Category Archives: Media Corruption

“Wag the Dog 2”–new cast, same deception

Published October 31, 2020 / by Lee Kessler / 1 Comment on “Wag the Dog 2”–new cast, same deception
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The film “Wag the Dog” was released in 1997. The plot involves a President trying to get reelected who gets caught in a scandal. His spin doctor hires a Hollywood producer to create a war, one so convincing that the media and public will be distracted by the war, and not notice the scandal. The war was fake, but, through the filmmaker’s genius, appeared real. Real enough to fool the country.

It was a brilliant and funny satiric revelation of just how manipulative politics, media, and Hollywood can get. Through skillful writing, filming, and editing, one can make anything appear real–even a completely false story. You could fool the media into taking the bait. But, what if the media was part of the deception–willfully part of the deception?

You should note that when I was researching Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri for the insights that eventually led to “White King and the Doctor,” I discovered that it was reported Bin Laden’s favorite movie was “Wag the Dog.” That is in fact what gave me the idea to have Bin Laden in a film studio filming various scenarios that might happen in the future, and to have him launch his propaganda chief into an attack that would undermine the American free press, causing the American people to bring themselves down from within. All of it, based on creating something out of nothing, and then making the “something” appear so real that it was accepted as the truth.

There is a “Wag the Dog 2” being created right now. Many of you may see some things on the news but have not trained your eye to spot what is missing. You may be watching Trump or Biden rallies on TV–or the parts the media allows you to see–and you have missed something.

I currently live in a state where rallies have taken place locally, and the local news reporters and their cameramen sometimes capture things CNN would never allow out for example. If you have been anywhere in the vicinity of a Trump rally, whether local or national news covers it or not, you know the rally is there and it is large. I have also personally witnessed car and truck parades miles long spontaneously happening in my state of Florida. Boat parades and rallies are popping up all around the peninsula I live on.

The reverse is true of Biden rallies. I first noticed it when Biden came to Tampa to handle something with a voting block, and a rally was announced. I do not know what you saw on cable news networks, but what I saw was that those who showed up were Trump supporters.

That caught my attention. After that I began to watch every time Biden came out to a “rally.” Occasionally the cameraman would slip up and show the audience area, and it was obvious that there was either no one there but the Press, or a dozen or so people. The camera would then cut away immediately to avoid the embarrassment or truth of the event. During his train campaigning, when he stopped at various towns, the camera accidentally showed no audience.

Then I checked Kamala Harris, and at her rally a week or so ago, even though she came out to the stage in the park or field (the usual setting for Biden or Harris) waving to fans and, in a very unconvincing performance, peering out over what seemed like a large and sprawling crowd extending into the distance, once again the camera caught the attendees. There were about 25 people in the audience. My response? I simply said to myself, “Oh, no…”

Even more telling is the Obama rally in Miami area last week. It was, like most Biden rallies now, a drive-in rally. I assumed there would be a lot of people at this rally, given that it was the former President in a historically Democrat area. This time, even the cable network got caught up. They turned the camera at an angle, revealing the car audience from the point of view of President Obama. In my estimation, there were perhaps 100 cars–meaning 200 attendees.

Another rally this week interviewed Biden supporters after it. They explained they had heard about a rally, and came to see him, but were turned back at the venue. They were told it was a “private event” and they could not come in. They waited outside the publicly announced venue, and eventually a small caravan of cars came out honking.

Folks, this is a classic Wag the Dog. The Biden campaign has skillful cameramen, editors, and PR people, and the result is that you have been led to believe there actually is a vibrant, massively-supported candidate. The news then hammers the idea home with the polls every night.

In reality, there is almost no one coming out. It is a faux campaign. I am now convinced that all the polls are wrong–and possibly even deceptively created to put us in fear and uncertainty, and to make us convinced that a candidate who is not attracting a crowd as large as your office staff is clobbering his opponent. The visuals are being distorted to make you believe the vast majority of Americans are clamoring for Joe Biden, and would love to see him.

Someone may successfully create a work of fiction that actually puts the man in the White House, but it will have been through manipulation of the American people’s perceptions. A coordinated effort is being fed to you in what I will characterize as a Voter Suppression effort, and a Voter Intimidation effort.

The solution: turn off the TV and radio for the next 3 days. Watch no cable news–not even Fox–and do not look at any polls. No matter what juicy stories, scary forecasts or speculations come out today, tomorrow, and Monday, just do your job! Our job is to take the responsibility that comes with our citizenship: to VOTE on Tuesday, or before, in person.

