me badly. Not to mention Annette, the Mouseketeers (1956-1959), Spin and Marty, The Hardy Boys, etc.
From the Wikipedia entry for Walt Disney:
Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards earned by an individual, having won 22 Oscars from 59 nominations. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney developed an early interest in drawing. He took art classes as a boy and got a job as a commercial illustrator at the age of 18. He moved to California in the early 1920s and set up the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. With Ub Iwerks, Walt developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928, his first highly popular success; he also provided the voice for his creation in the early years. As the studio grew, Disney became more adventurous, introducing synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor, feature-length cartoons and technical developments in cameras. The results, seen in features such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Fantasia, Pinocchio (both 1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942), furthered the development of animated film. New animated and live-action films followed after World War II, including the critically successful Cinderella (1950) and Mary Poppins (1964), the latter of which received five Academy Awards.
In the 1950s, Disney expanded into the amusement park industry, and in 1955 he opened Disneyland. To fund the project he diversified into television programs, such as Walt Disney’s Disneyland and The Mickey Mouse Club; he was also involved in planning the 1959 Moscow Fair, the 1960 Winter Olympics, and the 1964 New York World’s Fair. In 1965, he began development of another theme park, Disney World, the heart of which was to be a new type of city, the “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow” (EPCOT). Disney was a heavy smoker throughout his life, and died of lung cancer in December 1966 before either the park or the EPCOT project were completed.
Disney was a shy, self-deprecating and insecure man in private, but adopted a warm and outgoing public persona. He had high standards and high expectations of those with whom he worked. Although there have been accusations that he was racist or anti-Semitic, they have been contradicted by many who knew him. His reputation changed in the years after his death, from a purveyor of homely patriotic values to a representative of American imperialism. Nevertheless, Disney is considered a cultural icon, particularly in the United States, where the company he co-founded is one of the world’s largest and best-known entertainment companies.
Even icons have chinks in their reps. It turns out Walt Disney probably didn’t actually produce the quote so widely attributed to him. According to a Disney artist on the project at EPCOT (1966), he wrote the line, which got rolled in with the master’s works.
If you can dream it, you can do it.
Tom Fitzgerald, a Disney Imagineer, as quoted in Ask Dave by Dave Smith (27 February – 12 March 2013):
Despite its frequent publication, that is not a Walt Disney quote. We checked with Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald for the definitive answer: “I am very familiar with that line because I wrote it! It was written specifically for the Horizons attraction at Epcot and used in numerous ways, from dialogue in the ride to graphics. I find it amusing that the Science of Imagineering DVD series attributes it to Walt Disney, but I guess I should be flattered.”
Disney Trivia from the Vault (2012) by Dave Smith, p. 243
No money changed hands for the quote, and Fitzgerald was already getting a steady paycheck from the company. So no harm, no foul. Trump’s literary and slogan borrowings from others may be of more consequence than this. Oh, I’m not so much talking about the millions in hat sales that rightfully should go to the Reagan estate, for example. That after all, is not life or death money to a Trump. His appropriation of more freighted political slogans like that fronted by the 1930’s isolationist and anti-Semitic right, or the failed Peace through Strength moniker which has been tried and found wanting in American’s foreign policy before. And his apparent uninformed adoption of their words without knowledge of their history, outcome, and prior use is a recurring flaw that America’s opponents are sure to exploit to advantage.
Here’s a rub. “Peace through Strength” has been a Republican rhetorical staple for 8 national elections over 30 years, including during the Bush II Iraq War debacle. Yesterday Trump directly complained about the trillions of U.S. dollars wasted overseas on military boondoggles (i.e. Bush’s Iraq War, his frequent target of opportunity) at the precise time he unveiled their exact slogan to dress up and summarize the new Trump America First Foreign policy. We have a snake eating tail situation here, big time.
Trump doesn’t even have the honesty to doll it up, put some lipstick on it, a little rouge, a syllable inserted here or there. How about an asterisk? Is Trump unaware, is he idea bereft, does no one on his crackerjack staff read this stuff before loosing it on the world, or does Trump.45 perhaps think no one is paying attention?
