I do not mean with masks, vaccines, or a virus which, thus far, has killed more “with” than “from”, excepting the elderly and infirm. I do not mean the government vaccine mandates, passed to citizens through their workplace requirements, at the request of the president, when his own mandates failed. I do not mean from a rapidly changing food availability situation. I do not mean from inflation which makes food and everything else far more expensive. I do not mean the attacks upon “Trump voters” or outraged Americans who visited our Capitol on 6Jan only to wind up in jail, charged with misdemeanors while the U.S. media accused them of “sedition.” I do not mean the murder of Ashli Babbitt, which recalled the Maidan, the symbol of Ukraine’s own Color Revolution.
NO!!! Americans are under attack through the tools of propaganda, an aged term now seemingly replaced, at least in part, by “interactive internet activities.” The internet is not the only platform used to spread lies and falsehoods, which we will herein call propaganda, to create or modify and disseminate narratives. Print and broadcast media, radio, podcasts, videocasts, and television are all effective weapons when used to disinform, misinform, brainwash, agitate, and otherwise lie to consumers of that media for a purpose.
It is one thing when a private citizen creates false information and shares it to his limited world; it’s quite another when, due to the abundance, intensity, complexity, and often absurdity of questionable information, it becomes apparent that some organization stands behind the curtain. There is not a larger or more powerful organization in the U.S. than the federal government; and they have lied to us before!
Are they lying to us now? If so, who are the public faces of the created narratives – the private side of the public-private partnership? Are these actions legal?
Legalizing Propaganda
In 1938 the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) was formed to “investigate alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having either fascist or communist ties.” The primary focus of the HUAC was, in fact, not fascists, but communists. The period from 1938 until the end of the 1950s, sometimes called the “second red scare”, created a perception that communists were busy subverting society and infiltrating America’s government.
At the end of World War II, the U.S. government brought 1600 German scientists or more–Nazis – to America in a project called Operation Paperclip which lasted from 1945 to 1959. Whole families of FASCISTs were resettled and provided government jobs and then pensions.
During the same period, Congress passed, and Truman signed into law, the Smith-Mundt Act, designed to protect citizens from communism, whilst Congress was investigating suspected Fascists or Communists. It sounds absurd; it’s true. The United States government was importing German Nazis (fascists) whilst creating fear of communist infiltration.
The Smith-Mundt Act
The U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 80-402), is popularly called the Smith–Mundt Act. The act was first introduced by Congressman Karl E. Mundt (R-SD) in January 1945 in the 79th Congress. It was subsequently passed by the 80th Congress and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on January 27, 1948.
The Act was developed to regulate broadcasting of programs for foreign audiences produced under the guidance by the State Department, and it prohibited domestic dissemination of materials produced by such programs as one of its provisions.[1] The original version of the Act was amended by the Smith–Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 which allowed for materials produced by the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to be disseminated (widely spread) within the United States.[2][3] (Archived)
Read more from media at the time; the headlines are self-explanatory.
Michael Hastings, Congressmen Seek To Lift Propaganda Ban https://archive.md/9bdgB#selection-615.1-615.40 May 8, 2012. Archived
Hudson, John (July 14, 2013). "U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans. Revised by Obama during his term to allow public funding to be spent". Foreign Policy. Retrieved May 1, 2021. Archived
Chuck, Elizabeth (July 20, 2013). "Taxpayer money at work: US-funded foreign broadcasts finally available in the US". NBC News. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013.
The Smith-Mundt Act was modified over the years. In 2012, a key change allowed propaganda to be disseminated within the United States under certain conditions.
With that in mind, let’s look at some recent stories and some not-so-recent ones.
Weapons of Mass Destruction
Could one make a better case that the U.S. government uses lies, deception, and propaganda to further its aims than “Bush’s “big lie” that Saddam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction and that he would use those against American citizens if the military did not invade?
“One argument recently advanced by media and political apologists is that the Bush administration could not be lying about weapons of mass destruction because that would require a vast conspiracy, including the CIA, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Congress and the previous Clinton administration, directed against the American people.” (wsws.org)
There were no “weapons of mass destruction” found in the hands of Saddam Hussein, but America and her allies did manage to kill as many as one million Iraqis and create a humanitarian crisis with over four million displaced. This is not to blame and shame America’s soldiers, marines, airmen, or sailors – you did your duty!
Sorcha Fall and “Her emails”
Hat-tip Ghost of Daniel Parker
A little-known website, whatdoesitmean.com, run by David Booth using the pen name Sorcha Fall (claiming to be a Russian researcher), published on May 6, 2016, an article titled “Kremlin War Erupts Over Release of Top Secret Clinton Emails” was published on the website WhatDoesItMean[.]com “Faal wrote a “war of words” had broken out in the Kremlin between the head of the Russian Security Service (SVR) and the Chairwoman of the Council of Federation over the issue of releasing 10,000's of classified emails retrieved from Hillary Clinton’s private server.”
Also on May 6, “George Papadopoulos told Erika Thompson that the Russians may release information damaging to” Hillary Clinton.
On May 9, Judge Andrew Napolitano, on Fox News, stated that “there is an internal debate within the Kremlin over whether to release HRC’s emails.”
