Lights, Camera...Reaction!
On May 1st 2002, in a premature display of perceived victory and bravado, the president honoured the gung-ho and neo-macho premise of the movie Top Gun by swaggering across the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and posing for photographers. Photos of Bush with a “thumbs up” sign appeared in magazines and internet sites. One could almost here the cheesy rendition of the movie’s soundtrack: “highway to the danger-zone.” Better still, as you can see under the headline of this column, we could buy a George Bush doll in authentic “Elite Force Aviator” attire for the bargain basement price of $39.99! Why of course! What price the life of Iraqi civilians? A plastic “George Bush” for American kids and cluster bombs for Iraqi children six thousand miles away. It betrays an extraordinary level of collective ignorance, cynical profiteering and astonishing disrespect for lost civilian lives. An inauguration of a world “danger-zone” it will most certainly be, with US policy dictating and creating the required “danger” for its own purposes as it sees fit.
The Top Gun type mentality along with all the other gun-slinger-dirty-dozen-rootin’-tootin’-meanest-varmint-this-side-of-Texas clichés are on show here. Osma and Saddam are the designated villains with the Middle East as the town that’s only big enough for Bush and his magnificent seven. It remains to be seen whether Bush will ride off into a desert sunset with his less than stable spoils or ransack the next town as self appointed sheriff. Whichever way the rig the next election, the neo-con administration has and will avail itself of one of the most potent moulders of our perceptions: Movies.
The entertainment industry has long since been the tool of successive shadow administrations and affiliated “think-tanks.” Fear and disinformation is the province of the CIA. It secretly subsidizes many authors, media critics and journalists via private foundations and front organizations which are indirectly or directly linked to the Hollywood industry. The present propaganda machine has subsumed this medium into a potent weapon of subliminal and downright ham-fisted mass programming to a greater degree than ever before. For instance, did you ever wonder why there was a steady flurry of war movies spear-headed by Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan in 1998? From 2000 to 2002 there was a tangible increase in war film production both in the cinema and on T.V. reaching a peak prior to 9/11 including: Windtalkers, Black hawk Down, U-571, Band of Brothers (T.V.) The Thin Red Line, The Patriot, We Were Solidiers, The Sum of all Fears, K-19, Hart’s War, Behind Enemy Lines, and the most objectionable piece of sensational tripe in the form of Jerry Bruickheimer’s epic Pearl Harbour, where the US rewrote history in true “Forest Gump” style. This latter movie was perhaps the most obvious piece of propaganda designed to elicit the response of “America under attack” and the accompanying mass expression of righteous indignation that was required. Since 9/11 more than one third of Hollywood productions are war movies or associated fear mongering. "The Sum of All Fears" directed by Phil Alden Robinson, and released in 2002 is a case in point. A group of terrorists get their hands on a nuclear device, which they explode in a US city, hoping to start a war with Russia. It received the endorsement and support of both the Pentagon and the CIA. I wonder why.
It is also interesting to note that the most commercially successful Hollywood director Steven Spielberg has been responsible for some of the most popular movies in motion picture history and the collective thought patterns that followed. With this in mind, it is also highly probable and for reasons we can only guess at, that he is an artful propagandist in the pay of Bilderberg Grp. and its affiliated shadow executive aspirations.[15]
En masse, some of these films may have played a minor role in moulding the psyche of this troubled nation, just as they did during the intense paranoia of the cold war era. They may serve to engender a sense of patriotism, and an erroneous star spangled heroism that inflates the national pride, and simultaneously demands an emotional outlet. (Even those in the so-called anti-war category may do this by feeding into the aura of “war fever.”) If the democrats are afraid to speak out against the present fascism for fear of not supporting the troops (most of whom are demoralised and utterly desperate to return home) then the same can could be said of the public at large where the herd mentality can be at its strongest involving God, the military, and the beloved home soil. Hollywood is US culture. By the same token, the deification of the movie market ensures that it is not simply a way to relax and enjoy our leisure time – they have become the incessant analgesic and anaesthetic to our own imagination and creativity; numbing our cognitive abilities with bland, iconic formulas for living; programming trite solutions for love and relating; substituting voyeurism, violence and titillation for the potential of cultivating true understanding and greater awareness. Once we rely more and more on the buffering arena of entertainment we become progressively open to the subtle tinkering of our already pliable emotions. It seems this objective fact has not been lost on the neo-cons and it’s military.
