FALSE-FLAG

Definition (noun, adjective):

1. A diversionary or propaganda tactic of deceiving an adversary into thinking that an operation was carried out by another party
2. Covert operations that are designed to deceive in such a way that activities appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them

Usage: In 1960, American Senator George Smathers suggested that the U.S. launch “a false-flag attack made on Guantanamo Bay which would give us the excuse of actually fomenting a fight which would then give us the excuse to go in and overthrow Castro.” whatreallyhappened.com (Yes, a conspiracy theory website)

Why you should care!

This word regained relevance when in interview with Fox News on December 11, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton appeared to suggest that Russian interference in the United States election was a false-flag committed by the Obama administration. Bolton questioned why the FBI did not uncover evidence of intervention by Russian hackers or other foreign intelligence services through its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server like it did with its election findings. “It’s not at all clear to me just viewing this from the outside that this hacking into the DNC and the RNC computers was not a false-flag operation,” Bolton said. “The question that has to be asked is, ‘Why did the Russians run their smart intelligence service against Hillary’s server but their dumb intelligence services against the election?’”

ORWELLIAN

Definition (adjective)

1. Characteristic of, or resembling the literary work of George Orwell or the totalitarian future described in his 1949 dystopian novel 1984.

Usage: “What we are witnessing here is an added, new chapter to George Orwell’s ‘1984’ where up is down and down is up. And sometimes now it happens on the same day,” Michael Moore said in an MSNBC interview with Chris Matthews.

Why you should care!

George Orwell’s classic book “1984,” saw a surge in sales in January, rising to the top of the Amazon best-seller list in the United States and leading its publisher to have tens of thousands of new copies printed.  In the novel, the term “newspeak” refers to language in which independent thought, or particularly unorthodox political ideas, has been eliminated. “Doublethink,” a part of “newspeak,” is the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct. Craig Burke, the publicity director at Penguin USA, said the demand for Orwell began to spike shortly after the interview Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to Donald J. Trump, gave on “Meet the Press.” In defending a false claim the White House press secretary Sean Spicer, that Mr. Trump had attracted the “largest audience ever to witness an inauguration,” Conway used a turn of phrase that struck some observers as similar to the dystopian world of “1984.” Mr. Spicer, she said, “gave alternative facts.” President Trump recently took his anti-media rhetoric to a new level, doubling down on his description of journalists as “the enemy of the people,” and has decided not to go to the annual White House Correspondents Dinner.

AUTOCRACY

Definition (noun)

1. A system of government by one person with absolute power
2. Domineering rule or control

Usage

“The US’ former ambassador to Russia has accused Donald Trump of emulating Vladimir Putin’s “autocratic” style in his opening weeks in office.” www.independent.co.uk

Why you should care!

The cover story of the March 2017 issue of The Atlantic reads “How to Build an Autocracy.”  In the article, writer David Frum captures the fears that may be running through the minds of Americans around the country – fears that President Trump will begin governing more and more as an authoritarian.  Trump’s travel ban, treatment of the media, talk of crackdown on inner-city violence, and pledge to “make America Great Again” greatly mirror the actions Vladimir Putin has taken during his presidency.  Both are able to create common enemies such as “terrorists,” the press, and protesters in order to mobilize groups of citizens who are fed up with current governing systems.  Though American democratic institutions are strong, and there are systems set to inhibit the abuse of power by each branch of the government, some believe that Trump poses a threat to traditional American democracy as the number of worldwide democratic states diminishes.  He represents something more radical.  “A president who plausibly owes his office at least in part to a clandestine intervention by a hostile foreign intelligence service?,” Frum writes. “Who uses the bully pulpit to target individual critics? Who creates blind trusts that are not blind, invites his children to commingle private and public business, and somehow gets the unhappy members of his own political party either to endorse his choices or shrug them off? If this were happening in Honduras, we’d know what to call it. It’s happening here instead, and so we are baffled.”