In the meantime, Trump.45 exulted yesterday in the slaying of the evil RITS dragon, in advance rhetorical theory at least, and he can begin on Day One (Monday?) to go get ‘em in earnest.
All Trump’s dreams are coming true in his own mind. Whether the rest of us will ever get to share a real life glimpse of their success is the question on the table right now.
Is there also a misattribution issue of written sagacity in Trump’s own hand in the near future?
Walt Disney did have a lot to say which was accurately recorded and set down for the benefit of the rest of us to enjoy and ponder. One actual quote Disney gave was this:
There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main… and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.
As quoted in Peter’s Quotations : Ideas for Our Time (1977) by Laurence J. Peter
Now there is a small sticking point for Trump.45. All Trump’s Dreams Are Coming True, but he doesn’t get the book & money super-equivalence thing.
Not by a Midwestern country mile, folks. More’s the pity.
**From the Wikipedia entry for “Train a Comin’ by Steve Earle (1995)
Train a Comin’ is the fifth studio album by Steve Earle (his first in five years), released in 1995. In addition to Earle, it features Peter Rowan, Norman Blake, Roy Huskey, and Emmylou Harris. The album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Train a Comin’ was the first album recorded after Earle overcame his addiction to drugs in the fall of 1994, after being convicted for possession. Earle’s last studio album had been the 1990 album The Hard Way, and he essentially stopped touring by 1992 as his addiction worsened.
Most of the songs on the album are older material written when Earle was in his late teens and twenties, including “Hometown Blues,” “Sometimes She Forgets,” “Mercenary Song,” “Ben McCulloch,” “Nothin’ Without You,” and “Tom Ames’ Prayer.” “Goodbye” was written while Earle was in court-ordered rehab in the fall of 1994. In concerts, Earle introduces the song as the first song he wrote clean, and as a “ninth step in the key of C,” referring to the step in which an addict seeks to make amends. According to the liner notes of the album, “Angel is the Devil” was one of only four songs written during his hiatus, which he refers to as his “vacation in the ghetto,” and the mandolin line of “Mystery Train part II” was written in the early 1990s with the lyrics finished the day it was recorded. The album also includes an instrumental by Norman Blake and three covers: Townes Van Zandt’s “Tecumseh Valley”, the Beatles’ “I’m Looking Through You” and The Melodians’ reggae standard “Rivers of Babylon.”
Earle drew on established bluegrass and acoustic instrumentalists for the album, which was a departure from his earlier work with backing band the Dukes. He said to an interviewer at the time that he was seeking an older sound, and the album was recorded in just five days. “I was goin’ for a sound where it sounded like old Opry stuff, where everybody stepped around the mike, which is real close to what we actually did. It ended up being even more of an organic record than I thought it was gonna be.”
Earle co-produced the album with his friend William Alsobrook. Tension arose when the album was resequenced by Winter Harvest/Warner Brothers before release. Subsequent pressings of the album used Earle’s initial sequencing.
All songs written by Steve Earle unless otherwise noted. Listing reflects Earle’s sequencing of the record.
- “Mystery Train Part II” – 2:31
- “Hometown Blues” – 2:41
- “Sometimes She Forgets” – 3:01
- “Mercenary Song” – 2:39
- “Goodbye” – 4:57
- “Tom Ames’ Prayer” – 3:02
- “Nothin’ Without You” – 3:02
- “Angel Is the Devil” – 2:12
- “I’m Looking Through You” – 2:28 (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
- “Northern Winds” – 1:40 (Norman Blake)
- “Ben McCulloch” – 4:10
- “Rivers of Babylon” – 3:03 (Brent Dowe, Trevor McNaughton, Frank Farian, George Reyam]
- “Tecumseh Valley” – 4:28 (Townes Van Zandt)
***Wikipedia entry on “Peace through Strength”:
“Peace through strength” is a phrase which suggests that military power can help preserve peace. It is quite old and has famously been used by many leaders from Roman Emperor Hadrian in the first century AD to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in the 1980’s and current U.S. President Donald John Trump. The concept has long been associated with realpolitik. The idea has critics: “‘Peace through strength’ easily enough becomes ‘peace through war'” according to Andrew Bacevich.
