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OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 10/29/14

"Indoctrination" in America

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Dave Lefcourt
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Who Pays the Pro-War Pundits? Conflicts of Interest Exposed for TV Guests Backing Military Action democracynow.org - A new report finds many talking heads who have been fanning the flames of war in the news media have ties to Pentagon contractors.
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Former General Jack Keane

At this time I believe there's a need to say a few words about present day "indoctrination" in America.

Of course "indoctrination" is not unique to this country. All governments undertake it as a means to rally and gain support of the people for its policies and actions.

Here in America it starts off innocently enough learning to salute the flag and reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance".

But today it's taken on a more dangerous, virulent form particularly the role played by a complicit MSM, shedding its natural skepticism of the government to become little more than a propaganda organ of the government and its ways of "indoctrinating" the people.

Outright propaganda is to be expected in authoritarian regimes where the media are controlled and function as official organs of that government-which the people of those countries are fully aware knowing they're being fed lies by the government and its media and dismiss it as such.

However, government propaganda by the MSM shouldn't be happening in America where "freedom of the press" was made an integral part of the Constitution protected under the 1 st Amendment.

But the reality in America is "freedom of the press" has become a fig leaf for the MSM to hide behind. Now big corporations own the media, control its content, support the government's policies and actions for fear they'd be cast out as outliers, unpatriotic, scorned as traitors if they didn't kowtow to the government's line.

So the government has no need to "officially" control the media. It doesn't have to; the media has become an integral part of the government's inner circle.

Those TV pundits we see extolling the government's actions, many of them are former generals, former congressmen or their aides, have become paid "consultants" working for the very defense contractors that benefit from the various wars and occupations the government engages in, yet they're portrayed on these "news" programs as independent voices.

As for the electoral process, it too has been usurped by the big corporations, deep pocketed billionaires and special interest groups that underwrite the political campaigns and the candidates they choose to run and once elected and re-elected control the all important political agenda enacting the laws and regulations, the oversight and enforcement, all to the benefit of those big underwriters making the government nothing more than a handmaiden serving the moneyed interests.

It makes for perfect circle of "legalized" corruption, a fraud more in tune with mafia operations than a government supposedly representing the people.

It seems most people in America know this instinctively. Most don't vote probably for a variety of reasons i.e. "It doesn't matter who wins, my vote means nothing, nothing will change" et al, which are big indicators people feel powerless believing it's impossible to do anything about it so why bother to vote.

Meanwhile the government and its media "partners" go about providing the necessary "enemies", Communists, terrorists, ISIS beheading jihadists, Iran, now lately Putin and Russia all meant to instill fear in the people and present these "enemies" as a direct threat to America. So offer up the necessary propaganda "indoctrination" and get the people to support the government.

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Dave Lefcourt Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Retired. The author of "DECEIT AND EXCESS IN AMERICA, HOW THE MONEYED INTERESTS HAVE STOLEN AMERICA AND HOW WE CAN GET IT BACK", Authorhouse, 2009
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