How COINTELPRO really works & destroys social movements: Open letter from former Tea Partier to OWS

[TalkingDog]

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/235842-How-COINTELPRO-really-works-and-destroys-social-movements-Open-letter-from-former-Tea-Partier-to-Occupy-Wall-Street-protesters

I don't expect you to believe me. I want you to read this, take it with a grain of salt, and do the research yourself. You may not believe me, but I want your movement to succeed. From a former tea partier to you, young new rebels, there's some advice to prevent what happened to our now broken movement from happening to you. I don't agree with everything your movement does, but I sympathize with your cause and agree on our common enemy. You guys are very intelligent and I trust that you will take this in the spirit it is intended.

snip

1- The media will initially and purposely avoid covering your dissenting movement to cause confusion about what your movement is about within mainstream audiences. This is to enrage you and make you appear unreasonable, and perhaps even invisible.

2- While the obfuscation is happening, corporatists/government stooges will infiltrate and give superficial support, focus and financial backing to the targeted movement. In the tea party movement's case, it was the religious Republicans and Koch Brothers. In this case, it's the Public Sector Unions (the organizations as quasi-human entities, not the members themselves) and Ultra Rich liberals who pretend to care, but frankly do not serve liberators and freedom seekers but rather the interests of those who run the Public Sector Unions and the Democratic Party. Democrat, Republican, these parties are all part of the same corporate ruling system. Case in point: http://www.debates.org/

3-The media will cover the movement only after this infiltration succeeds. Once the infiltration is completed the MSM will manufacture public media antipathy towards the movement by using selective focus on the movement's most repulsive elements or infiltrators on the corporate Conservative media side, while the corporate Liberal media will create a more sympathetic tragic hero image -- this is the flip side of the tea party, but same media manipulation tactics. I go into greater detail on this tactic here.

/snip


Not sure I agree with everything he said, but there is an arc to these movements. With conscious management, the momentum will continue a lot longer and hopefully gain strength.

[spanone]

1. teaparty had fox news as it's personal public relations firm

The network drove the Tea Party movement, running more than 100 ads promoting the Tea Party (thinly disguised as Fox News promos) in the week leading up to the first major protests on 15 April 2009. It encouraged and fuelled the angry town hall meeting the faced by many members of Congress in 2009.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/07/fox-news-15-years?newsfeed=true

[TalkingDog]

2. That I knew. My reason for posting was

the all to recognizable media arc and how that might affect what OWS is trying to do.

I reject his notion that the Tea Party is not and was not racist, unless pollsters are actively lying about information they've collected on the members.

[spanone]

7. none of his 'warnings' happened with the teaparty...it's projection

the teaparty was in part created by the media.

the media has belittled the ows since it began....it never once supported it or encouraged it....it has questioned it's existence since the beginning.

imho

[The Doctor.]

27. Sorry, this is a Fail.

I'll grant that it was a failure of diligence or understanding, but the clear earmarks denoting that this whole piece is bullshit are all over it.

1) It suggests that unions are part of the 'power structure'.

2) The 'Tea Party' never had true criticism from the M$M, only the people who knew that they were astroturf.

3) The 'Tea Party' was an astroturf project from the beginning. The attempt to suggest that its donors came in after the fact is proof enough alone that the author of this piece is either a) Ignorant or b) Deliberately deceptive.

4) This movement is grass-roots for real, and many orders of magnitude larger and more sincere than the 'Tea Party' bullshit.

5) I know bullshit when I see it, and I'll bet the farm, my left hand, and my dog that this is utter bullshit.


If you're ever not sure if something you 'found' out there on the internets is bullshit, feel free to PM me and I'll give you my best assessment.


Meanwhile;

[Merlot]

28. Agree with your "fall" diagnosis, doc

what did it for me was the "repubs and democrats are all the same" line.

and that unions have the same goals as the koch bros is beyond far fetched.

[Whisp]

5. and CNNs help. Big time help.

Blitzer was creaming his pants whenever teaparty time came up. John King was full of cheek blushed excitement.
The 'panel' talked about the teaparty like they were not really what their signs told us they were - racist throwback dumbfucks.

But that little new snit on the CNN block - Erin whatsherface, she can mock the OWS protests with that little pointed nose up in the air and obviously got support from the company to air it.

filthy beasts in the mass media that should writhe in hell for what they are knowingly doing.

[Gman]

3. Friggin' horse manure

pure horse manure from some shill trying to undermine what's happening.

