Date: October 24, 2005 11:07:10 PM PDT
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], 'Stacy Malkan' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Manipulating the Public Mind
So superb are the propagandists who control the flow
of information in America that the average American
enthusiastically supports polices that are detrimental
to him. Thus we witness families that espouse
political and fiscal conservatism supporting huge tax
cuts for the wealthy, rampant corporate welfare, and
the writing of blank checks for endless war waged
against the world’s working poor—and they are
themselves the cannon fodder for those wars. We are
witnessing a bizarre psychic phenomenon that is the
physical and spiritual equivalent of mass hypnosis. We
seem almost incapable of waking ourselves up; or
looking away from the shining pendant that swings
before our glazed, vacuous eyes. Better not drink the
kool aid.
[Posted By ShiftShapers]
By Charles Sullivan
Republished from Information Clearing House
A sea of humanity descended upon the nation’s capital
to voice its opposition to the invasion and occupation
of Iraq.
My wife and I, along with a sizable contingent from
West Virginia, were among the teeming throngs that
flowed through the streets of the District of Columbia
like a raging river in the aftermath of a storm. The
rally was about more than the shameful events
orchestrated by our government in the Middle East, it
was equally about U.S. imperialism on a global scale.
It was also about the Bush regime’s appalling lack of
concern for the Gulf Coast’s poor—particularly the
inhabitants of New Orleans. It was about the
complicity of Congress in the criminality of what
passes for government in America these days.
Demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience will
continue throughout the weekend.
The turnout was immense. Trying to estimate its size
from within was like standing in the midst of a forest
and trying to gage its extent. You have to wade
through the crowd and take contingency samples; or get
above it to gain an appreciation of its size and
scale. I spoke to a friend on a cell phone while
marching by the White House who was watching coverage
of the event on C-span. He informed me that C-span
estimated the size of the crowd at between two hundred
thousand to a quarter million. When I got home I
looked at coverage of the event on NBC and CBS which
estimated the turnout as about half that of C-span.
The major television networks will determine how most
Americans view of the event will be shaped. This is
what interested me—how coverage of the event would be
presented to the world. The manipulation of images and
information is frequently subtle but its effect on the
public mind is often profound.
None of the networks even carried excerpts from the
many excellent speeches being given by the likes of
Cynthia McKinney, Cindy Sheehan, Jesse Jackson, Ralph
Nader and other social justice luminaries. Those
speeches—an important component of the rally—laid bare
the callous disregard the nation’s power brokers have
for life and habitat, especially the poor; and
particularly the black poor. By choosing to omit them
the corporate media once again failed to provide
viewers with the information they need to make them
free. They carefully steered the public mind away from
any harsh criticism of the Bush regime and its
corporate looters.
The major networks have consistently underestimated
the size of anti war protests. This has been the case
with every march on Washington that I have
participated in. By deliberately under estimating its
size the media gives the impression that opposition to
U.S. militarism and America’s war on the poor and the
working class is significantly smaller than they
really are.
CBS chose to highlight the three arrests that occurred
at the anti war rally on Saturday, rather than the non
violent protesters. The decision is disingenuous in
that it plants the seeds of thought in the public mind
that peaceful demonstrators are purveyors of violence.
This is in fact rarely the case. When violence erupts
in otherwise peaceful demonstrations it is virtually
always the police and FBI plants in the crowd that
causes the violence. Remember cointellpro? It remains
with us today.
Although I heard that there would be small pro Bush,
pro war, counter demonstrations occurring
simultaneously against the tide of the main event, I
did not see any of them. However, CBS chose to play up
these tiny, insignificant counter demonstrations by
interviewing Bush supporters but not the Bush
detractors. This is especially troubling because it
gives the impression that the counter demonstration,
which was virtually invisible to those of us in the
streets, was much larger than it really was. By
deliberately under reporting the anti war turnout and
playing up the pro war side, reality was once again
distorted into unrecognizable, fantastic, miasmic
forms in the public mind.
The vast majority of American citizens have their
world view shaped by the corporate news media. Can
there by any doubt why the public mind is so
distorted—so disconnected from reality?
More totalitarian nations control the masses through
the use of brute force. We are seeing more and more of
that in the cities of America, as witnessed in the
streets of New Orleans recently. However, in
comparatively free societies propaganda is the weapon
of choice; and it is no less intimidating and
effective than brute force.
No one is more effectively enslaved by the power
brokers in government than those who wear the chains
of servitude but think they are free. Unfortunately,
the average American has no conception of how
effectively their perceptions are shaped and
manipulated by the media propaganda they unwittingly
feed into their unsuspecting minds.
Indeed, so superb are the propagandists who control
the flow of information in America that the average
American enthusiastically supports polices that are
detrimental to him. Thus we witness families that
espouse political and fiscal conservatism supporting
huge tax cuts for the wealthy, rampant corporate
welfare, and the writing of blank checks for endless
war waged against the world’s working poor—and they
are themselves the cannon fodder for those wars. We
are witnessing a bizarre psychic phenomenon that is
the physical and spiritual equivalent of mass
hypnosis. We seem almost incapable of waking ourselves
up; or looking away from the shining pendant that
swings before our glazed, vacuous eyes. Better not
drink the kool aid.
Charles Sullivan is a furniture maker, photographer,
and free lance writer living in geopolitical West
Virginia. He welcomes your comments at
