Category Archives: Public Relations & Politics

Crisis–a new definition

Published December 18, 2018 / by Lee Kessler / 2 Comments on Crisis–a new definition
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In my business travels, I had the opportunity of opening a Free Enterprise business in Communist China in 1995.  While I was there, enjoying the people, and the culture, I learned something about words and definitions.

Our definition of Crisis is very stark and forboding.   But, in Chinese, the word Crisis means Opportunity Riding a Dangerous Wind.   What a wonderful way to define any crisis in our lives.   We can view a crisis as something that terrifies and paralyzes us, or we can view it as something–which if we handle it right–can become a great opportunity.

It was this abiding understanding of that that enabled me to pursue, and “see” what I saw in the White King series.  It is a matter of choice, my friends.   In any crisis in our lives, or in our country, we can choose to face the danger and see the opportunity in it for something brighter and better.

These Blogs are intended to help you see and seize the opportunity that the “dangerous winds” that are blowing in our county present to us.   We can either be overwhelmed by the danger, shrink, cower and hide from the circumstances or forces, OR we can face them, and seize the day.

I have been blessed with an optimist’s attitude toward life.   Whether my mother and father gave that to me, I do not know.   But I do know that I have always CHOSEN to see the glass as half full, not half empty.   And when hard times came to me–and believe me they have in my life–I chose to believe that there was an opportunity hidden in all the junk.

Today, as we watch and listen to the political machinations in our great country, know that they are just that–machinations.   Is there danger in each of the issues we face as a nation?  Of course. But there also is a choice that we can make individually and collectively that will embrace experiencing the danger and the fear, and cause us to create something greater and better and more “just” than what existed before.   To my mind, all human progress has been precipitated by a “crisis” where those alive and in the moment chose not to succumb, but to seize the opportunity.

In recent years, take for example the “crisis” in N. Korea.   Is there danger there?   For sure.   Is there opportunity there?   Yes.   It is possible that 50 years from now, we all will look back and note that in 2018 a new vision emerged, a seed was planted, and 50 years later a great people are free and prosperous.   All because men and women who preceded them, and whom they had never met, chose to find the opportunity in that dangerous wind.

Take for example the turmoil related to politics and the blood sport going on in Washington today.   None of us can afford to flinch now in the face of the danger this presents to the nation, and to our Republic.   Personally I believe the world your grand children will live in 20-30 years from now is being determined by the choices you and I make right now.   The United States will still be here in 20 years, but whether or not it is a Constitutional Republic is being determined by us now.   Will it be a fading Democracy destined to die on the ash heap of history along with all other attempts at self-government, or will the people of the United States recognize this as an opportunity to not only preserve the Republic, but to enhance it and take it to an even higher, fairer standard?

These are dangerous times.   The cold dangerous winds blow daily.  Yet, riding it, in the face of a daunting bitter wind, is an undying optimism and courage which characterized our ancestors–slave or free man–and which hopefully has survived in us.  Don’t be a cliché.   Don’t think like others think, just to fit in and not make waves.  Don’t remain silent in the face of injustice and unequal application of the law.   Don’t let ignorant or lazy journalists who may not even know the difference between a fact and an opinion, sway your opinion.   YOU KNOW MORE THAN THE JOURNALISTS TODAY.   YOU DO NOT NEED TO CONSULT THEIR CRYSTAL BALL OR WISDOM.   YOU ARE THE ONE WHO WILL RIDE THE DANGEROUS WIND.   THEY ARE DESTINED TO MERELY WRITE ABOUT AND REPORT ON WHAT YOU WILL DO.  THEY WILL REPORT ON THE OPPORTUNITIES YOU CREATE.

A business mentor long ago taught me something I have never forgotten.  I will expound upon this more in a later Blog.   But, remember this.   No one ever erected a statue to a critic!

We are approaching a new year.   It will be ushered in by dangerous winds.   Let’s ride that wind, and seize the day–seize the opportunity to help our country, and to preserve it, and freedom, for all future generations.   This is no small game.   It is not “small ball.”

 

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How Mistakes Get Made

Published December 13, 2018 / by Lee Kessler / Leave a Comment
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How is it that we make mistakes in our lives?   When we are good people, trying to do the right things, how is it that sometimes we make an egregious error?  Errors in judgment, or action, at work can cost one his job.  Errors in relationships can cost one the relationship.  We are smart, discerning, we think.   How is it then that either you make mistakes, or those around you do?

