"He might turn the speech into the usual denunciation of traitors and thought-criminals, but that was a little too obvious, while to invent a victory at the front, or some triumph of over-production in the Ninth Three-Year Plan, might complicate the records too much.
What was needed was a piece of pure fantasy. Suddenly there sprang into his mind, ready-made as it were, the image of a certain Comrade Ogilvy, who had recently died in battle, in heroic circumstances. There were occasions when Big Brother devoted his Order for the Day to commemorating some humble, rank-and-file Party member whose life and death he held up as an example worthy to be followed.
Today he should commemorate Comrade Ogilvy. It was true that there was no such person as Comrade Ogilvy, but a few lines of print and a couple of faked photographs would soon bring him into existence," - George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
(Photo: Kevin Tillman testifies on what his family was told about the death of his brother Patrick Tillman, who was killed during a friendly fire incident while serving in Afghanistan, during a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Capitol Hill, April 24, 2007 in Washington, DC. Patrick Tillman was killed during a friendly fire incident while serving in Afghanistan, but the military initially reported the death as part of and engagement with the enemy. The hearing is focused on misleading information from the battlefield. By Mark Wilson/Getty Images)