This is your country, your government. You are the boss. And, if my experience at the polls in Florida this past week helping my 91 year old brother get to the polls for a vote in person in a wheelchair is any indicator, you will have fun. They are well-organized and trained here. Voter fraud at the polls would be very hard, and there will not be intimidation in the parking lots.

You have already been intimidated enough by the nightly cable news, and by fake, scripted, phonied-up rallies.

Shut out all noise now. It is “blinders on” time. Head down. Do not allow “Wag the Dog 2” to become a national bestseller. Films die when poorly attended. Don’t let cable news continue to sell you this “movie.”

For All JFK and Blue Collar Democrats

Published October 30, 2020 / by Lee Kessler / 1 Comment on For All JFK and Blue Collar Democrats
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This is a special message for all my Democrat friends who remember President Kennedy and his famous remark. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”

It is a special message for all loyal Democrats who work hard, pay taxes, educate their children, who seek security both financially and physically for themselves and their families.

I believe–despite all the noise and myriad points of disagreement and argument–this election comes down to one thing right now. Let’s distil it to one final thing to look at, and one final issue that trumps the others. For now, at least. If we lose on this one, we will not be able to debate or resolve the others.

This election–for reasons you may never know–your party has left you. By now you know that a radical, militant, and demonstrably violent group has taken control of a proud political party. Someone is financing them, and it is likely not you.

For me, now, with just days to go, all the other issues pale. One issue should be the deciding reason to vote Republican straight across this one time. That issue is again playing out on your television screens nightly. It is: rioting, looting, arson, assault, and community destruction. No matter the purported justification, you know there is no justification in a lawful society for wantonly destroying your neighbor’s property, burning down his business, destroying the livelihoods of people who are hardworking Americans like yourself. They now will have no job, possibly no ability to rebuild.

For months we have been subjected to menacing mobs wreaking havoc and destruction everywhere they turn up. Lives have been lost. Whole neighborhoods have been destroyed. And your fellow countrymen are living in fear, forced to capitulate or risk being destroyed themselves. It is a type of mob extortion. The message is clear: Do as we say, or we will take you down.

I realize that there are many policy issues we can debate, and disagree on. But I hope to God that you do not stand with your party this time. The politicians who support this mayhem–even if the support is just their silence–must not be allowed to have a victory. There is a truth in life that what works and produces the desired result will continue. It becomes the successful action. So, if rioting, burning, assault, robbery, looting work–and force a change in Washington and bring in Congressmen and women who will not insist on law and order or rule of law–then you will be subjected to this during the next election season. And the next! It is not a party thing. It is a power thing.

The men and women who schemed up this political tactic will now know that they can bully Americans into submission, and they will continue to do it. And, if history is any teacher, it will escalate.

You may say, Lee, the Democrat politicians don’t want this. They are not involved in this anarchy. If that is the case, then why did not ONE SINGLE DEMOCRAT MAYOR, GOVERNOR, OR POLITICAL CANDIDATE condemn this anarchy and destruction months ago when it began? It was weeks before Biden even came out with an anemic statement about not liking rioting, only peaceful protesting. Weeks!

Some, to this day, have still not condemned or denounced the deplorable actions of thugs. Even if they give lip service to it, their actions speak louder than words. They have allowed it to continue in their cities, and that jeopardizes all citizens of the city. It risks the security of every citizen–and that is you, my friends.

You have been viewed as collateral damage in the rush to tear down the system. You have been betrayed.

And that is why I suggest that you do not vote based upon past habits. Don’t give power to these people simply because your grandpa, dad, and you have always voted Democrat before. These candidates do not reflect the words, much less the spirit of President John Kennedy. They do not reflect the spirit of the decent, hardworking, honest blue collar and middle class Democrat friends I have known my whole life.

Let them all lose this time. Then you can retake control of your own party. Remind them who they work for. And the only way to do that is to force them to lose massively 5 days from now. A group of people who despise you too believe that if this works, they can control all of us. Join with Republicans and other like-minded JFK Democrats to give this mob an electoral beatdown.

They resort to violence, and have for months–in the name of “social justice.” You, I, and others can demonstrate the rule of law, revere our Constitution, and make our statement with our ballots.

After that, take back your party. It has been kidnapped by a Marxist philosophy that will be unhealthy for all of us.

