“[February 12, 2010] As senators, Barack Obama and Joe Biden both opposed the troop surge in Iraq -- and Biden even wanted to divide the country into three sections.
But as vice president, Biden is taking credit for success in Iraq.
"I am very optimistic about Iraq," he said. "I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration."
– Reference (1) at bottom.
For years, Progressives (mostly Democrats) have been perfecting their skills in rewriting history. It mostly started with Woodrow Wilson, a Republican (yes, there are Republican Progressives), and then, Progressivism escalated and boomed with the 12-year presidency (1933-1945) of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). Roosevelt (a Democrat) would have been President for 16 years but for the fact that he died shortly after being elected to a fourth term. As a result of this power-wielding debacle, the American people wisely limited the Presidency to two four-year terms:
“The Twenty-second Amendment (Amendment XXII) of the United States Constitution sets a term limit for the President of the United States [The same person can only be elected twice]. The Congress passed the amendment on March 21, 1947.[1] It was ratified by the requisite number of states on February 27, 1951”
– Reference (2) at bottom.
FDR saddled America with a number of socialism programs, characterized by his New Deal, in which he endeavored to progress beyond the Constitution (that's how Progressivism got its name); ever since, modern Progressives have continued to rewrite history to praise and worship FDR instead of appropriately excoriating him for his socialism programs that paved the way for the entitlement mess America is in today.
The rewriting of history to portray FDR as a hero has been going on for more than 50 years. But Progressives are also busily rewriting current history.
The Progressive rewriting of history to make Obama look heroic has only been going on since Obama started his never-ending campaign for President (he can't govern so he campaigns). Joe Biden's and Robert Gibbs' efforts are simply the most obvious and ridiculous rewrite, concerning Obama, attempted to date.
Rewriting history is, of course, lying, but it is not an example of simple lying. Simple lying is an effort to be untruthful about some past event or events. But very often the truth or falsity of those events is not widely known, and the purpose of the liar is usually to gain some personal-out (avoidance of accountability) or some personal advantage.
Rewriting history often involves truth and falsity that is widely known, at least at the time of occurrence of the event or events that are to be rewritten.
And, in fact, wide knowledge of the truth or falsity of some event or events is what fuels a desire to rewrite history. The purpose in rewriting history is to obliterate or blur in people's minds, the known truth or falsity of some event or events, and consequently to pass a counterfeit version of history on to future generations as truth. An action such as this can only be understood in the context of promoting some cause, usually some political cause, but always some ideological cause. Rewriting history is an example of propaganda-lying for ideological purposes.
An attempt to rewrite history was the first revealed act of evil in the world. Satan attempted to rewrite history when he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. God's command to Adam and Eve concerning the fruit of the tree of Good and Evil was clear, truthful, and clearly known by both Adam and Eve. What God had declared was history, and it was well known to the two people involved. But Satan attempted the world's first rewrite of history with these words:
“Now the serpent [Satan's disguise] was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?
The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"
The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!
"For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." – Genesis 3:1-5 [NASB]
Notice the components of Satan's attempted rewrite of history.
First was a lie by equivocation [using different meanings of a particular key word]--word games.
Satan undoubtedly knew that Adam and Eve would not immediately drop-dead physically (one meaning of the word die). Furthermore, Satan knew that this was not what God meant. God meant that the result of sinful disobedience would eventually bring about spiritual death (God's meaning of the word die). This was God's absolute truth that Satan rewrote with the equivocation, the lie, “You surely will not die!”
Second was the use of a partial truth mixed with a lie “...you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
What a wicked deception. Yes, Adam and Eve did come to know, painfully, the difference between good and evil but this new knowledge did not in any sense place Adam and Eve on an equal footing with God as is implied by Satan with his use of the term “like” God
It is sobering to reflect on the fact that the very first revealed evil (moral evil) in our world was Satan's attempt to rewrite history; hence, rewriting history is the world's oldest evil (excluding Satan's rebellion).
We see the same tactics used today when rewriting of history is attempted: 1) Equivocation (word games), 2) Partial truth mixed with lies.
The total and complete obviousness of Joe Biden's attempt (supported by Robert Gibbs) to rewrite the history of the Iraq conflict so as to give credit for any current success to the Obama Administration simply boggles the mind with it's brazen effrontery. There are literally millions of people who know and can Google-up proof that Biden's and Gibbs' tale is a complete 100-percent falsehood. This is the tactic of the big lie. Continue telling the big lie even when it is irrefutable false. Biden and Gibbs are perfect role-models for propagandizing-apparatchiks, political thugs. One can picture them in rapt attention when the BamFather directs his staff to make someone a Chicago-deal "they can't refuse."
The pertinent facts on this Iraq discussion are a matter of public record and can be found by anyone willing to do a little simple searching on the Internet:
The statement [by Joe Biden and defended by Robert Gibbs] claiming credit for the ultimately favorable outcome in Iraq was striking (attention getting) and laughable. This is because:
a) Obama had opposed the war from the beginning,
b) both Obama and Biden opposed the U.S. Troop surge of 2007 by President George W. Bush widely credited with producing the relative peace and stability to enable a U.S. exit,
c) both Obama and Biden predicted incorrectly that the troop surge would actually worsen sectarian strife there.
d) Biden even proposed partitioning the country into separate areas, and
e) the status of forces agreement with Iraq that established the ongoing U.S. troop withdrawal was negotiated by the preceding Republican administration long before Obama took the oath of office twice.
– Reference (3) at bottom.
Understand, this latest foray into fraudulent history by Joe Biden and Robert Gibbs (no doubt approved by Obama) is not just another example of their willingness to tell an outright lie. No...more than that. It is a perfect example of the chutzpah of the world's oldest evil, the big lie: We'll just rewrite history.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) Republicans Object to Biden Taking Credit for Success in Iraq
(2) Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution
(3) Gibbs defends Biden claim that Iraq is a great Obama achievement, though both men opposed it
