Some New Orwellian Slogans are "Misery is joy" and "Hate is Love"

First, consider this clip of Bill Maher explaining how certain people have decided to hate him because he “won’t hate someone else”:

Maher’s reaction ties into a recent essay of mine at The Federalist connected to several underlying themes of this book club project: “Joy” Rhetoric is an Orwellian Attempt to Hide Democrats Hatred. My piece looks at the abuse of language, particularly doublespeak, which reverses the meaning of words. I specifically look at the “joy” rhetoric the Kamala Harris campaign has adopted without reference to any policy prescriptions. 

Why talk about “joy”--rather than empathy, say--during a time of such intense misery? Especially when nothing is being done to alleviate suffering due to inflation, crime, and drug addiction among other social ills that have risen exponentially over the past few years?

The “joy” rhetoric appears to distract from that misery and have us accept it.  You may recall the doublespeak slogans in George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four:  “Slavery is freedom.  War is peace. Ignorance is strength.”  The Harris campaign seems to have added to that list “Misery is joy.”  I daresay another slogan brewing seems to be “Hate is love.”  After all, some claim to love America while destroying it. Some try to sow divisions by getting people to hate one another, all while claiming to stand for unity and love.

I pray we can safely navigate our way out of this mess. It's a mess that was pointed out thousands of years ago in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 5, Verse 20: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Woe to those who are intelligent in their own eyes and expert in their own sight!”