Propaganda isn’t just external – denuding our enemies of rationality and demonizing them. It is also internal. The enemies of the progressive-liberal state are both internal and external. Trump is obviously an enemy of the progressive liberal state.
This is a routine example of the kind of internal propaganda levelled against Donald Trump.
On Saturday, Trump falsely claimed that Biden had “announced a plan to send our brave U.S. military men and women into Gaza to resupply the terrorists of Hamas.”
Yes. This claim, if indeed that is an reliable quote, is indeed “false”. The plan apparently does not involve US toes touching Gazan soil. (Though one imagines a few special forces boots might just graze the shoreline). And at least the primary purpose is not to resupply Hamas. (The primary purpose is probably to generate a PR image that Biden, in election, year, is doing something about the man-made famine developing in Gaza while, at the same time, letting Israel avoid taking responsibility for what happens in the occupied territories). But, as so often, “falsely claimed”. We often discuss this phrase. It is a key part of modern liberal progressive media propaganda. Firstly; it reduces all complex situations to simplistic ones. Secondly, it puts the other side of the argument, completely in the wrong; they are “false”; it is not just a competing point of view. In this case, while it is not an argument I would make, you can, of course, argue that some aid going into Gaza will be commandeered by Hamas. (The reason I wouldn’t make this argument is that if you do it follows that you support starving the entire population in order to starve Hamas). Finally, when the media writes “falsely claimed” they, the media, are telling you what to think. They will decide what is “false” and what is not, for you. They are no longer fulfilling their original role in a democracy, of informing people and facilitating debate.
He also continued to falsely claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” and reiterated his suggestion that his domestic opponents posed a bigger threat than the foreign countries.
Again; “falsely”. So – the Washington Post wants to make sure that all its readers understand that this claim by Trump is “false”. Absolutely not true; like 2 plus 2 equals 5 is false. In reality; there are grounds for Trump’s claim. Firstly; there is the matter of how Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg funded NGOs – ostensibly to support democracy, but by focussing on a certain demographic, in reality supporting the election of Biden. [1] Secondly; in the 2020 election significantly more Biden voters used postal votes than Trump voters [2] and there was a big increase in postal votes in this election [3]. Additionally, there is an increasing trend for states to send postal votes out to all electors even if they don’t ask for one. [4] Trump’s case about the election being rigged may be exaggerated but it is not groundless.
The key point here is what we see is liberal progressive journalists using the phrase “falsely claimed” to “establish the truth”. This is (interestingly) precisely how matters worked in the Soviet union. What was true was what was decided by a State Committee; not what could be determined to be true by reason and debate by individual readers of the news. Here truth is established by a network of liberal progressive corporate-government linked media organisations. But the basic idea is the same.
Meanwhile, it is also evident from the report that part of the Democrat strategy for the election is going to be to continue to plug the Trump-Russia collusion line. Biden, we will be told, is defending “individual rights, freedom and democracy” from both Russia and Trump. It’s worth a try. (Scare people into voting for you by shouting about ‘Reds under the bed’).
Notes
- https://nypost.com/2021/10/13/mark-zuckerberg-spent-419m-on-nonprofits-ahead-of-2020-election-and-got-out-the-dem-vote/
- https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2020/11/20/the-voting-experience-in-2020/
- https://apnews.com/article/health-elections-coronavirus-pandemic-election-2020-campaign-2016-f6b627a5576014a55a7252e542e46508
- https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-election-2020-ap-fact-check-elections-voting-fraud-and-irregularities-8c5db90960815f91f39fe115579570b4 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/states-automatically-mail-ballots-voters_n_61524bfbe4b06beda4731ce1