Peace Through Strength (1952) is the title of a book about a defense plan by Bernard Baruch, a World War II adviser to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, published by Farrar, Straus and Young. During the 1964 American Presidential campaign, the Republican party spent about $5 million on “Peace through Strength” TV spots. For supporters of the MX missile in the 1970s, the missile symbolized “peace through strength.”
In 1980, Ronald Reagan used the phrase during his election challenge against Jimmy Carter, accusing the incumbent of weak, vacillating leadership that invited enemies to attack the USA and its allies. Reagan later considered it one of the mainstays of his foreign policy as President. In 1983, he explained it thus:
“We know that peace is the condition under which mankind was meant to flourish. Yet peace does not exist of its own will. It depends on us, on our courage to build it and guard it and pass it on to future generations. George Washington’s words may seem hard and cold today, but history has proven him right again and again. “To be prepared for war,” he said, “is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.” Well, to those who think strength provokes conflict, Will Rogers had his own answer. He said of the world heavyweight champion of his day: “I’ve never seen anyone insult Jack Dempsey.”
The approach was credited by many for forcing the Soviet Union to lose the arms race and end the Cold War. “Peace Through Strength” is the official motto of the Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan
“Peace Through Strength” appeared in the Republican Party platforms of 1980, 1984,1988,1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012.
Current U.S. President Donald Trump has used the phrase “Peace Through Strength” many times while explaining his foreign policy ideas, first in the 2016 Republican Party presidential primaries, then in the United States presidential election of 2016 against former First Lady, former Senator, and former Secretary of State, Democratic Party candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. After assuming office, President Trump cited the idea of “Peace Through Strength” as central to his overall “America First” foreign policy.
****Natality. Sometimes I like to honor the old days with word usage To MWGA, if you will. The old fashioned English meaning of natality (pre-1880), dating from around 1600 (end of the time of Elizabeth I of England) is “the year of one’s birth”.
From Dictionary.com
Word Origin and History for natality (n.)
late 15c., “birth,” from natal + -ity. Sense of “birth rate” is from 1884, from French natalité, used in the same sense.
*****Wikipedia entry for George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four:
Nineteen Eighty-Four, often published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949. The novel is set in Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of the superstate Oceania in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance, and public manipulation, dictated by a political system euphemistically named English Socialism (or Ingsoc in the government’s invented language, Newspeak) under the control of a privileged elite of the Inner Party, that persecutes individualism and independent thinking as “thoughtcrime”.
The tyranny is epitomized by Big Brother, the Party leader who enjoys an intense cult of personality but who may not even exist. The Party “seeks power entirely for its own sake. It is not interested in the good of others; it is interested solely in power.” The protagonist of the novel, Winston Smith, is a member of the Outer Party, who works for the Ministry of Truth (or Minitrue in Newspeak), which is responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. His job is to rewrite past newspaper articles, so that the historical record always supports the party line. The instructions that the workers receive specify the corrections as fixing misquotations and never as what they really are: forgeries and falsifications. A large part of the Ministry also actively destroys all documents that have been edited and do not contain the revisions; in this way, no proof exists that the government is lying. Smith is a diligent and skillful worker but secretly hates the Party and dreams of rebellion against Big Brother. The heroine of the novel, Julia, is based on Orwell’s second wife, Sonia Orwell.
As literary political fiction and dystopian science-fiction, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a classic novel in content, plot and style. Many of its terms and concepts, such as Big Brother, doublethink, thoughtcrime, Newspeak, Room 101, telescreen, 2 + 2 = 5, and memory hole, have entered into common use since its publication in 1949. Nineteen Eighty-Four popularized the adjective Orwellian, which describes official deception, secret surveillance, and manipulation of recorded history by a totalitarian or authoritarian state. In 2005, the novel was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It was awarded a place on both lists of Modern Library 100 Best Novels, reaching number 13 on the editor’s list, and 6 on the readers’ list. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 8 on the BBC’s survey The Big Read.
The keyword here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts. Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary. This demands a continuous alteration of the past, made possible by the system of thought which really embraces all the rest, and which is known in Newspeak as doublethink. Doublethink is basically the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.