Propaganda is founded on creating selective hyperbolic narratives – including lies – to persuade. We saw the latest example of this in the lead-up and reaction to the itsy-bitsy peaceful protest – if you can even call it that — on the Capitol grounds in Washington recently.
Whatever one may think of the January 6th Capitol Hill riot, there is no doubt that the turnout on September 18th was rather anemic – not what you would expect of an ongoing insurrection.
The reporting of the event was on the same level as – and often exceeded – the continuing disaster in Afghanistan (including that tragic drone strike), 15,000 migrants illegally crossing the southern border, the confusion and controversy over masks and vaccines, France withdrawing its ambassador for the first time in memory over anger at Biden policy, the unprecedented accomplishment of the SpaceX civilian flight into outer space, the bizarre case of the missing Florida woman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s look-at-me graffiti evening gown.
To even get into competition with the aforementioned stories, it would take something BIG. And it did, a BIG lie.
But first a little backdrop. A group of Americans sought and received a permit for 700 people to meet on the grounds of the Capitol to protest the pre-trial incarceration of hundreds of those accused of trespassing and rioting on Capitol Hill on January 6th. Again, whether you agree with them or not, the group seeking the permit was participating in their constitutional rights of assembly, speech, and petitioning the government. There was no plan to overturn the government or engage in violence – and none of that occurred.
Those on Capitol Hill on January 6th believed that the 2020 election was stolen. The protest turned into an organic riot by a relatively small percentage of those who came to demonstrate. That is the dynamic we have seen hundreds of times in cities across America in modern times.
Virtually everyone on all sides of the political divide agrees that those who committed crimes stole and/or destroyed property should be punished. And that is what the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are doing. More than 600 people have been arrested. But none so far for insurrection, sedition or treason. Those charges are be pursued only in the media and by Democrats.
But there is a great disparity of how rioters should be treated by law enforcement depending on their philosophic viewpoint of the rioters. Left-wing rioters and occupiers in our urban centers are not being arrested and prosecuted. That is wrong … but that is a different debate.
The left – Democrats and the media – were not satisfied with reporting on a riot on January 6th. That would lack partisan propaganda gravitas. So, they summarily declared that what happened on Capitol Hill was … an insurrection. An insurrection is scarier because riots have become commonplace. You cannot raise even false scaremongering narratives if you are dealing with just another riot.
And not only was it an insurrection, it was an insurrection carried out by the Republican Party – and supported by everyone who supports the Republican Party. The left even renamed the GOP as the “insurrectionist party.” That was their false political narrative … their propaganda … their BIG LIE.
And not only was the January 6th riot not an insurrection – according to the propaganda – it was not the initial event of an ongoing insurrection that is taking place by insurrectionists all over America – wherever the Republican Party exists. Proof of the propaganda narrative is that the leading voices in the Republican Party are not speaking out and pushing back against the concocted fairytale insurrection.
Part of the left’s BIG LIE narrative is that the American democracy is teetering on the brink of extinction – and that those forces behind the fictional insurrection are still at work attempting to seize power in a violent uprising. This is massive. This is BIG.
The insurrection narrative is, in reality, a political fairytale in the tradition of Chicken Little and the Boy Who Cried Wolf.
To protect America from this virtually invisible mythical movement, the left rose to the occasion. For days leading up to the arrival of the latest wave of insurrectionists, the Democrats and their media cronies warned the people of America of yet another attempt to overthrow the government. There were reports of “chatter” about planned violence. (We should keep in mind that this is the same government that killed 10 innocent Afghans because of “chatter.” But I digress.)
This time the citadel of democracy would be adequately protected. So, up went the fencing and the barriers. The National Guard was called out in advance. Rows of police lined the area – with protective body gear that made them look like “Star Wars” combatants. Heavy duty vehicles were put into strategic places. An area the size of multiple football fields was cordoned off to contain the mob.
Multiple forces of the federal government were well prepared for the expected 700 protestors who … oh … wait. They knew in advance that there was likely to be no more than 700 folks showing up to take over the country. That was the number the organizers put on the permit request. That was even higher than that number the intelligence agencies were reporting as “anticipated.”
As it turned out, the latest wave of violent insurrectionists consisted of fewer than three hundred peaceful protestors. There were more police and press than there were protestors. It was more like a picnic in the park than a protest. There was no violence. There was no brandishing of weapons. In fact, fewer folks got arrested at the Capitol than on a normal tourist weekend.
And what happened to all the coordinated protests that were supposed to rise all across the nation? I did see one vague report of 35 gathering somewhere. Hell … I could organize more people than that to protest against eating hot dogs. Of course, I would never do such a thing since I love hot dogs.
Interestingly and ironically … on the VERY SAME DAY of the Capitol Hill rally, there was a much larger and more animated crowd in New York City protesting against mask mandates. And in an effort to pump more drama into the DC rally, the press showed more footage of the January 6th riot than they did of the small group gathering on September 18th. There was virtually no coverage of what was said from the podium.I had predicted that the protest on Capitol Hill on September 18th would be small and peaceful. I believed that because I did not believe all the hype – all that crap — about some massive movement by Republicans to take down the Republic in a violent insurrection.