Tag Archives: propaganda

Persuasion Beneath the Radar

I find it interesting that the below video promotes manipulation of people as ethical. At no point is one advised to reason with vulnerability and openness; to provide people with more than one side of an argument; or to rely on … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tom Ricks Interview Abruptly Halted When He Says Fox “Is Operating As A Wing Of The Republican Party”

Below is one of the most amazing interview clips you’ll ever see. Tom Ricks, one of America’s most respected (and feared) investigative journalists, lasts 60 beautiful seconds on Fox News before the producer realizes he’s off script and shuts him … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Chris Hedges the Prophet on Print Culture Turning to Image Culture

Former New York Times war correspondent, Chris Hedges, has, over the past couple of years, taken on the mantle of a secular prophet—an emperor has no clothes truthteller—writing scathing (and I think powerful) books and essays documenting the messes that we find ourselves … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mohamed ElBaradei’s Democratic Revolution in Egypt v. George Bush’s in Iraq

Fox Noisers seem to be directing a lot of cynicism and vehemence toward Egypt’s democracy movement leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, and when I first noticed it, I was a bit stunned. Mohamed ElBaradei, after all, is not an Islamist, but a secular … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Glenn Beck, Teledemagogue?

I’ve never seen the appelation teledemagogue  used before, but it strikes me as a perfect descriptive for Glenn Beck. Just as an evangelist can engage in televangelism, a demagogue can engage in teledemagoguery. And so there are televangelists and there are … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Conspiracy Bait: Greenscreens are Everywhere—and Maybe Even Coming to the News

You certainly couldn’t fake a moon landing in 1969, but I suppose that, with contemporary technology, you might almost get away with it today. In the future, will government and corporate officials—and those in our assorted propaganda industries—start using the greenscreen technology below to … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ron Paul wins the straw poll at CPAC 2010—and Fox News starts up its repetitive meme machine to dampen the result

Mixed reaction, mixed reaction, mixed reaction. Gasps and boos, gasps and boos, gasps and boos. Non-scientific poll, non-scientific poll, non-scientific poll. Fox spins. You decide:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

In Greek Mythology, Who is Peitho?

Peitho is the goddess of rhetoric, persuasion, and seduction, and in ancient depictions, she tends to accompany Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Why Aphrodite? Because it is by artful and pretty words that your rational defenses—especially against love—are overcome and conquered (as in Gorgias’s “Encomium for … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Levi’s Abusing Walt Whitman?

I think I dislike this use of Walt Whitman. It feels like a debasement of his poetry—like using the Bible or the Bhagavad Gita to sell soda. And what’s up with the Leni Riefenstahl vibe and the fascist salutes (one toward the … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day

Steven Mikulan today in the LA Weekly: The poster, which bears a very superficial resemblance to Shepard Fairey’s famous Obama Hope illustration, has been pasted on freeway supports and other public surfaces. It has a bit of everything to appeal … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Whence Nietzsche in Contemporary Atheist Reflection?

Philosopher John Gray sees it only in Michel Onfray: Among contemporary anti-religious polemicists, only the French writer Michel Onfray has taken Nietzsche as his point of departure. In some ways, Onfray’s In Defence of Atheism [titled in its U.S. edition as … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Quote of the Day: Robert Lifton on the “thought terminating cliche”

Thought terminating cliches? You know, like the ones that Americans hear weekly from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. Here’s the psychologist Robert Lifton, from his book, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism : “The language of the totalist environment is characterized by … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Together All Alone? Democratic Strategist, James Carville, on the Internet

Carville thinks that, with regard to politics, people generally use the Internet to reinforce prejudices, not to form an independent opinion. In other words, people tend to drop into the rut of following only the blogs and websites that they agree with, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Are You Single?!”: Rush Limbaugh Was a Big TURN ON to a 21 Year Old Female at CPAC 2009

Salon.com today reports on Rush Limbaugh’s powers to mesmerize and electrify his faithful devotees, and quotes a female college student smitten by him: CPAC attendee Chelsea Barnett, a 21-year-old student at the University of Central Oklahoma who says she’s been … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: Propaganda Slide Depicting “Deformed” Children

Social Darwinism played a significant role in Hitler’s thinking, and it was part of the racialist ideology of the Nazis that the “unfit” (the physically or mentally disabled) should not devour the time and resources of the fit. Consequently, the fit … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

No Bible Used at Obama’s Second Oath-Taking

I read in the NY Times this morning that Justice Roberts had administered to President Obama the oath of office one more time (to correct the flubbed wording on Inauguration Day). But I also noticed that, rather deep in the article, … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Opie and Andy Griffith & Richie and the Fonz: Ron Howard Makes an Obama Ad. See It Here

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Obama-McCain Third Debate (in a Nutshell)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Great Mashup: Sinister “Who is Barack Obama?” Ad Opening Followed by McCain’s Conciliatory Rally Response

What McCain giveth with his far-right hand, he taketh away with his peace-making left hand:

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Andrew Sullivan Thinks Obama Devestated McCain in the 2nd Debate

Money quote from his live blogging of the second debate: This was, I think, a mauling: a devastating and possibly electorally fatal debate for McCain. Even on Russia, he sounded a little out of it. I’ve watched a lot of … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments