The years of brain washing by the right paid off

Politics & Elections
21

Normally, when writing an article for the general public one does not assume that readers will have familiarity with the subject. Leading with a statement that may seem obvious to anyone who has read even one earlier article is a basic operational procedure. That reads to me exactly what Rather was doing.

For those of us who post or just read in P&E, the fact that the right-wing has a coordinated network of newspapers, cable news, talk radio, websites, podcasts, social media, education, and a myriad of other forms of generating and disseminating favorable information has been a glaring reality for many decades. Rush Limbaugh was the first truly national star and he started syndication in 1988. Legions followed.

The buzzword for this is “silo”. Once entered into the vertical, self-enclosed right-wing network of misinformation, disinformation, deception, and outright lying, escape is nearly impossible. What one hears or reads is reinforced by every outlet. “Weaponized” to use another buzzword. Check out Annalee Newitz’s Stories Are Weapons for a history of “psyop”.

There is no comparable left-wing silo. The mainstream media continues to treat both sides as legitimate and succeeds in reality-based journalism. Naturally, this is dismissed in the right-wing silo as “fake news.”

Democrats need to come to terms with the fact that the right-wing is cleaning its clock when it comes to messaging and communications

I’ve been saying this for years. But while the Dems could improve - because they could hardly do worse - I’ve never heard of anything that would break the right’s silo. It will only get worse.

22

“Brainwashing,” in the looser sense of “ shaping people’s opinions, is not restricted to religion and the media. Schools and the workplace accustom people to taking orders and authoritarianism, and so interfere greatly with the ability to think clearly and critically on political issues. That in turn makes it hard for people to determine where their interest lie and who shares those interests. Taking orders is built in to capitalism and is an affront to human dignity. That makes people angry. Anger short-circuits thought and encourages people to lash out. That usually means kicking down instead of lashing out. Cue Trump….

23

In the mid-90s I worked in Cable TV and remember reading about a new channel that was launching, called National Empowerment Television.

Having grown up in the 70s my initial thought was “great, an outlet for progressive ideas” (I got taught a lot about Black Power in my town) but quickly learned who was behind it - the people feeling empowered after the recent elections. If it launched at all, we didn’t carry it but it was definitely part of the long game.

24

Not quite phony, though. Realizing that Bush was vulnerable to counter-swiftboating, Karl Rove leaked a true story on a modern word processor. The hook thus baited, he then bated his breath like Izaak Walton waiting for the fish to be so satisfied with its fact-checking that it neglected forensic typography.

It’s not always “they’re eating the cats:” they can be as smart or stupid as the mark requires.

25

Yes, the secretary who typed the document verified that all the information was completely accurate. It just wasn’t the original physical document.

26

I do like to add the perspective of one of the best in the business:

The fundamental principle of all propaganda was the repetition of effective arguments; but those arguments must not be too refined – there was no point in seeking to convert the intellectuals. For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger, and this will always be the man in the street. Arguments must therefore be crude, clear and forcible, and appeal to emotions and instincts, not to the intellect. Truth was unimportant, and entirely subordinate to the tactics and psychology, but convenient lies (“poetic truth”, as he once called them) must always be made credible.

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.

–Hugh Trevor-Roper, English historian, paraphrasing Joseph Goebbels, WWII German Propaganda Minister

Sound familiar? It does to me – eerily, hauntingly, and forebodingly familiar.

ETA:

My take on that:

When I was young (quite a long time ago, now), the news (primarily ABC, CBS, and NBC (all still pretty good, incidentally, as are most of the outlets with decades-old brands and reputations to protect) told us what we needed to know.

Now, the news – a largely for-profit venture – tells us what we want to hear.

The revelations from the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News show that Fox’s primary concern was for ratings, not for the truth, and that they were as cynical as cynicism could possibly get, deeming their viewers uninterested in learning, and incapable of handling, facts.

The difference is epic. The fundamental focus – on accuracy, timeliness, and fairness – has been replaced by a maniacal pursuit of ratings and money.

With no winners (at least among us common folk) as a result.

27

Do you think people can reach good decisions if they have been deceived?

