The Transmission of Truth

I’ve taken a bit of a breather in article production, but I’ve been watching the political landscape closely. Rather than write a new article today, I thought I’d point you to a few interesting trends to watch and see how they impact the race.

The ubiquity of the Internet and the evolution of a parallel journalism network of blogs has changed the nature of the game this year, which is a good thing. We are no longer dependent on conventional media channels for important investigations or stories to get underway. Indeed, the major media seem to function increasingly as a gatekeeper, preventing a particular line of evidence or thought from emerging until it has built critical mass or buzz. It is growing less common for them to “break open” a major story. Their function is shifting from one of generating information flows to acting as a quality control filter. We now have millions of parallel communications flying around the Internet. The major outlets then discriminate quality (or acceptability).

The good thing about this, given media consolidation, is that a relatively small group of people do not have control over what is discussed and circulated but they still do control what is considered acceptable to address in official culture. A great example is what some people are calling Audiogate — the evidence that Bush may have been wired for audio transmissions in the first debate.

Almost everyone at first dismisses this notion that Bush was wired, for the reason that he performed so abysmally. However, there is visual, audio, and historical evidence that he may indeed have been wired. The scenario makes sense and even can account for his dreadful performance. Bush is known to be lazy – he doesn’t like to read to keep up on everything. He’s known for malapropisms and mangled grammar and stumbling in his speeches. It would make sense and be very practical to have an audio feed for him during major addresses. The technology is there. The only question is whether he would use it. A former translator has given evidence and there is compelling evidence from a speech in France in which a shadow feed was picked up and broadcast. It was not identical to Bush’s talk but preceded his spoken words. There are various images with mystery bulges underneath Bush’s coat from past press conferences. Etc. Etc. So there’s some evidence of historical precedent

During the first debate, Bush said mid-sentence, with no one apparently stopping him, “Let me finish.” Virtually no one paid attention to this except a few bloggers. They excerpted that speech and started the rumor that Bush might have been wired and mistakenly spoke to his earpiece in that sentence. This then led to the discovery of a whole series of pictures from Fox in which there is a clear outline of the square mystery bulge in the back of Bush’s jacket. The image started spreading like wildfire. Activists started launching campaigns to approach major media and the White House. The buzz built into a roar in three or four days until the major media simply had to report on it, even if the reports were largely geared as dismissals. Based on what I’ve seen I’m betting that he WAS wired, as a crutch/habit from previous press conferences but that it actually made him perform worse because it distracted his attention from the debate itself.

Audiogate is not over – it’s thriving and growing. The Salon article is the most impartial and you can track new developments on www.isbushwired.com. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/08/bulge/

Now, if we were dependent on the major media to break this story, it never would have happened – too risky. But in the Internet blogosphere, there was a structure for information flows that could build momentum until the major media had no choice but to report on it. And if it indeed breaks open and becomes a major factor in the election, the major media deserve zero credit. They basically sat on their hands while independent bloggers drove the process.

This, when you think about it, is enormously empowering. It means the kvetching about corporate ownership of major media is pointless; we are no longer dependent on them to delve into truth. We can drive them rather than them hypnotizes us.

Another example is the 911 truth movement, which has been a longer, slower build but is reaching a similar stage now where major media are starting to write about it in order to dismiss it. The Washington Post ran an article last week detailing some of the dynamics of this, especially regarding a Flash animation that has now been seen by many millions of people after a late August launch.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13059-2004Oct6.htmlD
Conspiracy Theories Flourish on the Internet

The particular Flash animation they focus on became “viral,” getting forwarded extremely rapidly around the world. The unfortunate part is that this is one small area of evidence for high-level government complicity and far from the most compelling. Books like David Ray Griffin’s New Pearl Harbor chronicle the evidence in much more meticulous detail. However, Griffin’s book has sold about 60,000 copies (without reviews in any major media) whereas the Pentagon Flash animation has been seen by millions now. Here’s the Pentagon animation for those who haven’t seen it:
http://www.freedomunderground.org/memoryhole/pentagon.php

Without the Internet, the 911 truth movement would have suffered the same fate as investigations into the suspicious evidence about the JFK assassination: a long, long time with no one looking at it, a few books, discussions, etc and then, almost 25 years later, a tipping point in which it fairly rapidly moved from being a nutty idea to commonplace belief that JFK was assassinated as part of a larger plan/plot rather than a wacky lone gunman. Unfortunately, 25 years is not quick enough to produce any real changes as a result. So it’s a sort of interesting historical analysis but mostly irrelevant to current political work.

That’s not true with 911 truth work. It has accelerated quite far in 3 years and those who have advanced the investigation into the hundreds of pieces of evidence that were ignored, dismissed, and distorted as part of a heavily compromised 911 Commission have been able to assemble a powerful and compelling case in the form of books, DVD’s dozens of websites, actions, conferences, etc. This is quickly becoming a factor in the election itself, with 50% of New Yorkers in a recent Zogby poll stating they believed the government had foreknowledge and consciously failed to act. Here’s the Zogby poll. http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20040830120349841

The speed of transmission and interconnection has suddenly made this kind of work relevant to current political realities. Audiogate, if it turns out to be true, might cost Bush the election. 911 work, if it is true, could shake up the entire covert government structure and lead to major change well beyond the election. By the way, the best orientation site to the 911 truth movement is www.911truth.org.

Neither of these (or dozens of other important investigations) are dependent on the major media breaking the story. They becomes literally compelled to write about something once it reaches an adequate level of buzz on channels that they can’t control .

In the final three weeks of the campaign, Karl Rove will undoubtedly be throwing out a bunch of dirty tricks. The major media are largely asleep at the wheel. Internet-driven investigations may thwart him, exposing the lies and distortions far more quickly than ever before. It’s new terrain: fast, furious and out of control. And a lot of fun.

May the truth triumph in the public sphere!