(1) How and when did Trump's propagandists brainwash Small Town and Southern White America? An exploration.
(2) Donald J. Trump is an odd hero for the American South. He's famously been caught mocking Jeff Session's Southern drawl, at CPAC (video). In addition, the @NewYorker reported that "Trump Called Jeff Sessions a 'Dumb Southerner.' "
(3) Trump's popularity with Small Town America seems equally bizarre. His proposed "2020 Budget Devastates Rural America". His poorly planned trade war with China has also been devastating. Still they stand by him, but why and when?
budget.house.gov/publications/r…
(4) We know Trump's associates, Roger Stone & Steve Bannon have been seriously studying the use of mass media propaganda, & they've been lauded for their efforts in the 2016 election.
We also know Putin has mastered cyber propaganda techniques, while undermining Eastern Europe.
(5) On Trump's early timeline, two red flags clearly standout: Birtherism, and and his remark about shooting someone, on Fifth Avenue.
One seems like an early pilot of the technology (2011).
The other seems like an enthusiastic realization that it was working (01/2016).
(6) Trump used birtherism during the 2012 election, to Brand Obama as "Not American". It infuriated the left, but the well designed propaganda enthused the right, and Trump loved it.
(7) On January 23rd, 2016, Trump made a now famous statement showing his enthusiasm for the following his team had created. It was our nationwide first glimpse of the incredibly loyal Trump Supporters, but Trump had seen the propaganda work. By then, the machine was in place.
(8) Bannon later said, "We got elected on Drain the Swamp, Lock Her Up, Build a Wall, pure anger. Anger & fear is what gets people to the polls.... The Dem's don't matter. The real opposition is the media.... the way to deal with them is to flood the zone w/shit."
@Wikipedia
(9) So that's the public side of the story, but what's the private side.
The rallies were key, but what was the design?
What discussions and liaisons occurred in the Trump war room?
What propaganda systems were being employed?
(10) A key element of Hitler's rise was (a) his exploitation of existing grievances and (b) his use of scapegoats.
At the end of WWI, many Germans were angry about the Reparation terms in the Treaty of Versailles. Then, Germany suffered economic collapse in the 1920s & '30s.
(11) While in collapse, Germans began to look for a leader that could restore Germany to its former glory; Hitler fashioned his messages as a fulfillment of this grievance & he scapegoated the previous regime as appeasers & the Jews as war shirkers, war profiteers and thieves.
(12) So if Trump's propagandists were following the 3rd Reich model, they would find key grievances that were highly emotional, and opposition groups to blame them on.
White angst about the rising number of Blacks & Latinos in the South?
Small Town angst about Liberal Elites?
(13) Exploitation of existing grievances, continued:
Fear of Terrorism and Asian Americans?
Universal angst against Senators and Congressmen?
(14) The Birtherism attack on Obama not only cast him as "Not American"; it cast him as a "Muslim" in the midst of the 911 era, and dog whistled the idea that "Blacks are from Africa" and weren't "True Americans".
For some reason, 1880 German immigrants were "True".
(15) Who was the architect of the propaganda behind Trump's Birtherism attack?
It's clear Trump's political following among "grievance" Republicans began then, back in 2011. That was a test run of his weaponry.
politico.com/story/2016/09/…
(16) Trump took advantage of his "The Apprentice" celebrity to book himself as a guest on talk shows, and he used the free TV time to spread the racist "Birtherism" memes. One famous exchange occurred with Whoopi Goldberg on "The View".
@frontlinepbs
(17) Roger Stone had a website called the StoneZone.com
On 4/29/11, Roger claimed to be an observer, but praised Trump for his birtherism strategy & his use of the bully pulpit. Stone may have actually been patting his own back.
@waybackmachine @NYMag
(18) Roger Stone is also publicly credited with the "Build the Wall" meme. Apparently he invented ‘The Wall’ so Trump would stay on message: Attacking Immigrants.
lawandcrime.com/high-profile/r…
(19) This @LawAndCrime article draws from Joshua Green's 2017 book, "Devil's Bargain", to give us a clearer picture of the Trump's ministry of propaganda.
Sam Nunberg, an assistant to Stone, puts Roger & Steve Bannon at the top of the meme hierarchy.
lawandcrime.com/high-profile/r…
(19) This @LawAndCrime article draws from Joshua Green's 2017 book, "Devil's Bargain", to give us a clearer picture of Trump's ministry of propaganda.
Sam Nunberg, an assistant to Roger Stone, puts Roger & Steve Bannon at the top of the meme hierarchy.
lawandcrime.com/high-profile/r…
(20) Stone described his three pronged mantra this way:
- Attack, attack, attack — never defend
- Admit nothing, deny everything
- Launch counterattack
Stone claim's these tactics were learned from McCarthy's bulldog, Roy Cohn.
medium.com/@JamesFourM/ro…
(21) One of the Nazi's tactics was to find anecdotal cases of Jews caught war shirking (draft dodging), war profiteering or white collar fraud, and parade these highly emotional crimes around so his base would generalize these rare cases to all Jews.
(22) The Trump campaign used this tactic against immigrants & so-called Sanctuary Cities, by parading around the families of victims who were murdered by "illegal immigrants".
