It is very easy to fall into the authoritarian’s propagandistic trap, it is designed to be easily assimilated. If you’ve fallen for it this will help you escape.
Propaganda is designed to make you an obedient fool.
In my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, I go in detail about how this works, and how to defeat authoritarian propaganda. It takes people, and by people it means everybody, and by everybody it means it starts with ourselves. Yes, we can be the catalyst that will make it better or worse for everybody.
I wish I was being hyperbolic, but the fact is that some of the most dehumanizing authoritarian monsters in history were not very remarkable themselves until they got enough traction because others had certain exploitable biases, and from there these obedient fools became the muscle to impose whatever is it that these authoritarians were advocating for. What is it that they were advocating for? It did not quite matter, so long as it was against whomever or whatever they said they were against.
In every society people are going to be frustrated by something. And this anger is largely irrelevant in the great scheme of things, but it will be crucial to convince people that they are on the winning team. They are actually not in the winning team (all authoritarians ended powerless), but they are convinced that their “sacrifices” – of sacrificing others in dehumanizing ways is actually a justifiable move. This is also happening around the world as you’re reading my words.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
You’re actually disposable to them, but your rage becomes their currency.
Authoritarians will be posing as unifiers towards whatever group of chosen ones are playing ball along with the authoritarian – and will be extremely divisive towards anybody who was deemed outside this “exclusive circle.” It is designed to be that way, they want you to see others as lesser human, or even rob them of all humanity, and also the propagandists will make you fear this dissenting group – while portraying them as weaker.
So, anybody with common sense would ask, which one is it? Are they weak, or are they a menace? Well, the enemy is actually the one advocating for divisiveness, because they want you to protect the leader, even if you sacrifice yourself – because now this dear leader becomes symbolic of whatever is it that you’re convinced it is the moral superior end-state – even if the dear leader advocates for crimes against humanity.
We’ve all fallen for a similar (hopefully not genocidal) trap at some point. Think for example while in school picking on the weaker kid, or any outsider. Fortunately, most people grow up from that immature phase and become decent to other people in their lives. But that is not the case for everybody. Propagandists don’t want you to mature, they want you to “feel like a grown up” – but they are keeping you subdued.
The trick is that the way they subdue you is by moving that hate and resentment towards other people. The victims become scape goats for any shortcomings. And shortcomings will abound, because authoritarians are not running a utopia, they are enslaving your obedience, and the moment you wake up they will push you away from the circle of trust before you realize what just hit you.
Authoritarian propaganda is designed to be that way. How do you escape from that? Don’t be divisive, understand the context so you can separate facts from fiction. If you forget anything I’ve said, remember this – understand the full context, and realize why a narrative is being directed towards your anger. HLC
Every commercial you consume with a political platform was not presented to you by chance. There is a skill behind it designed to modify your behavior.
Even when it comes to the “not so mundane” world of marketing, there is a lot of behavioral science to entice your impulse to buy or acquire a product or service. Yes, that is why there is an entire industry whose entire premise is to present something to you in a way that it becomes irresistible, or to elicit a specific response – which can even be looking away from it. I know, paradoxically THAT can sometimes be the intent.
For example, if you are a person who does not have a vast amount of disposable income, a very ornate package that goes well above your budget might not be as enticing if you somehow find that your environment gravitates to that particular shiny object. You know the trope, too many people spend money they don’t have to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t even like.
Based on group mentality, the actual need for frugality or justified sense of opportune austerity will be overwritten – even if for a moment, and placing a person into actual unavoidable austerity. Example? Sure, a person who is broke, but goes out to party all night and spends north of $500 in alcohol just to regurgitate it all to a porcelain idol in a public restroom a few hours ago. Did that activity sound like a good investment of time when you’re broke?
However, at that moment – even if there were some second guesses through the night if this broke person should be partying and spending their rent money, might have sounded very swell – because of the company they were [hopefully] enjoying. With political propaganda it’s a similar principle, but a lot more complex and not so much on the nose as this example. That is why it is so effective.
If you forget anything I say later, remember this “target audience” – this is how political messaging will be directed for propagandistic purposes to a particular segment of the population. The difference with propaganda is that it is directly targeted to exploit your biases. They don’t even care if you’re for or against their political leanings – they just want to know if you will play ball or not.
If you do play along, great! They will find a way to make you feel like you are the smartest kid on the block and everything you interact with will somehow be magically agreeing with your version of “good” and demonizing the same version of “evil.” The bigger your bias, the higher the proclivity for obediently following whatever is it that the pretty talking head is telling you to believe – because everyone else seems to agree with what you’ve led to see as an empirical truth.
If you do not play along, well – too bad, because they will either make you the enemy, or discredit you outright. If you get inconvenient enough the character assassination attempts to you and anybody who agrees with you will follow. The good news is that when you’re speaking the truth it does not matter if or how somebody tries to skew it, the truth will always come to surface, even if it takes a while to filter itself all the way up to the top.
However, the higher the level of propaganda in the environment, the longer the truth will take to surface, or to even be taken seriously by the collective – even if it is in plain sight. Want another example? Controversial influencers saying something that is demonstrably wrong. You choose the topic, being science denial, cult-like behavior, divisive rhetoric, or a token dissident against their own demographics. All those will gain following and copycats will follow suit quite rapidly, but why? Because negative trends are easily assimilated and transmitted. Which is actually pretty sad, but it happens.
For example, it is a lot easier to make a mess in your domicile than to clean a mess at home. But if you’re keeping up with a proper balance then making a mess will not be normalized, and you will be more likely to police yourself before it gets unmanageable.
The same is true for propaganda, the more attention you pay to actual facts, and learn to distinguish from the noise and misinformation, the easier it will be for you to navigate yourself away from being bamboozled. Much like some people can spot a scam miles away, while others – the more vulnerable ones, will fall for a scam with very little resistance. HLC
Authoritarians unite a segment of obedient useful fools, but are divisive by nature to anybody who would not follow their misguided views. Learn to defeat them.
Let’s start by understanding that all humans have the same range of emotions, we cry, we laugh, we love, we hate, we get angry, we get sad, we get elated, and any other emotion you can think of. How do we respond to these factors will depend on the environment in which we live. The culture surrounding a person can very well give different perceptions as far as how the people in that group respond to any or all of these actual natural human responses.
Lately we’ve seen a new trend of toxic masculinity and gender roles that are regressive at the very least, but are also an indirect and often direct attack on other groups of people. Particularly there has been an exacerbated growth of hate speech and dehumanization against the LGBTQ segments of the population.
And even between the heterosexual groups there is a skewing of reality that makes misconception akin to a 90’s high-school-like perceptions of gender roles as the expected reality in 2024. In other words, we are regressing. The 90’s were actually a pretty messed up time. Add this to the isolation between people who live behind computer and smart-phone screens – and the correct perception of how to interact with other human beings is eroding exponentially.
To divide people, the first step is to convince them that they (themselves) are different – in a bad way, although this is paradoxically nonsensical. What does that mean? It means they will make them feel “superior to everybody else” but that they (the same group) are “not good enough, unless they are part of this group that is recruiting them.” Soon enough, anybody who is not inside this circle of “accepted” people will be an “outsider.”
When these “us against them” situations galvanize, it is very easy to segregate people. One group, the oppressors, will feel vindicated by victimizing the other group, because they will assert that the actual opposite group that they are victimizing is somehow more powerful than they (the victimizers group) are – although they are weaker. Yes, it is that incoherent. And sadly, it works to mobilize obedient fools – and it has been working for centuries.
I’ve spoken about this before, and yes it remains true. By identifying a person’s bias, this can be exploited. But if we understand our biases and learn the full context, then we are able to diffuse the power of those who want to divide us and are gaining traction over us. If you ever encounter divisive rhetoric, always stop to think: Who benefits when we are divided?
In the current geopolitical situation, there are regimes who want to destroy the west, to include the USA from the inside out. What does the “inside means” – it means by dividing the people in ways they will be convinced they are enemies. The real enemy is the one who is dividing us.
If you’ve been bamboozled to carry water for an authoritarian, it is as easy as stopping and learning the full context. There is nothing an authoritarian enjoys more than a useful fool to do their dirty work for them. And many useful fools are doing so by dividing us, and dehumanizing us in spectacular fashion. HLC
Authoritarian chapters in world history are repeating, and the red flags have been waving for a while now. However, it seems that many continue to dismiss them.
Authoritarian red flags are abundant.
Authoritarians tend to look as though they “suddenly” rose to power. That’s not the case, they simply followed the path of least resistance to people’s biases. This actually can take a long time in some instances, but it is based on normalizing the insanity of their rhetoric. Soon enough, those who were not paying attention will realize they were asleep at the wheel.
I can ask right now many westerners, and that includes many Americans a simple question. Who is the current, and duly elected president of the United States of America? And a very high percentage of the population I’ve cited will give you the wrong answer. By the way, it is President Joe R. Biden – and he has been the US President since he won the election in 2020.
