Summary: Arousing fear has become not just an effective political tool but a good business in our increasingly gullible America. This post looks at one example from the many in today’s news. An industry has grown to disseminate activists’ scary stories. Like the candy industry it’s big because we love their products although we know they’re bad for us. We’ll need sterner standards if we hope to again govern ourselves. {2nd of 2 posts today.}
Contents
- Weaponized urban legends.
- Today’s fear attack on America.
- Journalists defending us.
- Conclusions.
- For More Information.
(1) Weaponized urban legends
For years I wondered what happened to the scary but fun urban legends that so often swept across America, as new ones became rare after the bogus Y2K panic attack. Had we learned? Only slowly did it become apparent that this powerful tool has been professionalized by activists and deployed against us for political effect. Amateurs’ creations can’t compete against the product of pros.
Previous posts have debunked the increasingly delusional claims by the Left’s activists about imminent climate catastrophes (either unsupported or contradicted by the work of the IPCC). Here we look at similar activities of the Right. A thousand and one posts could be written and not list a year’s fear barrages dropped on America, and their growing role shaping our view of the world.
(2) Today’s fear attack on America
A hot meme on the Right concerns the danger from the others to the south. Hordes of young men taking our jobs. Criminals taking our goods and attacking our women. Lazy people exploiting our charity. Sick people bringing diseases. The latest concerns those others working with our foes.
Judicial Watch originates many of these stories (165 thousand followers on Twitter), aptly described by the invaluable myth-busters at Snopes in an article debunking the jihadists coming from Mexico stories:
Hunter’s claims seemed to fall directly in line with several made by the disreputable Judicial Watch site, a muckraking organization run by “political activist” Larry Klayman (who issued a press release in October 2014 announcing he was petitioning several federal agencies to deport President Obama, and who has been barred for life by multiple judges for his repetitive misuse of the court system).
Since August 2014, Judicial Watch has been claiming that the U.S.-Mexico border is vulnerable to ISIS … {the article describes several such “warnings”, showing that so far each has been proven either false or without evidence.}
Judicial Watch’s most recent story is “ISIS Camp a Few Miles from Texas, Mexican Authorities Confirm“. Relying on all anonymous sources, of course.
Once a meme gets created by activists, others disseminate and amplify it. This profusion of articles gives the story a bogus credibility, disguising the lack of supporting evidence. Like this by WND (formerly WorldNetDaily): “Inside the ISIS-U.S. border scare“. They’re skillful story-tellers about boogeymen. Excerpt:
If terrorists are teaming up with Mexican drug cartels, the implications could be cataclysmic. Not only do Mexican drug gangs maintain sophisticated smuggling routes, some of the more dangerous Mexican group {sic} have evidenced guerrilla-like tactics already used in terrorist-style attacks.
… In an attack still largely unexplained, on April 16, 2013, a sophisticated assault was carried out on PG&E Corp’s Metcalf Transmission Substation outside of San Jose, California, which supplies power to San Francisco and other areas. A team of gunmen fired sniper and assault rifles on the substation, severely damaging 17 transformers. … On the same day as the Metcalf assault, North Korea flew its KSM-3 satellite on the optimum trajectory and altitude to evade U.S. radars and carry out a potential EMP attack drill.
Give WND bonus points for a two-fer by combining this evidence-free story with the equally far-fetched stories about a possible EMP attack by North Korea. Fear synergy! At least WND mentioned the government’s denials, unlike most activists. However, the FBI disagrees with WND’s description of the attack on the Metcalf substation: it wasn’t terrorism, could have been done by one person, and wasn’t “sophisticated”.
Here’s a more recent example of WND spreading Judicial Watch’s stories as if they were from the Britannica: “Watchdog: Feds plotting to shut down ISIS warning“. WND oddly bills this story as an “exclusive”, although it’s a rehash of a publicly available JW report.
GOP politicos eagerly spread these rumors, knowing that in our America there is no penalty for doing so. For example, see Congressman Trent Franks telling this rumor to Staying True to America’s National Destiny (STAND), quickly picked up by Buzzfeed. In an article by PolitiFact debunking these stories, Franks admitted he relied on the report from Judicial Watch (he get info from fringe extremists, not the intel agencies on which we spend tens of billions of dollars per year).
(3) Journalists defending us
Despite their well-earned collapse in credibility, the mainstream news media are our first defense against the fearmongerers — from the majors (NYT’s “U.S. Pushes Back Against Warnings That ISIS Plans to Enter From Mexico” and UPI’s “Officials: No evidence of Islamic State in Mexico“) to the local news (Dallas Morning News’ “Ciudad Juárez neighborhood scoffs at report of Islamic State terror cell in its midst“). Even Fox News often debunks right-wing memes, as they do with this straight reporting: “US State Dept calls report on ISIS training camps in Mexico ‘unfounded’“.
The major media are not oracles of truth. But they are the best place to start. Unlike those in the media clown car. Such as American Thinker chiding real journalists for ignoring Judicial Watch’s wild assertions.
Sadly, these push-backs by journalists appear to be decreasingly effective. Many Americans have become skeptical about the mainstream news but credulous about far less reliable tribal news sources (newsletters, email strings, websites, talk radio, social media). Worse, repeated instances of false information do not appear to dent our love for these alternative sources. {An extreme example is the frequent mention in comments here that it’s silly to give links to sources.}
Conclusions
Debunking these memes is usually done as entertainment: see the silly people in the other tribe! That ignores the significance of these stories. Both extremes use this tactic — because it works. Our tribal loyalties make us credulous and so easily led. We have to improve our game.
Since 9/11 we have heard hundreds of such stories about imminent attacks in the US. After 13 years the “attacks” have been largely created by government agencies (entrapment in every sense, except that used by American judges). Ditto with the Left’s climate alarmism, trumpeting severe but natural weather as human-caused (e.g., California’s drought), while most kinds of extreme weather are in fact at average or low levels. When we laugh at them and rely instead on experts America will become a stronger nation.
A free people governing themselves must have a close hold on reality. Only subjects can indulge in fantasies to their hearts’ content, or take the easy path and believe what they’re told. What we believe plays a big role in determining which we will be.
For More Information
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about Information and Disinformation, the new media and the old., especially these:
- Our minds are addled, the result of skillful and expensive propaganda.
- Learning skepticism, an essential skill for citizenship in 21st century America.
- Who lies to us the most? Left or Right?
- Remembering is the first step to learning. Living in the now is ignorance.
- Swear allegiance to the truth as a step to reforming America.
- Facts are the enemy of both Left and Right in our America.
