As far as Vichai N is concern “To the Victor, goes the spoils”.
What morality are you guys talking about. His team, the Yellows / Democrats / Military has won (for the time being… actually for the last 50 years) so he feels he can say anything he wants (I am asumming Vichai is a ‘He’, pardon me if I am wrong)
Morality, righteousness etc has nothing to do with it. Trying to debate with someone like Vichai logically is ignoring the obvious – The Victor Rules!
Thanks very much Matt, for posting those links to Burmese news sources. I was unaware of them.
As Thailand and Burma continue to converge I am becoming naturally more curious as to what Thailand can be expected to evolve into, the push by the red shirts is crushed by The Thai Regime, and so I will avail myself of your links to look back into past at Burma to see the future of Thailand.
Suzie –
While this forum isn’t about American domestic politics, a couple of points –
1 – Most Americans couldn’t find Burma on a map, nor do they really want to
2 – Of those that can, very few, if any, told Obama to trade with Burma
3 – The Democrats lost because of the economy – foreign policy plays almost no role in determining the outcomes of mid-term elections, especially US policy towards Southeast Asia (post-Vietnam) –
I think David Cameron and Kevin Rudd should focus on the economic aspect of their foreign policy when deal with Myanmar. Neither of their parties won a majority, so I think they should be cautious in their foreign policy maneuvering. Take Obama as an example, American people told him to trade with Burma but he continued to focus on the idea of democratic norms. So last Tuesday, Obama faced electoral wreckage! He’s now escaping to Asia pursuing “job focus” policy.
Asia is already living in the future; Myanmar is pursuing democracy and economic development. It’s time UK, US, and Australia make headway. As we all know, “a real man is composite of “economic man,” “political man,” “moral man,” “religious man,” etc. A man who was nothing but “political man” would be a beast, for he would be completely lacking in moral constraints. A man who was nothing but “moral man” would be a fool, for he would be completely lacking in prudence.”
This is indeed part of a national campaign that has been running for a number of years. It was given momentum by the findings from the NSO in their 2005-2006 national MICS survey that Thailand has very low rates of exclusive breastfeeding (5.4% for age 0-5 months). Apparently this is among the lowest rates in the region.
Depending on which agency’s views one listens to, there is a considerable difference regarding the implications of these findings for the health and development of children in Thailand. However, there is strong evidence that the multinational producers of milk formula have been highly active – and less than scrupulous in their methods – in promotion of their products in Thailand. For this reason, with encouragement from global bodies, the Department of Health launched their breastfeeding promotion campaign, and were able to take advantage of a certain royal event.
Chris Beale, linguistically, some transaltion cannot be translated directly or word by word. the word “р╕Щр╕б” originally means “milk” the word “р╣Бр╕бр╣И” means “mother”. So “Breast is best” is the best transaltion.
And, most importantly, please do not make it political.
“You think by attacking Amsterdam it somehow rationalises the April/May massacre? Stick to the issue and forget the person raising it for a moment.” (Toady#23)
Hey hey hey. Amsterdam started the ” stupid and nonsense statements” (in the words of Thaksin’s personal lawyer Noppadon). But if NM wishes to believe Amsterdam . . . oh well.
But I had long explained to you people that even ‘utmost restraint’ had limits . . . when Red leaders are intent to create a bloody situation. And that bloody situation they wish to create (under orders of Thaksin of course) was malevolently “blood of their own followers”.
(The limits of ‘utmost restraint’ btw were the Bangkok people themselves insisting that the violent Red nonsense be put to a stop to restore public order and PM Abhisit must comply to those wishes)
.
Grow up NM people and stop your charade of ‘Red deniability’!
Those interested in local coverage of the election should also check out the more than 10 smaller news agencies working out of ethnic areas, many of which publish stories in English, in addition to ethnic languages and Burmese.
Burma News International compiles some, but not all, of their stories – during a week like this it is more than worth it to check out their individual pages. Links can be had here: http://www.bnionline.net/website-links.html
For those interested what amounts to a kind of case study of voting in a rural area, the Independent Mon News Agency as put together impressive coverage; more than 20 articles in the last three days, including 10 covering voting yesterday. Read here: http://monnews.org/
Glad you seem to have a monopoly on truth, and your opinion free from ulterior motives or ignorance and not informed by prejudice and naivety.