Authoritarian and adversarial regimes will want you to think that is not the case. Or that he was not duly elected. In fact, it is part of their official narrative. As a rule of thumb, if you think that something might be against the USA, then listen to the state-sponsored propaganda from an adversarial regime. If it matches the words coming out of the mouth of your favorite talking head, that should perk your ears up.
Authoritarians, “authoritarians-wanna” be, and their useful foolish acolytes are fairly easy to spot – surprise! They will have any if not all of these attributes I’m about to mention, either as a person or as a collective. Of course, an authoritarian is only as powerful as their followers, so if their acolytes subscribe to that behavior, then it becomes a multiplier – although it is a lot more fragile than they realize.
This is a non-all-inclusive list, but should get you started:
· They are petulant, which will display their obvious narcissism.
· They are wimps. They will have a thin skin for criticism, and will retaliate ten if not million-fold for any little bit of criticism.
· They will gaslight their own supporters, they will ask you not to believe your lying eyes or ears – and let alone do your own research.
· They will “unify” their acolytes, but they will be very divisive with everybody else. Even former acolytes who fell out of favor will be severely punished – even if through words or any other form of humiliation.
· They are NEVER wrong – in their minds, and will do any types of mental gymnastics to justify their rationale. Which usually lacks substance or merits.
· They will have no shortage of legal trials or other history of somebody who has been F-in-the-A by them, literally and figuratively. They will always claim innocence.
· They will ask for immunity to do whatever they want, because they intend to do what they want without any limits or accountability.
· They will insult their opposition, give them sophomoric nicknames, and generally surround themselves with people who are just as shallow as they are.
· They will surround themselves by “yes men and women” – because they cannot take criticism, and this by the way is unsustainable, because then all these spineless people become a rubber stamp to their narcissism.
· They will objectify men and women, and especially attractive people will be paraded more as trophies and a commodity, rather than a person.
· They will dehumanize others outside their circle, and even their own insiders will be punished if for some reason they are outside the circle of obedience.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
Are you placing yourself on the wrong side of history?
I can go on with my list, but hopefully that will help the mind-wheels to start turning. In my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools I expand on this topic. If you have fallen victim to this trend, don’t beat yourself up – for too long. But do something about it. This is what you can do:
Stop giving an authoritarian your undivided attention and loyalty, because you don’t mean jack-s-t to them already, and the very second you become inconvenient to them you’ll be fittingly disposed. In fact, you’ve probably have seen many on their orbit who had a high position being disposed of, very unceremoniously, and often in a cruel manner to be “made an example” for others.
When somebody asks for unlimited loyalty, that is a red flag – because that means they will ask you do some stuff you will probably regret later. If you don’t take heed and still keep doing whatever that you are doing to support the authoritarian despite the fact your life just got f-ked – well, they love that, because that means you’re exactly the kind of dumb muscle they need to keep their narcissistic existence from collapsing.
The catch is that authoritarianism is not sustainable. Not one authoritarian in history has thrived forever, their circle of trust became a circle of obedience, and little by little it shrank to the point they were all against each other. Yes, the same team who was first “against the rest of the world” – becomes a dog-eat-dog bunch. How to defeat and prevent this from taking over your life is by paying attention to the red flags I mentioned. HLC
The puppet master is the shadowy figure or entity that is actually controlling the entire debacle, even if this control is designed to be utter chaos.
The face tends to remain anonymous.
On my book Authoritarianism & Propaganda the Puppet Master Tools, I help you discover this Puppet Master. And spoiler alert, it might be a bunch of puppet masters behind the scenes competing for power. The catch is that most people will never really get to know who it is actually pulling the strings. It is designed to be that way.
Every authoritarian in history has one thing in common, they are all insecure. They disguise themselves as strong leaders. If they are men, they will actually be wimps, and winers, and thin skinned pedantic loud creatures who far from being a “man version” – are really very insecure children trapped in a larger often loud-mouthed body. These are perfect vehicles for the puppet masters to enact their agenda. Why?
Let’s use for example a grown man who is a victim of toxic masculinity. Anyone who thinks that being the loudest and foul-mouthed person is a sign of masculinity already lacks awareness to function as a person who enacts critical thinking and intellectual honesty. In other words, it is very easy to portrait themselves as an aggressive asshole, or a fantastical macho-version. In reality, it actually takes self-control to be able to maintain temperance. You can call that maturity. But maturity its inconvenient to a puppet master.
Authoritarians tend to lack that level of maturity – even if they are very calculating, and they gravitate towards others who follow suit. Which it is an oxymoron, because they think they are in charge, yet they are perfectly okay to even pay money for someday to insult them – making them think that it is what makes a tough person. Trust me, if your life is indeed complex and challenging, you don’t need to pay somebody to artificially induce more drama in your life. If you do, then your life is already too shallow and meaningless.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
That’s what the Puppet Master seeks.
The puppet master needs people who are shallow enough to be pretentious, loud, aggressive, obedient, and likely violent – but too dumb to realize they are actually puppets for somebody else. The funny thing is that their ego will make it impossible for them to realize they are being manipulated. And that it is also by design.
Whenever you see any movement in history where men and some women who were convinced that they were in charge under the clout of a dear leader, they will also be prompted to obediently follow directives that are incredibly disgusting and often criminal in nature. However, since it was enacted “against another” group, they felt vindicated to perpetrate these crimes without thinking much about it, or the victims.
The problem is that we are seeing a rise on these toxic personalities who are actually very vulnerable, but in their minds, they think they are the strongest and most alpha type of vindicators, following a quest that it is bigger than themselves. They are right it is bigger than themselves, because they are being manipulated. And guess what? They are disposable when they become inconvenient.
It is easy to fall for this trap, because sometimes these victims will act as though they have it all figure it out – and even persuade others to follow the same “lessons.” But once you dig a bit – and I mean it won’t take long because they tend to be very shallow – you’ll realize that all the spewed bravado it is more of a mechanism of defense, because no matter how “good they are” – they never like themselves, because they are not being themselves, they are just being the version they think was acceptable. The result is that they are always chasing that higher high.
What does that mean? It means that if a person is shallow, it does not matter what they achieve it will never be enough. Because they have never actually become the person they are meant to be, the puppet master’s mission is to prevent them from figuring out WHO they were actually meant to be, and keep them obedient to an agenda that it is not even on their best interest. But perpetually convince them it very much is. HLC
Insider threats can be witting or unwitting. But they both aid the adversary into achieving their goals. Today this is happening more often than people think.
Expanding on this topic.
On my previous article I mentioned that there is at least one elected leader who is repeating adversarial state-sponsored talking points verbatim. Sadly, that person is not the only one, and adversarial talking points are being parroted by too many people who have a significant level of placement and access in higher offices. And of course, this is music to the ears of those people leading nations who want to get rid of the United States of America as a premier world power.
What some people fail to realize is that they might have convinced themselves that they are actually working, or even sacrificing for their best interests, and the interests of their community. However, in reality they are being manipulated in ways they cannot begin to comprehend. And yes, it is designed to be cryptic enough for them to be confused. That’s also why this level of mass manipulation tends to be so effective.
We all have biases; some are more controllable than others. And based on the environmental circumstances, some of these biases might become invisible even to ourselves as we normalize certain traits – kind of like hiding in plain sight. This can be subtle enough that it goes unnoticed for years, sometimes it will be a bit starker, and an epiphany might follow.
For example, group mentality in their environment could prevent people from breaking their bias shackles. Instead, the desire to find the truth will be replaced with willful ignorance. Of course, the correct answer would be to warrant pragmatic analysis.
Make no mistake, the world is a lot more complex and intricate than what you and I (or any of us for that matter) are combined. And there are entities and people who are banking on the fact most people will feel so overwhelmed by even thinking about it that they will simply look away and let willful and blissful ignorance take the reins of their lives. That too its designed to be that way. There is no easier battle to win than the one the opponent forfeits.
But that is only one layer to the equation. The adversarial forces realized that it is easier to defeat their perceived foe if they are divided. And paradoxically, this division happens by “uniting” a core segment of those who will ultimately become divisive against everyone outside this “circle of trust.” The “circle of trust” will become a “circle of obedience,” and any outsider will automatically be viewed as a dissident, and from there things only accelerate exponentially.
AUTORITARAIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools – by J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez – www.halflifecrisis.com
It all starts with a Bias.
Biases are highly exploitable, and we tend to look at “other people’s biases” – and point them out – but we tend to be very lousy at seeing those very same biases affecting us when the mirror is presented in front of us. Why? Well, because it can be traumatic, it forces a person to see the reality of what they don’t want, or are not “quite ready” to confront yet.
This of course is wonderful for the propagandists who want to move your perception of what is acceptable or unacceptable. An insider threat can be witting, knowingly doing something bad. But often it is easier to persuade a person to do something stupid if they are convinced that they are vindicated to do whatever it is that they are persuaded to do. Even if this action is against others, or even their best interests.