The BBC picked up on this stratagem in a report from October 2001. We discover that US intelligence specialists sought in secret, “advice on handling terrorist attacks from Hollywood film-makers.” According to the trade paper Variety “a discussion group between movie and military representatives was held at the University of Southern California…” And further: “The group is said to have been set up by the US Army to discuss future terrorist activity in the wake of the attacks of 11 September.” Regardless of the wisdom of consulting Hollywood for advice on anything let alone military tactics, is this not rather strange for such a plan of action to take place barely a month after the 9/11 attacks? Unless of course, it represented a single stage within a long-term strategy. The report continues: “Among those reported to have been involved were Die Hard screenwriter Steven E.De Souza and Joseph Zito, director of Delta Force One and Missing in Action. Other, more conventional, feature makers were also said to have been present, including Randal Kleiser, who made Grease.”
“Grease”? Perhaps the military will dance and sing their way into Syria? If only. The fact that military intelligence are considering the advice of B-movie writers and directors is disturbing enough, it becomes especially worrisome when we consider the bizarre reversal of those that are in the business of killing, looking for advice from those who present killing as sure-fire entertainment. It surely becomes apparent that such an exercise would prove a potential asset if they were considering how to capitalize on future terrorist attacks along with the associated emotional manipulation that could be carried out within such scenarios. As a Variety spokesman mentions: “the entertainment industry can offer expertise in understanding plot and character, as well as advice on scenario training.” Sound familiar? Evidence strongly suggests, not only did the President know about the imminent attack on the Twin towers, there was also substantial circumstantial and solid empirical evidence that this may have been carefully crafted with major elements of simulation from within the US itself. In other words, 9/11 was largely manufactured to achieve ideological and political goals most of which we are now witnessing. Finally, the end piece of the report allows us to read between the lines:
The US Army is also behind the university's [of Southern California] Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT). The ICT calls upon the resources and talents of the entertainment industry and computer scientists to help with virtual reality scenario simulation. Variety reported that the ICT's creative director James Korris confirmed that the meetings between the film-makers and the US Army were taking place. However, the paper added that Mr Korris had refused to give details as to what specific recommendations had been made to the US government.[16]
Obviously more than his job’s worth. The above piece is I suspect, only the tip of the iceberg. When we tie this in with the NSA classified surveillance and PSYOPS technology that is far in advanced of anything we see in the market place then such pooling of entertainment utilities to bolster this same insider technology is not at all far-fetched. But more importantly, it becomes another method in which to utilize the psychopathology of a nation and much of our world that lives through movies. It is also clear that there is an open and “official” dimension to this propaganda which has moved outwards to the second tier of pyramidal operations. In other words, they are so cocksure of their abilities to keep the wool over our eyes they simply don’t care anymore.
Since the Second World War we are now observing a “bleed-through” of such experimentation across all intelligence and military endeavours which necessarily must include the moulding of the population through ALL means at their disposal. Or in the words of one President Abraham Lincoln: “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail. Without it nothing can succeed. He who moulds opinion is greater than he who enacts the laws.” And when you have control of both the laws and all possible outlets for propaganda then public opinion is effectively the clay that is permanently on the potter’s wheel. The waters of our sedentary lifestyles on the one hand and the ever-increasing storms of hardship on the other act to keep the clay manageable and open to “problem-reaction-solution” scenarios such as the rightly dramatic but Hollywood laden overtones of the twin towers attack. It will not be too long before you have a T.V. movie or a heavily financed “blockbuster” depicting the events of 9/11 on the scale of The Towering Inferno. You can be sure that Wim Wenders won’t be in the director’s chair.
Many movies can be wonderfully inspiring art. However, in a world where the lowest common denominator rules, there are few that make it beyond the market maw of commercial constraints, and if they do, then distribution is weak. High culture is not an easy buck. And apparently we now have a movie of The Alamo in production with the tagline: “Stand your ground.” Who knows? Perhaps Dubya will consider implementing an executive order for the lead role. It matters little the path to glory: politics to acting – acting to politics; both are understandably gaining a pre-nuptial relationship where the concept of serving the people is as meaningful as the residue from a “Mr. Slurpee” milk-shake. Taken as one spoke in the wheel of a culture whose denial is spinning way out of control, many movies represent another sub-weapon in the formidable armoury of the propaganda war.