Did I miss ASSK coming to power in 1990? Was she actually a candidate and voted in? Is it possible that you might be reading too much into these dynastic links? Perhaps you had in mind a certain George Bush Jr when you said their election winnings were not the result of their doings! I hope you don’t have issues with women aspiring to office.
What has collaboration with Japan got anything to do with these women? Perhaps their fathers should have been blind to Japan’s strategic aims in the region at the time and not driven by ulterior motives or ignorance in their quest for freedom from colonial rule.
“When facing with this dilemma, Burmese military establishment think and act in terms of national interest.”
What exactly was the dilemma? Some prodigal child trying to usurp power from them? Or winning an election not the result of her own doing? Is that your learned opinion supported by evidence and illuminated by reason?
And what national interest might we be talking about here in 1990? Who decided the NLD’s landslide election victory was not in the national interest but another 20 years of military rule was?
Forgive me for thinking perhaps I was living on a different planet and not you.
That’s right — under the circumstances they all do an excellent job. And all based on their long-term networks and persistence during many hard years. Its just unfortunate that their reports don’t always consistently filter through to the big global media stables.
At the same time, I think pretty much everyone (journalists, academics, analysts, politicians, bloggers, etc) relies on them to a great extent for the kinds of reports (usually based on vernacular sources) that are otherwise hard to come by…
While the Burmese exile media isn’t perfect, it actually does a decent job covering the elections. Irrawaddy, Mizzima, and DVB all have articles. Again, take some of it with a grain of salt, but that’s true of all media nowadays.
I’m sorry but your complete lack of moral and ethical integrity is actually quite sickening.
You bemoan Thaksin’s authoritarianism yet consider the ruthless use of snipers against medical workers and people armed with catapults to be an example of “restraint”.
As far as I’m concerned you’re the worst kind of apologist for the massacre because you claim some kind of ethical position.
At least the military folk like Prayuth make their aims clear.
Pseudo intellectuals like yourself hide behind transparently flawed and inadequate arguments and attempt to dress them as having some kind of rational basis.
You’re not fooling anyone.
Clutching like an abandoned child to some throwaway comment Noppadon made, in order to raise some spurious point about nothing… what is that? You think by attacking Amsterdam it somehow rationalises the April/May massacre? Stick to the issue and forget the person raising it for a moment.
And you think because a couple of speakers on a stage gave a couple of raucous speeches the deaths of 80+civilians is justified???
What is wrong with you? Are you just completely sociopathic? Only somebody who has no compassion, no understanding of human rights, no access to any kind of moral or ethical framework and no access to international law would consider free live fire zones and snipers to be justified in such circumstances. I would call such a person sociopathic – what you use to describe it?
The simple fact is that the Thai military, in league with the elite and backed by Thai bureaucrats and the judicial system have committed massacre after massacre.
And they always have managed to find a ready pool of of ethically bankrupt and denuded dupes willing to back them up.
Indeed we need a change. However, change should come from those writers who describe about Myanmar with either ulterior motives or ignorance.
In politics, it is important to have the ability to distinguish between truth and opinion –between what is true objectively and rationally, supported by evidence and illuminated by reason, and what is only a subjective judgment, removed from facts as they are and informed by prejudice and naivety.
Instead of blindly advocating the idea of democratization, we need to ask ourselves why and what the Burmese military’s strategic rationale is. We must approach political reality with a kind of rational outline that suggest to us the possible meanings of foreign policy.
As I look at events in the Asia Pacific region, I see organized pattern that gears toward a certain strategic objective. For example, after successfully setting the stage mobilizing political situation to remove Dr. Puey Ungphakorn, the key leader of “the Allies” from Thailand on October 6, 1976. The next step I see was how children of the Allies were chased into exile e.g. Ji Ungpakorn while children of those who collaborated with “the Axis” were put to power.