While statistics said this was rare, the emotional appeal was very powerful.
(23) So who is the Nazi film student?
Bannon once described himself to writing colleague Julia Jones, as the "Riefenstahl of George Bush", modifying the ending to "of the GOP" when Jones was horrified.
Riefenstahl filmed the "Nuremberg Rally of 1934".
(24) Most intellectuals find the study of Nazi methods taboo, but Bannon is a connoisseur of the taboo. From Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", to Russian "Neo-Fascism", to Putin's "Neo-Nationalism", to imitating Nazi propaganda film techniques, Bannon's there.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ban…
(25) So Trump's celebrity brought free TV time, & the collaboration of Roger Stone's team with Steve Bannon's brought in the propaganda techniques and messaging.
Stone, the heir apparent to Roy Cohn and GOP black ops
Bannon, the self-educated expert on taboo propaganda
(26) Two propaganda techniques were used masterfully by the Trump War Room w/GRU help
Demonizing the Enemy:
Drain the Swamp, Lock Her Up, Fake News
Divide and Conquer:
Supporting Bernie Sanders candidacy after he had no chance, and supporting Green Party candidate, Jill Stein
(27) The traditional GOP did an excellent job of "Dividing and Conquering" itself, on the 2015-2016 campaign trail.
Too many candidates with no real differentiation splintered the GOP vote, letting Trump rise as a self-labeled Washington outsider, who would "Drain the Swamp"
(28) While Trump's 2016 Campaign lacked a clear plan ahead, it was a masterclass in the use of black ops and propaganda:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propagand…
(29) The underlying goal is leverage naturally segregated communications to control messages to your target group, so you can "Weaponize Confirmation Bias".
Propaganda tactics can be used to accomplish all three goals, once communications are segregated.
(30) One key lesson for the mainstream media (Part I):
You have been spending way too much energy "Preaching to the Choir".
Trump supporters are segregated from you; your repeated efforts accomplish nothing.
Your broadcasts are carefully edited, then used to undermine you.
(31) One key lesson for the mainstream media (Part II):
Long Standing Grievances, Religious & Political Traditions, Peer Pressure, Cognitive Dissonance, Communication Control, Infused Misbeliefs and Weaponized Confirmation Bias are all stacked against you, under the bubble.
(32) One key lesson for the mainstream media (Part III):
Despite these barriers, carefully constructed by the GOP to insulate and control Small Town and Southern White America, the bubble is the only true battleground.
And we need more than interviews on its perimeter.
(33) One key lesson (Finale IV):
We need to bring the fight to the bubble, employing "Counter-Propaganda" grounded in absolute truth, & brought in by existing trusted channels:
The True Facts
Trump & GOP leaks
Exposés
The MSM v. The "Fake News" Lies.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterpr…
(34) Credits and References (Part I)
@abcnews
@GettyImages
@latimes
@Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Ban…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leni_Rief…
latimes.com/politics/la-na…
growthspotter.com/la-na-pol-trum…
slideplayer.com/slide/250050/
(35) Credits and References (Part II)
@ArkTimes
@latimes
@OANN
@PBS
@politico
@washingtonpost
@waybackmachine
@WSJ
@YouTube
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propagand…
pbs.org/wgbh/frontline…
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
politico.com/story/2011/02/…
(36) Credits and References (Part III)
@BostonGlobe
@decisionmag
@freechurchscot
@RightNowMedia
@WarOnTruth
politico.com/story/2011/02/…
web.archive.org/web/2015090100…
news.iheart.com/featured/rush-…
hearyourselfthink.org/fox/
bostonglobe.com/2020/07/27/opi…
freechurch.org/news/franklin-…
(37) Credits and References (Part IV)
@CNN
@decisionmag
@FoxNews
@frontlinepbs
@Google
@pewresearch
@politico
@Wikipedia
pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of…
docs.google.com/presentation/d…
decisionmagazine.com/category/news/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Ob…
politico.com/story/2016/09/…
(38) Credits and References (Part V)
@ConMonitorNews
@FoxNews
@LawAndCrime
@Medium
@nytimes
lawandcrime.com/high-profile/r…
medium.com/@JamesFourM/ro…
downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2019/04/did-yo…
(39) Credits and References (Part VI)
@CNN
@FoxNews
@Medium
@OANN
sbgi.com
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propagand…
parkinsonrockies.org/wp-content/upl…
medium.com/@kentanderson_…
(40) PS: FYI, here is an earlier thread of mine on "Weaponized Confirmation Bias"
(41) Here is a related thread providing contemporary coverage of the June 20th "Trump 2020" Tulsa Rally
(42) The common theme, threaded throughout human history, is "Man's Inhumanity to Man".
Is the Preacher crazy, or do "They Live"
(43) Putin's roots are Russian/CCCP Anti-Capitalist Propaganda.
Lenin and Stalin said something like this:
"We will strangle the Capitalists with the rope they sell us."
In 1912, the Communist party presented this pyramid model to show how Capitalism really works.
(44) Here's my related thread on Donald J. Trump's family ties to Wartime Germany, The Spanish Flu, The Ku Klux Klan, War Profiteering, Racism and Charlottesville. Enjoy.
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