Self-Election
The most dangerous slice of the propaganda pie is flying full into voters’ faces in the shape of seriously flawed electronic voting systems. Vital questions surrounding thousands of ballots which disappeared from state polling results – most notably Florida - have not been answered. With a little help from blackmailing and back scratching within the Supreme Court George Bush was finally dumped on his self-appointed electoral throne like a spoilt child with a new toy to play with. Indeed, the administration is already pumping money into sophisticated data analysis for the presidential campaign, and with the heightened praise and adulation of the religious right gaining ground we will see a powerful public impression of an electoral “democratic” battle. But this is unfortunately a smoke-screen. There are, without doubt, many disaffected and angry Americans determined to vote this false president out of office and a well-spring of opposition to the governments polices. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if the media and the majority of the sleeping public have sufficient will, courage and the moral imperative to resist corruption for a second time. What is more disheartening still is the growing realisation that the neo-cons may have been planning an election game that guarantees Bush another term in office.
It is no longer the television that is the tool of the political propagandists but the computer. Political marketing experts can employ ever more sophisticated means to harvest the nation’s opinions of their potential candidates and manipulate adverts and habitual poll tables according to their bought and paid for agenda. The almost unbelievable wealth of data available from market profiling is there to be used as a chess piece of manipulation. Potential supporters or detractors can be contacted by phone number, postal code, religious beliefs, income etc. and can be selectively enhanced, or conversely, data can be blocked out massaging suitable percentage probabilities which are subsequently seen and heard in the media. Seldom do reporters question exactly how these fleeting numbers are acquired.
The candidates themselves can be the object of rapacious marketing research in order to best undermine their impression by associative means. In other words, test the market view of a particular brand of music and produce a TV. ad with, for example, the most statistically irritating music in the background. The precise use of sound and picture editing in line with such market information can be packaged by highly paid focus researching teams, effectively disabling any efforts for the public to search for the facts. A slick 30 sec ad honed to manipulative perfection relying on auditory and visual cues which have nothing to do with reality but wholly reliant on pressing your buttons can undermine any logical analysis and reasoned debate. However, the very act of such campaigning by the Bush clan may be just a double security measure.
The history of a different kind of push button mechanism is that of voting software. The neo-con members that form the present administration have shown some decidedly suspicious local and national results in their rise to the Whitehouse. For example, just before the presidential election in 2002 one local voting system result was a 0% turnout among more than 800 voters. A recount was requested after a shock result in favour of Republicans where Democrat votes amounted to less than 2000 with a potential of 31,375 from 80 or so precincts. It was a little more than bad luck. The average county turnout should have produced at least 10,000 votes. The candidate’s request was denied by the Star Elections board.
Katherine Harris, Florida State Secretary shamefully “purged” more than 90,000 votes (mostly black and Hispanic democratic voters) during the 2000 election pantomime and came to symbolize the ease in which the election software can be used to deceive. Reports of thousands of ballots disappearing from several counties were repeated during the election for Florida Governor in which Jeb Bush sailed to victory. This was already coming from a wave of complaints concerning broken voting machines or multiple registers occurring for Bush when the opposite candidate was selected. After making their respective bids for the Senate, the extremely dubious victories of Republican candidates Chambliss and Hagel were further overshadowed by the death of Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone and his family in a plane crash. This “accident” ominously ensured that Republican control of the Senate was a mere formality. Yet again, the potentially explosive opportunity to unmask the truth behind obvious signs of election rigging continue to be lost under the sop of “Election reform” and the consequent patterns of Republican “successes.” [17]
With the new touch screen systems there is no paper for proof of ballot casting; there is a blockage of access to software operations, thus evidence of malpractice cannot be verified, whatever the results. Furthermore, one cannot confirm whether a vote has been registered or not, nor is there the possibility of a recount. The development of a $22 million system to allow overseas military and other Americans to vote is currently being tested in US counties ready for this year’s primaries and general election. Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE) was financed by the Department of Defence with growing calls for abandonment due to the obvious danger of cyber attacks and its “inherent insecurity”, most notably by a panel of computer security experts asked by the government to review the program. As ever, the expert will be ignored. And with two Republican dominated corporations, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), and Diebold Voting Systems, controlling 80% of the vote count back in the United States, it is a perfect technocratic solution to the neo-cons problem of indeterminacy. If events start to suggest even a shred of democracy at work, then manipulate the voting codes and keep a firm tight on the media leash to ensure that they have the maximum propaganda numbers to create the illusion of an electoral process.