[ret5hd]

9. exactly "unions BAD! latte liberals BAD!"

[AverageJoe90]

14. That's the one major issue I've had so far.

I think this guy is probably sincere but is still badly misinformed on some things.

[AverageJoe90]

13. Unfortunately, that is quite possible here as well.

[lunatica]

4. We knew these things years before this guy.

We started talking about the media having an agenda as far back as the OJ Simpson trial, then it became quite obvious with Bush's wars. The media actually ran with the warmongering. We the OWS have gotten quite savvy about circumventing the media. In NYC they even have the communication center committee right there. We've been getting all our information through the internet, not from any MSM.

[joshcryer]

6. COINTELPRO is irrelevant in the face of perseverance.

[starroute]

8. What the OP describes is not really COINTELPRO

The real COINTELOPRO was about destroying people -- or at least destroying their credibility, whichever came first. Here OWS has the advantage of not having any leaders or designated spokespersons -- and that is something they need to keep up, because "leaders" are vulnerable. But the real objective is not merely to discredit the movement but to create a climate of paranoia, and that is much harder to fight back against.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

According to attorney Brian Glick in his book War at Home, the FBI used four main methods during COINTELPRO:

1. Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main purpose was to discredit and disrupt. Their very presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. The FBI and police exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents.

2. Psychological Warfare From the Outside: The FBI and police used a myriad of other "dirty tricks" to undermine progressive movements. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by government agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials and others to cause trouble for activists.

3. Harassment Through the Legal System: The FBI and police abused the legal system to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers of the law gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, "investigative" interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters.

4. Extralegal Force and Violence: The FBI conspired with local police departments to threaten dissidents; to conduct illegal break-ins in order to search dissident homes; and to commit vandalism, assaults, beatings and assassinations. The object was to frighten, or eliminate, dissidents and disrupt their movements.

[H2O Man]

10. Correct.

[leveymg]

17. Agree - not COINTELPRO, something more insidious: the corporate news cycle.

Rinse, spin, spin again. Whatever went into the machine is now thoroughly wadded up, sopping wet, and shrunk to fit the available air time.

Once tumble dried, it's not the same size garment that went in, and probably won't button at the collar.

[joshcryer]

20. Oh, I'm definitely in agreement there, wholeheartedly, and I reiterate the leadership view you have.

It's so true that as long as they keep it decentralized nothing can really do anything to it. My comment was general, though, and I do believe there are CONTELPRO-like elements, which the OP illustrates. But I do think it is irrelevant.

[bleever]

24. Agreed.

Also, the anti-union, anti-wealthy liberal comments strike me as insidious.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

16. Exactly! Where the movement goes is up to the movement itself.

[tnlefty]

11. Sorry I stopped when he was seriously trying to equivocate

labor unions with the fucking Koch brothers. And yes, I clicked on the link, not just what you pulled from it and it is a false equivalence AFAIC....the Koch shitheads have done much to squash labor. People died trying to form unions...the Koch shitheads' father did business with Stalin.

Oh, and I think he described himself as a libertarian....I've yet to meet one who wasn't a spoiled, self-centered brat, when the results of their politics and their life situations met the road...i.e. they love that government assistance that they rail about, except when they need it.

:rant:

[AverageJoe90]

12. This guy may have been Tea Party at one point, BUT..........

If he is really trying to wake people up, then he does deserve a little credit.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

15. I don't believe anarchists, who are left-wing ...

... would ever join a reactionary right-wing movement like the Teabaggers.

That said, he is right about not letting the Democratic party co-opt the OWS movement.

[joshcryer]

19. One thing I keep seeing are calls for "leadership" and "one voice," etc. I think that's folly.

If they do have a single leader (as opposed to dozens of well respected individuals in leadership positions), that leader is easily coopted and coerced, and you fall into a cycle of the leader being talked down, the people listening to that one or few leaders, and then they are manipulated into doing what that leader suggests, be it intentionally or unintentionally manipulative.

OWS is doing fine on its own, let it live as a directly democratic committee!

[Fantastic Anarchist]

21. I agree ...

I was at a bar last night arguing with an "angry liberal" who was unimpressed with the movement for the reasons you cite. I tried to explain that it's best to keep horizontal, nebulous, and organic for strategic purposes. That the political forces will try morph this social movement. The minute it's tainted with political institutions, it's done.

She yelled at me and left.

