Bringing the "Big Lie" home from Iraq

ANALYSIS

Stung by the overwhelming success of Obama's international tour in July, the GOP has increasingly turned towards ridicule and fatuous criticism to pull Obama off-message. To distract the media and the electorate from real issues, the McCain camp has paired derisive commercials (a la Paris and Britney) with outlandish claims (the "race card"). Unfortunately, it's been effective, and pulled Obama down in the polls.

What link does this have with foreign policy? I think we can trace the "Big Lie" tactic to what we've seen before, when it was used by the Bush Administration in their push for the invasion of Iraq.

Given the way that the US went to war against Iraq, we can safely say that Neo-conservatives accepted the Leninist justification of propaganda as a tool to achieve what they see as an entirely moral objective. Nor do I feel it's a stretch to conclude that the rise of neo-cons in the GOP has led the entire party to embracing the utility and morality of the Big Lie in achieving the GOP's vision for the 21st century. The results have been terrible for American foreign policy. The Big Lie technique is equally pernicious and bad for America when it's used for electoral gain.

In the case of Iraq, Democrats faltered in the face of grandiose lies and distortions. Similar to how comedy and sarcasm can undermine the GOP's obtuse idealism and moralism (see, for example, the Daily Show), audacious lies and gimmickry put Democrats on our heels.

As supporters of Obama, how can we more effectively respond to the "Big Lie" tactics used by McCain?

1) Humor: Obama recently made some strides by mocking the GOP.

2) Shaming and pointing out McCain's failure to be honorable.

3) Truth-telling in response to deception, although that seems irrelevant when speaking to those who are intentional know-nothings.

4) Counterattack.

As we move into the convention, the question of dealing with the Big Lie is looming over the delegates. They'll debate how hard we should hit McCain. Whether to bring up his age, his wealth and privilege, his Vietnam service and confession, and his marital history. And, of course, they'll argue over whether Hillary is the person who can help us do that.