'Shotgun Propaganda and Narrative Quicksand' - My Latest ‘Hot Type’ Column in Byline
My weekly Hot Type column in Byline Supplement reports on how Musk is illegally hacking the government while Trump obfuscates with 'shotgun propaganda' and how to step back out of the blast zone
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As I prepared for my Byline Podcast interview with Adrian Goldberg, I tried to focus on how we move forward in a world where we are blasted minutely with something awful.
The resulting introspection became the theme for my Saturday Hot Type column in Byline Supplement, where I try to direct everyone’s attention to the big picture:
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Below is an excerpt from the latest Hot Type:
Hot Type: Shotgun Propaganda and Narrative Quicksand
American political columnist Heidi Siegmund Cuda reports on how to get out of the blast zone of Donald Trump's 'muzzle velocity' by stepping back to view the bigger picture
As unelected warlord Elon Musk hacks the government in plain sight in what is easily the greatest data heist in history, Donald Trump is aiming his propaganda shotgun around the world. The Musk-Trump duopoly is an orchestrated affair — they are friends to autocrats everywhere, while simulating strongmen.
Those unfortunate enough to be close to the detonation of Trump’s propaganda ‘shotgun’ will almost certainly find themselves drowning in narrative quicksand. We are not designed to withstand the constant barrage of emotional shelling, and like the trauma triggered in soldiers on a World War I battlefield, the artillery has reached an incomprehensible din.
And that’s exactly the point.
Gaza!
ICC!
DEI!
Greenland!
Mexico!
Tariffs!
Even as he walks back items on that list, he means it all. The walkback is politics. This felon told you who he was and what he planned to do.
But in order to survive his propaganda shotgun, or what Steve Bannon referred to in 2019 as ‘muzzle velocity’, you have to get out of the blast zone.
Shotguns are only effective at close range — the further away, the sparser the blast and the greater opportunity to see the bigger plays. If you can claw your way to a safe distance, you can begin to see what the targets really are and confusion eases.
Each move benefits the new axis of evil — Russia, China, the US, and various proxy states.
Musk, by hacking the American Government with his posse of incels, has put the final nail in the coffin of any doubt that we live in a post-privacy world.
In addition, the evidence is now laid bare — the new nuclear arms race was always the race of tech dominance.
As Musk curries favor with autocrats, by larping as a deep state avenger, he is removing America’s soft power with his Orwellian ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ — cover for a citizenry being stripped for parts.
If America can no longer be relied on to help other nations in crises, we are further weakened. Our post-World War II allies now see us as the enemy.
In addition, the US government has never been very good with computers, it was easy for Musk to hack our institutions with a digital ‘tire iron’. Our computers now serve him and not the American people.
As author Keir Giles told Byline Supplement: “It's an overnight transition from Canada and Denmark seeing the United States as their strongest ally to suddenly and immediately being their most serious problem.”
Giles, a Russian cyberwar expert and a senior consulting fellow with the Russia and Eurasia Programme of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London, wrote the books, Who Will Defend Europe? An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent and Russia’s War On Everybody. He said what Trump and Musk are doing is illegal at each stage…
If Americans remain passive in the face of this catastrophic demolition, then the Musk-Trump duopoly will achieve its ultimate goal, which appears to be the enslavement of the American people, where the only way to survive is to obey the ‘strongmen’.
Obey or starve appear to be the options on the table, and it’s absolutely antithetical to what the post-World War II promise was.
It also makes the attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion crystal clear — if you move the Overton Window all the way to white supremacy, a fascist hellscape is achieved.
Since MAGA cares about US strength, by voting in Donald Trump they have actually weakened America on the world stage and if they happen to read these words, perhaps they can ponder how each stage of destruction removes obstacles for autocrats trying to expand their power…
“If you imagine for a moment that you had been set the task in Moscow of eliminating the United States as the strongest obstacle to Russia expanding its power and as the core of an alliance which stood together against Russia,” Giles said. “And then imagine how you would go about that when handed the rules of power to do so. Would you have done anything differently to what Trump and Musk have done in the first two weeks since inauguration? I would have to say, No.”
Brace yourself. It’s time to seize the courage to admit that what you see is really what is happening.
And quite frankly, it’s the only way to survive this.
The above is an excerpt from my Hot Type column. As always, I ask those who can afford to support a small global team of investigative reporters to please take out a subscription to Byline Supplement.
I also understand that if you are not able to do so at this moment, the good chaps at Byline allow me to send the column to Bette members upon request, as I noted above. Just zip a request to bettedangerous/gmail. New members will also find they are invited to unlock one report at the Byline site.
To my Bette members who support both publications, please forward the column to your allies.
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