People hate being pointed out that there is wrong, and that “egocentric” level of stubbornness can be extremely valuable to those who are manipulating us. A narcissist is paradoxically a person with very low self-esteem. And they can easily be manipulated if a bias – usually their own vanity gets stroked the right way. A certain compliment, a certain flattering “observation” – or whatever behavior or observation that can otherwise serve as a mechanism of defense for their ego should they be put on the spot. Those are incredibly powerful catalysts to move rhetoric into action.
How can this be achieved? It depends on the person, but if a person has an exploitable bias, then their proclivity to follow a charlatan’s lead will not be a bridge too far. In other words, if a person is already preempted to believe any sort of unfalsifiable narratives, doctrines, or even allegories – then by providing a fraction of plausibility for a more “defined” narrative it will be a lot easier to be accepted at face value. Even if the definition of this narrative is conjecture at best.
Pair that with the collective understanding or belief system from everybody else involved, and this will be a very easy transaction for any entity who wants to exploit the bias a person exhibits. The bias itself is almost irrelevant, it is more important for them to assess your willingness to accept something divorced from reality at face value. That’s how this insider threat manipulation starts. HLC
Adversarial propaganda does get repeated verbatim on mainstream media, and sadly enough, also by elected leaders. According to colleagues, MTG is one of those.
Repeating adversarial regimes talking points.
Representative (R-GA 14h District) Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG)is a figure who has gained notoriety in the American political discourse. She has found herself in the middle of many controversial issues since she got in office back in 2001. Even her colleagues in the GOP have very publicly taken exception to many of her views.
Most recently, she has been the catalyst of a civil war battle between her and the incumbent Speaker of the United States House of Representative, Mike Johnson. A man who also happens to be a hardliner GOP politician who gained notoriety for some very divisive views when it comes to policy that is very much aligned with theocracy. That’s is not where MTG disagrees with – for her, Jonhson is not extreme enough on a myriad of other divisive issues.
Although MTG has been all but disavowed by her own Caucus, she is very much praised by state-sponsored media outlets which happen to be against the United States of America. Is that surprising? Not really, unless you have not been paying attention to the geopolitical climate in the last several years… and by several years I mean since well before the Soviet Union went the way of the dodo.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
The insider threat.
I’ve said this before, but it is worth repeating. There are two main categories of insider threat – a witting and unwitting insider threat. The former is the one that is very much aware they are working in favor of the adversary and are doing so wittingly. That’s bad.
The unwitting is worse, because that means they are aiding an adversary, but they are too dumb to realize they are doing so. Which one is MTG? Who knows, but there is a valid reason why the adversarial regimes prop her rhetoric, not only from her mouth, but amplifying what she says on their propaganda efforts. And I am not talking about some “liberal” – so called “woke” – soy-feed whatever epithet the right-wing folks like to disparage their opposition – This is a concern raised by the GOP leaders themselves.
And unless you’ve been living under a rock, then you would know that the GOP is struggling – and has been struggling. The internal fight and polarization inside their party is worse than ever. On one side you have the “traditional GOP” folks, and on the other extreme you have the many shades of the MAGA-universe. And there are plenty of shades for the latter. Not all MAGA are created equal, and that’s why many are now ex-MAGA. Yes, there is a civil war among MAGA folks.
Spoiler alert, it will get worse – but as these division points occur, only one group comes up on top. Who? The adversarial nations who are hell-bent in “proving” that the American system of governance is not only flawed – but ineffective. That’s what they are selling, and people like MTG are phenomenal mouth-pieces to amplify that message.
MTG might not be doing so wittingly, but there is a reason why the adversarial propagandists are propping up her misconceptions. It should not take a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Analysis to understand why. Although a lot of MTGs efforts have failed, they give credence to a different audience. An audience that sadly most people in the USA don’t understand, or care to understand that it’s paying attention to its every move.
Fortunately, some of us are paying attention and writing about it. I’ll keep adding small articles to keep awakening THIS important context by exploring each element. Just keep in mind that there is indeed a much larger context, and we’ll break it down into little, more digestible chunks. HLC
There is much to be said about group mentality whenever people feel they are part of a movement bigger than themselves. Yet it can evoke pride, or manipulation.
Is a rally a good or a bad thing?
Short answer, it depends on who is running this rally. For the purpose of this article, we are focusing on political rallies. This is nothing new, and we’ve seen people going out spending their time and often also their hard-earned money to support and view their candidate of choice.
Some people are extremely devoted, some are more pragmatic. You can usually see who is who by the level of merchandise and regalia they will carry. In the United States of America that support-through merch is most definitely prevalent on right-wing circles. That does not mean that left-leaning folks will also drape themselves in left-wing regalia; but for America at this point in history it is just nowhere near as the right wing-folks.
And this regalia is important for many different reasons. And, no, simply supporting a candidate by getting a bunch of merch is not the only metric that can be extrapolated from it. The biggest less-conspicuous one is the level of bias a person has regarding their perceived candidate – and whomever they seem to oppose. For example, is the supporter of a candidate also draped in vulgar or derogatory regalia that is actively depicting the candidate’s opposition? From an outsider looking in, how much information can we infer from this regalia-draped person? Let’s find out.
First the obvious, we can infer they “like” whomever is the candidate, but also, they are so enamored with this person that they are willing to become an insult billboard against another human being. From a purely monetary perspective, it can also show that the person either has disposable income to wear such a disparaging regalia, or if they don’t have disposable income, and still chose to purchase such garments – also shows they are not likely to make savvy money management decisions.
This is great news for manipulators paying attention, because it shows people who make these financial decisions could likely “go a little further” if need be – if they are convinced enough this “investment is on their best interest.” And that rhetoric to action might be very easily attainable.
Afterall, who else is going to buy that type of merchandise? Obviously, it is not targeted to the opposition. Yet for those attending that rally, this level of vulgar display could very well be something that “makes them feel popular” or “accepted” by some of those who find that level of vulgar rhetoric part of this group mentality – as though “something is calling it as it see it” – wow, they even had it in a t-shirt or hoodie form, who would have known? The people who are monetizing your biases, that’s who.
J. Marcelo Baqueroalvarez Authoritarianism & Propaganda The Puppet Master Tools.
Why am I focusing on merch?
If it is was not obvious, because it is a reliable way to see if people put their money where their mouth is. Especially for a right-wing rally, you see people camping out hours if not the night prior their candidate of choice pops out – that’s especially true for Trump rallies.
The “uniforms” are disguised as political regalia, the time and effort to show up. I can include to this expense tally the time off work, the babysitting costs, the entry, and parking fees (even if the event is “free” -somebody is paying for it, the shared bathrooms, the possibility to come across some very weird people among the more moderate crowd – that metric can be easily and visually understood just by some quick math on how much they spent on regalia.
Let’s say for example, there is a couple going to the rally; they got their MAGA hats, shirts, hoodie, flags, signs, and maybe a couple of other trinkets. How much does it all cost this household? The hats seem to range anywhere from a few bucks to more than $40, let’s average for a cool $25, the shirts average $20, the hoodies average $35, the flags average $30, and trinket kits average $20. That’s $130 per person or $260 for this household. That does not count the time and expense to be there.
And no, I am not talking about admission fees. For what I’ve gathered, apparently admission is free, unless you want to purchase perks such as been a lot closer to Trump. In either case, remember that taking a day off from work is already an expense – even if not an obvious one. But if people want to support their candidate, that’s their choice.
However, not everybody finds this level of support the optimal way to help somebody. Although left-leaning rallies do happen, it is very unlikely to see the same folks who attend as many rallies as possible from town to town to support the candidate, even if it is very far away from their actual home address. In the USA, most left-leaning people will show their support either through voting, or if you’re lucky by sending some donations. Different approaches to support their candidates. One is more effective, which one do you think that is?
Well, if it was not obvious, the one that does not require a rally. Because they don’t need to hear it in a group mentality what they understand as their candidate’s policy. If they understand it, they go “ok, got it, I’ll vote on date such and such” – and they have been doing so. That $260 figure instead of buying shirts and merch, is instead freed up to donate it to their cause – if they wish to. Regardless of a rally, if people want to vote, they will go out and vote.
On that note, that is another debacle in its own right. If you’re an American citizen, don’t be deceived by the fact that some people who don’t subscribe to your political leanings don’t support their candidates in a way they find more effective. Some people love to be in a crowd with others chanting something that excites them. Others made up their minds about whether they support a candidate, and will support without purchasing the additional regalia or rally attendance. HLC
Today in America 03MAR2024 – Half Life Crisis www.halflifecrisis.com
There is so much occurring simultaneously in the national discourse that the truth tends to be muddied up. Today I bring clarity to these many issues.
This article will be broken down into a few parts in order to segment some of the craziness. It is going to be a bumpy ride, and although it will be a long article, this is the very top of the tip of the iceberg. An open mind is advisable to read these passages, because it will shed some light on information that tends to be redacted in some news outlets and from the voices of many pundits & other influencers.
