General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe media and the populace are not up to the task...
Last edited Wed Oct 12, 2016, 07:57 AM - Edit history (1)
Many many years ago one of the early criticisms of Sesame Street by those in early childhood education and development was that although the content of the program was excellent, it conditioned children to have relatively short attention spans. Trump and his fascist-studying minions have perfected the art of altering the landscape every forty-five minutes it seems and have overwhelmed the system with multiple scandals and what would normally have been interpreted as missteps which would have invariably proved fatal to candidates even four years ago. It is a form of Gish Gallop in extremis and although Trump has probably lost this election, it will be a tactic which will be utilized in the future by these strategists who represent what would have been otherwise unelectable candidates in the past.
The people cannot manage this: it is cognitive overload, something we endure during disasters involving the loss of many lives, or even how we view a serial killer who has committed so many heinous acts that his celebrity status eclipses the individual horror of his deeds. The RWers have been fine-tuning this tactic for years and we are witnessing the rollout and sacrifice of their boy Trump, all the while refining the technique for further use in the future and for political races which do not have the shrewd operators on the other side to blunt the attacks,
I believe we have entered a new phase of Orwellian Manipulation. One of which Orwell himself may not have been able to conceive.
Orrex
(63,083 posts)I'm told that there used to be many of these so-called "journal-ists" who informed viewers and readers of the events of the day. Sounds like mythology IMO. How could these "journal-ists" even get a word in edgewise with all of our 24/7 media firehoses?!?
whathehell
(28,968 posts)PCIntern
(25,341 posts)Nay
(12,051 posts)still entirely relevant today. One of the arguments is exactly that -- it makes your brain enjoy short attention spans and, after a while, you can't pay attention to much of anything for more than a couple of minutes.
Your library should have a copy. It's illuminating.