Monuments
The eight year Iran/Iraq war (1980-1988) can be remembered as one of the most shockingly harrowing conflicts of the 20th century. It was reminiscent of the First World War in terms of sheer numbers of dead; territory shifting back and forth between the two sides like bone-dry seas, heavy with the burden of teenage corpses and the endless pain of grieving families. It was a lucrative time for the US, Russia, and various European nations eager to extend this barbarism in order to squeeze out the highest profits from a whole generation of beleaguered youths. Meanwhile, the rest of the Middle East looked on, until the final combined casualty list total reached one million. The combined profit from these arms deals however, is unknown, but we can guess at the obscene sums of money accrued. To further compound the misery and the arrogance of its leaders, nightmarish monuments were erected on the backs of an already broken people: the fountain of blood in Teheran, the soldier statuaries in Basrah and two giant crossed swords clasped by equally giant arms modelled on Hussein himself. They were also cast in a British foundry.
It is not without considerable cause that we may compare these gruesome monuments with the same grandiosity of the Statue of Liberty. Although it is undeniably impressive and an extraordinary feat of human engineering, we now get the sensation that behind that massive display of commemorative ardour are the true disproportionate and caricatured dimensions that characterise most of America’s value systems. If true liberty was ever present, it has now been comprehensively eroded and the torch long since blown out by winds of change that have little to do with freedom, but everything to do with sculpturing the same US hegemony in all cultures and creeds. As her original libertarian ethos was largely set against a backdrop of slave labour, urban gang warfare and a network of secret political, financial, and occult fraternities bent only on power, those initial ideals seem to be no more than wishful, romantic delusions. To this end, she has come to truly represent her heritage - a monolithic Medusa that captures all who blindly face her imposing figure, while inured in the subjectivity and relentless propaganda peddled by the government and its media.
If the media had rekindled even a fraction of the truth-seeking aspirations that have sporadically surfaced in the not so distant past, it is possible that George W. Bush and his minions may have been prevented from gaining ascendancy and inevitably invading Iraq. The reporting during that period was shockingly complacent and self-serving where money talked and a pension was eminently preferable. It remains so. Authentic journalism lies in many independent websites, subscription journals and magazines that cannot hope to compete with the mainstream. Is there still time for a collective whistle to blow loud and long? Although it appears to be decidedly late in the game, life is ever unpredictable. What seems to be clear is that there are extremely powerful forces at work in which propaganda is but one potent tool within a many layered arsenal that is on the cusp of changing into full-blown totalitarianism – Nazi style. The signs are there amid the complex gauze of our conditioning and the acquiescence to a system that thrives on our disempowerment.
Accepting this expanding dimension of hype extinguishes are own unique torches to truth and actively supports the ability of those to destroy any idea of freedom. If we make the effort to understand how propaganda surrounds our lives we may then make an informed choice to refuse it. Once this choice has been taken, it may release a flicker of hope and the fuel for concerted action to alight within. Perhaps then we will have no need for the monuments of propaganda and illusion that exist in our internal and external worlds, or those who will use our energy to erect them.
Notes
[15] Spielberg said: "If Bush, as I believe, has reliable information on the fact that Saddam Hussein is making weapons of mass destruction,I cannot not support the policies of his government". See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2282774.stm
[16] BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/film/newsid New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/international/19PENT.html
See also Spielberg’s attendence at Bilderberg Meetings: http://www.bilderberg.org/
[17] Visit http://www.votescam.com/
[16] BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/entertainment/film/newsid New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/19/international/19PENT.html
See also Spielberg’s attendence at Bilderberg Meetings: http://www.bilderberg.org/
[17] Visit http://www.votescam.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment