We have all seen it, the disgusting emails that have been circulated around by wingers to and from the GOP faithful. Barack is The One, he is evil, he is a muslim he is a terrorist.
Propaganda isn't anything new but the use of chain emails as a primary vehicle for circumnavigating the press and open public discource has probably never reached the heights it has this election. The sad truth is, many fall for the slander contained within.
Trusted relationships between church goers, managers and their direct reports, extended family members and long time friendships are being used, misused, to further the distribution and consumption of falsehoods.
How far our political discourse has fallen when one of the key strategies of an election comes down to a campaign of disinformation. Spreading disinformation to a domestic audience, if any branch of Government is involved, is a violation of Law.
Of course, this raises the question - who is drafting these messages ? Are they really the spontaneous writings of our colleagues and regular Americans as they claim to be ? OR....is there a more direct link back to the McCain / Palin campaign ? An IT forensics specialist could probably track some of these messages back to their source, and that would make for a very interesting read. Not having that information at this time though, we can at least deduce some coordinated activity if we start to see patterns in these messages - correlation in common messaging between a series of emails and comments made by GOP party members. Again, I have no proof, I just lay the question out there. How much is the official ticket involved in the deliberate creation of a public disinformation (propaganda) campaign ? And if so, what if anything should be done in the future (legally) to counter this ? (if anything)
Of course, this technique probably wouldn't be so heavily relied upon, and the chain emails so numerous, if they did not have a willing and receptive audience. Why do people read these messages ? Do they confirm a subconscious belief ? Do they help voters feel good about supporting a bad ticket, thinking the other is even worse ? What is the psychology behind this ?
While you all consider that, here is an example I received today. As is typical the message is written from someone you expect to trust. Not a very good candidate is used here (Bill Lear, billionaire founder of LearJet !!), although in this case he is claimed to be an "independent" (therefore, chain email obviously is intended to be targetted at fellow independents)
Straight talk for Republicans and Democrats
Most Americans are aware of Bill Lear, because of his Lear Jet business; however,
he has accomplished much more, as you can see at this link: William P. Lear -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia . His opinions are worth a read:
A Humble Plea to McCain and Obama Supporters:
Dear friends,
I am truly astonished by the ignorance Obama supporters have displayed
in their quest to get someone - ANYONE - into the White House. Now, wait a minute. I can well understand your dislike or even hatred of our
clown, GWB, but he is not the root cause of all of our problems. Our Congress is. And a change there would be welcomed by all. You ain't gonna get it done with Obama. You gotta fire the whole damnable crooked Congress.
(Read my book, "BERNIE'S WAR!").
Perhaps I'm looking at all of this from a different perspective than you
because my life experiences have been so different from yours. I'm
80-years old and have traveled the world where I've seen a great deal.
I spent five years on active duty as a fighter pilot in the USAF and
another seven years flying with the Air National Guard in California and Texas as well as a few years flying in the USAF Reserve. I spent three years on active duty in Germany flying Czech border patrol with "cold guns" in aircraft inferior to the MIG during the Korean "Police Action" when it was thought that Korea was a diversion for a Soviet invasion of Western Europe.
I lived abroad for a total of 28 years. Three years in Germany, twenty
years in Switzerland and five years in Great Britain where I was based
doing "spook" work for the U.S. behind the Iron Curtain before it fell.
During that era of the Cold War I ventured to Moscow, Prague, Warsaw,
Bucharest, Peshawar, Pakistan and Bulgaria posing as a Swiss
French-speaking arms dealer purchasing weapons we surreptitiously
supplied to the Afghani Mujahedeen in their successful fight against the Soviets all of which came back to haunt us.
I've been there and done that and have had close associations with top
government people in Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain. I've
had more foreign affair experience than Obama could ever dream of and, yet, wouldn't have the temerity to deign myself "Presidential" material;
although I feel eminently more qualified to judge who would NOT be best
for our country. My long-time world experience should count for
something in my plea to you to abandon this miscreant flake. You will only be doing yourself and our country an enormous disservice if you persist in your support of this flash-in-the-pan opportunist. On this, you MUST trust
me.
I've associated closely with European royalty and African politicians.
I've traveled to the Far East to observe their cultures. My point is
that Obama, although formally well educated and a brilliant orator, is a
neophyte when it comes to understanding the world and is uniquely
unqualified for the job as President of these great United States. His
knowledge of economics is nil and his tax proposals absurd and
life-threatening to the U.S. not only in economic terms but in
preserving our national security as well. I don't want a "citizen of the world" to be President, I want a citizen of the good old USA to be President. Screw the rest of the world as they have well and truly screwed us. The time has come for us to awaken and start looking after ourselves. Now THAT would be CHANGE if that's what you're looking for.
While McCain has abstained from playing "the race-card", Obama is
playing it to the hilt even though he's technically not an African-American.
To qualify for this distinction you must be at least one-sixth black.
Obama is only one-eighth. His father would be, as he was one-sixth. No,
Obama is more Muslim than black yet he trades on his blackness.
The larger question I have about him is that we really don't know much
about him other than what HE tells us, what we read on blogs and from
some serious non-partisan investigators whose factual reports are,
unfortunately, generally ignored and which receive precious little
media exposure.
I, as a registered Independent, a military veteran and a patriot,
beseech you to put aside party considerations and vote for the lesser of the
two evils. Yes, I am NOT a McCain supporter, but he is, at least, not a
flake, doesn't carry Muslim baggage and is a PROVEN hero and patriot
WITH experience. It's not a party issue. It's all about electing the best
we can trust with what we've got to work with. Mr. Obama is NOT that guy. Please, please rethink your voting position.
Thanks for reading my innermost thoughts. I care about all of you, but
I care more about our country. Please help me to do both.
William P. (Bill) Lear, Jr.
lear@cfl.rr.com
(386) 763-5051
What a helpful email ! Bill being a billionaire clearly knows exactly what is good for me and shares my needs and policy principles !!! Thank goodness I have been educated to see the light ! /SNARK !
However much I jest though, this is a serious issue. Beyond responding back to these emails (hey, feel free to email and call Bill with your comments, I am sure he is open to feedback...), more importantly, I think it is important that we keep a track of new chain emails as they come out, in some cases they may provide some indication as to the strategy the McCain camp intends to follow in their messaging in a given week, all good intelligence to pass along and prep our guys with.
Received any good ones lately ? What was the target audience ? What can be deduced as the message ? Lets keep on top of these and keep an eye out for deliberate message building.
Further reading :
TPM - china drilling off of Florida chain mail
Al Gore - Viral Republican Talking Points
Economist's View - Chain Email
Factcheck.org - Sliming Obama