The good news is that I am truly independent, therefore I have no political motivation. I am, however, very much against misinformation, because that affects us all – regardless of which side of the political spectrum we lean towards. Enjoy the ride!
Trump is not “that” rich.
In case this is the first time you see it, Trump had to admit via his attorneys that he does not have the amount of cash he used brag to the entire world he had. For many of us, realizing that Trump was nowhere as rich as he claimed to be it is not surprising. It might however finally dissuade a lot of his loyal followers in the MAGA base to finally leave him. The reason is because many MAGA followers just tolerated his antics because they thought he was a multi billionaire.
In case you were not aware, Trump recently lost two separate civil cases and was ordered to pay several million dollars in compensation. Most of his supporters still think it is a “witch hunt” perpetrated by President Biden. Of course that isn’t the case, and these problematic cases of sexual assault and fraud he was found liable in two separate courts, occurred well before the Biden Presidency or the Trump Presidency [for that matter] even started. Here is a quick synopsis of these two cases.
Both of these cases were handled by his attorney Alina Habba, who has been touted by her peers [meaning other attorneys] as highly incompetent. Whatever the case, she is to my knowledge the only attorney who has cost her client almost half a billion dollars.
Trump’s Civil Fraud Case.
Trump was fund liable from swindling many investors through the span of several years. Trump was directed to pay $355 million in penalties plus interests. But the total figure starts at $454 million because it also includes people in Trumps orbit, to include his two elder sons. The interest for the payments Trump owes each passing day he does not pay is $87,502 – and by the way the verdict took place on February 16, 2024. So, this figure just keeps climbing more and more.
This case of course found out that he was lying about his wealth and that he overinflated his assets to get loans, and undervalued them when it was time to pay taxes. The fact is that if he is unable to have this interest rate from rapidly accruing, that on its own is enough to ascertain that he simply does not have the cash to pay, or even to appeal the case. Trump said he was going to appeal, but he needs to post the money upfront to guarantee he will pay if he loses again. Which will likely be the case.
The fact is that neither banks, nor attorneys are lining up to support Trump. Trump also asked to pay only just north of $100 million [or a fraction of what it is required] to appeal. That was denied to him as it would have been denied to anybody in a similar situation. Trump went onto making some unusual fund-raising events, which included selling some hideous $400 golden shoes and a $100 cologne that by the way sold-out, but won’t be making it to their customers hands until the Summer.
Another thing that sprouted, even if by proxy, was at least one Go-fund me campaign, and people were contributing to pay the legal fees of this billionaire. There seems also to be some course of action of utilizing GOP campaign funds for his legal troubles. But my understanding is that would be highly illegal. Which by the way, there is another case under that premise – this time for paying hush money to a porn star.
Bottomline, Trump said via his attorneys that if he pays the entire amount [even as a bond], which is close to half a billion dollars penalty, he would have to start selling some of his real state. So, let’s put that in perspective. Trump was ordered to pay that amount because he was found that he defrauded a bunch of people. You know, as in taking their money, and now he does not have the money. In other words, it was spent – not properly invested to grow. This realization might finally be what turns off some of his base who considered him a financial genius.
Trump sexual abuse case.
On May 9, 2003 Trump was found liable for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll in 1996. Trump was directed to pay $5 million. But this case is a lot more nuisance than Trump simply being found liable for sexual assault, which under the New York statutes it is just different language that in fact found Trump liable of raping Carroll. Yes, they found and were able to provide proof that Trump is a rapist.
What some people might not realize about this case is that the statute of limitations has already expired, and although Carroll was unable to go against Trump back in the 90’s – remember, these were very different times. We have come a long way to being able to speak truth to power. For some of us who were alive in the 90’s I can assure you that the world has moved forward by leaps and bounds, yet there are many who want to return back to the most short-sighted blunders in those years.
However, as the story re-surfaced, Trump started bad mouthing Carroll and made some very defamatory remarks against her. The case went to court, Trump kept making some very low brow and insulting remarks in true Trump fashion style against Carroll – many of these remarks from very prominent platforms. You know, double down and triple down. So, the case ended up going to court for defamation. This of course backfired on Trump, because not only he was stuck with a $5 million award payable to Carrol, but he also got all his sexual abuse past come to light. It did not end there.
As expected, Trump was not happy at all with this, therefore he double down, and disparaged Carroll again. And this once again backfired. Remember, the case was already settled that Trump raped Carroll. Adding to the miscalculation, Trumps attorney, Alina Habba managed to make things a lot worse for Trump, turning this $5 million original award into a whopping $83.3 million award, as Carroll won her case for defamation again. It is very likely that Trump was the master mind directing Habba to say whatever is it that she said in the trial. Of course, that was not a good strategy.
One thing is clear, Trump has not paid a dime yet for either one of these millionaire awards against him. Which makes you think, if he really was a billionaire, paying off and then appealing could be a lot easier than accruing all this additional debt in interests, not to mention all the negative media attention that it puts on his supposed fortune. For now, only some of his most fervent MAGA supporters are still onboard and will pay their hard-earned money to help a billionaire pay his legal obligations. Food for thought.
Credit the link below to the Associated Press (AP) who is tracking Trump’s many criminal and civil cases. They have a huge team of journalists who can do that in real time; it is only me writing for the Half Life Crisis site at this time.
Hunter Biden handed GOP House Representatives their own butts.
In a different part of our bizarre political discourse, the GOP have been hell-bent in an unsuccessful effort to impeach President Biden. Bottomline, they have zero evidence. If the evidence to impeach Biden existed it would have been plastered all over the planet, and there would be non-stop coverage of it. That has not happened, nor will it, because what the GOP members are alluding towards simply does not exist.
In an effort to find some compromising links to Joe Biden, the GOP has been very adamant on pursuing dead-end leads related to the President’s son, Hunter Biden. For context, Hunter Biden is a recovering addict, and in the past, he had done some shenanigans, and has gotten in some trouble before. However, he has always made a conscientious effort to keep his father out of the spotlight, because he understands how important this is to his father’s public service.
For context Hunter Biden was still a young boy when Biden was elected to his first term in Congress. Fast forward, there have been a lot of allegations trying to tie Hunter Biden to his father. One of those sources was a former FBI informant who also was recently arrested because he was working with Russian intelligence in a concerted effort to interfere in US politics. And yes, that was the GOP’s star witness.
For some time, the GOP have been trying to corner Hunter Biden in many insidious ways. Even having sexually explicit images of him shown in the House Floor by Georgia Representative Majorie Taylor Greene. Yes, that happened! She showed what could be best described as revenge porn showing nude photos of Hunter Biden engaging in sexual intercourse during an official hearing.
And to add insult to injury, the GOP controlled House of representatives wanted to have Hunter Biden testify in a closed-door session – even though they had made this matter public to the entire country as the story of the century. Well, this was originally rejected, and Biden even showed up to Congress when they were deliberating about holding him in contempt of Congress – yet the GOP rejected the option of Hunger to testify in front of the whole country right there and there. You know, calling their bluff.
Fast forward to last week, and Hunter Biden did show up to a closed-door session, and handed the House GOP butts to them. The transcript is pretty long, but it is worth reading. The GOP Representatives tried to spin it as though it was a win, but for anybody with a 4th grade reading comprehension, you would be able to identify what the reality of the situation is all about. And the fact that it was political theater came full circle.
All this waste of taxpayer money and congressional man hours was nothing but a gigantic waste of time many of us realized years ago. There is no actual evidence to impeach Biden.
I recommend reading the entire transcript on the link below. It’s pretty long, but it is worth it. It might make you mad, or laugh in a tragically hilarious manner.
Reproductive rights are being threatened in the country.
You’ve probably been familiar with the overturn of Roe vs Wade by the Supreme Court that occurred in 2022. This is of course one of Trump’s supposedly proudest moments. And yes, this was possible because the three Supreme Court Justices confirmed under Trump were very much in favor of overturning Roe vs Wade – even though they denied during their confirmation hearings to be inclined to do exactly that.
Just like many of us realized that they were going after Roe vs Wade making abortions illegal and a lot more restrictive depending on each state – the situation was not likely going to end there. How do we know? Because the indicators of moving a certain “theocratical” political agenda has been plastered on the wall all along.
There is a certain group of “Christian Nationalists” – which is not the same as Christians from all stripes. In other words, not every Christian is a Christian Nationalist. Many Christians actually disavow Christian Nationalists as extremists who happen to use Christianity as a platform to push a political agenda. And Christian Nationalists are not shy about expressing that they want THEIR version of Christianity to be the rule of the land. In other words, a theocracy based on their particular interpretation. And yes, many of them are elected leaders.
For better or worse, this is actually a very unpopular stance – and in each and every one of the last several local, state, and national elections, the so called “pro-life” candidates have been defeated or severely underperformed at the ballot. Why is that? Because “Pro-Choice” does not equal “Pro-abortion.” In other words, the majority of Americans understand the difference, and how each case is unique. Further, they understand that the life and safety of the mother could be at severe risk with certain pregnancy complications.