The Ultimate “October Surprise”

Published October 4, 2020 / by Lee Kessler / 2 Comments on The Ultimate “October Surprise”
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While I write this, there is another story playing out that almost NO media is covering. That story is one I have been chasing and writing about periodically–for you–for two years. And the documents were just declassified and released–after months and years of demands by the Congress.

No agency has the right to stonewall and withhold information from the American people. NO AGENCY or AGENCIES. I am a writer of political fiction, fiction so plausible it became the truth. My antennae have been up on this, and my “swinish suspicion” as the writer of investigative fiction is working overtime. Who knows, it may become another book.

But, I have said to Director John Brennan and others to “stay tuned.” Well, this weekend, the information that members of Congress have begged for was released. Look it up. You won’t find it on CNN or MSNBC. You will need to search for it. DNI Radcliffe just released it, with the full motherload still classified. The data is factual. It will, in my opinion, become evidence in a court of law. It is not fictional “conspiracy theory.” The names are there. The incidents are there. The dots are connected.

Having said that, the diversion that is distracting all Americans today–and logically so–is the President of the United States and his battle with the China virus. He will win that battle. All of us will win that battle.

But, I can not take off my “hat” of writer of political fiction that turns out to be true. You will be directed to–like Pavlov’s dogs–salivate over the idea that if the President had not been out in public and treated mask wearing more seriously, he would not have gotten sick. You will be discouraged from realizing that the Gov. of Virginia–who wears masks religiously–also contracted the disease. Instead of being encouraged to learn something about virology, you will be directed to rote political rhetoric and condemnation.

If you have taken the bait, you are already finger-pointing, and you may not see something I see. The reason I mentioned the release of those documents has to do with the fact they PROVE a political dirty trick, conspiracy, and coordinated attack, the likes of which the United States has never experienced. If you were to accept them as true, you will be in a state of shock, and true righteous indignation–determined to never allow people like this to get power again. This story is like a major Hollywood political thriller. Regrettably, it is true.

The distraction, to keep you away from even looking? The “October Surprise” of the President’s illness, and the illness of others. The coverage of it gives you something to be self-righteous about. Be careful, my friends. You are being played.

Interesting to me, and hopefully to you, is the fact that not only did the President come down with this, but also his closest advisor Hope Hicks. Also, the First Lady. But–PAY ATTENTION HERE NOW–also the head of the Republican National Committee. Her job is monumental. She is responsible for the election of every Republican House Member and Senator, as well as the President.

To have her sidelined too is to potentially wipe out an entire Party’s ability to campaign in the final weeks of an election vital to the interest of all Americans.

Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee who will determine the next Supreme Court Justice also fell ill.

The President’s debate coach also fell ill.

And the Chinese Press officially endorsed the other candidate, while the President of the United States could have been mortally wounded.

Stupidity you say? That’s the pat, propaganda line. Coincidence you say? I doubt it.

Granted, I am just a lowly fiction writer. Who am I to challenge conventional wisdom? I connect dots differently. And, as I connect the dots here, they do connect–the top story in this Blog, and the President’s story.

And if you will take the time to ferret out what that top story is, I think you can see why this “October Surprise” is such a brilliant and bold diversion to keep American citizens from seeing what their government has done to them in the last 5 years.

There is always a “who.” I would like someone to help me identify the man standing directly to the right of Hope Hicks at the most recent rally. I will recognize him, but I do not know his name.

There is something I want to check. And, perhaps I can connect an important “dot.”

The Greatest Diversion Ever!

Published July 21, 2020 / by Lee Kessler / 1 Comment on The Greatest Diversion Ever!
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Hey, Director John Brennan, the “Bloodhound” is closing in now. The world may have been distracted by the China virus–a very real-world, real-threat situation. It may have been distracted by America burning, and the seemingly relentless nights of anarchy and violence in the name of social justice.

People are struggling to wrap their wits around something that is supposed to be peaceful, righteous, and motivated toward an end of equal justice, when their cities and streets explode with Molotov cocktails, broken glass, shattered statues, vandalism, theft, physical assault, and even murder. Unless one is brain dead or a sociopath, the words “social justice” and this mayhem don’t jive.

But, it sure has created a diversion for you and your cohorts to elude a true American “equal justice under the law.” Media eyes are on explosions and blood. America’s eyes are on the same. That is a great military strategy to provide cover, and potential escape.

“The Bloodhound,” however, has never taken his eyes off from you.

