John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOE LAURIA IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“How Russia-gate Rationalized Censorship
“Russia-gate mania spread beyond a strategy for neutralizing Donald Trump or removing him from office into an excuse for stifling U.S. dissent that challenges the New Cold War”
Yes, but I think a good deal of this goes back to 9/11.
That event justified everything from the NSA’s high-tech Stasi operation to wars with all the censorship and limits wars always impose.
It is clear that “Russia-gate” is just an echo coming from something much larger.
And that something is the American establishment’s realization how relatively in decline America is compared to its halcyon post-WWII days and its determination to use force in trying to regain its position.
Force, rather than competition, is now more or less openly being used to extract benefits and privileges and to harm competitors abroad.
Of course, that is not explained to ordinary citizens and, instead, a sense of dread and threat from abroad is used to do what is always done in conflicts, and that is to censor.
In that establishment effort, Russia is viewed as ancient Carthage was by Rome. Neutralizing it in every way short of outright war is what Washington busies itself with.
It’s an extremely dangerous business, and, as far as I can tell, most Americans still do not know what is going on.
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Response to another reader’s comment:
Religion always blinds people to seeking truth.
Political ideologies are just secular religions, and American Patriotism is the most egregious of these.
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Response to another reader’s comment:
“Propaganda works…”
Yes, indeed, it does.
It is a close relative – politically-oriented rather than product-oriented – of advertising.
And we all know that advertising works. Companies spend countless billions on it year after year.
When commercial television first started, many companies had reservations about the effectiveness of advertising on it.
But as the returns came in from those who did advertise, and they were phenomenal, there was a revolution. Everyone wanted to advertise on television, and the big early networks and stations exploded with growth.
Advertising and propaganda are both forms of suggestion, carefully manipulated and targeted suggestion, and we know to a certainty the human mind is susceptible to suggestion.
