Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

kentuck

(110,950 posts)
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 09:44 AM Sep 2021

How is it possible that one person can divide the country to the extent that it is now?

How was it possible that one person could divide the world to such an extent in 1933?

Primarily, it is by the use of sophisticated propaganda.

It worked then and it works now.

People hear what they want to hear. They do not reason with rationality - they reason with emotion.

The person that can touch those emotions can divide the nation, or the world.

The only weapons that can defeat such propaganda are facts and truth.

It is built on a false foundation.

44 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How is it possible that one person can divide the country to the extent that it is now? (Original Post) kentuck Sep 2021 OP
Media Budi Sep 2021 #1
When you say "media" is the driving force you are partially correct. Dustlawyer Sep 2021 #16
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Sep 2021 #17
That's the entirity of the organization when I refer to Media. MSM, Social & the profiteers Budi Sep 2021 #24
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Sep 2021 #26
Well gdammit. How they all stand there & speak this bs when 6 months ago they cheered Biden!!! Budi Sep 2021 #30
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Sep 2021 #31
I'd prefer citizen journos too. Caitlan Collins' bf is a Texas Republican btw. Budi Sep 2021 #33
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Sep 2021 #34
LOL..geez they must have on-camera coaches that nitpik every motion they make. Budi Sep 2021 #36
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Sep 2021 #40
One person? bluestarone Sep 2021 #2
Yes, even Hitler had many co-conspirators... kentuck Sep 2021 #4
This coup attempt is not over by any means bluestarone Sep 2021 #7
The one person is Putin. TFG is just one of his employees, like a troll farm nerd. lagomorph777 Sep 2021 #9
THIS i could somewhat agree with. bluestarone Sep 2021 #11
Yes - Putin knows how to use Kompromat and Roubles as force multipliers. lagomorph777 Sep 2021 #13
The republican party, religious fanatics, racists, and the media aided and abetted him every SamKnause Sep 2021 #3
Disagree, GQP was implementing vote denial & suppression ***BEFORE*** Putin's Whore. They've uponit7771 Sep 2021 #5
This is what the republican party has been building for years Beausoleil Sep 2021 #6
Hahahah one person. CrackityJones75 Sep 2021 #8
It wasn't one person. He had a lot of help. A LOT of help, and it was going on before the orange Autumn Sep 2021 #10
It works because there was a pre-existing rw base who wanted nothing more than to own the libs. lark Sep 2021 #12
Rampant Stupidity. Xoan Sep 2021 #14
One person? Trump didn't do it; he just gave permission for others to do it. Ocelot II Sep 2021 #15
As you and others say. tRump Der Leader is their creation Hortensis Sep 2021 #20
Robot workers who work 24/7 without pay. Chin music Sep 2021 #18
This started back in 89 with the end of the Fairness Doctrine Lucinda Sep 2021 #19
It takes a lot of lies by greedy people seeking control, breeding hate, ignorance, and stupidity GoodRaisin Sep 2021 #21
I think we're giving Chump way too much credit - he's not that smart FakeNoose Sep 2021 #22
This message was self-deleted by its author Chin music Sep 2021 #28
that's a fake quote BTW WarGamer Sep 2021 #38
+1 Celerity Sep 2021 #43
I'm not sure intelligence is the determinant factor? kentuck Sep 2021 #39
Maybe a better word is "craftiness"? FakeNoose Sep 2021 #44
It started with RW media, especially talk radio, which I believe has always been more extreme than highplainsdem Sep 2021 #23
Millions of "little Goebbels" on the Internet moondust Sep 2021 #25
Gingrich did it. Limbaugh did it. lpbk2713 Sep 2021 #27
Took way more than one person. It goes back to Reagan & he had lots of help. Hekate Sep 2021 #29
Simple: it was never just one person. JHB Sep 2021 #32
However many persons contributed to it happening, it's profoundly depressing. Paladin Sep 2021 #35
Your statement begine with a false assumption. WarGamer Sep 2021 #37
We had a problem. kentuck Sep 2021 #41
At most, Trump expanded the Tea Party... WarGamer Sep 2021 #42
 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
1. Media
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:00 AM
Sep 2021

'Money & Media', he replied when asked why he decided to run as a Democrat.


Media will be the driving force that destroys our US Govt.
It cannot be accomplished without them.

Dustlawyer

(10,493 posts)
16. When you say "media" is the driving force you are partially correct.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 12:09 PM
Sep 2021

It is the media doing it but behind that are the major advertisers using their ad dollars as leverage for it to be done. Just like the actions of politicians being directed by big donors. The big donors are also, in many cases, big advertisers.

Response to Dustlawyer (Reply #16)

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
24. That's the entirity of the organization when I refer to Media. MSM, Social & the profiteers
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 01:14 PM
Sep 2021

MSM, Social, Advertisers & the profiteers who drive it & reap from the multibillion $$$ industry.
'Media' has a top tier that doesn't give 2 shits what damage the messsaging says as long as profits grow & their ability to continue freely is gauranteed by those who've promised to protect their assets, & write offs.

It is all about making, rewarding & protecting wealth within that top tier.

