Join the club of fascination with black propaganda...as well as its next-door neighbor, the use of psychological manipulation in advertising, political as well as commercial.
In that context, the use of the offensive ringer is a pretty common technique. As is the setup, "catching" somebody in a contrived compromising position, in which the offensive ringer is connected by association with the victim. It's possible that some of the nasty campaign contributions that come to light and lead the recipient to feel compelled to publicly return them are in fact planted to embarrass the candidate. It oughta raise a red flag to learn that, say, NAMBLA, has made a donation to any candidate.
As for these books, while it's possible that one or both is a plant, I doubt it. A lot of people would need to be willing or unwilling accomplices, because the RightWing media is enthusiastically promoting the Conservative books and the mainstream media is obligingly providing parallel coverage.
If Rush Limbaugh didn't really write the endorsement featured on the cover of one of 'em (and the blatantly anti-Semitic Hollywood one, at that), I'd assume that Limbaugh's lawyers would've covered the publisher like flies on [propaganda directed at children]. The Democratic rebuttal (I hear it was written after the Conservative books as a direct response to them) isn't getting nearly the buzz--perhaps Democrats might have the good grace to be embarrassed by such disgustingly cloying and saccharine nonsense. My reaction was certainly mild nausea.
Bottom line, all those books are selling and making money for their authors and publishers, in large part because of all the controversy they generate. If you want to look for a hidden agenda, how about the possibility that the books are all over the top in a deliberate attempt to get attention? They'd have to spend a million bucks on advertising to get this kind of exposure, in print, on the Net, and on TV. Multiple millions. But be outrageous, and you get it all for free.
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re: One for both of you
The whole thread (71 posts)
- The Proletariat is Winning at UPS.
- more graphic examples
- The Winger Inquisition strikes again
- Actually, I see it more as a lame Diego Rivera mural.
- Ummm...