Well, If It Worked For Hitler

Those sneaky Republicans are at it again, this time they have buried an amendment deep within the latest defense authorization bill.

BuzzFeed has learned;

The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the Pentagon, according to the summary of the law at the House Rules Committee’s official website. Meaning the state department could use propaganda in the same way Fox News does.

The tweak to the bill would essentially neutralize two previous acts—the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 1987—that had been passed to protect U.S. audiences from our own government’s misinformation campaigns.

The bi-partisan amendment is sponsored by Rep. Mark Thornberry from Texas and Rep. Adam Smith from Washington State. (blue dog democrat)

In a little noticed press release earlier in the week — buried beneath the other high-profile issues in the $642 billion defense bill, including indefinite detention and a prohibition on gay marriage at military installations — Thornberry warned that in the Internet age, the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way.” Which is his way of saying, lying to the public is just a-okay as long as it fits your agenda.

The bill’s supporters say the informational material used overseas to influence foreign audiences is too good to not use at home, and that new techniques are needed to help fight Al-Qaeda, a borderless enemy whose own propaganda reaches Americans online.

Critics of the bill say there are ways to keep America safe without turning the massive information operations apparatus within the federal government against American citizens.

According to critics, the law would allow “U.S. propaganda intended to influence foreign audiences to be used on the domestic population.

The new law would give sweeping powers to the State Department and Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public. “It removes the protection for Americans,” says a Pentagon official who is concerned about the law. “It removes oversight from the people who want to put out this information. There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.

According to this official, “senior public affairs” officers within the Department of Defense want to “get rid” of Smith-Mundt and other restrictions because it prevents information activities designed to prop up unpopular policies—like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.



When you got nothing else.



So selling war by lying about it is what our military industrial complex has in plan for us. When something is as unpopular as the war in Afghanistan, these war mongers need to sell their product just like the tobacco industry did in the 1950's by using lies and manipulation to deceive the public into believing their product is safe.



 We all know how that turned out.

What worked for Hitler can work in the U.S too.

Why let all that good propaganda go to waste?

And you thought the commercials were the worst part of television.

ickenittle