In Indonesia, daughter of Sukarno, in collaboration with Japan that drove the Dutch out of Indonesia came to power in 2001. In Thailand, son of Pin Choonhavan who collaborated with Japan in staging the 1948 coup d’etat, that drove Pridi Banomyong the key leader of “the Allies” out of Siam, came to power in 1988. In Burma, daughter of Aung San who collaborated with Japan that drove the British out of Burma came to power in 1990.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was a quiet politically non-active, while Chartchai Choonhavan and Aung San Suu Kyi were just arrived back to Thailand and Myanmar after spending decades abroad. Their election winnings were not the result of their doings!
When facing with this dilemma, Burmese military establishment think and act in terms of national interest. It is important to make a sharp distinction between what is desirable everywhere and at all times and what is possible under the concrete circumstances of time and place.
We simply cannot blindly advocate the in-trend constructivism approach to ideas about democracy without understanding the strategic context of the Asia Pacific region.
Impressive statue indeed, almost double the size of the Fa Ngum statue. Yet the original plans from 1996 had been even more ambitious and promised a huge monument with Chao Anouvong riding a war elephant. Probably too expensive.
I’ve read somewhere in the Vientiane Times that Anuvong’s gesture represents him ‘welcoming back’ the Lao deported by the Siamese in previous wars.
Thanks Nich for the link to Ashley South’s piece. It’s the p word the West is likely to hide behind as usual.
True, in practice there is no choice but to deal with whoever happens to be in power. Nothing succeeds like success. And they are missing out on a sizeable market after all, losing out to the Chinese and the rest. The expression in Burmese is ‘to kiss while holding one’s breath where there exists no love’. Well, if not for love, definitely for money.
“How does any of this have to do with taking Abhisit and military leaders to the ICC over breaches of human rights and crimes against humanity?” (Octavian #21)
Well . . . here we go again.
Maybe Octavian you should consult Thaksin’s personal lawyer Noppadon who wisely cautioned : “If he (Amsterdam) presents stupid and nonsense statements, he would risk being rejected and ridiculed because those attending the meeting have their own judgement and follow the situation in Thailand”.
Like I told everybody: Abhisit demonstrated “utmost restraint” while the Reds leadership was guilty , beyond reasonable doubt, of “inciting violence”.
“(a) The Reds marched to protest in Bangkok clearly with violence in mind (video clips of Arismun, Nattawut et al with unadulterated venom and violent threats);”
So? What’s your point? It turned out they were all talk, anyway, as far as we know. I’ll get to this in a bit…
“(b) For 3 months Abhisit maintained ‘utmost restraint’, while the Reds occupied the central business district of Bangkok, launched incessant M79 grenade attacks indiscriminately, vandalized several buildings including the PM’s residence, and, the nightly ‘incitements’ of the Red leaders at the Rajaprasong podium punctuated by threats and personal insults.”
Do you have any proof whatsoever of Reds using M79 grenades? Or is this a claim based on Yellow media just saying things without proof?
Personal insults… against an illegally installed government in a “democrat” country. So what?
How does any of this have to do with taking Abhisit and military leaders to the ICC over breaches of human rights and crimes against humanity?
As for quoting the Nation, it’s pretty silly. It’s a Yellow PR media wing (AKA propaganda – just ask the man who invented the PR profession).
In a country where popular elected governments are thrown out by the military and suscpicous court rulings, someone saying it’s stupid to investigate the fragile state of democracy in Thailand is clearly sensationalist, trying to inspire emotional reaction rather than reason.
“….. in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.”
Hubris. A prelude statement to justify fascism. Although true, it must be placed aside, and people must play the game as best they can.
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Robert Amsterdam on Show Trials, Political Trials and Crimes Against Humanity
As far as Vichai N is concern “To the Victor, goes the spoils”.
What morality are you guys talking about. His team, the Yellows / Democrats / Military has won (for the time being… actually for the last 50 years) so he feels he can say anything he wants (I am asumming Vichai is a ‘He’, pardon me if I am wrong)
Morality, righteousness etc has nothing to do with it. Trying to debate with someone like Vichai logically is ignoring the obvious – The Victor Rules!
Local reporting on Burma’s election
Thanks very much Matt, for posting those links to Burmese news sources. I was unaware of them.
