“We must rid ourselves once and for all of the Quaker-Papist babble about the sanctity of human life.”
--Leon Trotsky

"Did World War II give power to dictators on all sides? The A-Bomb did a lot of damage, and now Japan is free. Oddly enough, a high-level morality can emerge from low-level immorality. Had the Allies buried their heads in the sand, the Axis would've chopped them off."
--Neocon apologist

Never underestimate the power of a metaphor. A metaphor that gets mainstreamed becomes a truism. It doesn't matter whether it's true. Eventually, it takes on the character of mantra. As received wisdom, it trumps critical thinking. Hence the manufacturing of consent by the power elite.

President Lyndon Johnson spoke of "running a race" when he launched his war on poverty. His domestic policies sought to "level the playing field." Forty years later, his field has levelled us all.

Then there's the warfare state. Apologists for the War Party are forever accusing libertarians of burying their head in the sand. Irony escapes them. The War Party has buried their heads to the very real dangers associated with the warfare state. Look at 9/11. Why were those planes flown into those buildings?