George W. Bush and his staff can get any and all media time they want simply by calling up a journalist and saying, "Hey, want an interview?" But the "Bullypulpit" has limitations, all the more so given the FACT that the case Bush and Blair have made is flimsy, at best.

So, what's a "good" president to do? Slippery Karl Rove and other notorious spin master advisors have apparently decided to buy some insurance. The administration is going to spend $200 million dollars to target emotions (advertising). Reason alone (media debate) simply isn't enough. The Times in the U.K. published a news story about this today, and it appears to be the first media "trial balloon" (see excerpt below).

Last Fall, Tony Blair's government published a dossier on Osama Bin Laden. No money for advertising was needed to seed that document's message and justifications.

When a US administration feels the need to spend what amounts to about 35% of what was spent in all advertising and campaigning in the 2000 presidential elections, you know they're worried about winning your brain. Drawing an analogy to the corrupting influences of the campaign financing system is apropos on more than one count, for the US media greatly benefits during election years. The argument can be made that media corporations have a vested interest in keeping a one dollar, one vote system alive. We now stand at the crossroads where the media and politicians may develop a vested interest in dollars for individual policies, never mind elections. With our money, the magnitude of financing emotion (not reason) campaigns for political ends is here.

For the record, to counter any debate about the policy in advance, there is significant difference between this PR campaign (funds used partly for domestic propaganda) and comparables like the money used to support operations like Radio Marti, beaming to Cuba. Radio Marti is about money spent to influence Cubans in Cuba. This week's insane Bush "PR" proposal is partly about spending your money to influence your mind, brought to you by the administration that openly discusses "selling" a plan for war on Iraq as a "new product," packaged and launched for your consumption.

It's bad enough that we live in a system that corporations can abuse with their money. Now we have a nation were our tax dollars are used in a similar manner.

God bless the United States of Plutocracy

==========================


September 17, 2002

America plans PR blitz on Saddam
From Tim Reid in Washington
THE TIMES (UK)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-418110,00.html

The Bush Administration is to launch a multimillion-dollar PR blitz against Saddam Hussein, using advertising techniques to persuade crucial target groups that the Iraqi leader must be ousted.

The campaign will consist of dossiers of evidence detailing Saddam’s breaches of UN resolutions, and will be launched this week at American and foreign audiences, particularly in Arab nations sceptical of US policy in the region.

The White House is aware that it lacks substantial new intelligence on Saddam’s nuclear programme or evidence directly linking Baghdad to the September 11 attacks. But it will build on the contents of President’s Bush’s speech made to the UN General Assembly last week, in which he listed Saddam’s violations of UN resolutions.

The campaign, which will initially receive over $200 million (£130 million), will be overseen by the Office of Global Communications, whose existence will not be formally announced until next month.

Here's some of the money per the above (directly or from other sources, still the same impact) in action:

State, Defense brochure for U.S. Muslims
By Pamela Hess
UPI Pentagon Correspondent
From the International Desk
Published 1/22/2003 7:22 PM

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030122-055817-2075r

or as a back-up in the event you find this message weeks from now and the UPI story is no longer live, see it here:

http://dc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=47680&group=webcast

And I now return. It appears that the money had the desired impact. About half of the American population believe that Iraq had something to do with 9-11. Much more effort was placed than just that money noted above, of course.

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"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.

"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

-- Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

Knowledge is power and lack of knowledge on our part can be used by the Bush Junta and their Puppet Masters to control. The one thing that they cannot spin is you if you have armed yourself with the knowledge to pierce the fog of lies.

Here are few references that you might find of interest and help in fighting the Knowledge War.

Manufacturing Consent: http://mediafilter.org/caq/Caq55.prwar.html

In order to keep up with what the PR Shills are selling (out) today: http://www.prwatch.org/

Check out the “The Spin of The Day”: http://www.prwatch.org/spin/index.html
There are several really good articles on how the war is being spun and sold.

A new Project by PR Watch the Disinfopedia: http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml
The purpose being to provide an extensive reference for keeping track of the PR Critters.

Don’t be a Sucker. Get informed.

THINK FOR YOURSELF!

Diogenes, you sound like a well educated person. I mean you use quotes from ancient Greek philosophers (very impressive), and you even hide behind the name of one of them, but after reading line after line written by you and many others that are against this war I see only one common thread. You all seem to be not-so-much against this war, but against the government of this country (United States). It seems to that no matter what the current government does, in your eyes, it would be the wrong thing or an evil thing, and no matter what the government says, it would be a lie.

Maybe it's time to put the light out and stop wandering the streets and search yourself for that honest man.

...I oppose this war as unneccessary and ill advised. It has been justified on a Mountain of lies concealing what the Warmongers true motivations are. And I need not even specify what those motivations might be as we can know them to be different from the stated Spin as the existing justifications are provable, and proven, lies.

One can be both against this particular action and at the same time carry a reasonable cynicism toward the actions of a government in general. It seems to me that is the rare politician with enough imagination and foresight to put the Nation's interests first and not their own. Ultimately they are the same but too many small minded men, and women, in government seem to rationalize that their personal interest is what is best for all. A healthy skepticism is only reasonable.

"Government, even in it's best state, is but a neccessary evil, in its worst case, an intolerable one.
-- Thomas Paine

Maybe it's time that I stop watching Fox News and return from the Dark Ages?