Deadcatting Is A Strategy of Failed Leaders
Deadcatting Is A Strategy of Failed Leaders
Conspiracy laundering is a strategy and distraction. Stay focused, please
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“Spreading wild conspiracy theories benefits fascist movements.”-Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works
I spent much of Thursday rickrolling my report Conspiracy Theories Are Weapons of War around the newsphere.
I wanted to make sure people understood that conspiracy laundering is a fascist strategy to distract from a party’s failures and corruption, while also grooming people to not trust their eyes and ears. Conspiracy laundering is multi-pronged, as it also serves to create ‘othering’ fear while also creating mass radicalization, which is useful when trying to instigate a national insurrection.
In a week where US media should be focused on the bombshell news that Russian intelligence has altered the reality of millions of Americans through media proxies boosted by the most powerful men in the world, we get deadcatting.
Deadcatting, also known as the dead cat strategy, is a political tactic of making a shocking statement to divert media’s attention away from a leader or party’s failures.
As I wrote in Kabuki Demon Mask, offering a primetime platform to a felon and professional propagandist is dangerous.
While the media is back to horse-race coverage, I believe giving a public enemy a debate stage shows the US still doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation.
These are not two equals on that stage. Treating this as normal will not defeat a dictator.
While praising dictators and wearing the mask of an evil clown, Trump continues to be a grave threat.
And the grave threat now threatens the well-being of immigrants, again.
Although the political art of distraction — of bread and circuses — of culture wars, and outrage farming has a long, inglorious history, Boris Johnson — in a column — popularized the term ‘deadcatting.’ Credit is given to Johnson’s political strategist Lynton Crosby.
And I can thank a Twitter rando for alerting me to the origin story after I posted my Conspiracy Theories Are Weapons of War report in a Ruth Ben-Ghiat thread, where she wrote:
“In #Strongmen I write about these outrage-as-distraction techniques. Creating new enemies shifts attention away from Trump's many failures and his dangerous national security liabilities.”—Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Deadcatting
The former Prime Minister and Mayor of London Boris Johnson wrote a column a decade ago in The Telegraph. He called the “dead cat” a political strategy to deploy when “the facts are overwhelmingly against you.”
“There is one thing that is absolutely certain about throwing a dead cat on the dining room table – and I don't mean that people will be outraged, alarmed, disgusted. That is true, but irrelevant. The key point, says my Australian friend, is that everyone will shout, ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’ In other words, they will be talking about the dead cat – the thing you want them to talk about – and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.”
As I noted in Kabuki Demon Mask, while 200 industrialists were signing memos in support of Hitler, and the US ambassador was calling him a great show man and others were trying to integrate him and his party into the body politics, a woman reporter named Bella Fromm warned of this ‘evil shaman.’ She warned of the dangers, she knew he meant nothing good for ‘decent people.’
So I am reminding this community that these ugly, venal, racist distractions have a long history, but let’s give them a short shelf life.
In truth, reality needs to win. We need to hold the line on the minds we haven’t lost. And when reality wins, so does Democracy.
Stay focused, undeterred from the mission and the labor ahead.
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Thank you for putting this in a larger context!
Trump’s “dead cats and dogs” play at Tuesday’s debate certainly has distracted everyone from the larger issues: his crimes and criminal nature, the theft and disappearance of state secrets, Russia’s interference in American politics, and so much more.
Our job now is to continue building community and solidarity to defend democratic ideals and fight off fascism and Christian Nationalism. Expose our enemies for what they’ve revealed in their Project 2025.