As Thailand and Burma continue to converge I am becoming naturally more curious as to what Thailand can be expected to evolve into, the push by the red shirts is crushed by The Thai Regime, and so I will avail myself of your links to look back into past at Burma to see the future of Thailand.
Local reporting on Burma’s election
Suzie –
While this forum isn’t about American domestic politics, a couple of points –
1 – Most Americans couldn’t find Burma on a map, nor do they really want to
2 – Of those that can, very few, if any, told Obama to trade with Burma
3 – The Democrats lost because of the economy – foreign policy plays almost no role in determining the outcomes of mid-term elections, especially US policy towards Southeast Asia (post-Vietnam) –
Local reporting on Burma’s election
I think David Cameron and Kevin Rudd should focus on the economic aspect of their foreign policy when deal with Myanmar. Neither of their parties won a majority, so I think they should be cautious in their foreign policy maneuvering. Take Obama as an example, American people told him to trade with Burma but he continued to focus on the idea of democratic norms. So last Tuesday, Obama faced electoral wreckage! He’s now escaping to Asia pursuing “job focus” policy.
Asia is already living in the future; Myanmar is pursuing democracy and economic development. It’s time UK, US, and Australia make headway. As we all know, “a real man is composite of “economic man,” “political man,” “moral man,” “religious man,” etc. A man who was nothing but “political man” would be a beast, for he would be completely lacking in moral constraints. A man who was nothing but “moral man” would be a fool, for he would be completely lacking in prudence.”
Breast is best
This is indeed part of a national campaign that has been running for a number of years. It was given momentum by the findings from the NSO in their 2005-2006 national MICS survey that Thailand has very low rates of exclusive breastfeeding (5.4% for age 0-5 months). Apparently this is among the lowest rates in the region.
Depending on which agency’s views one listens to, there is a considerable difference regarding the implications of these findings for the health and development of children in Thailand. However, there is strong evidence that the multinational producers of milk formula have been highly active – and less than scrupulous in their methods – in promotion of their products in Thailand. For this reason, with encouragement from global bodies, the Department of Health launched their breastfeeding promotion campaign, and were able to take advantage of a certain royal event.
Breast is best
Chris Beale, linguistically, some transaltion cannot be translated directly or word by word. the word “р╕Щр╕б” originally means “milk” the word “р╣Бр╕бр╣И” means “mother”. So “Breast is best” is the best transaltion.
And, most importantly, please do not make it political.
Robert Amsterdam on Show Trials, Political Trials and Crimes Against Humanity
“You think by attacking Amsterdam it somehow rationalises the April/May massacre? Stick to the issue and forget the person raising it for a moment.” (Toady#23)
Hey hey hey. Amsterdam started the ” stupid and nonsense statements” (in the words of Thaksin’s personal lawyer Noppadon). But if NM wishes to believe Amsterdam . . . oh well.
But I had long explained to you people that even ‘utmost restraint’ had limits . . . when Red leaders are intent to create a bloody situation. And that bloody situation they wish to create (under orders of Thaksin of course) was malevolently “blood of their own followers”.
(The limits of ‘utmost restraint’ btw were the Bangkok people themselves insisting that the violent Red nonsense be put to a stop to restore public order and PM Abhisit must comply to those wishes)
.
Grow up NM people and stop your charade of ‘Red deniability’!
Local reporting on Burma’s election
Those interested in local coverage of the election should also check out the more than 10 smaller news agencies working out of ethnic areas, many of which publish stories in English, in addition to ethnic languages and Burmese.
Burma News International compiles some, but not all, of their stories – during a week like this it is more than worth it to check out their individual pages. Links can be had here: http://www.bnionline.net/website-links.html
For those interested what amounts to a kind of case study of voting in a rural area, the Independent Mon News Agency as put together impressive coverage; more than 20 articles in the last three days, including 10 covering voting yesterday. Read here: http://monnews.org/
What will happen in Burma after the election?
Suzie Wong
Glad you seem to have a monopoly on truth, and your opinion free from ulterior motives or ignorance and not informed by prejudice and naivety.
Did I miss ASSK coming to power in 1990? Was she actually a candidate and voted in? Is it possible that you might be reading too much into these dynastic links? Perhaps you had in mind a certain George Bush Jr when you said their election winnings were not the result of their doings! I hope you don’t have issues with women aspiring to office.