There actually is an anatomy to mistakes:  one or all three of these ingredients comprise the mistakes we make.   It boils down to this:   Mistakes occur when there is False Data, Omitted Data, or Misevaluated Data.  When one of those elements is in play, the possibility, if not probability, of a mistake occurs.

We have often heard the phrase, “Garbage in; garbage out.”   In the computer world that implies that if you feed the computer false (garbage) data, it computes on the false data, and spits out a false (garbage) conclusion.   The same is true for us.   If we are given false information, and we accept it as true, we are likely to proceed with the false data, and end up with a totally corrupted product or end result.   If a pilot is flying relying upon weather data which says there will be clear visibility at his destination–not knowing that the weather data is two days old, and a lazy employee just posted the data again, without consulting the most current meteorological data which shows heavy fog at the destination–that pilot could be in a world of hurt.   His decision to fly becomes a mistake–potentially a fatal one.   The danger was not in the pilot’s skill, it was in the false data he had been given.

Omitted data is the hardest to spot, because it IS OMITTED.   It’s hard to see something that is not there.  Suppose a prosecutor in a case omits some exculpatory evidence, and proceeds vigorously with the facts that point toward guilt.  If the defense is not aware of the data, it is now also omitted from their defense.   And the jury forms a conclusion of guilt.  An innocent person is convicted, and a life is ruined–because of the omitted data.   Now  you see why “discovery” is such a big part of any litigation, and why there are penalties for failure to disclose.

When I was younger I was fascinated by the writings of Thomas Hardy.   His star-crossed love stories were replete with missing data, which caused his hero and heroine to fail to connect.  It was almost agonizing to be the reader knowing something that neither character knew, and which they needed to know, to achieve happiness and fulfillment.   Frankly, it’s a good way to depress yourself.   Read Thomas Hardy, and see how to make horrible mistakes in relationships.   The culprit–missing information.

All of this leads to misevaluated data.   Sometimes the data is there, and it is true, but the person looking at it completely misevaluates it, and makes a bad decision as a result.  One of the exceptions I take to our jury system is the rule that does not allow the jurors to look up the meaning of words or symbols.   They have to just rely upon their evaluation of the data, and what they think the data means.   Horror stories have emerged where jurors had true data in front of them, but one juror misunderstood the definition of a word, thinking it meant the opposite of what it actually meant.   Refusing to change their mind on what they thought the word meant, they stuck to their guns, producing a mistrial.  The juror thought the word “culpable” meant “innocent” and when a witness assigned culpability to the defendant, the juror thought that witness was attesting to his innocence.   Plain to see, there would be a mistake there.

What does this have to do with propaganda warfare or information warfare, you may ask?   Everything, my friends, everything.   The Propagandist will rely upon withholding critical information from you, or planting totally false information in your mind, or boldly promoting a misevaluation of the circumstance so that you embrace the false impression and make mistakes in your actions, attitudes, and evaluations.

This is why gossip, rumor, lying, and innuendo are so very dangerous.  They are the tools of the mind control guys.

These three things can mess up your life in ordinary situations–but they can also destroy nations.   My concern is our nation.  That is what prompted me to do the research that led to the White King Trilogy.

The Strategies Deployed Against You

Published November 27, 2018 / by Lee Kessler / Leave a Comment
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In the novel “White King and the Doctor” I theorized the strategies and tactics our then-enemy would deploy against America and Americans in order bring us down.   With limited manpower and resources, the Mastermind of Al-Qaeda and his Propaganda Chief assessed the areas of strengths and weaknesses within our government and country.   One by one, well-known military strategies–likely studied in military programs since the beginning of recorded warfare–have been deployed against you.   The difference is they were done so subtly, and with such skill, backed up by one of the best Public Relations campaigns ever conceived, that you didn’t notice it.

Long ago, a mentor of mine taught me how to cook a frog.  If you put a frog in boiling water, it is quick enough to jump out once it perceives the obvious mortal danger.   But, it you put it in cold water and turn the temperature to low, allowing the water to warm up gradually, the frog is lulled.   It adjusts to the temperature, until it is too late.   It is too weak, and can no longer escape.    America is being cooked.