And of course, most people are not onboard with forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy to full term, if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. Especially considering that some young women get raped while they are still children themselves. For example, should a 13-year-old be forced to carry to term the child of her rapist? When Roe vs Wade was overturned, it now makes it illegal for this 13-year-old not be forced to carry a rapist child to term. Think about that for a second – what if that 13-year-old young lady was YOUR child?
The fact is that what we are observing is authoritarian rhetoric disguised as morality under theocratic rules. This situation is running rampant in America, and it has been largely normalized. Why? Because there are Christians all over the place, even though many fail to realize that their denomination is one of a few thousands in the world. Yes, there are several Christian denominations, and they don’t agree in a lot of their doctrines – hence they have their own denomination.
Although many Christian denominations agree on certain points, there is a lot more than they disagree with. Want an example? Sure, how similar are the doctrines between the Jehovah Witnesses and the Latter-Day Saints? How similar or different are the rituals between Catholics and Pentecostals? How about the guys who handle dangerous snakes during service, or those who worship in the nude?
Yes, those are all just a few examples of devoted Christians. Would you go to the nude service or the venomous snake-handling service? So, under that logic, then you might not be ok if “a particular” denomination of Christianity becomes the theocratic rule of the land. That is why there is separation of church and state I the USA. Also, why churches get a tax exemption as long as they stay off the political discourse. Although we all know that many churches are not only violating that law, but they are also very cavalier about pushing politics from the pulpit.
Some states have a higher concentration of politically charged religious following. One of these places is Alabama, where recently, In-Vitro Fertilization or IVF is under attack, because they’re considering the cells in a petri dish being already a person. Yes, this IVF has JUST become an issue – just a few days ago. And it is taking traction on other states – mostly red states. And if you think this is not expanding think again.
And by the way, there are many Christians who used IVF in order to become parents. Now, this IVF procedure is in jeopardy because some people interpret their scriptures differently, and want to force everybody to interpret them in the same manner. And yes, it is affecting also law-abiding Christians and non-Christians.
If you are a Christian – especially, if you’re a Christian, you might want to realize that there is a particular denomination which wants to take over the way YOU worship. Yes, I am serious. This is happening. If you want to call them false prophets, or swindlers or opportunists, that’s YOUR choice. And keep in mind that there is a segment of people who use religion as a way to prevent you from having ANY choice in the near turn.
For example, did you know that there is a bill being proposed in Virginia right now that is endorsed mostly by state-GOP legislators who want to make it a lot harder to get contraception over the counter? So, think about this for a moment, there are people hell bent in not only limiting your options should a person get an unwanted pregnancy, but they are also making it harder to not get pregnant in the first place!
In other words, they are somehow working towards legislating about sexual intercourse between consenting adults. I wish I was being hyperbolic, but just like Roe vs Wade and other indicators of theocracy working to replace our democratic system, this very much seems to be in the horizon. Of course, that most people might not want to see it as such, because when we talk about religion it tends to hit a nerve on a great segment of the population… because they think it is singling THEM out.
Well, that is not the case, the reality is that a few are trying to impose their version of religion onto all of us while using the very same religious protections to hide their agenda, which is to ultimately negate religious freedom to the rest of the country.
There is a lot more to explore on this topic, and I plan on writing a full article and perhaps other additional content on this, because it will become a lot more significant sooner than later. And if you think there are not people in high positions pushing for this to become the norm, think again.
The Supreme Court is perceived as MAGA-biased.
Lately the United States Supreme Court has been perceived as biased by a very large segment of Americans. The reality is that there is an evident power dynamic difference. If you have been paying attention, you’ll know that the great majority of the justices are very conservative. And as I mentioned, three of them were recently confirmed during Trump’s term.
This is a good time to bring current Minority Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell who was the de-facto catalyst to pack the court with highly conservative, and MAGA friendly justices. And McConnel is also the person responsible for denying President Obama from adding his nominated Justice to the Supreme Court, because that was during Obama’s last year in office. Yet, McConnel pushed a conservative judge in the last year of Trump’s office.
For any of us paying attention, we realized this tactic from the start. He was going to pack the courts, not just the supreme court but a lot of other courts in the country – to get a higher level of political advantage with like-minded people. Some might say that is an unfair assertion, yet the proof to this assessment has come through via many cases that have gravitated towards conservative goals. IVF is one such case. There are plenty more, but not many of those cases make it to the national headlines.
But the scrutiny of the conservative Justices has also gathered more momentum after their decision to hear the case for Trump’s eligibility to be in the Colorado ballot. This of course will put a delay on a resolution for other cases that are related to why the State of Colorado supreme court found that Trump’s election interference and role for the January 6 insurrection makes him ineligible to run for office.
And if you think for a few seconds about this concern to have Trump back in office, it makes perfect sense. Trump has 91 criminal charges spanning several court cases, has been very vocal about some very divisive rhetoric, he was found to be a fraud and a rapist – and that is just a fraction of the many red flags anybody who is paying attention sees about Trump. Hence, most Americans voted against him in 2020. The difference is that he has alienated a lot of his base from that time. And a lot of his supporters have not been afforded the full story either… so they might jump ship once the truth also reaches their eyes and ears.
Well, unsurprisingly the Justices who were appointed by Trump and other conservative justices are very much onboard with seeing Trump to run for another term, despite the myriad of criminal and civil cases against him. And this is not me – as the author of this article – trying to put the integrity of the US Supreme Court in question – as far as how objective they are when it comes to political discourse. This is the common consensus from many people reporting on this topic.
But what I will say is that the rulings and the precedent for each case do raise a lot of questions. And one of the fears most people have is that there is a clear bias towards one segment of the population and a disenfranchisement of another – an even larger segment of the same population. The proof is that the most “conservative” doctrines have not been popular at the ballot. It is especially noteworthy that the MAGA segment of the Republican party is dwindling. Even though, many remaining MAGAs are still very vocal.
I linked this article to tell you more about the particular case regarding Trump’s eligibility to hold office. Credit to the New York Times. Even if you don’t agree with them, fact check them with media sources from all political sides – you’ll see the pattern soon enough.
Conflicts continue to ramp up, and they are likely related.
And with the political discourse, we also have to realize that we have a very real linkage to the larger geopolitical stance of the United States on the world stage. What we have to remember is that what happens in the USA resonates with the rest of the world with ripple effects that are mind-bending to some, and very clearly evident to others who can see the links to these events from a different vantage point.
What does that mean? It means that even the situations who seen tangentially related at best, or totally unrelated are very much part of the same construct. They are just not as evident when seeing it from a particular vantage point. And that would not be a person’s fault, they are just not afforded that vantage point to see the big picture.
For an illustrative example let’s say you’re in a valley, and you are at the bottom of the valley inside a forest. You might not be able to see the mountains around you, or even what is just a few yards from your vantage point. But if you climb the mountain, you’ll have a much larger view of the valley and where everting seems to be located. From there, you will be able to further explore with ease each area because you will have a better idea of how the terrain is laid out.
In geopolitics it is very much the same. For people who are in their own echo chambers, or political bubbles – they will not be able to see how the events are laid out and how they relate to one another. The way you can ascend this illustrative mountain is by understanding context. This context raises your awareness of what is going on, and from there you can see the road leading to each event. Keep in mind that each stage is going to have an inherited level of complexity, and it is meant to discourage people from keeping on climbing.
When I wrote my book AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools, I provided some tools on how to see this context in ways that will help you climb to a better vantage point. The geopolitical realm is complex, and it is also very contentious. And the end result of many adversarial nations is to negate the USA from remaining the premiere nation in the world – and give an open avenue for adversarial regimes to take the USA’s place. This has been happening for a while, and they will succeed unless we realize what its going on under our own noses.
I’ve said it before and it is worth repeating. There are insider threats integrated within the confines of the United States of America, and in many countries that are allied or partnered with the USA. Insider threats come in two big categories:
1. Witting Insider Threats:
These are people who are performing actions and supporting adversarial narratives and carrying out their desires willingly. In other words, they are very cognizant that what they are doing goes against the USA and its influence in the world. Even if they disguise themselves as patriotic.
2. Unwitting insider Threat
These are people who are too stupid to realize they are doing everything the witting insider threat is also doing, but they are just not aware they are complicit. This latter one is a lot more dangerous than the first one, because they are easily manipulated.
And it is worth repeating that there are a lot of people in Capitol Hill and in other prominent platforms who are repeating and parroting those adversarial talking points verbatim! I will be dedicating specific content to identifying how this works and how to defend against it. Remember that these insider threats tend to be wolves in sheep’s clothing. They will seem patriotic and even probably drape themselves in the regalia that screams USA – but they are repeating the points from their adversaries.