What has collaboration with Japan got anything to do with these women? Perhaps their fathers should have been blind to Japan’s strategic aims in the region at the time and not driven by ulterior motives or ignorance in their quest for freedom from colonial rule.
“When facing with this dilemma, Burmese military establishment think and act in terms of national interest.”
What exactly was the dilemma? Some prodigal child trying to usurp power from them? Or winning an election not the result of her own doing? Is that your learned opinion supported by evidence and illuminated by reason?
And what national interest might we be talking about here in 1990? Who decided the NLD’s landslide election victory was not in the national interest but another 20 years of military rule was?
Forgive me for thinking perhaps I was living on a different planet and not you.
Local reporting on Burma’s election
Thanks Dom,
That’s right — under the circumstances they all do an excellent job. And all based on their long-term networks and persistence during many hard years. Its just unfortunate that their reports don’t always consistently filter through to the big global media stables.
At the same time, I think pretty much everyone (journalists, academics, analysts, politicians, bloggers, etc) relies on them to a great extent for the kinds of reports (usually based on vernacular sources) that are otherwise hard to come by…
Best wishes to all,
Nich
Local reporting on Burma’s election
While the Burmese exile media isn’t perfect, it actually does a decent job covering the elections. Irrawaddy, Mizzima, and DVB all have articles. Again, take some of it with a grain of salt, but that’s true of all media nowadays.
Robert Amsterdam on Show Trials, Political Trials and Crimes Against Humanity
@Vichai N
I’m sorry but your complete lack of moral and ethical integrity is actually quite sickening.
You bemoan Thaksin’s authoritarianism yet consider the ruthless use of snipers against medical workers and people armed with catapults to be an example of “restraint”.
As far as I’m concerned you’re the worst kind of apologist for the massacre because you claim some kind of ethical position.
At least the military folk like Prayuth make their aims clear.
Pseudo intellectuals like yourself hide behind transparently flawed and inadequate arguments and attempt to dress them as having some kind of rational basis.
You’re not fooling anyone.
Clutching like an abandoned child to some throwaway comment Noppadon made, in order to raise some spurious point about nothing… what is that? You think by attacking Amsterdam it somehow rationalises the April/May massacre? Stick to the issue and forget the person raising it for a moment.
And you think because a couple of speakers on a stage gave a couple of raucous speeches the deaths of 80+civilians is justified???
What is wrong with you? Are you just completely sociopathic? Only somebody who has no compassion, no understanding of human rights, no access to any kind of moral or ethical framework and no access to international law would consider free live fire zones and snipers to be justified in such circumstances. I would call such a person sociopathic – what you use to describe it?
The simple fact is that the Thai military, in league with the elite and backed by Thai bureaucrats and the judicial system have committed massacre after massacre.
And they always have managed to find a ready pool of of ethically bankrupt and denuded dupes willing to back them up.
What will happen in Burma after the election?
Indeed we need a change. However, change should come from those writers who describe about Myanmar with either ulterior motives or ignorance.
In politics, it is important to have the ability to distinguish between truth and opinion –between what is true objectively and rationally, supported by evidence and illuminated by reason, and what is only a subjective judgment, removed from facts as they are and informed by prejudice and naivety.
Instead of blindly advocating the idea of democratization, we need to ask ourselves why and what the Burmese military’s strategic rationale is. We must approach political reality with a kind of rational outline that suggest to us the possible meanings of foreign policy.
As I look at events in the Asia Pacific region, I see organized pattern that gears toward a certain strategic objective. For example, after successfully setting the stage mobilizing political situation to remove Dr. Puey Ungphakorn, the key leader of “the Allies” from Thailand on October 6, 1976. The next step I see was how children of the Allies were chased into exile e.g. Ji Ungpakorn while children of those who collaborated with “the Axis” were put to power.
In Indonesia, daughter of Sukarno, in collaboration with Japan that drove the Dutch out of Indonesia came to power in 2001. In Thailand, son of Pin Choonhavan who collaborated with Japan in staging the 1948 coup d’etat, that drove Pridi Banomyong the key leader of “the Allies” out of Siam, came to power in 1988. In Burma, daughter of Aung San who collaborated with Japan that drove the British out of Burma came to power in 1990.
