.. Thanks ! Its an excellent primer on 'propaganda' .. which more and more is pronounced as 'talking points'.. In farm and ranch country its pronounced more colorfully.. and it lies on the ground.. where it dropped. Ideally it will break down under rain & snow and 'fertilize' the earth
I have to laugh.. Yesterday I was minding my own business & scrubbing the bird bath.. when a haunting sound invaded. It was the ice cream truck. It was not playing 'I'm a little teapot' or 'Frossty The Snowman'.. no no.. I rushed to the side door jerking it open for The Boss.. who was already steaming down the stairs laughing. It was the refrain of 'Home Home On The Range.. Where The Deer & The Antelope Play.. (made my day..)
It kind of caught the whole essence for (me anyway) of Politics, 'Politicians' .. their spokeswanks, designated liars, hymn singers.. and Mainstream Media coming in with the chorus. Then we get the pundits in 9 part harmony, thin skin critics, wannabe 'journalists' and the outright liars.. chirping around the refrain (and the reframe).. its all so soothing.. like soft ice cream on a hot day in June and Covid-19
Now make no mistake.. there are still guerilla outliers.. bandidos ready to rob the rich, to feed the poor.. highwaymen & highway women.. pirates, so to speak. Where facts & words matter. Small outposts of truth or ethics.. where there's zero trust The Rapture or Ethical Bitumen will ever reach or infect the open range.. much less save the caribou or wild salmon.. sayonara to those ecological food chains
Perhaps like me.. some of those folks also wonder who's really the 'brains' behind the coordinated daily insult to our intellignce.. It comes from all angles.. it knows no borders. In Washington, one supposes it emerges from a White House hive. Queen Trump certainly does not dream up this stuff, moment to moment. He doesn't have the capacity. Certainly, in Alberta it churns from Kenney, Harper / Novak.. and an astonishing array of abject losers.
As Neil Young might sing.. 'in the field of opportunity.. its ploughing time again..' The problem is.. in North American 'politics'.. its always ploughing time.. 24/7 and the taxpayers paying for it never know what's being planted.. daily.. or what bitter harvest it was all about.. anyway
I often picture the enablers of Trump and the powers he serves falling all over themselves to curry favour, always looking for the next big 'score' that will take them to the next level of sycophantic power. In my view, Sal, their time would be better spent in search of their lost souls.
The GOP template was honed in the 'Swiftboating' of John Kerry. In the aftermath, 60 Minutes interviewed two Republican messaging gurus who were disturbingly candid about what they had done and how it worked. Kerry had been a decorated combat veteran, commanding a Swift boat of the riverine force in Viet Nam. When he returned he joined the anti-war crowd. At one demonstration he threw his medals away, I think onto the White House lawns.
The GOP set out to discredit Kerry, making him out to be a liar and a traitor.
They rounded up some sailors who said Kerry had never been in combat, he never earned his decorations, the whole thing was a scam. It didn't matter that Kerry's crew stood behind him and denounced the scam. The seed was planted.
Then they went to step two - open-mouth radio, Limbaugh et al. They got it circulating, repeating it endlessly.
Step three was FOX - not the news division but the opinion guys, O'Reilly, Hannity, the white trash audience. That was the springboard to spread the story through Clearchannel and other rightwing TV and radio networks.
Step four was to drift the story to FOX News. Critical mass had been achieved. The mainstream networks started airing the story on a "some people say" basis. The last bastion, the major papers such as NYT and WaPo were the icing on the cake. Kerry's ox was gored. The damage could not be undone.
It's total corruption. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, 7-hour lines to vote in worrisome districts (i.e. black/latino), a public conveniently divided and conditioned with fear and bigotry, relentless propaganda, the Electoral College, a thoroughly "bought and paid for" Congress, politically groomed courts including the USSC. You have to sift through all that to find the last traces of the corpse of democracy and, even then, it might be a fingernail or a clump of hair.
.. Mound nailed most of it down.. but missed oRgAnIzEd RELIGION.. always ready to 'pile on' or pile in. Its always hard to predict what the current accolytes might do. Organized religion reminds me of cockroaches.. yes they serve a purpose, are blessed blah blah and woof woof.. and will be here after Keith Richards aint.. But remind me of any war or uprising other than those of Ghengis Khan, where religion was not an onlooker or gave the final blessing.. or 'celebrating' the burial of the dead.. or celebrating the winners at the head table
Ken Phillips in his 2005 book, American Theocracy, looks at the history of radical religion in late stage dominant nations as they enter decline. Spain, France, the Netherlands, Britain all experienced a bout of radical Christianity as they hit their zenith. They can get pretty weird, sometimes a little barbaric. Now it's America's turn.
