Tom Luongo
\nGold Goats \u2018n Guns<\/p>\n
The \u201cPentagon Papers\u2019 is making the rounds as the big new event of the past couple of weeks. The controversy is over the \u2018leaks\u2019 of strategic briefing documents detailing US future plans for the war in Ukraine. I\u2019ve watched this story unfold with a weather eye but wanted to wait to see how it would progress before commenting.<\/p>\n
I know, not going for the click-bait at the height of the anxiety-pimping is a rare thing these days.<\/p>\n
This morning Kit Knightly at Off Guardian\u00a0put out a strong pos<\/a>t on the disinformation process that I believe is worth your time. Even though I disagree with his conclusion, or more precisely leave myself open to a different conclusion, his Disinfo Radar isn\u2019t far off from the calibration zero-point.<\/p>\n This leak has all the hallmarks of being a fake, by Kit\u2019s 5 point heuristic, a heuristic I think has value, just not singular value. This \u2018leak\u2019 doesn\u2019t fit this model because of other responses to it. Because in order to sweep it into the corner, it burned the media as information gatekeeper in ways that those with power never do. More on that later.<\/p>\n For now let\u2019s focus on the black-pilled, those that live in a perpetual state of cynicism. For them it is easy to just dismiss this event the way Kit does, as something to shift the Overton Window in such a way as to reinforce the narrative they want you engaged in \u2013in this case maneuvering us into supporting another war for globalism.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all content designed, in the parlance of social media, to boost engagement.\u00a0Because the system has adapted, they don\u2019t manufacture consent anymore \u2013 they farm participation.\u00a0<\/strong>Angry refutation and warm praise record the same in the algorithm. They don\u2019t want your agreement, they want your attention. And when they feel the story is losing the audience, well, here\u2019s some super secret facts you aren\u2019t supposed to know.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is an excellent point that I agree with, in theory. Yes, they use multiple approaches to move public opinion. Yes, they like to hand out red pills to the normies to give them the cheap dopamine hit of \u2018figuring stuff out.\u2019<\/p>\n But, here\u2019s the thing about this type of insight,\u00a0it\u2019s its own form of psy-op.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Formally identifying this gives the disinformation brokers the flexibility to use both of these techniques (and other techniques) to keep people like Kit and fellow travelers like Whitney Webb and others focused on trying to figure out which one it is.<\/p>\n I hate to single Whitney out here because I genuinely like her and believe she\u2019s an honest broker, but I have to because of her current obsession, Jamie Dimon, which I\u2019ve been asked about by so many people (again, more on that later),<\/em><\/p>\n The thing to observe is when they figure it out, they will write, talk and text about it.<\/p>\n It drives traffic, gives positive feedback, and has all the appearance of both real journalism and sincerity (which, by the way, I\u2019m not doubting) but is it for the right reason?<\/p>\n It looks to me like chum for smart people to feel clever and one step ahead of the bad guys. The positive feedback drives subscriber and revenue growth reinforcing the idea of work well done.<\/p>\n But is it really? Or are they just rats chasing the trail laid for them by the cheese mongers?<\/p>\n I say this as someone acutely aware of their own personal tendency to doing just that. It\u2019s not hard to fall down the wrong rabbit hole, obsessed with facts but not what they mean\u2026<\/p>\n This is why all heuristics in an information space as polluted as this one need constant error checking.<\/p>\n Uncovering the techniques of control are just uncovering the mechanics. In this case, however, it looks like it is uncovering the agenda, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s the case here.<\/p>\n Ultimately, it brings to mind Gene Hackman\u2019s ultimate fate in\u00a0Coppola\u2019s classic movie\u00a0The Conversation<\/em>,<\/a>\u00a0playing his saxophone in the ruin of his apartment secure he\u2019s satisfied his paranoia.<\/p>\nBlack is the new Red<\/h3>\n
Conversing With Tyrants<\/h3>\n