Megawati Sukarnoputri was a quiet politically non-active, while Chartchai Choonhavan and Aung San Suu Kyi were just arrived back to Thailand and Myanmar after spending decades abroad. Their election winnings were not the result of their doings!
When facing with this dilemma, Burmese military establishment think and act in terms of national interest. It is important to make a sharp distinction between what is desirable everywhere and at all times and what is possible under the concrete circumstances of time and place.
We simply cannot blindly advocate the in-trend constructivism approach to ideas about democracy without understanding the strategic context of the Asia Pacific region.
Size matters
Impressive statue indeed, almost double the size of the Fa Ngum statue. Yet the original plans from 1996 had been even more ambitious and promised a huge monument with Chao Anouvong riding a war elephant. Probably too expensive.
I’ve read somewhere in the Vientiane Times that Anuvong’s gesture represents him ‘welcoming back’ the Lao deported by the Siamese in previous wars.
Thai institutions: Unions
My link in comment 2 is now redundant. I think pressure had been put on the blogger because of a subsequent post. However it has now resurfaced under:
http://hirvikatu10.net/timeupthailand/
Some of the original posts (not specific to Thailand) have disappeared, including the one referred to by john francis lee.
I am working on it.
What will happen in Burma after the election?
Thanks Nich for the link to Ashley South’s piece. It’s the p word the West is likely to hide behind as usual.
True, in practice there is no choice but to deal with whoever happens to be in power. Nothing succeeds like success. And they are missing out on a sizeable market after all, losing out to the Chinese and the rest. The expression in Burmese is ‘to kiss while holding one’s breath where there exists no love’. Well, if not for love, definitely for money.
Robert Amsterdam on Show Trials, Political Trials and Crimes Against Humanity
“How does any of this have to do with taking Abhisit and military leaders to the ICC over breaches of human rights and crimes against humanity?” (Octavian #21)
Well . . . here we go again.
Maybe Octavian you should consult Thaksin’s personal lawyer Noppadon who wisely cautioned : “If he (Amsterdam) presents stupid and nonsense statements, he would risk being rejected and ridiculed because those attending the meeting have their own judgement and follow the situation in Thailand”.
Like I told everybody: Abhisit demonstrated “utmost restraint” while the Reds leadership was guilty , beyond reasonable doubt, of “inciting violence”.
Nick Nostitz on the PAD’s third coming
Thanks again Nick, for repetitively showing us what a professional journalism means.
Robert Amsterdam on Show Trials, Political Trials and Crimes Against Humanity
@ Vichai N
“(a) The Reds marched to protest in Bangkok clearly with violence in mind (video clips of Arismun, Nattawut et al with unadulterated venom and violent threats);”
So? What’s your point? It turned out they were all talk, anyway, as far as we know. I’ll get to this in a bit…
“(b) For 3 months Abhisit maintained ‘utmost restraint’, while the Reds occupied the central business district of Bangkok, launched incessant M79 grenade attacks indiscriminately, vandalized several buildings including the PM’s residence, and, the nightly ‘incitements’ of the Red leaders at the Rajaprasong podium punctuated by threats and personal insults.”
Do you have any proof whatsoever of Reds using M79 grenades? Or is this a claim based on Yellow media just saying things without proof?
Personal insults… against an illegally installed government in a “democrat” country. So what?
How does any of this have to do with taking Abhisit and military leaders to the ICC over breaches of human rights and crimes against humanity?
As for quoting the Nation, it’s pretty silly. It’s a Yellow PR media wing (AKA propaganda – just ask the man who invented the PR profession).
In a country where popular elected governments are thrown out by the military and suscpicous court rulings, someone saying it’s stupid to investigate the fragile state of democracy in Thailand is clearly sensationalist, trying to inspire emotional reaction rather than reason.
Robert Amsterdam on Show Trials, Political Trials and Crimes Against Humanity
@ Steve:
“….. in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.”
Hubris. A prelude statement to justify fascism. Although true, it must be placed aside, and people must play the game as best they can.