Troops On The Streets, Growing Government Power, & A Complaint Conservative Base: Persuasive Propaganda In Context

In my last article, I wrote about Operation Mockingbird, and the idea that Tulsi Gabbard herself may be engaging in the spread of disinformation by bringing attention to the propagandizing nature of the media. The point of that article wasn’t that she was lying, but using the belief held by most conservatives that it is the liberal media mostly responsible for spreading lies and propaganda. The Trump administration, after receiving a great deal of blowback for trying to brush off the Epstein issue, is frantically trying to retain the image they have created. An image of a president whose every single action is historic and legendary in nature, a man who is able to strategically outsmart everyone on the planet in a brilliant game of four-dimensional chess that only he, and he alone, is capable of playing. For the most part, the conservative electorate has bought into this perception without even considering the possibility that it is a constructed narrative designed to reinforce an existing belief that Trump saved us from a Hillary Clinton presidency. After eight years of Obama and his anti-American rhetoric, there was certainly a fear of eight more of the same. Trump’s victory brought some much sought after relief. That relief, however, soon became a poison of sorts as Trump became an unquestionable figure, and every move he made was seen as a victory without any critical thought. Even today, many Trump supporters have seemingly accepted the idea that the Epstein issue is one that needs to be forgotten, as Trump has brought us so many major wins, that the rape and trafficking of children pales in comparison. Now, the country sits on the edge of their seats, gnawing at the bit in anticipation of Obama, Clinton and other “deep state” operatives being arrested and tried for treason over Russia gate. Over the past few weeks, while Americans are waiting for this to happen, Trump has signed a bill that will advance the surveillance state and create a digital currency, there have been four mass shootings, and Trump has federalized the D.C. police while suggesting he may do the same with other big cities. The reason they call it Operation Mockingbird is because they are mocking us for our gullibility, and the ease in which they can move us from one issue to the next with no resolution to the last issue we were focused on.

Over the past few years, I have tried to draw attention to the realities of propaganda and the psychology of persuasion. In the next few weeks, I will take a deeper dive into this. I have, in the past, shown that there was a great deal of research done in the early parts of the twentieth century, concerning the effects of media messaging, and how best to frame messages to gain compliance. It was found at this time that the way certain parts of a message is framed plays a major role in how it shapes the public’s views and perceptions. The knowledge held on this subject as early as the 1920s was so extensive that it was being applied to the academic fields of social and political studies. It was also being studied for its potential in social policy development and usefulness to lawmakers. This is a reality that seems to go unnoticed by the American public. They understand that the media lies, and there is a certain amount of propaganda being fed to them. What they seem to miss is the idea that propaganda and persuasion are most effective when it reflects the cognitive biases of the targeted audience. I don’t think I can say this enough, but the research being conducted on persuasion and compliance gaining shows that one, mass persuasion is more effective when the message aligns with the pre-existing beliefs and psychological traits of the audience. Two, compliance is easier gained when the targeted recipient of a message is relieved of some kind of fear-based stimulus and given a different option. Studies have been conducted on these ideas for over one hundred years. In other words, it would be my opinion that social scientists had a pretty good idea that Donald Trump would be able to capture the undivided attention of the conservative electorate and be able to get away with things no Democrat would have been able to do. This is because the relief felt when he won was so overwhelming after eight years of Obama, that they accepted anything he said, and the more the media portrayed a conflict between him and the left, the more he became an unquestionable cultural icon.

“Social psychologists have amassed considerable evidence that affirms (affirms, not suggests) a truism about propaganda—that is, the more people are exposed to an idea, the more apt they are to accept it” (Jowett & O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion, p. 179).

It wasn’t long after his first victory that these fantastic ideas that were too good to be true, by the way, began to take root in the minds of the conservative electorate. Ideas that most likely were fed to them through social media, and talk radio programs like Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin and Michael Savage. In fact, the first time I heard the terms four D chess, or never-Trumper, was on the Rush Limbaugh show. Everything from conservative media was being presented in a way that created the perception of a brilliant businessman, whose ability to outsmart his opponents surpassed anything we have ever seen before. What made it even more believable was that every time he made a move that seemingly disrupted the left’s agenda, you would see videos of liberals losing their ever-loving minds. The term “snowflake” became popular slang to reference anyone who could be portrayed as having their little feelings hurt over the great, pro-American things Trump was doing. The term never-Trumper was used to discredit conservatives who were less than enthralled. Anything that presented Trump in a bad way, even when it directly opposed the values held by his voters, was discredited as fake news. All of this, along with the psyop known as Qanon; which presented the idea that Trump was going to grow government power to defeat the deep state, reinforced an unbreakable perception that Trump was the man. Trump was saving America, and he is the only one who can do it. All of this was thrust in our faces after eight years of Obama, and his anti-American rhetoric. People were desperate, and desperate people will often accept things that they don’t necessarily understand if it promises a sense of normalcy and familiarity.

