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The Two Georges, Orwell and Bush: A dramatic reading of
George Orwell's classic work 1984 Interspersed with recent
news clips from President Bush and others
100 years ago today, author and journalist George Orwell
was born. We'll spend the hour hearing excerpts from his classic
work 1984. The book introduced the terms "Big Brother," "thought
police," "newspeak" and"doublethink." We'll also hear clips
from President Bush, Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary
of State Colin Powell, Fox New's Bill O'Relly, Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld and broadcast footage of Donald Rumsfeld meeting
with Saddam Hussein in 1983.
But we begin at the Pentagon, yesterday. Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld told reporters: "I don't know anybody that
I can think of who has contended that the Iraqis had nuclear
weapons" I don't know anybody in any government or any
intelligence agency who suggested that the Iraqis had nuclear
weapons. That's fact number one."
Well we thought of someone who suggested otherwise, his
boss, President Bush:
"The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear
weapons program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings
with Iraqi nuclear scientists, a group he calls his 'nuclear
mujahideen' -- his nuclear holy warriors" Facing clear
evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the
smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."
That was Bush speaking last October in Cincinnati days before
Congress voted to give him the authority to wage a preemptive
attack.
Now we will turn to another George, George Orwell who wrote
about the rewriting of history.
He was born Eric Arthur Blair in India June 25, 1903. He
moved to England in 1907 and would eventually become one of
the country's most heralded writers. It was not until 1933
when he took the name George Orwell. He fought fascism in
the Spanish civil war. During the early 1940s he worked as
a journalist and editor for the BBC, the Observer and the
Manchester Evening News. He published Animal Farm in 1945
and 1984 four years. He died on January 21, 1950 at the age
of 46
Orwell's most famous book is 1984 is a warning about a futuristic
totalitarian government that controls the public by spreading
propaganda, monitoring citizens, changing language and rewriting
history. In 1984 Oceania is in perpetual war. The enemy may
regularly change but the state is always at war. And there
seems to be no end.
Today we will broadcast portions of 1984 read by Charles
Morgan and June Foray and produced by Paul Vangelisti over
a quarter of a century ago for Pacifica Radio. Special thanks
to Brian Dishazor and Mark Torres at the Pacifica
Radio Archives.
- a dramatic reading of 1984 reading by Charles Morgan
and June Forayand produced by Paul Vangelisti
- excerpts of recent clips featuring clips President Bush,
Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of State Colin
Powell, Fox New's Bill O'Relly, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, Democracy Now!'s Jeremy Scahill and footage of
Donald Rumsfeld meeting with Saddam Hussein in 1983.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Kris Abrams, Mike Burke, Angie
Karran, Ana Nogueira and Elizabeth Press. Mike Di Filippo
is our music maestro and engineer.
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