An easy way to see if that is the case is by looking at state-sponsored propaganda and news from an adversarial nation. How do you know it might be an adversarial nation? Well, if it is solely run by the state, then that means that the freedom of press is non-existent, and all narratives must concur with the government or be silenced. So that is already a good pointer, because the USA has freedom of speech [at least for now], and you’re able to speak your mind without the government coming to violently retaliate against you and everything you’ve ever loved.
We still have this freedom we are very much taking for granted and there are a lot of nations who have recently lost it. They didn’t pay attention to the same indicators I am mentioning, and it was likely there was somebody just like me trying to raise awareness, and he or she ended up screaming into a void. I’m trying to change that trend, and fortunately there are many who see what I am seeing – we are just not communicating together effectively. That is what I want to change through my writing. HLC
HLC Muller Report www.halflifecrisis.com American History
The Muller report was a litmus test on how cognitive dissidence can be exploited for political purposes. Many people are still confused about its importance.
The confusion perdures to this day.
The Muller Report is names after the Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Robert Muller, who was a prominent career law enforcement professional at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States of America. He was appointed to conduct a thorough investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.
Among the targets of the investigation, was included the recently elected U.S. President Donald J. Trump. The reason was because there were credible allegations that his campaign had close unduly communications with the Russian Federation, and that his campaign conspired together with Russian operatives to get an advantage against Trump’s presidential opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Russia stated on record they favored Trump over Clinton as President of the United States.
Before I move on, please find below the link to the entire Muller Report, as released to the public. Please keep in mind that some of the released Muller Report [enclosed] to the public have been redacted for reasons of National Security.
Mueller Report Article -Report on the investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election – www.halflifecrisis.com
IMPORTANT NOTE: It is worth mentioning that when citing Russia in this report, and on this article, it is not referring to the entire country of Russia – nor it is a so called “Rusophobic” attack. But unfortunately, the people involved in this report were from Russia. Any country involved in a similar fashion would have been cited on a consistent basis if they were under the scope of the investigation Mueller conducted. It is worth noting also that most Russian people (like most people around the world) are actually super nice, and they might or might not have a say, knowledge, or condone what happens outside their immediate purview.
You are welcome to read the entire report now (all 400+ pages), or after you finish this article. We will be touching upon some of the important takeaways from the report. The report itself is written in legal jargon, hence for some people it might seem counterintuitive to understand what Muller is actually trying to say. That’s the nature of the beast, legal writing is very different than normal everyday vernacular.
For this article I will be using down-to Earth vernacular to ensure it is better understood. And I said, “better understood” – because in legal terms words and context have a much encompassing terminology. That is why it takes years of going to law school and passing a bar exam to navigate the vernacular. To put in context the bar exam alone takes about 12 hours and it is extremely grueling. Some of us (who are not attorneys, but) due to the nature of our jobs just so happen to be acquainted with that language to “read it” – but not to “write it” – if that makes sense. E.g. You might be able to distinguish the difference between a high-quality and low-quality steak when you eat it, it is a whole different ballgame cooking it.
If you do end up reading the full report (which I recommend), it is best if you read it in little chunks, and with an open mind. The report is obviously very well written, but for those unfamiliar with the lingo, it will be interpreted like “scripture” (as in a bible or religious text) – and create a misperception that it is subject to some interpretations – especially if a person has a particular bias. However, biases are not the case when writing the report – Mueller himself was a Republican. But it is possible that some people might find ambiguity. Remember, this report was not meant to be read by the people, but rather by legal experts.
This in no way is demeaning to the general public, it is just part of the area of expertise needed for that particular specialty. Just like a bartender might have some specific language they use for some of their mixology, or just like us Sailors have a very specific vernacular when we talk about Navy stuff, or just how mathematicians communicate with complex formulas. Somebody outside those specialties might find it confusing if seeing it from the outside in.
Same thing with the Muller Report. It has a specific language, crafted by experts in that field. Fortunately, just like any cryptic language out there, there is a key to understanding in everyday terms what the intent and purpose for that report means to the general audience. There is a reason why I put this in context. You will see what I mean by that as you continue reading this article.
The Muller Report is inheritably complex, because it addressed a very complex issue. Further, it was unprecedented because it was the first time a sitting U.S. President was involved in the middle of this type of controversy. And of course, the environmental factors (not as in weather) in the country, particularly on political divisiveness – was making an already incendiary issue all the more volatile. There were a lot of entities who had a lot to lose based on the findings of this report. And those who had a lot to lose were both inside and outside the United States of America.
What does this mean? The Muller Report was never just about Trump, it was a lot bigger than that. It was about the possibility that third nation was interfering with the American Electoral process, and potentially getting away with it. Trump was largely anecdotal, but had to play also a center role for the investigation because he just so happened to be the President of these United States.
Understanding the Report’s Context.
The Mueller report was not about finding “Collusion” – why? Because Collusion is not a crime. It was about finding conspiracy to undermine an American Electoral Process. However, as Trump became extremely combative, and largely [on the Right-Wing of politics], attacks against Muller started to percolate, the scope of the investigation had no choice but to add instances of obstruction of justice to the mix. Cause and Effect.
What does that mean? Let me illustrate with an example. Let say person “X” is accused of beating up his spouse. An investigation into domestic abuse will start taking place. So, let’s say that while this domestic abuse investigation is going on, person “X’ decides to antagonize and threaten the police officers with violence, and incites others to antagonize and threaten these police officers – as they are conducting the domestic abuse investigation. What do you think is going to happen? If you assessed that an additional charge will be added to the domestic abuse charge, then you will be correct.
Further, antagonizing the police and threatening with violence while they are investigating domestic abuse – is not helping person “X” case, is it? Use the same analogy, but just change the charges and names, and that is what happened during the Muller Report. The fact that Trump and is acolytes were attacking, disparaging, and denigrating the character of Robert Muller, made it very evident that Muller likely found a lead Trump and his acolytes found very problematic (against them).
Robert Muller himself got death threats, much like many other Trump dissenters had endured in the last several years. Especially those with a platform. But the death threats normally come from a Trump acolyte, or somebody who feel vindicated to do so in their [Trump’s] base. I should emphasize that issuing death threats onto anybody is a crime. And yes, it is a crime no matter if you do that face-to-face, by email, by social media, or any other method of communication.
And bear this in mind because of the wide context of the report. Remember, the report is a snap-shot in time, but the significance of this report is a timeless tool about glaring vulnerabilities in the very fabric of American society. And yes, the exploitation of divisive vulnerabilities is designed to be like that – divisive and confusing. That is why I said that in the beginning it became a litmus test regarding our political stability.
Finding Trump guilty in the Muller Report
The official name for the Muller Report is “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election” – this report encompasses two volumes, and spans for 448 pages. In other words, the scope of the investigation was to find the facts about Russian Interference, which is not necessarily the same as an investigation about Trump, although Trump was certainly a significant factor in the entire situation – because Russia was favoring Trump over Clinton.
For us to understand the significance of this report, we have to understand that using semantics to fight the merits of the issue is not a compelling argument. It is a lot more abstract than that, because we are dealing with a strategic-level adversary levering personnel near to the sitting President of the United States, in order to push their [foreign country’s] agenda. This report is not about finding collusion, it is about connecting conspiracy behind the mechanics for which the favoring for Trump turned into action favorable to Trump.
Hope this is making sense so far, because it is about to get more abstract. It is designed to be that way. The adversary is not going to put this complex issue in a black & white, Fifth-Grade level of understanding – instead, this topic is an all-stars varsity multi-level strategy being played upon the US via its own political intricacies. Again, it is designed to be highly complex, and that is why the actual merits of the case will seem counterintuitive to a great swath of the population. Again, this report was not meant to be read by the general public, it was meant to be read by the top Attorney in the Country – The Attorney General.
And this is an important distinction. Because Muller and his team had to be impartial in their investigation. Hence, Muller (who was in charge of the investigation) was not going to declare “Guilty” or “Innocent” – among other intricacies we’ll talk about – that was not his role. His role was to find facts, write about them, and pass to the Attorney General to (for a lack of a better word) decipher what was presented to him on this report, and for him to make a recommendation as the top law enforcement person in the Federal Government at the time.
And at this particular juncture is where politics started to get from ugly to very dangerous. For as long as we can remember in the American discourse, the partisan political climate has become more and more polarized. It was not designed to be that way – it was meant to give a voice from different points of view; but through the years demagogs and other special interest powers have created a wider division among politicians. All this division is extremely convenient to regimes leading nations who have poised themselves as adversaries against America.
Some politicians (hopefully unwittingly) tend to play and parrot propagandistic points that are specifically designed to polarize America more and more. The reason for the division is incidental at best, but certainly politics is a very visceral vehicle that gets people enticed to perform actions that can very well go against their own best interests. They just don’t realize it does, because it is designed to make those victims feel like vindicated heroes, whilst making them believe they are the smartest people in the room. Sadly, that is a very prolific manipulation tool.
