Finding dots and connecting them brings surprises

Propaganda is on the rise again. It is the worst it has been in decades.

Propaganda like progressive can have many meanings, mostly in the eye of the beholder. Some propaganda is overt like that of Tokio Rose, or Hanoi Hannah, or Baghdad Bob. Some propaganda is more covert and subtle like that practiced by the Nazi’s, or Stalin, or the more extreme elements today, be they extreme Islamic believers or extreme left wing believers in the USA. The idea of propaganda implies Nazis to me, though most people will always think of swastikas when they hear the word Nazi. Whatever your experience with propaganda, this person thinks he knows propaganda when he sees it and smells it. And the “finding the dots and connecting them routine” is alarming these days.

We the public have a right to know if propaganda is being used to manipulate us. Don’t expect anyone to respect that right, though. This applies to obvious propagandists like the Iranians, as well as much more home grown types as the Open Society Institute.

It’s a free world, at least in some parts of the world. And any and all can use propaganda as a tool to influence others in their cause. But in America and much of the world, those who have to hide in the dark to accomplish their goals are always looked at askance. The light of day usually exposes such tactics as character assassination, the criminalization of politics, and the dark funding sources so un-American and unworldly to many. If and when propaganda is exposed, the backlash from those who have been manipulated (and offended) is often good enough. But when people vote in parties like the Nazis in Germany, or Hamas in Gaza, then the barn door has been open and the animals are out of the barn. Propaganda has worked as a means to an end.

The expression “give people an inch and they’ll take a mile” seems to be how the dots connect together here in American today. This is classical as more people get involved with propaganda, and some are more savvy than others. The recent overt examples are the moveon ad, the Rush Limbaugh claims, and the media’s “fighting the last war” use of McNamara statistics, like body counts, or the “fake but true standard”. The more covert and subtle methods are things like letting media managers and spinmeisters having leadership roles, and paying them. The covert use of donor money to generate political effort is another example of covert methods. At least the children of the cultural revolution did it for free.