These are the strategies being deployed against you.   The stunning accuracy of that novel came from my recognizing them, spotting them in our society, and writing a story that revealed them to you.   Unfortunately there is a real enemy out there.  And in real life, the strategies of war are being waged.   And you are the target.   See if you can spot which strategy lines up with the current political event or societal event you are preoccupied with–that has you scratching your head, wondering in fear how the world seemed to have tipped upside down.  The new world, and the goal of the enemy, is a world where right is wrong, and wrong is right.   That’s what drives sane people to yelling at the TV, and getting into arguments.

But, once you spot what has happened, I think you may find some relief.   I want to encourage you to comment on this.   Give me your ideas.   Here are some of the enemy’s attack lines:

  1. Divide and conquer.  ( I challenge you to look around at how Americans are being divided, and ask yourself, “who benefits?”)
  2. A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
  3. A truth so outrageous, it is rejected as a lie.
  4. Hide in plain site.   (This one is more insidious than you can imagine.)
  5. Turn America’s strengths into weaknesses.   Get them to do it to themselves.
  6. Use a Trojan Horse to bring the enemy inside.
  7. Recruit a Fifth Column: a military term for a force within whose purpose is to sabotage, and to break solidarity.

I used these to begin the analysis that unraveled so much in the White King Trilogy.   Asking myself questions about these strategies led me to the truth, and to actual people and organizations.   In upcoming Blogs we will look at each of these, spotting where each is being used against an unsuspecting people on a daily basis.   Should be fun!   Here’s why.   There is nothing a BAD GUY recoils from more than someone who sees him, knows what he is up to, and refuses to yield.   What’s even more fun is that the more playfully you can confront these strategies and the folks behind them, the more they unravel.   Trust me, this is going to be more fun than a video game!

What You Reward…

Published November 5, 2018 / by Lee Kessler / 2 Comments on What You Reward…
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There is a truth in life that what you reward you get more of.   If you reward good behavior or thought–whether the reward be monetary or attention–you get more good behavior and thought.   And if you reward bad behavior with attention or money or support, you get more bad behavior.

Americans are innately fair-minded as a group.   There will always be outliers in any group, but as a whole Americans I have found believe in fairness, and where they find a lack of it, they will work to improve the situation.

What I want to have all of us look at is what are we rewarding today in the political scene, given all my previous blogs.    There is another inescapable truth–and history will bear me out on this. If you disagree with a law, you change it.   You don’t break it.   Breaking laws we find unworkable, or reprehensible, or stupid just leads to a progressive lawlessness.   That leads to anarchy.   And once anarchy is marauding through neighborhoods and households, tyranny and totalitarianism arise to quash it and restore order.

Your solemn right to vote stands now I believe between hope and anarchy.   You will decide which prevails in the coming decade by what you choose to reward.

Here’s how I look at it.   One group of imperfect people stands for the Rule of Law, for Due Process.   Another group of imperfect people stands for lawlessness, character assassination, and reverse Due Process–guilty until proven innocent.

It is a given that I am imperfect, and I dare to say you are too.   What matters is which group of imperfect people will you reward.   Will you reward the group that at least keeps trying to bring about fairness and justice when they are confronted with unfairness–that is at least still moored to the Rule of Law.  Or will you reward the group that will destroy any person in its path, encourage the dismissal of our Constitution, and disparage the Rule of Law?  Look at the actions–not the words.   Look, don’t listen.

Will you reward overall civility?   (Remember I am talking about IMPERFECT people here)   Or will you reward those who demonstrate disdain for the very foundational elements of our country?

Remember the Blog “Good’s Dilemma” (reread it please) that explains GOOD and BAD people, and their motives.  Tomorrow, you vote.   Tomorrow you reward one group or the other.   Choose wisely.   Who does the most good?   Who does the least harm?

I have faith in the American people…always have.   My ancestors fought in the Revolution to bring about a flawed, but idealistic country.  They brought hope to Mankind.  Later, my ancestors fought to free slaves, and to bring about a fairer America–ending a scourge that had endured for centuries.   We have not attained the absolute.  We never will.   But, we attain only Hell when we abandon good, lawful foundations.  We move progressively toward a better America when we follow the Constitution, and we adhere to the Rule of Law.

The return ticket to Slavery is lawlessness and anarchy.   So, who is the real Progressive here?   And who is the Regressive?   As for me, I stand for the Rule of Law!   I stand for Due Process for the citizens of this great, imperfect land.

