Some Politicians Use Hitler's Propaganda Techniques to Fight Against Health Care Reforms

by Deb Cupples |   Some health-industry powers that be have actually convinced thousands of struggling, working-class Americans that cheaper health insurance would be bad for them.  So successful have health-industry execs' persuasion efforts been that many ordinary Americans who would actually benefit from cheaper insurance are downright angry that our government is even considering giving said Americans cheaper health care.

It's the damndest thing, but it shows that advertising works.  Of course, we need only watch a few episodes of Mad Men to understand that. 

The recent health-industry tactics remind me of Adolph Hitler's propaganda "rules," summed up as follows:

"...never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."

Yes!  We need only look back at the Bush Administration's repeated duping of ordinary Americans for examples of the fact that many people will believe a lie if it's simply repeated often.

That said, today is the day for a "March on Washington" -- a "protest" against government health-care reforms.  Rupert Murdoch's Fox has publicized it.   Glenn Beck calls it "The 9/12 project."  Thus, we know who'll be showing up to do the protest-related grunt work (i.e., holding signs and raising fists and screaming like the folks who surrounded the newly born Frankenstein monster).

That Fox is in on the game suggests that BIG money is behind the protest.  BIG money, of course, tends to come from people who have BIG money.  Bottom line: much of the funding for the so-called "9/12 project" likely comes from health-industry executives who enjoy the ability to funnel masses of consumers' and taxpayers' dollars into said execs' personal bank accounts.

If ordinary "protesters," understood that fact, they'd likely turn their signs and fists and voices against said health-industry execs.  But, alas, said execs are paying for the media messages and time -- and they aren't being truthful about their anti-health-care-reform motives.

It'll be interesting to see how many people actually turn out for the so-called "9/12" protests.  Even more interesting will be how various media outlets handle the so-called "protests."

I suspect that even if relatively few "protesters" show up in our nation's capitol today, industry-friendly media outlets (like Fox) will take close-up shots of the crowd to create an image of a larger crowd.  I suspect that certain TV reporters will be play the role of breathless spectators, awed by the immense power of the (actually relatively small) crowd.

Even less-obviously-biased media outlets do have a stake in opposing such health-care reforms as the public option (i.e., the freedom for us citizens to choose cheaper, non-profit insurance over expensive, for-profit insurance).

Think of all those drug ads and hospital ads and insurance ads we see in various media.  Those represent huge revenues for the media outlets that run those ads.  Media executives don't need to be told that if Americans have a (cheaper) public option for health insurance, chances are good that health-industry companies will have fewer dollars to spend buying ads from various media.

Interestingly enough, a group that calls itself "FreedomWorks" (which is involved in "tea-party" style protests) claimed yesterday that its office faced a bomb threat.  Less than two hours later, the group put out a Twitter message stating that the threat had been a false alarm.

No worries: the mere possibility of a bomb threat likely stoked ire and stiffened the resolve of protest grunt-workers to show support for "FreedomWorks."

Memeorandum has commentary.

Other Buck Naked Politics Posts:

* Business Columnist Refutes GOP Health Care Talking Points

* Were Health Care Reform Protests Industry-Staged?

* Are Polls and Media Misleading Us re: Health Care?

* Public Option Needed Because Private Insurers Are Robbing Us

* More on Blue-Dog Tie$ to Health Indu$try

* Cash-Conscious Doctors Against Public Health Coverage

* Still More Specious Arguments re: Health Care Reform

* Death by Hospital (infection)

* Private Insurers Milking Medicare

* Insurance Companies Get Away with Overbilling Medicare

* Contractor Fraud: Driving up Healthcare Costs?

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Comments

[flowerplough]

Saul "Rules for Radicals" Alinsky's teachings influenced Barack Obama in his early career as a community organizer on the far South Side of Chicago. Working for Gerald Kellman's Developing Communities Project, Obama learned and taught Alinsky's methods for community organizing.

-For Clinton and Obama, a Common Ideological Touchstone by Peter Slevin, The Washington Post, March 25, 2007

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Alinsky on the ethics of means and ends:

-The judgment of the ethics of means is dependent upon the political position of those sitting in judgment.

-In war the end justifies almost any means.

-Judgment must be made in the context of the times in which the action occurred and not from any other chronological vantage point.

-Concern with ethics increases with the number of means available and vice versa.

-The less important the end to be desired, the more one can afford to engage in ethical evaluations of means.

-Generally, success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics.

-The morality of a means depends upon whether the means is being employed at a time of imminent defeat or imminent victory.

-Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as being unethical.

-You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.

-Goals must be phrased in general terms like "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," "Of the Common Welfare," "Pursuit of Happiness," or "Bread and Peace." (Or Hopey-Change?)

[Calvin]

Most politicians, Democrat and Republican have Hitler's rules down pat. I can't remember when I have heard a liberal ever admit to being wrong. I don't trust liberals. They are willing to be liberal with truth, but who cares as long as power is maintained.

[J Cluver]

callihg it Hitler propaganda is in itself a form of propaganda, cxalled name calling. fact is all groups attempting to gain our support use it. Their purpose is to gain support from the ignorant and the lazy who look for simple answers to complex issues.If we are interested at all in an issue we need to take the time to do real problem solving.