[TalkingDog]

34. Perhaps as an Anarcho-Syndicalist Collective?

n/t

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. You can force balanced press coverage, at least on the local level

I've told this story before, but I was at a demo in Portland, and another middle-aged woman said to me, "Look, they're videotaping the kids with the green hair." As if they were representative of the entire group of protesters, which had at least as many people over 50 as under 25.

The two of us walked up to the local reporter and asked why he was distorting his coverage by implying that all the protesters were Goth and punk kids.

So he interviewed us on camera about why we were protesting, and I stated my reasons and then noted that the crowd consisted of people of all ages and social classes and races. The other woman said that she was protesting on behalf of her students, many of whom lived in poverty.

I'm told that our interview was broadcast at least once. (I didn't see it, but other people remarked about seeing me on TV.)

[Merlot]

29. That's been my feeling too

I've heard everyone describe the occupiers as "young kids" etc, and then I see the footage and notice people in their 30's, 40's 50's etc. But that doesn't fit the narrative.

[butterfly77]

22. ...

[Odin2005]

23. This guy is absolutely right. The people bashing him here are stuck in Establishment thinking.

[The Doctor.]

25. It's great when you guys put big arrows up pointing right at you.

I've watched, I've extrapolated, I know.


This OP is GARBAGE and guess where it's from? No, not the source the author suggests. It's from a more 'obfuscated' source.


You don't understand how transparent you all are, do you?


Now go 'alert' on me. It's what you do.

[The Doctor.]

26. Your piece fails Utterly right where it equates unions to the 'power structure'..

I can't think of too many things that would be more obvious bullshit on DU than this. I like the typical and very transparent "Not sure I agree with everything he said". If you 'weren't sure', then maybe you should have reconsidered posting it.

[TalkingDog]

30. Not my piece. And I actually believe in exposing myself to things that I may not agree with

If you choose to be narrow minded that is your choice.


I often post things that I don't necessarily agree with. I consider the ability to glean something useful from dross part and parcel of an open and creative mind.


How small your world and your mind must be that you only read things that you completely agree with and don't disrupt your worldview.

[TalkingDog]

32. How ya like me now?

Conservative Magazine Brags of its Agent Provocateur's Role in Provoking Police Action in D.C.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/08/1024352/-Conservative-Magazine-Brags-of-its-Agent-Provacateurs-Role-in-Provoking-Police-Action-in-DC-?via=siderec

If you thought my post was "fail", please explain how what it suggested is happening right now?

If you only view things with a narrow minded binary "us" and "them" framework without looking at the overarching structure of how social dynamics play out, then of course you would miss the point.

[The Doctor.]

35. Hehehe... you don't know me son.

Don't pretend to. Going right for the labels without asking questions is not a very 'liberal' trait, although I do see it here on occasion.

You've failed again, btw. You see, 'agents provacateur' are going to be in any grass-roots uprising. They always are. Your fail is believing that because the wingnuts are bragging about their efforts, that somehow proves that this is anything but a grass-roots movement, or that it will somehow become tied to 'ultra wealthy liberals'.

The two are completely unrelated. You need to do a lot more research before you should try to make assertions here.

You also seem to be clueless about how I classify the various entities. The 'us' and 'them' isn't the 'right' against the 'left'. There is an 'us vs them' dynamic, however, and it works nothing like your OP suggests. The one thing I'll give you is that of course the PTB wants this movement to go away, but the suggestion that the PTB was hostile to the movement it created for a purpose is so laughable on it's face that this stands out as the typical conspiracy plant that it is. I remember, back in '04 when the 9/11 skeptics movement was starting to surge, there were all kind of obvious bullshit, like one about the Saudis making these convoluted transactions that somehow 'proved' the US government was involved. It was such obvious bullshit on its face that it was dismissed handily.

If you don't understand why this is a fail, then either you can ask for a greater explanation, or you could take this with you;




.

[TalkingDog]

31. Just sayin, like it or not, the Teabagger might have a point about the media manipulating OWS image

if they don't get in front of it


The Smithsonian action was NOT affiliated with #OWS
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=2084633&mesg_id=2084633

[in_cog_ni_to]

33. Non-starter...Number 1! The MSM NEVER ignored the Teabaggers. EVER.

They have followed them like little puppies wherever they go. They still DO. If there's 10 people at a Teabagger rally...it's a MAJOR event! So, I call bullshit on Mr. Teabagger trying to help the OWS movement.