Good example is FB. Mark Zuckerburg literally sold his sole upwards for global profits..
MSM & Opinion Writers for Online Magazines.



Response to Budi (Reply #24)

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
30. Well gdammit. How they all stand there & speak this bs when 6 months ago they cheered Biden!!!
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 02:38 PM
Sep 2021

Every damned one is a sellout with zero integrity. All for Name recognition & $$$ in a competitive industry.


I could not do it. Just stare into a camera & speak your prepared lines & call it 'news'.

Response to Budi (Reply #30)

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
33. I'd prefer citizen journos too. Caitlan Collins' bf is a Texas Republican btw.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:01 PM
Sep 2021

I agree with you. Guess this is why I just don't bother to watch MSM anymore.

"20 paid 'narrators' that get on tv everyday and expound like
they know absolutely everything about everything. A host of them barely 10 years out of school."


Their presence is more about base & age group targeting.

I assumed their age group mostly got their news online, not from their parents' TV News from the living room recliner.
😬

They family paid how much in student loans for that Journo degree??
They got ripped off. 🙄

Response to Budi (Reply #33)

 

Budi

(15,325 posts)
36. LOL..geez they must have on-camera coaches that nitpik every motion they make.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:15 PM
Sep 2021

All day practicing to deliver that 30 sec spot.
Its acting school they needed, not journalism.

Response to Budi (Reply #36)

bluestarone

(16,723 posts)
2. One person?
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:05 AM
Sep 2021

TFG had MANY co conspirators. Look the Senate is half full of them and the House has almost as many! Plus RUSSIA is supplying all the LES! Plus i believe we've ALWAYS had these Right wing ASSHOLES, plus the QANON'S were prime time! Not just ONE GUY!

kentuck

(110,950 posts)
4. Yes, even Hitler had many co-conspirators...
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:08 AM
Sep 2021

But, there is always a catalyst that brings them all together, in opposition to the status quo. They were there all along, but the nation and the world could not be divided until they got the right catalyst to spark the people.

bluestarone

(16,723 posts)
7. This coup attempt is not over by any means
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:19 AM
Sep 2021

3 years to stop these crazy SOB'S. I'm ready to protect our country and my family anyway i can. I'm worried that we may ALL have to be ready for anything and i mean ANYTHING!

bluestarone

(16,723 posts)
11. THIS i could somewhat agree with.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:30 AM
Sep 2021

I believe when we were HACKED, Putin gained control of almost EVERY Rethuglicon, because they were the DIRTIES bastards ever!

lagomorph777

(30,613 posts)
13. Yes - Putin knows how to use Kompromat and Roubles as force multipliers.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:35 AM
Sep 2021

What we see is thousands of Reptilian puppets; all their strings lead back to Putin.

SamKnause

(13,043 posts)
3. The republican party, religious fanatics, racists, and the media aided and abetted him every
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:07 AM
Sep 2021

step of the way.

He could not have accomplished what he did, without all those willing to help him and ignore what an evil person he is.

uponit7771

(90,225 posts)
5. Disagree, GQP was implementing vote denial & suppression ***BEFORE*** Putin's Whore. They've
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:09 AM
Sep 2021

... given up on democracy long ago and Putin's Whore is their deal with the devil

Beausoleil

(2,827 posts)
6. This is what the republican party has been building for years
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:18 AM
Sep 2021

Newt Gingrich's whole deal was to demonize the democrats and liberals for the power of a twisted anti-democratic ideology. They have been building on that philosophy ever since. This is the essence of the great right-wing conspiracy.

Reagan cleared the way and the likes of Gingrich, Rove and Atwater laid the groundwork for what we see today.

I'm surprised it has gone this far, but the direction is very familiar.

 

CrackityJones75

(2,403 posts)
8. Hahahah one person.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:22 AM
Sep 2021

Oh my. That would be disregarding the republican political machine and its various wings of propaganda that atretch around the globe.

Autumn

(44,765 posts)
10. It wasn't one person. He had a lot of help. A LOT of help, and it was going on before the orange
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:30 AM
Sep 2021

asshole was elected.

lark

(23,006 posts)
12. It works because there was a pre-existing rw base who wanted nothing more than to own the libs.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 10:32 AM
Sep 2021

There was a core of rw racist & gun loving idiocy already there, they just fluffed it right out to huge proportions and put it on steroids. Putin orchestrated this using selected tools like Guiliani & TFG & Paul Rand & Ron Johnson to drive the hate and dysfunction of this country.

Ocelot II

(115,280 posts)
15. One person? Trump didn't do it; he just gave permission for others to do it.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 11:41 AM
Sep 2021

The Tea Party, and long before them the John Birch Society and others, had already started the process. TFG just had a little extra gasoline to throw on the fire. Even Hitler couldn't have done what he did without a lot of help.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
20. As you and others say. tRump Der Leader is their creation
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 12:35 PM
Sep 2021

as much as what he's made of them is his.

And hard-right white Christian power blocs had already decided that democracy's majority rule wasn't working for them and would eventually destroy their power if they didn't overthrow it. They were right.