People have closed themselves off into ecosystems where they’re missing the majority of information that’s available on a given topic. Consider the upthread examples where Trump supporters are surprised by what Trump is doing. He’s been saying these things openly for years, and they’re just now finding out he was serious? This is the best case, Trump is literally the primary source for things he intends to do, and they are not aware.

If they’re missing critical information from friendly sources in the best-case scenario, then we know they’re not consuming any dissenting points of view at all. Their minds are undefended targets to be shaped by whatever the right-wing corporate media complex wants them to think. People can’t reflect on facts that they’ve never heard, cannot evaluate ideas that they’ve never been exposed to. The effect is indistinct from mind control, though it’s a team effort between the deceiver and the deceived.

28

And David Frum is what used to be called a conservative. Quite the opposite of his mother who was had an outstanding radio show.

29

That’s why I read Ground News, especially the Blindspot section that shows stories disproportionately reported in right and left sources.

30

Allsides is also good.

31

Thinking that opinion pieces and editorials are news is a big problem. It’s also problematic only getting news through a narrow filter. I use a variety of sources and talk to a variety of people. I prefer opposing viewpoints and multiple actual news sources.

My #1 and #2 news sources are NY Times and NPR. I do watch Fox news as well.

I wouldn’t say those on the right or on the left are brainwashed. I’d say it’s more intellectual laziness, an unwillingness to have one’s views challenged and myopia.

32

The only time I ever go to the Fox News site (I don’t get them on TV and I like it that way) is on the rare occasion when I want to see how they’re spinning a particular news story, and it’s invariably deceitful. Beyond that, what’s the point? And some of their tactics are reliably predictable. For example when there’s a news event that’s unfavourable to Republicans that they’d like to bury, instead of objectively reporting on the story, they’ll report on some bullshit spin that some Republican hack is saying about the story. How does this enlighten you in any way?

The colloquial meaning of being “brainwashed” is stubbornly clinging to irrational beliefs despite the fact that they’re clearly contradicted by factual reality. You can dress it up as “intellectual laziness” if you like, but the fact remains that Trump was elected by a brainwashed idiocracy who fervently believe completely false, completely counterfactual bullshit. Trump basically lies every time he opens his mouth, and they believe every word of it.

33

Imo the podcast scenario is becoming more relevant as we go forward and influence of msm(liberal and right) is indeed waning when it comes to how people view news and shape opinions.

A podcaster like Joe Rogan has a bigger audience than primetime Msnbc and Cnn combined…I wish the democrats have a similar influence in this growing sphere of media.

34

There is growing talk on X that Elon Musk may buy MSNBC if it is put up for sale by Comcast.

I’m horrified…he is already the most powerful civilian in usa.

35

And the Democrats are going to win hearts and minds by telling the people how stupid they are? I see that little has changed since the time…

When Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson was running for president in the 1950s, a supporter purportedly said to him: “Every thinking person in America will be voting for you.” Stevenson replied, “I’m afraid that won’t do — I need a majority.”

36

The SDMB has no right wing posters by the standards of modern American political discourse. Well, none who’re around enough to remember.

That’s not what that word means at all.

38

I’m sure that would be a terrible campaign strategy. But I’m not running for office and I’m not trying to win hearts and minds; I’m describing a sad reality as I see it.

Did you actually read the article cited by the OP? You’re quibbling with me about dictionary definitions when in fact the article echoes exactly what I just said, to wit:

It isn’t that the American people didn’t buy what Harris was selling; they didn’t know what she was selling. The increasingly powerful right-wing media championed her opponent’s message while distorting hers. And millions of Americans bought it.

As The New Republic editor Michael Tomasky wrote, “It wasn’t the economy. It wasn’t inflation, or anything else. It was how people perceive those things, which points to one overpowering answer.” The right-wing media now controls the agenda.

For those of us who grew up on a steady diet of truth-telling, it’s gut-wrenching to see this mega misinformation machine grow into a multi-headed monster.

39

Telling them, no. But it looks like they need to at least recognize that the American public is largely a mix of stupid, ignorant and evil instead of relying on telling the truth and the good intentions of the public.

40

I shall endeavor to be more memorable.