HMPRESENTLY: präpəˈɡandə and kəˈpriSHisnəs

by Harvey Radin | Nov 29, 2021 | Opinion/Letters

When ‘Make America Great Again’ first streamed into the nation’s consciousness, like others around the country, I was thinking that America had it faults, for sure, but that the nation wasn’t in such a sad state, that it needed a complete makeover.

But all the incessant MAGA messaging, and MAGA branding on hats, shirts and other political paraphernalia, might have made the alleged problem with America seem more real than it actually ever was.

What’s so weird about perception, is how readily it can be shaped. Sometimes.

A communications technique, known as ‘propaganda,’ sadly, has been used and refined by authoritarian leaders, historically — and currently — to influence thinking. To see how, let’s head to Israel, for a moment, where “a years-long narrative crafted and promoted by a man who until recently was the most powerful politician in the country,” shaped perception of the Iran nuclear deal, an agreement reached in 2015, between Iran and a group of world powers.

The former prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, had celebrated former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision in 2018, to “withdraw America from the nuclear deal with Iran,” according to an article in the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.

Mr. Netanyahu, who opposed the deal, had strongly influenced the thinking of his fellow citizens, in a long narrative, over several years.

But now we’re learning that people in high places actually were deeply concerned about the departure from the deal, and that “Netanyahu’s former Mossad chief, defense minister and IDF (Israeli Defense Force) commander are speaking out” about it.

When “asked about the fact that ever since Trump got out of the deal, Iran” had “increased its uranium enrichment,” Yossi Cohen, the former head of Mossad, said, “that’s true,” according to the article.

Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon noted “that as bad as that deal was, Trump’s decision to withdraw from it — with Netanyahu’s encouragement — was even worse.” And the former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. General (ret.) Gadi Eisenkot, described the American withdrawal from the deal as “a net negative for Israel: It released Iran from all restrictions, and brought its nuclear program to a much more advanced position.

“For many Israelis, these statements could come as a surprise,” according to the story in Haaretz. Israelis’ awareness of the withdrawal from the nuclear deal was being heightened by the long narrative, that, with hindsight, may very well have been rather unhelpful.

Former President Trump, and others around him, often use words and narratives, strategically, in various ways, it seems, to stir emotions and influence thinking. Like when, just recently, Mr. Trump “went after the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Robert Costa over their recent book on his presidency,” reported The Hill newspaper.

According to the book, the Joint Chiefs Chairman, General Mark Milley, “called his counterpart in Beijing to assure them that Trump would not launch an attack on China in an effort to cling to power.”

In a statement, Mr. Trump said:

Does anybody really believe that longtime Con Man Bob Woodward, and his lightweight lapdog assistant Robert Costa, are implying in their book of fiction that I was planning to go to war with China, but that one of the dumber generals in the military called the Chinese to tell them that he will inform them if this action proceeds further.

Let’s unpack some of Mr. Trump’s words, starting with “Con Man” and “lightweight lapdog.”

Those surely are evocative words, used strategically to throw a whole lot of shade on the two journalists.

The 45th president doesn’t cotton much to journalists, unless they’re with certain media… like some but not all journalists and commentators at Fox News… and he seems to favor a few others, elsewhere. But you’ve got to keep checking, because he tends to change his mind a lot.

Let’s continue on, in the statement, with “one of the dumber generals in the military”… more evocative words designed to demean a four-star general and the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has been described as a charismatic leader.

Mr. Trump never served in the military. He had that heel spurs problem, as I recall.

But anyway, unpacking things… with his words, and perhaps his decision to get out of that Iran nuke deal in mind, along with other quick decisions of his, over his four years in office… maybe ‘capriciousness,’ comes to mind?

‘Capriciousness’ means “given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior.”