A recent Homeland Security alert made me laugh. “The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors. These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence.”

Talk about projection.

Of course, the corporate media is filled with mis, dis and mal-information, but they do so in a manner to advance state propaganda so it’s all good.

We’ve reached a late stage period where the managers of the US empire have only a tenuous grasp over reality, and have failed to notice that the dogs are refusing to eat the dog-food. In other words, the all encompassing propaganda is having a declining efficiency. For example, Forbes recently reported that “Fewer Americans than ever before trust the mainstream media.”

That’s brought about the frantic efforts at censorship. It’s not about Joe Rogan. It’s not about Covid misinformation. It’s not about QAnon, Russian trolls, domestic extremists or election security. It’s about ruling power structures needing to normalize and expand the regulation of online speech in order to manufacture consent for the status quo.

Which happens to be war. All the fucking time, in case you have somehow managed to miss the non-stop Russian invasion story.

Anyone who disputes any part of this official story is peddling misinformation, or is a Russian bot, or is an anti-semite, or is a dangerous extremist, or is mentally ill, or is whatever they need to be in order to ensure that they are never taken seriously by anyone and are silenced on social media and are never given a mainstream audience. 

Like yours truly.

It’s clear that the corporate media simply acts as gatekeepers for the establishment economic and political actors and disseminates an approved narrative. Despite all the outrage over fake news or dis-information, the corporate media, on both sides of the tribal divide, are all making bank from selling controversy, garbage, and fake outrage. And it’s not a surprise that the loudest of them screaming about censorship have had little to say about the most pervasive censorship of all–corporate media’s near-complete erasure of economic and anti-corruption reporting that might offend business sponsors.

You see, the powers that be don’t care if what you’re sharing is fact or fiction or something in between. What they care about is whether what you’re sharing has the potential to make people think for themselves and, in the process, question the government’s propaganda.

Honestly, the Russian-invasion propaganda has grown so unhinged that I think our elite are losing it

US warns war could be ‘imminent’ in Ukraine – Politico, Feb 11, 2022

Russian invasion could begin at any time, White House says – Reuters, Feb 14, 2022

WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE–U.S. Warns of Imminent Russian Invasion of Ukraine With Tanks, Jet Fighters, Cyberattacks

Maybe the propaganda blitz is all about domestic politics? Presently, the Democrats are battling for their political lives with midterm elections fast approaching in November. Facing rising inflation, the ravages of Omicron, blame for the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the failure to get the full support of his own party for the Build Back Better legislation, the Biden administration is staggering under sagging approval ratings just as it gears up for this year’s congressional elections.

Or maybe the Blob is flailing about attempting to maintain global hegemony in a multipolar world? Former MI-6 analyst Alastair Crooke points to this motive: “The U.S. is instigating conflict in Ukraine in order to tighten bloc discipline – to corral European States back into the U.S.-led fold. No doubt, China makes the connection that Ukraine provides the perfect pivot for shepherding Europe towards America’s next stage of requiring a united front with the U.S. for the later task of barricading-in China, behind her borders… The formula has acquired today a greater import, and a new twist: To keep Germany ‘down and price uncompetitive’ versus U.S. goods; to keep Russia ‘out’ from being Europe’s source of cheap energy; and to keep China ‘fenced out’ from EU–U.S. trade.”

I think that’s right. The geo-strategic reality is that the US would never would allow European-Russian, European-China relations to develop to such a degree that they would challenge the US’s political, economic or military primacy and hegemony on the European continent. Such a development will be prevented by all necessary means, if necessary by provoking a war in central Europe. 

Anyway, something is going on that has our elite freaking out, and I believe that’s why they are lashing out at any unauthorized narrative with a particular ferocity. 

The danger to the ruling elite is that any counter narrative that shines a light on their propaganda threatens their hold on power. The status quo is held in place by psychological compartmentalization. It’s held in place by propaganda and brute force, naturally, but it’s also equally propped up by the basic human tendency to avoid sincerely engaging with information that threatens to destroy our worldview.

Few people understand just how important it is for the powerful to control the narrative about what’s going on in the world. It’s the primary thing standing between the status quo and revolutionary change.

To paraphrase George Orwell–In a time of mis, dis and mal-information, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.