Any revolutionary change must be proceeded by a passive, affirmative, non-challenging attitude toward change among the mass of our people. They must feel so frustrated, so defeated, so lost, and so futureless in the prevailing system that they are willing to let go of the past and chance the future. This acceptance is the reformation essential to any revolution. (Alinsky, Rules for Radicals, p. xix)

The question Americans need to be asking themselves is how far along is the knowledge of public opinion manipulation? If they have been studying this as early as the 1920s, when the major form of mass communication at the time was radio, how far along are they now after the invention of the television, the internet and today’s social media environment? I would have to argue, and this is mostly speculation, but there is some existing proof, that social media itself is being used as an experiment to determine how public perceptions can be manipulated, and opinions guided, through our own willingness to propagate information that we don’t know is true or false. Social media sites such as Facebook, and X, are awash with memes or quick-a-minute headlines that reflect popular belief and perception, which are then shared by users who in most cases, don’t do any research to find out any truth behind what they are sharing. This is called participatory propaganda, and it is built off the idea of an existing social conflict, such as the one in the United States between the political right and left, which is a false paradigm meant to keep us divided and fighting amongst ourselves. When memes or news articles that reflect our beliefs are shared by social media users, they become solidified as reality in the minds of those that hold those beliefs. For instance, a simple meme of Donald Trump, and a picture of a 1911 pistol which said Trump .45, depicting that he was 45th president was popular during his first term. This solidified the perception that Trump was some kind of a gun hero as this meme was shared numerous times, while very few questioned his support for red flag laws. We also have to consider the possibility that the majority of posts and comments that we are exposed to on social media, are no longer shared by real people, but bots put in place to help solidify a false perception of reality that is useful to the state. This means that we can no longer feel safe that our opinions are our own, and not some concocted narrative simply meant to keep you glued to the net to see what happens next.

Sometimes, I don’t even know what to think. During Trump’s first term, I was wrapped up in Rush Limbaugh and the daily breaking news about Russia gate, a fake dossier and some damning allegations they were trying to pin on Trump. I would say that most conservatives believe Obama, Clinton, and other deep state operatives deliberately tried to sabotage Trump. At the time, I believed it. There is probably a lot of truth to it as a great deal of propaganda is built on truth. I was also just as relieved as the rest of the conservative base when Trump defeated Clinton. These days, however, I am not so sure of anything I see on the media. There is just too much written on the subjects of propaganda and persuasion that I am left feeling it’s best to retain a healthy level of skepticism and not get wrapped up in narratives that are framed in a way to get you to follow along. The diversion from the Epstein files to Russia gate was perfect, as it not only aligns with what conservatives believe about Obama, but with the expectations they held that Trump would bring justice and drain the swamp. It has been weeks since Trump began pushing the idea that Obama would be arrested, and instead of that, we are seeing Trump increase his own power by federalizing the D.C. police and deploying troops in the streets.  Actions that, for the most part, are going unquestioned by many so-called conservatives. In an online discussion the other day, I was berated as a progressive for suggesting that we should be jealously guarding our liberty and questioning anyone seeking to grow their own power. That person could have been a troll or a bot, however, it could have easily been someone wrapped up in the false perception of Trump being our hero. Americans have to move past the misguided notion that propaganda only exists on the other side. The entire system is propagandizing us. The false left right paradigm is a propaganda tool meant to keep us divided. They study and collect our data, figure out what we believe, what we responded to, what makes us buy what they are selling, and they build on it. If for some chance we aren’t buying it, and we get a little restless, they tell us an alien mothership is heading to Earth with hostile intentions. You don’t think they aired Ancient Aliens for all these years for nothing, do you? Don’t worry, I am sure it’s nothing. It isn’t like they would fake an alien invasion or anything.

The jealous guarding of liberty and the questioning of anyone who in any remote way threatens it is one of the underlying principles of our country. Troops on the streets, growing executive power, increased debt, and a compliant population making excuses for it all are all threats to liberty. Not only for us, but for future generations as well.

Article posted with permission from David Risselada

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