My friends, daily now for some time, declassified material–actual documents, notes, sworn testimony, government files–have been released to the public for you to read and understand the reality of an attempted coup. Yes, that is what it will likely be called. A conspiracy to overthrow a duly elected President of the United States. You were more than misled, my fellow Americans. You were outright lied to and deceived.

Now, that is a scandal. That is a crisis. These other “distractions”–albeit mighty ones–will pass. And if you truly love your country and freedom, you should be more than just dismissive or disdainful of this, more than just mildly interested in it. You should feel your hair stand up on end, and you should have trouble sleeping at night.

Because, while we all have sacrificed for our fellow countrymen in order to save lives, while we all have maintained extraordinary restraint in the face of nightly bullying by rampaging mobs, a group of men and women tried to steal your government.

They are still trying. Their names are all known now. I have been writing about them for two years to get you prepared for the reality of what you are about to have to face. The Media may not want to cover it. They long ago ceased to be News, and have turned into social activists and political activists. One established and renowned journalistic empire will likely be listed among the people who advanced the coup. You may want to deny it, and drive yourself batty in doing so. But, when these documents start showing up in a court of law–criminal and civil– as evidence, and juries are being selected, and the prosecutors or plaintiffs open their case, it is going to become staggeringly real to you.

No longer a parlor game, or material for Twitter wars, and the rantings of uninformed celebrities and politicians as they dismiss facts and embrace “anonymous” gossip, this is going to be VERY REAL.

‘The Bloodhound”, as I like to refer to him, has likely found evidence and connected dots in the UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, the Ukraine, possibly Russia, and sadly the good ol’ USA–in the Media, Government Agencies like the State Department, the Justice Department, possibly the Defense Department, and the Treasury Department, and in the halls of Congress.

We’ve stood up to Covid-19. We are standing up to anarchists masquerading as saints. We will stand up to this.

Once, more than two years ago, you, Mr. Brennan, looked straight into the camera and threatened the President of the United States. Well, it’s your turn now, sir. Truth has a way of surfacing. And traitors have a way of turning on each other. Your words, “Stay tuned…” have boomeranged on you. These diversions will no longer divert the eyes of justice. They will no longer provide you “cover.” Stay tuned…

How Did CNN & MSNBC Miss This?

Published July 15, 2020 / by Lee Kessler / Leave a Comment
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Yesterday, a bombshell dropped that rocked the Fourth Estate that seems to feel they are our guardians and masters. Many news agencies did cover this, because to fail to cover it would be dereliction of duty. Yet CNN and MSNBC avoided it. And in doing so, misled all of their viewers by withholding something of significance, and worthy of thought.

Bari Weiss, the Opinion Editor for the New York Times, resigned yesterday. Below is the letter she sent to the head of the Times, explaining her decision to leave. Any fair-minded person will want to read this. You CNN fans and MSNBC fans should ask them why this story just didn’t warrant their attention.


Dear A.G.,

It is with sadness that I write to tell you that I am resigning from The New York Times. 

I joined the paper with gratitude and optimism three years ago. I was hired with the goal of bringing in voices that would not otherwise appear in your pages: first-time writers, centrists, conservatives and others who would not naturally think of The Times as their home. The reason for this effort was clear: The paper’s failure to anticipate the outcome of the 2016 election meant that it didn’t have a firm grasp of the country it covers. Dean Baquet and others have admitted as much on various occasions. The priority in Opinion was to help redress that critical shortcoming.

I was honored to be part of that effort, led by James Bennet. I am proud of my work as a writer and as an editor. Among those I helped bring to our pages: the Venezuelan dissident Wuilly Arteaga; the Iranian chess champion Dorsa Derakhshani; and the Hong Kong Christian democrat Derek Lam. Also: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Masih Alinejad, Zaina Arafat, Elna Baker, Rachael Denhollander, Matti Friedman, Nick Gillespie, Heather Heying, Randall Kennedy, Julius Krein, Monica Lewinsky, Glenn Loury, Jesse Singal, Ali Soufan, Chloe Valdary, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Wesley Yang, and many others.

But the lessons that ought to have followed the election—lessons about the importance of understanding other Americans, the necessity of resisting tribalism, and the centrality of the free exchange of ideas to a democratic society—have not been learned. Instead, a new consensus has emerged in the press, but perhaps especially at this paper: that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else.

Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times. But Twitter has become its ultimate editor. As the ethics and mores of that platform have become those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly become a kind of performance space. Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions.I was always taught that journalists were charged with writing the first rough draft of history. Now, history itself is one more ephemeral thing molded to fit the needs of a predetermined narrative.

My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m “writing about the Jews again.” Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly “inclusive” one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are.

There are terms for all of this: unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge. I’m no legal expert. But I know that this is wrong. 

I do not understand how you have allowed this kind of behavior to go on inside your company in full view of the paper’s entire staff and the public. And I certainly can’t square how you and other Times leaders have stood by while simultaneously praising me in private for my courage. Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery.

Part of me wishes I could say that my experience was unique. But the truth is that intellectual curiosity—let alone risk-taking—is now a liability at The Times. Why edit something challenging to our readers, or write something bold only to go through the numbing process of making it ideologically kosher, when we can assure ourselves of job security (and clicks) by publishing our 4000th op-ed arguing that Donald Trump is a unique danger to the country and the world? And so self-censorship has become the norm.

What rules that remain at The Times are applied with extreme selectivity. If a person’s ideology is in keeping with the new orthodoxy, they and their work remain unscrutinized. Everyone else lives in fear of the digital thunderdome. Online venom is excused so long as it is directed at the proper targets. 

Op-eds that would have easily been published just two years ago would now get an editor or a writer in serious trouble, if not fired. If a piece is perceived as likely to inspire backlash internally or on social media, the editor or writer avoids pitching it. If she feels strongly enough to suggest it, she is quickly steered to safer ground. And if, every now and then, she succeeds in getting a piece published that does not explicitly promote progressive causes, it happens only after every line is carefully massaged, negotiated and caveated.

It took the paper two days and two jobs to say that the Tom Cotton op-ed “fell short of our standards.” We attached an editor’s note on a travel story about Jaffa shortly after it was published because it “failed to touch on important aspects of Jaffa’s makeup and its history.” But there is still none appended to Cheryl Strayed’s fawning interview with the writer Alice Walker, a proud anti-Semite who believes in lizard Illuminati. 

The paper of record is, more and more, the record of those living in a distant galaxy, one whose concerns are profoundly removed from the lives of most people. This is a galaxy in which, to choose just a few recent examples, the Soviet space program is lauded for its “diversity”; the doxxing of teenagers in the name of justice is condoned; and the worst caste systems in human history includes the United States alongside Nazi Germany.

Even now, I am confident that most people at The Times do not hold these views. Yet they are cowed by those who do. Why? Perhaps because they believe the ultimate goal is righteous. Perhaps because they believe that they will be granted protection if they nod along as the coin of our realm—language—is degraded in service to an ever-shifting laundry list of right causes. Perhaps because there are millions of unemployed people in this country and they feel lucky to have a job in a contracting industry. 

Or perhaps it is because they know that, nowadays, standing up for principle at the paper does not win plaudits. It puts a target on your back. Too wise to post on Slack, they write to me privately about the “new McCarthyism” that has taken root at the paper of record.

All this bodes ill, especially for independent-minded young writers and editors paying close attention to what they’ll have to do to advance in their careers. Rule One: Speak your mind at your own peril. Rule Two: Never risk commissioning a story that goes against the narrative. Rule Three: Never believe an editor or publisher who urges you to go against the grain. Eventually, the publisher will cave to the mob, the editor will get fired or reassigned, and you’ll be hung out to dry.

For these young writers and editors, there is one consolation. As places like The Times and other once-great journalistic institutions betray their standards and lose sight of their principles, Americans still hunger for news that is accurate, opinions that are vital, and debate that is sincere. I hear from these people every day. “An independent press is not a liberal ideal or a progressive ideal or a democratic ideal. It’s an American ideal,” you said a few years ago. I couldn’t agree more. America is a great country that deserves a great newspaper. 

None of this means that some of the most talented journalists in the world don’t still labor for this newspaper. They do, which is what makes the illiberal environment especially heartbreaking. I will be, as ever, a dedicated reader of their work. But I can no longer do the work that you brought me here to do—the work that Adolph Ochs described in that famous 1896 statement: “to make of the columns of The New York Times a forum for the consideration of all questions of public importance, and to that end to invite intelligent discussion from all shades of opinion.”

Ochs’s idea is one of the best I’ve encountered. And I’ve always comforted myself with the notion that the best ideas win out. But ideas cannot win on their own. They need a voice. They need a hearing. Above all, they must be backed by people willing to live by them. 

Sincerely,

Bari