Public Relations vs. Propaganda

Published November 1, 2018 / by Lee Kessler / 1 Comment on Public Relations vs. Propaganda
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In the novel “White King and the Doctor” the Grandmaster Chess Champion, Andy Weir, is recruited by the CIA to help them identify what “moves” the mastermind of Al-Qaeda would make.   As Andy laid out a series of chess games he felt the terrorist was playing, he labeled each game from Religion, Military, Intelligence, Money, and others in an attempt to get the sequence the enemy might use.   Because of his own fame, and the fact he had a Public Relations person, Andy fatefully labels the game our government would have labeled Propaganda as Public Relations.   And it was that almost accidental choice which opened the door to finding a sabotaging force within the United States.

Are Propaganda and Public Relations one and the same?    Almost.   It’s how they have been used, and by whom, that has been the distinguishing factor.   But in reality, both implant data in the minds of the public often enough, and interestingly enough, that the public accepts the data, and begins to reach for more of the product, or more of the information.   Once the susceptibility to the message is in place, then the propagandist and the PR person can begin to use Marketing Buttons to get you to do what they want you to do.    The single word or phrase that you associate emotionally with the product now is symbolic of the product, or the information itself.   Thus, they no longer need to go through long press releases, or explanations of benefits, or reasoning on why you should take action.   They simply need to punch the Button, and you–having been preprogrammed on a stimulus-response basis–react the way you are intended to.   If skillfully done, you may not even know you are being manipulated.

I remember back in the 70’s and 80’s certain advertising agencies were even caught placing subliminal messages in their commercials, so that you  unconsciously would behave as they wanted.   Today, they are more overt, but manipulative nonetheless.

Regrettably the mere assigning of a label to a group for the actions or attitudes of a small number of individuals within that group, and then using that label as a “Button” to be punched in order to arouse emotions, has entered the landscape of American Politics.  You should look for “Buttons”–for if you do not, you will most certainly be manipulated.   We’d all like to think our evaluations and actions are reasoned.   But, the Black Public Relations person is as skilled as the Black Propagandist.    And he will get you to do his dirty work.

For example, in the 2016 election, I learned a great deal about myself–supposedly.   In many cases I even had to look up the words to see what “Button” was being pushed in someone else’s mind to get them to react to  me.   Remember that summer.  That was the summer that hundreds of millions of Americans were accused of being xenophobic, racist, misogynistic (to this day I have to look up the spelling of the word–which was not part of anyone’s parlance I dare to say until a very skillful Public Relations team made it so,), sexist, deplorable, bigoted, and the list goes on and on.

Some of you may remember being startled that your fellow countrymen thought so ill of you that they either called you names, or allowed you to be called names, where the name itself engenders hatred and violence.   You, as a reasoning, smart, thinking individual could be dismissed as just a “word”–as if the word summed up the totality of who you are and what you have stood for.

That’s insane, and you know it.   What you did not know–and I am revealing for the first time in this Blog–is  that “pulling the string” on that led me early on to find a Black PR firm.   The firm was masquerading as an Opposition Research firm, but it appears they just didn’t “research,” they also then got into “creative writing” to write and disseminate inflammatory, defamatory material about politicians they wanted to take down.   And some political candidates appeared to embrace them and their material.   It is one thing to dig up dirt on someone; it is altogether another thing to fabricate it, dress it up in a slick report, and pass it off as true.

So, before I end, I want you to brace yourself.   If you know me, you know I write political fiction which has proven to be astonishingly prophetic.   And well over a year ago–while still researching to see if I could find the real life “Samir” that I wrote about in my books–I stumbled upon a Black PR firm.   Long before the name came on your radar screen I brought the name up at the end of a “Meet the Author” event in Santa Clarita, Ca.    I asked the attendees to write down a name I was about to give them, and even though they would not know the name, I asked that they remember it, as I was quite certain it would become a household word in the coming year.

The name:   FUSION GPS

It’s time for you to unmask them for yourselves.   In my opinion, with people like this running around acting like friends of our country, who needs enemies!  Their only real mistake was in thinking you are too dumb or disinterested to ever really look into them, let alone actually perceive their vile manipulations.  I have never held you–or any other American citizen–in that light.   I believe in you, and your sanity, and I think that is why I was able to unlock the secrets of the White King Trilogy.   Prove me right please!