Chin music

(23,002 posts)
18. Robot workers who work 24/7 without pay.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 12:28 PM
Sep 2021

The bot army w platforms like Fb IG and others keep people arguing w, and agreeing with, people who aren't even there. Pre paid yes droids.

Lucinda

(31,170 posts)
19. This started back in 89 with the end of the Fairness Doctrine
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 12:33 PM
Sep 2021

Once the media was no longer required to air both sides of an issue it left room for the deliberate partisan misinformation to take hold. People like Rush Limbaugh and Alex Jones have been spewing hate and lies for years unchallenged. People believed it because they thought it must be true or they wouldnt be allowed to say it...

It is hard for people to realize they have been conned...

GoodRaisin

(8,889 posts)
21. It takes a lot of lies by greedy people seeking control, breeding hate, ignorance, and stupidity
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 12:38 PM
Sep 2021

in order to get what they want. And they found the perfect jerk to spread it.

FakeNoose

(32,356 posts)
22. I think we're giving Chump way too much credit - he's not that smart
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 12:48 PM
Sep 2021

Chump's just the useful idiot that the REALLY smart guys (the ones with all the money) drafted to be the face of the party. Since he's stupid, he has never realized how he's been used by those same people.

Chump has convinced himself that it was all his doing. Same thing happened when he gave himself credit for the success of "The Apprentice" shows.



Response to FakeNoose (Reply #22)

kentuck

(110,950 posts)
39. I'm not sure intelligence is the determinant factor?
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:46 PM
Sep 2021

There are traits that are not found in the "normal" person, beginning with a narcissistic personality. Not everyone is a malevolent narcissist. There is a degree of lawlessness and paranoia required to fit the mold.

FakeNoose

(32,356 posts)
44. Maybe a better word is "craftiness"?
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 04:19 PM
Sep 2021

I'm talking about the ability to formulate an evil plan and consider all the possible ramifications - before the plan is put into motion. To my way of thinking, that takes intelligence. Maybe you might call it something else.

I do agree with your original premise, that it's inconceivable how one person could create so much havoc in our governmental system.

highplainsdem

(48,732 posts)
23. It started with RW media, especially talk radio, which I believe has always been more extreme than
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 01:13 PM
Sep 2021

Fox News.

It accelerated with bigots' response to Obama being elected president, and then the Tea Party claiming "We the People" and "Patriots" as labels for themselves, as if only their views were truly American.

And it was encouraged all along by NRA leadership, pushing both conspiracy theory fears that all guns would be taken away, and the idea that threats of armed resistance by RWers were patriotic rather than insurrectionist.

Trump didn't create this toxic mix. But he did identify with parts of it, and he picked up enough of it, especially from RW talk radio, to exploit it.

moondust

(19,917 posts)
25. Millions of "little Goebbels" on the Internet
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 01:34 PM
Sep 2021

spreading the garbage they hear on Fox, etc. The KKK, etc., didn't have their own media outlets so they had to meet in person to organize, foment hatred, and get attention. No more. Now millions of them can do it from grandma's basement.

~
Starting in 1934, it was illegal to criticize the Nazi government. Even telling a joke about Hitler was considered treachery. People in Nazi Germany could not say or write whatever they wanted.

Examples of censorship under the Nazis included:

Closing down or taking over anti-Nazi newspapers;
Controlling what news appeared in newspapers, on the radio, and in newsreels;

Banning and burning books that the Nazis categorized as un-German;
Controlling what soldiers wrote home during World War II.
~
Textbooks are a good example of how propaganda and censorship worked together in the Nazi regime. The Nazis used both propaganda and censorship to control what students read in school. Nazi censors removed some textbooks from classrooms. New textbooks taught students to obey the Nazi Party, love Hitler, and hate Jews.
~
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-propaganda-and-censorship

It's what totalitarians do. Taking control of the relatively few media outlets made propaganda much easier to push in 1930s Germany as well as in the USSR and now China.

Hekate

(90,202 posts)
29. Took way more than one person. It goes back to Reagan & he had lots of help.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 02:34 PM
Sep 2021

You should see Gingrich’s list of how to twist words in public speaking from that era.

Paladin

(28,204 posts)
35. However many persons contributed to it happening, it's profoundly depressing.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:06 PM
Sep 2021

The only clear solution is to fight back. Whatever it takes.

WarGamer

(12,106 posts)
37. Your statement begine with a false assumption.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:20 PM
Sep 2021

Trump is a symptom NOT the disease.

We had this problem before and will have it long after TFG is dust.

kentuck

(110,950 posts)
41. We had a problem.
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:48 PM
Sep 2021

But we did not have "this" problem. It takes more than one person, little soldiers, but it only takes one catalyst to change the entire form.

WarGamer

(12,106 posts)
42. At most, Trump expanded the Tea Party...
Fri Sep 17, 2021, 03:50 PM
Sep 2021

There has been this anti-neocon wing of the GOP for 20 years or so...

The same people who supported Rand's Daddy and hung teabags from 3 pointed hats at rallies.

That's why Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson and that crew are so upset. They lost their power.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»How is it possible that o...