Despite the persistent canard that George W. Bush is just a good-times frat-boy who's wandered his way through life in a generally thoughtless way, what if, to borrow from a Paul Simon lyric, maybe he thinks too much?
"Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The process has to be conscious, or it would not be carried out with sufficient precision, but it also has to be unconscious, or it would bring with it a feeling of falsity and hence of guilt.
The rules are held together by adherence to a common doctrine. Not even the smallest deviation of opinion on the most unimportant subject can be tolerated. But it is also necessary to believe that events happened in the desired manner. And if it is necessary to rearrange one's memories or to tamper with written records, then it is necessary to forget that one has done so. The trick of doing this can be learned like any other mental technique. This is called "doublethink."
by George Orwell
Business Report (South Africa): US growth slows sharply as consumers spend less
Globe and Mail (Britain): Don't let politics confuse U.S. growth data
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