Media as the Definitive Political Weapon
By Carol Devine-Molin (05/08/06)
It involves political intrigue, a mystical sect, Big Media, high-tech brainwashing and alternate realities that can be morphed and tweaked in a kaleidoscope of illusion to propagandize to the masses. I’m speaking of Oliver Stone’s 1993 miniseries, Wild Palms, which has become a cult-classic for good reason: It’s downright fascinating. Now, depending upon your individual perspective, Wild Palms represents different things to different people. That being said, it’s doubtful that Oliver Stone ever envisioned the miniseries as a cautionary tale about the political Left’s use of the MSM to indoctrinate the citizenry. But that’s one valid interpretation. The vast majority of journalists, in numbers approaching ninety percent, are politically Left-leaning. And it would be fair to say that the news industry is the primary surrogate of the Democratic Party.
Many of the political Center-Right recognize Leftism and its utopian vision as a religion of sorts, which replaces the Almighty Deity with the power of Big Government as the be-all and end-all. The poppycock spewed by the Left is essentially this: Just provide the Democrats with enough tax dollars, and they’ll solve all problems through government. It’s clearly a crock, but it sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? It should, Leftists – whether you call them liberals or socialists – are adept propagandists. Interestingly, if you disagree with the Right-leaning crowd, they’ll think you’re politically naïve or misguided. However, oppose Leftists and their politics, and you’re deemed patently evil. They’ll demonize you to the hilt. Moreover, in its quest for power, the Left will do whatever it takes – no holds barred – to bring down a Republican president and install a Democrat. If the Democrats re-take the Congress, you can bet your bottom dollar that they’ll attempt to destroy President Bush by-way-of assiduous character assassination and impeachment. Current smears of President Bush will pale in comparison. That’s precisely why the 2006 mid-term elections are so vital to both Democrats and Republicans.
There’s no denying that the constant drumbeat of negativity by the media toward President Bush and his policies have taken a significant toll. I live in a bastion of Leftism, the New York metropolitan region, and the Left-leaning crowd is now worked-up into a full-fledged tizzy against President Bush; In fact, they’re unabashedly venomous. What’s surprising to me is this: I’m even encountering self-identified conservatives and Republicans at an increasing rate that are susceptible to the media’s slurs regarding the president and the GOP. Despite substantial evidence to the contrary, people in my neck of the woods, mostly liberals but some conservatives as well, believe that the economy is lousy.
They’re walking around in a trance, which they could easily break if they would just examine the facts. The economy is in excellent shape. Here are a few of the factoids that should be considered:
* Economic growth rebounded strongly in the first quarter, with the GDP at about 4.8 percent.
* The Dow has climbed to a six year high: As per the AP "According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 138.88, or 1.21 percent, to 11,577.74, its best showing since the Dow reached its all-time high of 11,722.98 on Jan. 14, 2000."
* We have the best job market in years, which will provide terrific prospects for those graduating from college.
* Consumer Confidence has hit a 4-Year High.
* Unemployment is low at 4.7 percent.
* There’s been a “surge in hiring” on Wall Street.
Well what does this say about the nature of propaganda? The lies don’t have to be complicated or sophisticated to work; manipulation can be quite simple. Mere repetition over a period of time is effective. Here, fiction is stranger, and much more elaborate, than truth. In the miniseries Wild Palms, the characters had the drug Mimezine or The Go Chip to facilitate their virtual reality experience - the mind-bending “New Reality” - controlled by a power-hungry patriarch, Senator Tony Kreutzer (actor Robert Loggia). In contrast, in the real world, repeating the Big Lie will go a long way toward indoctrination. That said, we all need to guard against the lies of the MSM with alacrity. If we know the facts, we’re in a position to readily reject clear-cut falsehoods and twisted truths. And learning the facts may involve some research, including accessing the Internet, watching the Fox News Channel or listening to talk radio. However, it seems to me that the Left-leaning crowd will be inclined to accept the drivel of their MSM pals. Leftist will naturally gravitate toward the Bush-bashing messages put forth by the MSM, and they’ll probably accept them without any critical thinking.
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