.. Thanks ! Its an excellent primer on 'propaganda' .. which more and more is pronounced as 'talking points'.. In farm and ranch country its pronounced more colorfully.. and it lies on the ground.. where it dropped. Ideally it will break down under rain & snow and 'fertilize' the earth
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh.. Yesterday I was minding my own business & scrubbing the bird bath.. when a haunting sound invaded. It was the ice cream truck. It was not playing 'I'm a little teapot' or 'Frossty The Snowman'.. no no.. I rushed to the side door jerking it open for The Boss.. who was already steaming down the stairs laughing. It was the refrain of 'Home Home On The Range.. Where The Deer & The Antelope Play.. (made my day..)
It kind of caught the whole essence for (me anyway) of Politics, 'Politicians' .. their spokeswanks, designated liars, hymn singers.. and Mainstream Media coming in with the chorus. Then we get the pundits in 9 part harmony, thin skin critics, wannabe 'journalists' and the outright liars.. chirping around the refrain (and the reframe).. its all so soothing.. like soft ice cream on a hot day in June and Covid-19
Now make no mistake.. there are still guerilla outliers.. bandidos ready to rob the rich, to feed the poor.. highwaymen & highway women.. pirates, so to speak. Where facts & words matter. Small outposts of truth or ethics.. where there's zero trust The Rapture or Ethical Bitumen will ever reach or infect the open range.. much less save the caribou or wild salmon.. sayonara to those ecological food chains
Perhaps like me.. some of those folks also wonder who's really the 'brains' behind the coordinated daily insult to our intellignce.. It comes from all angles.. it knows no borders. In Washington, one supposes it emerges from a White House hive. Queen Trump certainly does not dream up this stuff, moment to moment. He doesn't have the capacity. Certainly, in Alberta it churns from Kenney, Harper / Novak.. and an astonishing array of abject losers.
As Neil Young might sing.. 'in the field of opportunity.. its ploughing time again..' The problem is.. in North American 'politics'.. its always ploughing time.. 24/7 and the taxpayers paying for it never know what's being planted.. daily.. or what bitter harvest it was all about.. anyway
I often picture the enablers of Trump and the powers he serves falling all over themselves to curry favour, always looking for the next big 'score' that will take them to the next level of sycophantic power. In my view, Sal, their time would be better spent in search of their lost souls.
DeleteDr. Goebbels would be impressed, Lorne.
ReplyDeleteHis influence on history has clearly been noted by some, Owen.
DeleteThe GOP template was honed in the 'Swiftboating' of John Kerry. In the aftermath, 60 Minutes interviewed two Republican messaging gurus who were disturbingly candid about what they had done and how it worked. Kerry had been a decorated combat veteran, commanding a Swift boat of the riverine force in Viet Nam. When he returned he joined the anti-war crowd. At one demonstration he threw his medals away, I think onto the White House lawns.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP set out to discredit Kerry, making him out to be a liar and a traitor.
They rounded up some sailors who said Kerry had never been in combat, he never earned his decorations, the whole thing was a scam. It didn't matter that Kerry's crew stood behind him and denounced the scam. The seed was planted.
Then they went to step two - open-mouth radio, Limbaugh et al. They got it circulating, repeating it endlessly.
Step three was FOX - not the news division but the opinion guys, O'Reilly, Hannity, the white trash audience. That was the springboard to spread the story through Clearchannel and other rightwing TV and radio networks.
Step four was to drift the story to FOX News. Critical mass had been achieved. The mainstream networks started airing the story on a "some people say" basis. The last bastion, the major papers such as NYT and WaPo were the icing on the cake. Kerry's ox was gored. The damage could not be undone.
It's total corruption. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, 7-hour lines to vote in worrisome districts (i.e. black/latino), a public conveniently divided and conditioned with fear and bigotry, relentless propaganda, the Electoral College, a thoroughly "bought and paid for" Congress, politically groomed courts including the USSC. You have to sift through all that to find the last traces of the corpse of democracy and, even then, it might be a fingernail or a clump of hair.
God save America? I don't think even he can now.
What you describe here is a nation nearing the end of its useful life in everything other than name, Mound.
Delete.. Mound nailed most of it down.. but missed oRgAnIzEd RELIGION.. always ready to 'pile on' or pile in. Its always hard to predict what the current accolytes might do. Organized religion reminds me of cockroaches.. yes they serve a purpose, are blessed blah blah and woof woof.. and will be here after Keith Richards aint.. But remind me of any war or uprising other than those of Ghengis Khan, where religion was not an onlooker or gave the final blessing.. or 'celebrating' the burial of the dead.. or celebrating the winners at the head table
ReplyDeleteDespite their tireless proclamations that they are doing God's work, many 'religious' frequently look like they are playing for the other team, Sal.
DeleteKen Phillips in his 2005 book, American Theocracy, looks at the history of radical religion in late stage dominant nations as they enter decline. Spain, France, the Netherlands, Britain all experienced a bout of radical Christianity as they hit their zenith. They can get pretty weird, sometimes a little barbaric. Now it's America's turn.
ReplyDeleteAnd, being the "greatest nation in the history of the world,"
DeleteThe U.S. is doing it with great panache, Mound.