Sample headlines from just this week (all purporting to be "news" as opposed to opinion):
Republican Woes Lead to Feuding by Conservatives (NYT)
Republican Money Can't Stave Off New Peril in Senate (WSJ)
Opposition to GOP Rises in Ohio, Poll Says(WashPost)
Big Democratic Wins Likely On Election Day MSNBC
GOP'S Hold on Evangelicals Weakening (WashPost)
And, of course, there is also setting up the fall-guys, should the GOP pull it out come November:
In Close Races, GOP Holds Advantage of Funds (WashPost) - subtext: the only reason the GOP could win these races is because of [evil] money money money. Issues have nothing to do with it.
Funding Constrains Democrats (WashPost) - other wise they would WIN!
Moderates in Kansas Decide They're Not in GOP Anymore (WashPost)
New Laws and Machines May Spell Voting Woes NYT
And, of course, concerned Democrats are already beginning to question the security of electronic voting (see here, for example) - we all know that those evil Republicans would surely stoop to election fraud; nevermind that we demanded electronic voting so that they couldn't cheat and not count the chads....
Now, the above was just a sampling that I obtained over the last few days from Memeorandum, and doesn't even count all the giddy lefty bloggers who are busily going about counting their chickens before they are hatched; and who cite wildly erratic polls as if they were absolute objective reality.
Having been a psychiatrist for quite some time; and having specialized in dealing with the masters of emotional manipulation in the personality disordered realm, I can say without any doubt that I know when I am being manipulated.
And the manipulation of this "news"--i.e., the artful and deliberate managing of what are purported to be objective "facts" by the news media--has gone into hyperdrive as the November midterm elections approach.
Can you guess the purpose of this manipulation? There are actually two purposes. The first sets up a clear expectation in the minds of the American population:
There is no way that Republicans can hold onto the House or the Senate. Everyone is abandoning ship. The Republicans are in complete disarray. The polls clearly demonstrate that Republicans are going to lose bigtime.
The second purpose is to deliver the fall-guy and establish blame in advance in case the reality on November 7, 2006 does not go the way the MSM (and the Democrats) planned.
Those RICH Republicans can only win if they spend more money than the POOR Democrats (who by the way, are just like Joe Sixpack and have to struggle every day with money woes because the evil [rich] Republicans only support the rich and oppress the poor; nevermind about millionaires Soros, Kennedy, Kerry, etc. etc. and most of the Hollywood elite who support Dems--they don't count). Oh, and the other reason that Republicans might win is if they CHEAT.
Turning to another issue on which the manipulation is only just beginning, I noted in this post that:
Remember the mass hysteria that ensued when Bush described Iraq, North Korea, and Iran as the "Axis of Evil"? Well, with the recent activities of two of the countries in that Axis , many pundits and intellectuals bemoan the fact that by attacking Iraq, the third member of the Axis, we essentially "attacked the wrong country." The context of such remarks is that the U.S. should have gone after North Korea and Kim Jong Il; or after the mullahs of Iran--all people who really really meant us harm-- and not poor, innocent, misunderstood Saddam.
Now they say, we are in deep trouble because we didn't--and it is all Bush's fault, of course.
But you see, if we had say, gone for regime change in North Korea --what they now insist we should have done--then only the names of the dramatis personae (especially the character of "The Oppressed") would have changed in this leftist drama.
Instead of the poor helpless victims of American oppression in Iraq that we hear so much about; we instead would be hearing about the poor, helpless, starving North Koreans -- victims of... American Imperialism/Capitalism!
Well, that meme has already begun, even as the US takes a visible lead in enforcing the UN Security Council's unanimous vote for sanctions on North Korea!
At any rate, look to see any interception as yet another proof of "US imperialism". Pajamas Media notices that the sympathetic portrayal of North Korea has already begun.The "Human Face" of North Korea: Diane Sawyer interviews a senior North Korean general who asks President Bush to stop humiliating his nation. Former Spook says the message is “They want nothing more than a better life for their children, and to live in peace, yada, yada, yada.”
Expect to see this sort of thing quite a bit in the months to come. We'll be hounded by stories of how our imperialism and desire to "dominate" the world is causing suffering and death in North Korea and Iran (just as the sanctions on Iraq cause so many children supposedly to starve). Expect to see studies published in The Lancet that demonstrate how...evil...diplomatic sanctions (enforced by the US for the international community). Expect to see human interest stories in the MSM about the pitiful plight of the innocents caught up in the machinations of the imperialistic US. Expect to see the wailing and blaming of innumerable "human rights" organizations whose only consistency will be in pointing the finger at the US.
All good poltical theater--in fact, all good political manipulation-- like the above, requires setting up at the beginning of the play the good guys and the bad guys, so that by the climax and denoument the moral of the story is clear. We have been set up for one of two endings in these two dramas:
NOVEMBER ELECTION DRAMA:
Ending #1: The virtuous Democrats have defeated the evil GOP who tried every despicable method in their arsenal as they attempted to thwart the rightful return to power of the Democrats. Good has triumphed over Evil at long last.
Ending #2: The virtuous Democrats were robbed by the evil GOP who used (gasp!) filthy lucre to buy their way to another undeserved victory; and, the Republicans also blatantly cheated and stole the election from the rightful winners. Virtue and Goodness cannot succeed where there is Evil and Corruption.
THE "AMERICA IS ALWAYS EVIL" DRAMA:
Ending #1: The U.S. is responsible for murdering and causing untold suffering of innocents by pursuing a diplomatic policy that oppresses the poor and helpless in countries like North Korea and Iran, who are not imminent threats. We wanted a diplomatic solution, but didn't want anyone to have to suffer!
Ending #2: The U.S. is responsible for murdering and causing untold suffering of innocents by pursuing a military policy that is disproportionate and excessive when you consider that North Korea and Iran have never really been threats to the U.S. We told you we wanted a diplomatic solution! But no, you had to resort to brute force and this is the result of your evil, imperialistic mind-set.
Possibly, there are other acceptable endings for the authors of this little play; but you can count on one common theme : The Bush Administration, Republicans, and/or the U.S. are always--always--the bad guys.
And one overriding plotline: The world, sadly out of kilter; and America, at the beginning of its end, will only be rescued and set back on its proper path when Democrats (read: the political left) regain their rightful place in the hallowed halls of political power.
THE END
(roll credits and...thunderous applause!)
The next day, the MSM will be sure to feature the rave reviews.
UPDATE: Even more!
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