Propaganda Tactics

Yet Another Shrill Health Headline

On January 18th, 2008 That venerable news organization Reuters came out with their shrill and completely mis-leading headline “‘Natural’ supplements caused cancer in 2 men: study”

Obviously something underhanded was afoot. Was it at the behest of Big Pharma?

Was it at the behest of the FDA?… in yet another power grab?

Was it at the behest of those Politicians wanting to socialize health care under the “Western” medical establishment taking away YOUR CHOICES of medicine YOU WANT TO USE. And severely limiting the choices available to you?

Well… The second shoe dropped… yesterday January 23, 2008. This time from Associated Press with their scare story “AP IMPACT: Folk Medicines Contain Lead”

Is This Propaganda?

Well, from where I sit… it sure looks like it.

As President Reagan said and I paraphrase… “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck… it’s a duck.”

So let’s consider Propaganda and Manipulation.

As Lippman said in his book Public Opinion “If we believe a certain thing to be true, or ought to be true, we can almost always find an instance where it is true, or someone who believes it ought to be true. When the first six people we meet agree with us, it is not easy to remember that they may have all read the same newspaper at breakfast.“ And that is what they are counting on.

Think for a second, go back throughout history…

It’s “Us”… our tribe “against them.” And we are the good guys, they are sub-human.

This sort of tribalism has been practiced throughout history. And you know what?… It always works. Everyone wants to be part of some tribe.

The propaganda part is simply convincing you… swaying your mind. Setting up your belief’s so you go along. Go along against the “the enemy” The one’s out to destroy you.

When a politician or “strongman” wants to seize power, or enhance their power, make a power grab… what do they do?

Come on now… Think…

How did Hitler come to power in Germany?

He had his Socialist brownshirts create pandemonium in the streets, he blamed the Communists, the Bolsheviks… at first. (And yes there is a Huge difference between Communist and Socialist philosophy. And yes a country can be Socialist without being Communist).

Anyway, after getting his brownshirts to create havoc in the streets, he positioned himself as the savior of Germany. The savior of order. He ran as the “Law and Order” candidate. The one who could get things done. The one who could put an end to fears, to make the people safe from the “outside influence”. He and he alone (with his Socialist Nazi party) could protect innocent law abiding German citizens from the anarchists, and communists who were trying to destroy them.

Then, once in power, he had his brownshirts blow up Parliament killing a bunch of elected politicians. This created more fear of not being safe.

He demanded and received dictatorial powers. He then went on to even worse deeds I won’t go into here that have been recorded in history

But do you see parallels between these shrill newspaper stories obviously planted for some purpose, and the way Hitler came to power and seized even more?

Be prepared to see many more Shrill… Scare Stories with exaggerated headlines.

Raise Your Bull Shit Detector and Shield

I mean, come on now… A headline stating… “‘Natural’ supplements caused cancer in 2 men: study”…

TWO MEN??????

Out of millions?????

What supplements were they taking? Everything? Did they have any pre-existing conditions? Not that were reported.

The headline is designed to make you believe that all Natural supplements are harmful to your health.

The headline and article are designed to put doubt in your mind.

The headline and article are designed to make you worry, doubt yourself and look for the great savior of your health. Who could that be?… Well, in the slant of the article… it would be the FDA.

The article clearly states they (the FDA) need more power. More regulatory ability. More of saying YOU can not get access to supplements unless THEY say so. That’s what the article implies. It is designed to cause you to have a doubt about natural supplements. And look for drugs instead. And we all know how drugs by big Pharma have no ill effects. How drugs from big Pharma are completely safe. Yeah… Right…

Then the other headline “AP IMPACT: Folk Medicines Contain Lead”

What they appear to be doing is laying the groundwork… attempting to mold public opinion into the belief that “Traditional” aka “Natural” of “Folk” medicine (herbs, tonics, etc.) is a sham we all need protection from.

They are doing this by placing stories with screamingly shrill and mis-leading headlines. Paving the way — attempting to sway public opinion to cry out for MORE government REGULATION. MORE GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE AND REDUCTION OF OUR HEALTH CHOICES.

If we end up with the medical care the politicians are pushing, say goodbye to herbal remedies, natural cures, the ability of you to even buy books on herbs. Think that can’t happen?

The Days Before DSHEA Was Passed

Imagine going into a “Health Food Store” and wanting to buy a book on herbal cures. You couldn’t find one. Why the Government (FDA), and the Western Medical Establishment (AMA — American Medical Association) didn’t want you self medicating or knowing anything about natural cures. So if a store sold herbs, it could not sell or give materials on how to use them except as seasoning for food.

Did you want to go to a Chiropractor for a back ache? Think again. The AMA didn’t like Chiropractors, they were as untrustworthy as… professional politicians. The only way you could get relief or your aching back was an expensive operation.

Want to use a midwife rather than a physician for a birth? Unh unh. No can do. The AMA got them made illegal.

Go into GNC and what did you find? Some food bars, vitamins made by a pharmaceutical company, some diet products. That’s all.

Unfortunately, as the press following the politician’s lead attempts to whip up public sediment to nationalized healthcare, we will see more and more of these manipulative stories.

Remember, propaganda in of itself is neither good or bad. Propaganda is simply an attempt to get you to see things and get beliefs the propagandist wants you to see and believe.

Keep your eyes open. Know what is going on. Get both sides of the argument and then make up your mind.

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