...are despicable. But to be fair, it's been 30 years since the Other
Side started using "Perception Management" (also called
"Public Diplomacy" during the St. Ronnie mis-administration) to
mold the opinions -- and fear and prejudice -- of "low information
voters." (As Thom Hartmann calls them.)
Only a few more hours to take a look, but the wiki page is
very revealing, and has a lot of good information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception_management
There are nine strategies for perception management. These include:
1. Preparation Having clear goals and knowing the ideal position you want people to hold.
2. Credibility Make sure all of your information is consistent, often using prejudices or expectations to increase credibility.
3. Multichannel support Have multiple arguments and fabricated facts to reinforce your information.
4. Centralized control Employing entities such as propaganda ministries or bureaus.
5. Security The nature of the deception campaign is known by few.
6. Flexibility The deception campaign adapts and changes over time as needs change.
7. Coordination The organization or propaganda ministry is organized in a hierarchical pattern in order to maintain consistent and synchronized distribution of information.
8. Concealment Contradicting information is destroyed.
9. Untruthful statements Fabricate the truth.
Does anyone really have any idea how organized and dedicated and well-funded that effort's been?
Can we make any sort of informed estimate, based on the apparent results? As seen in places like
the Republican Debates?