On May 10, Sean Hannity, on The Sean Hannity Show (radio), states that “There is a report out today the Kremlin may release twenty thousand of Hillary’s hijacked and hacked emails… according to Russia Today and AP and others and Gateway Pundit have the story today the Kremlin is debating whether to release these emails hacked off Hillary’s server.”
Judge Nap stood by his earlier announcement when, on May 9, he published an op-ed in Reason Magazine stating that
“While all of this has been going on, intelligence community sources have reported about a below-the-radar, yet largely-known debate in the Kremlin between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Intelligence Services. They are trying to come to a meeting of the minds to determine whether the Russian government should release some 20,000 of Mrs. Clinton's emails that it obtained either by hacking her directly or by hacking into the email of her confidante, Sid Blumenthal.”
Nothing ever came of that story, which seemingly began with David Booth aka Sorcha Fall, except for MAGA foolishness, excitement, and confusion.
The way it spread so rapidly, the impossibility to fact-check, the humor, in hindsight, of it all making it to Fox News - the Sorcha Faal and “her emails” story seems to be well-organized propaganda construct. Perhaps it was a “mood-meter”, a decision point.
Qanon
This conspiracy theory is, arguably, the most complex psychological propaganda campaign ever unleashed upon a naïve and gullible population in human history.
For any reader who has never heard of the Qanon conspiracy theory, congratulations! There are an estimated 30 million people, worldwide, who have believed or do believe that Trump has put in place some elaborate super-secret plan to take out the globalists and save children from sex trafficking abuse. Other Qanon followers brought “New Age, UFOs, and Ascension” beliefs into the movement. At least two Americans arrested for their participation in the 6 Jan Capitol events are likely part of that group.
The widely spread Qanon claim that the elite are sex-trafficking children arose directly from the conservative Twitter influencer, Jack Posobiec. Posobiec tweeted #Pizzagate, a theory that arose from the Wikileaks publishing of the spear-phished John Podesta emails during the 2016 election campaign.
Some may argue that it was not Jack Posobiec, a former naval intel officer, and a Twitter persona called Microchip who laid the foundation for what would become the Qanon conspiracy; Posobiec stated it was “two friends” who did. If not directly involved, Posobiec certainly provided the seed. NBCs, “How three conspiracy theorists took 'Q' and sparked Qanon. Pushing the theory on to bigger platforms proved to be the key to Qanon’s spread — and the originators’ financial gain.” Is only one of the corporate media attempts to identify how Qanon began and who was involved in its explosive growth.
Americans may never know the people behind the Qanon PSYOP, but judging by the massive attention given by both left and right media, the number of people involved who were in Trump’s orbit nudging and disseminating and taking Q-oaths, it is hard not to see the operation as a propaganda campaign.
Indeed, Jim Stewartson, self-described AntiFascist and Q-Anon infiltrator says, “QAnon is a dangerous mind-control cult purposefully created to attack American democracy. QAnon uses alternate reality game (ARG) mechanics, hypnosis, apophenia, phobia installation, extreme propaganda, and a host of other techniques to traumatize, indoctrinate and radicalize victims.”
In other words, AntiFa infiltrated Qanon!
And who is behind AntiFa in the U.S.? Independent journalist and writer, George Eliason has written dozens of articles exposing AntiFa and its connections to both Ukraine’s Maidan and to the chaos, death, and destruction taking place in America, including the “Capitol riot.”
Coast-to-Coast AM Conspiracy Theory Radio
Based in San Antonio, and South on I-35 from Joe Rogan and Alex Jones Austin studios is the headquarters of iHeartMedia, Inc, the parent company of Coast to Coast AM aka Conspiracy Theory Radio. Coast to Coast AM calls itself “The Best Paranormal News Show” but it is much more than that. Coast to Coast AM broadcast in all 50 states, plus Guam and District of Columbia.
Their primary audience is interested in the paranormal, UFOs, but some noticed a shift to “New age type programming” in January 2021. From a single online forum, city-data.com, one person questioned the change in programming; that one question was viewed over 1.7 million times! This alone should be very concerning to a people whose nation was founded by Christian people. This New Age movement is paganism and its roots are in the worship of Baal.
One famous and frequent guest on Coast to Coast AM is Steve Quayle, an author of many books and other content on fallen angels, giants, dead scientists, and ancient civilizations… and zombies. An old acquaintance of Quayle, Michael Erevna – himself a “prophet” apparently – had some choice words for Steve Quayle and other members of The Conspiracy Theory Club, which I strongly encourage you to read to see the level of grifting that took place at the height of the Qanon PSYOP and continues today.
“…but their lust for money corrupted their hearts and minds. – Michael Erevna
Having observed the ongoing Qanon narrative, almost since its creation, much of what I have written here and much more are all part of a massive campaign to create chaos, to baffle and confuse regular Americans.
It has now enabled the labeling and targeting of conservative Americans as terrorists, lumping all non-progressives into the same deplorable basket – almost as if it were some vast conspiracy to do so.
It would not be the first time our government has used lies to achieve its goals. In fact, look past the Qanon and other narratives previously pushed on the nightly news. Look at the lockdowns, the testing, the vaccination requirements, and the attacks upon those who resist. Look at the employment issues. Look at the growing reports of food shortages and tell me it is not possible for our government to run such an operation against its own citizens.
Worse yet, it may be entirely legal.