Caricature of Mike Pompeo. Image by DonkeyHotey, via Wiki Commons
Caricature of Mike Pompeo. Image by DonkeyHotey, via Wiki Commons
Propaganda by incomplete sentences and outright lies isn't limited to politics. It has been used in business and by Madison Avenue for decades.
Former CIA Director and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—also known as the “man from Monsanto”—caught some attention yesterday. Pompeo posted these incomplete statements on Twitter.
The federal government does not make the American Dream possible. It gets in the way.
Less government = more freedom and opportunity.
Let’s complete these sentences, shall we?
The first should have said, “The federal government does not make the American Dream possible for large corporate interests, like the ones I have served my entire career, to do what they please.”
The second could be envisioned to read, “Less government = more freedom and opportunity for big business to price gouge the public, profiteer drugs and healthcare and push people into financial slavery.”
Maybe these more complete sentences are a bit harsh. But through the actions demonstrated by Pompeo and the other mouthpieces of the Republican Party still wrapped up in the long red tie of the former guy, they may not go far enough.
This type of propaganda is important and sometimes difficult to recognize. The tricky part is that it has a ring of truth through the use of some buzz words. In this case the buzz words are American Dream and Freedom. And they are designed to catch the eye of lazy journalists and get some uptake. They are also designed to be utilized by the even lazier “cut and paste” propagandists that the Republican Party heavily relies on now.
Propaganda by incomplete sentences isn’t limited to politics. It has been used in business and Madison Avenue for decades. A memorable example was back in the day when Steve Balmer was still CEO of Microsoft. At a CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Balmer announced that Microsoft would soon be releasing a tablet product. What he failed to say was, “…as soon as Steve Jobs shows us how one should work.”
The best way to figure out what various buzz phrases and propaganda tidbits are really saying is to compare them with the actual actions of the people saying them. With Balmer it was easy. Microsoft Windows was always and forever about copying Apple.
With Republicans it is patently obvious. Just look at their actions of opposing anything that gets in the way of regulating rapacious business practices in favored sectors—those sectors that contain their largest donors.
This is not limited to Republicans though. Two Democrats—Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin—are shining examples of how corporate corruption doesn’t care what side of the political aisle it operates on.
It is up to us, the people who actually wield the collective power over our government, not to swallow the bullshit fed to us by those who want to reduce that power. And frankly, that is what this year’s Midterms are all about. From the Republican—and wannabe oligarch—standpoint, Democracy is an impediment to their power and they are pulling out all the stops to end it. Why else would they choose a patently incompetent, self-serving criminal as their nominee in 2016—and stand steadfast behind his damaging lies after he was shown to be the loser that we always knew he was.
It comes down to to what Lincoln stated, “Government of the people, by the people and for the people.” Republicans and their supporting crazies want to do away with government. And ultimately, that is us.
We as citizens—and per Lincoln, actually a component of government—have a job to do on November 8th. Part of that job is recognizing who is lying to us to gain advantage and trying to con us into giving them our vote—and then voting accordingly.
Marty Kassowitz is co-founder of Factkeepers. As founder of Interest Factory and View360, he brings more than 30 years experience in effective online communications, social media management, and platform development to the site. He is a writer, designer, editor and long time observer of the ill-logic demonstrated by too many members of the species known as Mankind. After a long history of somewhat private commentary on a subject he totally hates: politics, Marty was encouraged to build this site and put up his own analyses as well as curate relevant content from other sources.
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