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| Gleichschaltung at the National Endowment for the Arts |
| 2009-09-23 |
| Reading through this transcript, that is, the transcript of the NEA getting funding partners on board to promote the Obama agenda I was struck by two things. One was the aroma of self-intoxication. These bureaucrats and artists and activists are utterly besotted by the contemplation of their own virtue. They know what's good for the country, and what's good for you, and they're willing to devote themselves ceaselessly to making it happen. The second thing that strikes one about this transcript is the aura of menace that floats just behind the talk of passion, pushing the president's agenda, connecting with "labor unions, progressive groups," etc., etc. As Yosi Sergant's pep talk suggests, these people regard legal obstacles not as boundaries to be observed but as impediments to be overcome by "tactics," a word that frequently appears in the transcript. There is a German word for what we are witnessing at the NEA and elsewhere in the Obama administration's effort to push its agenda. It is Gleichschaltung. for more on the use of this term, read this It means two things: first, bringing all aspects of life into conformity with a given political line. And second, as a prerequisite for realizing that goal, the obliteration or at least marginalization of all opposition. |
| Posted by:lord garth |
| #1 Circa 1933-45: one of the most dangerous words in the German language - and one enforced not by ultra liberal university professors but by Gestapo. |
| Posted by: borgboy 2009-09-23 15:25 |