The damage created to discredit the Muller Report is causing negative effects even today! And that report was released in 2019. For that reason, it is worth understanding what the political climate was back during those days. And the short answer is, that the ENTIRE U.S. Government, all three branches at the time were Republican. The Executive power (President), The Legislative power (Congress with the House & the Senate), and the Judicial power with a conservative majority.
If you were a Democrat, you had no chance to push any legislation at that time. That of course changed in the very next midterm election when the House Flipped to the Democrats, and the Republicans lost the majority. But by the time this report came over, it was all Republican Controlled. This was very important for many political reasons, and of course gave a very high advantage to Trump as far as how the narrative would be controlled to the rest of the Republican political base.
Sadly, that means that if Trump was found guilty of any wrong doing, there was a snow ball chance in hell of a probability the GOP (Republicans) would even hint on giving Trump any level of accountability, let alone prosecute him, recommend impeachment – or any punitive action whatsoever for that matter. Why? Because that would be political suicide, that is why.
Politics are strategic by nature, and sadly this strategy tends to leave constituents out of the equation. A shrewd politician would be able to plan several steps ahead and bamboozle a base of voters to believe a false narrative with little to no scrutiny. Yes, it is designed to be that way. A happy constituent tends to be one who feels their political leader is reading their minds, and doing their will – as faithful representatives of their democratic process in Capitol Hill. You could argue, THAT is EXACTLY why they were elected in the first place to do, right?
So, what does any of this have anything to do with the Muller Report? A lot actually, that is why I say it is abstract, and might even see tangential. Again, it is designed to be that way. When we look at the Muller Report there is not one page which reads “guilty” except to demonstrate that somebody pleaded as such to previous proceedings – for example, George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. Papadopoulos was very close in Trump’s orbit – once he became inconvenient, Trump disavowed him.
Other big names in Trump’s orbit included Gates, Manafort, and Cohen. The later was also known as “Trump’s Fixer” and better known for the case involving porn-star actress Stormy Daniels – when she engaged in what was described as a hilariously short and unpleasant, though consensual sex encounter with Trump – when his wife Melania was staying home with their still infant son Baron. And I just want to add this part about the [if you can even call it] affair (which is factual by the way – however hilariously short). Because it adds to Trump’s character, and adds to why the overarching scope of his investigation is so important. Lack of character is vulnerable to exploitation – and having the President of the United States of America having an exploitable vulnerability is very dangerous for the country.
Another big player is Michael Flynn, who also pleaded guilty for lying to the FBI about talks he head with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Note that in every mention of “guilty” was for already a person in Trumps orbit who have already been convicted. It is important to pay attention to the fact that these individuals were very close to Trump – that is problematic. Who wins if the President of the United States of America has people who have pleaded guilty to some very problematic allegations? Regimes who are adversarial to America, that is who wins when this happens.
Letting Trump get away without prosecution, despite the findings of the Muller Report is what has prompted a lot of the cognitive dissidence that has endured to this day. And this is really the crux of the matter. Cognitive dissidence occurs when we let our biases control the narrative despite the facts. There is always a lot more to the empirical facts behind the superficial context of a situation. Some of the facts can certainly be obscured by misinformation, and lack of understanding of the full context.
In other words, when we are presented with a situation out of context, and we don’t have enough datapoints to ascertain the validity of those facts, then our assertion to those facts will be flawed. Hence the correct answer will feel counterintuitive, despite the facts being against their core argument. Again, it is designed to be that way. And a lot of people have fallen into that trap. It is not really their fault; a trap is designed to capture those unsuspecting souls. Much like a con artist tends to be charming and engaging. The difference is that with propaganda this is executed at a much larger scale and level of complexity.
Was Trump found Guilty?
Yes, he was found guilty of conspiracy of getting aid from a foreign government to help him with the election, and of obstructing justice and making all kinds of public acts of intimidation that among other things included death threats to Muller himself. The key word is “found” – that is not the same as “declared” guilty. Doing so gets into a semantic game that fosters cognitive dissidence.
This is how they differ. Finding instances of guilt does not necessarily mean that a person is going to be held accountable. For example, if you’re driving 20+ MPH over the speed limit, but there are no COPs around to pull you over, and issue you a citation for reckless driving – then you’re not getting accountability. You (should) know that what you did is highly illegal and can put you in a pumpkin suit, and there are several witnesses to your misdemeanor. Mainly every other car that you zoomed by – but they don’t have the authority to pull you over and give you a citation. But it is very obvious to all witnesses that you were breaking the law.
Somebody being declared guilty, that means that somebody who has the jurisdictional power to give you accountability is acting upon those findings. Following in the example, if a cop does pull you over and issues you a citation – the cop can start the accountability process, but not finish it. It would be up to a judge (in traffic court) to give the verdict on the infraction. Some judges might be lenient and let the speeder go with a warning, others might impose a heavy fine, others might send the driver straight to jail. I’ve seen cases like this all the time – it largely depends on how repentant the person placed in front of the judge is.
So, let’s bring this into context. Mueller (as the example being the cop on the above example) was gathering the information and writing the ticket. But it was going to be up to the attorney General (as the judge in the previous example) whom was required to make the determination about if the president was found guilty or not. The Attorney General at the time was Bill Bahr, and he gave the press a very misleading version of what Mueller described in the findings. The point being that Bahr likely wanted to try to make this problem disappear. Particularly because of the heavy political baggage it carried. Finding Trump guilty would make the Republican party implode.
How so? Well, the obvious thing is that if Trump was found guilty, then a lot of legal actions – none of which were convenient, nor had a precedent, would inevitably snowball out of control. There was a lot of appetitive for the entire report to be released. The GOP fought tooth and nail against it, but eventually it came out. But it took a long time. During that time there were countless attacks against Mueller himself, and many more death threats not only to him, but to other people who were in favor of releasing this document. So, the fact that you can read it (even on this site) was a gigantic undertaking that was being prevented by the highest levels of government at that time.
There was an important caveat. Because Trump was a sitting President – regardless if he was indeed guilty – he was NOT to be prosecuted. Those were the guidelines at the time, because it was meant to protect against people from attacking a President as a political eruption… with the pretense that the President was indeed an innocent person. Well, this is not very much the case in the Muller Report. Although he does not call Trump with the words “guilty” he did say that he was not exculpated from wrongdoing. And I said before, he was to present the facts, not to issue a guilty or innocent plea. But rather point if there was culpability. There was gargantuan evidence of guilt.
Using a “big word” such as not “exculpated” probably muddied the water – even though it is an accurate term. “Exculpated” means “acquitted” – Trump was not acquitted, if we put it in non-thesaurus terms. Muller went on to say that if Trump was not a sitting President he would have indeed been prosecuted. So, what does that mean? It meant that as long as Trump was President, then he was able to run that suspended guilt until he left office. But once he was gone, then accountability would follow. What would Trump’s next logical move be then?
Obviously, it was in Trump’s best interest to stay in power as long as possible! For one, because the statute of limitations would run out on this – and besides he did so much other crazy s—t after this event that the Muller Report will seem like small potatoes in comparison. But that does not mean it is any less significant, because this started a snowball effect for a lack of accountability to any sitting President.
Let’s talk about this snowball effect, this is a non-exhaustible list.
1. It forced the GOP to truly play ball and become Trump acolytes by choosing party over anything else Trump was able to get away with. Doing otherwise would be political suicide.
2. It empowered other adversarial nations to flood the USA with propaganda. The same type of divisive propaganda that has continued ever since – because it proved to be effective.
3. Fostered cognitive dissidence. It is convenient for other nations when we are divided, and if there is a communication breakdown. This first step was a proof of concept for adversarial nations as far as how people get lost in semantics rather than understanding the overall context.
4. The enemy is hidden in plain sight – who is the biggest enemy? Our own biases are being manipulated by our own misperceptions. It is designed to look black & white – but in reality, it is a very dynamic gradient. Hence, even people with good intentions will not see the true depth of the issue – it is designed to be that way – much like an illusionist only shows you what they want you to see, but the mechanics of the trick are out of sight to the general audience.
5. If Trump was able to get away with this, then he was going to continue pushing boundaries until he would get push back. He sure did, and hence he got impeached twice – and he is currently facing 90+ criminal cases, and a myriad of civil cases. Accountability started after he left the office – and the investigation into the merits for these cases already started the process before he left the presidency.
6. A lot of people got turned off by Trump, but also a whole bunch of them got ignited their new found passion for Trump. The Republican partly itself is very fragmented. Some of Trump’s more vocal supporters are Republicans themselves; though the hate and attacks from MAGA Republicans are often directed to more “obvious” challengers – which are the Democrats.
7. Trump started a very dangerous precedent that made people around the world distrust the United States of America. Who do you think wins when America gets isolated from NATO or other partner nations? It is not the USA; it is the countries who want to get the USA to lose its primacy in the world. By getting away from interfering with our political candidates’ process, this helps other countries who do not like America to perceive that the US candidates are for Sale.
