When the regime wants to destroy someone, it begins by discrediting or delegitimizing the target in the public’s eyes.
Sometimes, the regime gets lucky. The target is stupid enough to hand his or her enemies a stick to beat him with. In most cases, the regime must invent and sell a lie to the public.
Making something up is easy. Getting the public to embrace the lie requires dabbling in the black art known as propaganda.
As the late Robert Heinlein told us, effective propaganda works on the gut level, “You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.” By prejudice, Heinlein means using disagreements over minor issues to create a gut-level dislike of the target that will transfer to major issues.
In the opening days of Trump’s first administration, CNN ran a story about Trump demanding an extra scoop of ice when everyone else got just one scoop. CNN belabored the point in the hope that the public would see Trump’s demands as selfish and unfair, traits that would then stick to everything Trump said or did.
Another more recent example is the Daily Mail website, attacking Elon Musk’s defense of free speech.
The article’s first sentence, “Critics say that Elon Musk is unraveling mentally,” is the big lie meant to discredit Musk and his advocacy. The article’s second sentence, “But, physically, he never looked better,” is intended to create the emotional response that tricks you into accepting the lie as real.
Here is how it works, “He never looked better” refers to Elon’s recent weight loss. In the battle of the bulge, losers outnumber winners. Losers can be made to envy and hate the winner if they think the winner somehow cheated their way to victory.
Musk has admitted to using the weight loss drug Semaglutide, sold under the brand names Wegovy, Ozempic, and a few others. In America, which is the article’s target audience, Semaglutide is expensive. Most people can’t afford it at retail cost under any name.
Like Trump’s ice cream, Musk’s use of Semaglutide is somehow unfair. The article hammers the point home by implying Musk may have also used unfair methods like cosmetic surgery and (shudder!) Botox to look unfairly young.
The best evidence the Daily Mail can offer for any of this is a bunch of doctors you’ve never heard of saying it can’t be ruled out. This is weak gruel in terms of logic and evidence, but you need to quit thinking and let the anger over the unfairness wash over you.
Now that you’re shaking with rage at the unfairness of it all, the article casually mentions that a handful of people using Semaglutide have claimed mental health issues from using the drug.
Is Semaglutide the reason for Musk’s “increasingly unhinged views online?” (And remember, by unhinged, we mean Elon calling out illegal acts of censorship by various governments.) The Daily Mail can’t come out and say so without being sued into oblivion, but if, after reading the article, you assume such a connection, mission accomplished.
Or not. This attack melted like ice cream left in the sun. But that’s O.K. Propaganda is about playing the long game. Throw enough knives, and one will stick. Once the lie sticks, the mainstream media will endlessly repeat the lie under the guise of reporting on the controversy caused by the original article. Repeat the lie often enough and loud enough, and people will begin to assume it’s true; after all, where there is smoke, there must be fire.
This is how the lie replaces reality. The next time you see the media cooing over something stupid, understand what the media is doing and be prepared to explain to those around you how they are being manipulated.
Image: Screen shot from New York Post video, via YouTube
This article was originally published at www.americanthinker.com
