I work with some very smart, experienced people and yet I'm amazed at how differently they perceive the world. We are involved in analyzing military operations, so I'm used to having a disjointed feeling when comparing how activities in our two current wars are reported versus what the after action reports contain.
Of course, our forces are heavily involved in a counter insurgency effort (COIN) and there has been much discussion about the strategy that should be followed. GEN McCrystal was interviewed by NPR earlier this week and he said two things that hit me like a ton of bricks. To paraphrase the general, in COIN the insurgency tries to do two things: (1) make the people lose trust in the government and (2) separate the people from the government.
Now condider how Fox News, and other conservative media outlets, report on current conditions. Perhaps more chillingly, consider the effect on how the world is presented; two examples, (1) almost two thirds of Fox News viewers believe that WMD were found in Iraq (2) a majority of self-identified Republicans believe several of the more bizarre stories about the President (e.g., the 2008 election was stolen by ACORN, the President is not a natural born American).
One of the ways an insurgency makes the people lose trust in the government is through Information Operations (IO). Our military is working very hard on its own IO campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the doctrine under which they operate makes it very clear that the US must be straightforward and truthful with the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. But, if you're an insurgent, you don't have such compunctions and your IO can easily slide into the realm of propaganda. And remember, propaganda only needs to have a little grain of truth at its core; upon this, the practitioners build elaborate edifices.
Another way to create a lack of trust is to get your hands on the levers of government and then really gum up the works. Or worse, actually pervert the machinery so the government harms the people. Stick enough sabots in the gears and you can make even "...of the people, by the people, and for the people" sound very cynical.
At this point I don't think we have to worry about overt, organized and large scale acts of violence by our fellow citizens, but the rhetoric is poisonous now, and getting worse. It won't be a surprise if an individual takes matters into their own hands and strikes a blow for freedon against the 'enemy'. And then there will be hand wringing and much nazel gazing by the pundits; and then the match might be lit.
Because, though the diary is framed as if Fox News was at the center of a vast web I don't believe that at all. Rather, they are a corporation that seeks to maximize profits, and the product they're selling is very attractive to a lot of people. People who are hurting, who are structurally displaced, who are bewildered at the world unfolding in front of them, who don't deal well with uncertainty/ambiguity/change. No, Fox News is not a hotbed of secessionary conspirators; but it's sowing the wind. And we may have to reap the whirlwind.
Poleaxed as I was by GEN McCrystal's comments, I realized this week that just shaking my head and laughing at the teabaggers and Fox News and even NPR (Republicans on my radio-Do. Not. Want.) was stupid and shortsighted of me. As much as I want to drop my pack and just disengage, I realize that that would be disloyal, uncivil and a betrayal of my countrymen and our children.
Any COIN campaign is measured in years and not months. This one is ours, this one is our Long War. And, even though some days I swear it feels like another civil war is in the offing, I know I have to reach out to my fellow citizens and try to turn them from the path of nihilistic violence and back towards reasoned discourse. My gratitude to this community, which gives me the energy to try again, is profound.