8. Propaganda Points from other countries flooded the political discourse, and created an enormous social engineering campaign to find out which minds are more exploitable and obedient to Anti-American talking points, disguised as ultra-patriotic. Yes, it sounds like an oxymoron – that is why I say it seems counterintuitive to many. I wrote an entire book about it [AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools], because it is affecting us all.
9. The entire world was watching the proceedings about the Muller Report, and caused a worldwide mistrust in the American legislative process. If the USA is not considered a reliable intrinsic arbiter of justice, then the rest of the world will start seeking for a “better alternative” to follow. There is no shortage of adversarial nations who want to set that standard. And if the USA is not holding their leaders accountable, then that becomes the norm for the rest of the world. Like it or not, the USA can either set the standard for equal accountability under the law, or yield that option to any other nation who wants to impose their political agendas onto the rest of the planet.
10. Interpreting the Muller Report on “semantics” rather than substance is a very fertile ground for Information Operations campaigns by adversarial nations. In other words, they get to realize how naïve particular segments of the population are based on their lack of reading comprehension – and turn them into obedient parroting assets. More importantly, by providing these out of context talking points, they will feel vindicated as though they have “won” a battle of wits with somebody else – when in reality they have not been afforded the entire context. Plenty of people who are cynical about complex issues, but get hung up on semantics, are very much off-the mark on the actual substance of the matter. And yes, that is extremely convenient and exploitable by adversarial nations.
Moving Forward, and Deprograming Compromised Minds.
It might sound idealistic, but there is a way to straighten up this slew of propagandistic campaigns pouring over the USA. I use the Muller Report as an example, but there are hundreds if not thousands additional examples linked to Trump alone. But he is not the only one who enjoys a cult following, many of his acolytes also benefit from that clout. And even those who say that they don’t support him could very well be misled by thinking that “giving him a perceived fair” shot is a valid argument – when in reality, Trump was indeed guilty – hence, giving a “perceived fair shot” after he already has tilted the system on this favor is in fact a win for America’s adversaries.
What do I mean by that? Lately, as I became an author, I had to start learning the intricacies of the social media world. Not that I am super stoke about that, and I only hang out on the different platforms whenever I have some downtime. Which is not that much time actually. At this point in time, I am either checking my social media accounts while I am taking mini breaks during actual stuff I need to do in the computer – of if I so happen to be in a waiting room – as I have to sit and stay put prior to a scheduled appointment.
But no, debating people on Twitter (X) in 280 characters or less, or in Threads in 500 characters or less is not the only thing I have to do with my day. Especially if the cognitive dissidence from somebody drowning in a glass of water that they poured themselves off proves it is too much of a waste of time for me to spend my scarce time dealing with them. I’ve met all kinds of people, from super nice human beings, to well-intentioned confused people, to incredibly nasty individuals. During the less desirable interactions, I am afforded the opportunity to use it as a metric on how this cognitive dissidence has taken a foothold in the propagandistic realm.
Generally speaking, some people who seem to fall into a certain category (being left or right), tend to trail a very particular pattern of biases. All of which are very exploitable, and they have been exploited in spectacular fashion (even if they think they are winning an argument – thus prompting them to perpetuate that behavior). To figure out if they have been deceived, sometimes it is as simple as doing a quick check by looking at their feed, their vernacular, their answers to other tweets, the memes they post, their level of misguided arrogance, etc.
It is similar but more complex when we validate and assess how some people (to include those I mentioned) have easily been manipulated by adversarial nations Information Operation campaigns, and other methods of exploiting their biases. These are synonyms for propaganda.
And if you think only Trump supporters fall for this, think again. Even those who are against Trump can be vulnerable to unwittingly support those who want to see Trump back in office. And yes, it will seem counterintuitive to them as well. I mentioned earlier in the article that this level of propaganda is at a high varsity level. Most people sadly will read tweets, or read important talking points at a very elementary level. Then it is very easy to hide gargantuan amounts of misinformation on a semi-superficial level of veracity. Again, it is designed to look legitimate. Especially to target those who superficially think they have it all figured it out. There is plenty of room to add visceral responses in whatever falls through the cracks.
But for us who have been afforded a different vantage point, and have dedicated our lives to understanding these intricacies – the falsehoods stand up like a sore thumb. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it. It does not make us “better than anybody” – what it does, however, gives us a level of awareness that is otherwise hidden in plain sight. Again, that is why I wrote an entire book about authoritarian propaganda [AUTHORITARIANISM & PROPAGANDA The Puppet Master Tools}. And, it is also the reason why I keep writing these long-form articles. Riding just ahead is extremely important, and many people are oblivious to that fact.
The political discourse is full of misinformation, and when something important comes to light, it quickly loses the spotlight to another event – suddenly this previously important event becomes forgotten, and the facts for the argument become misconstrued. In other words, it is easy to help a person you don’t like win, just by misconstruing the facts -even if in your mind you think you’re attacking this person, or “just letting the system” run its course – without really understanding if the system perhaps has been compromised.
I keep saying it, and will keep repeating it. It is designed to be that way. It can be frustrating at times when I talk to some people in Twitter, or other social media outlets and they are clearly confused about something, but in their minds, they think they are spot on, or that they had a sick burn on me or whomever they are debating.
Let me make this entirely clear. First, I have a lot better things to do that debate somebody who clearly has not made their homework; and to build on that statement – they are just not ready to make the argument because their understanding has plot holes large enough to fly jumbo jets through it. But in their mind, they might think they have it all figured it out. Again, propaganda is designed to be that way. There is always a lot more than what meets the eye, and a semantic battle is often non-compelling to the actual merits of a situation.
The Muller report found Trump guilty, but won’t not say guilty. It found what it needed to find, which was conspiracy from a foreign country to interfere with our elections, and obstruction to investigate said obstruction. That begs the question. Why did Russia (in this case) wanted Trump to win over Clinton?
Think about it for a moment, and this will [hopefully] give you the “ah ha” realization about why the Muller report is so important. Why did Russia favored Trump over Clinton to the point they would interfere with our election process?
The answer is obvious, but it is complex. The obvious part is because Clinton would have been inconvenient to Russia. That’s the obvious part (yes, I said it twice). The complex part is the thousands of reasons for why this was the case. And no, it is not just because Clinton was better prepared (like her or dislike her) than Trump for president between both candidates. Learning the intricacies of government is not something that you can do in a short amount of time. To put it in context, even our turnover whenever we have one military member taking the EXACT job we are performing, despite the fact they arrive highly trained for whenever they come from one unit to the other is a very thoroughly complex process.
The less obvious part is Trump’s character, and the character of people in his orbit – and how this can erode the trust of our institutions and the divisiveness that was going to create in the USA for years to come. In that sense, it was a huge win for them (America’s adversaries). Not only did democrats and republicans further polarized, it also destroyed in the internal political parties inside their own ranks – and further radicalized people (from either side) who think they are the only ones holding the truth – so long it is dissenting with the other side.
By enabling Trump to essentially get away with a bunch of problematic issues as they were found in the Muller Report (and his many controversies), makes it extremely convenient for America’s adversaries to push all kinds of other divisive rhetoric – and find a fertile ground to keep dividing us. And yes, they are doing that even as we speak. You’ll be surprised how many “patriots” and other unwitting acolytes repost a lot of propaganda points that are against their own interests – and most definitely against the interests of the United States of America.
Fast forward to 2024, and some people still think that the Muller Report found Trump innocent. It didn’t, many people in his orbit went to prison because of it. Trump would have joined them in a pumpkin suit IF he was NOT a Sitting President. That is why, of course, it is worth mentioning why Trump will continue seeking the Presidency. Because if he is not a sitting president, he is liable to prosecution.
Just pay attention to some of his rhetoric [especially the days circa when this article was written] asking for unabashed immunity for potential crimes. Such as when his lawyer was asked if hypothetically Trump should be prosecuted if he directed Seal Team #6 to assassinate a political opponent – and he asserted that he would be ok, unless both he gets impeached and convicted by Congress… But keep in mind that even if that ever happens, then the political opponent is already dead in this case.
This is what the Muller Report found, that Trump has proclivity to do some certainly illegal actions – and use the limitations in the legal system to get away with it. And the startling thing is that the partisanship in the system has enabled him to get away with all of this. The Muller Report is only the dress rehearsal for a lot more than followed. And it is worth reminding that the entire US Government was Republican led at that time, so there was no way they would hold Trump accountable or impeach him, because for the GOP, that would be a win to the Democrats – when in reality it would be a win for America, because it would hold every person equal under the law, regardless of party loyalty. That course of action was convenient to adversarial nations too.
How can we solve this situation? It starts with each and every one of us. I cannot change your mind, I can only give you the facts, and spark that curiosity needed to continue researching the exceedingly deep levels of context affecting this situation. I’m doing my part by writing from an objective perspective. If it was a left-wing candidate doing the same stuff I would be writing about, and condemning them too. Each person owns their own life, but their actions can positively or adversely affect collective lives if they cling to propagandistic blind spots that cloud their judgement. HLC
