Hmmm…I think this just might be satire. Of course, you never know anymore since there are so many “alternative” facts out there (I’m sure that has nothing to do with Chinese or Russian analysis of rapidly declining average US intelligence.)
Deliberate cognitive dissonance is a useful tool to encourage alternative analysis. The added snark is two fold - one to indicate that it is satire (for the reasons you state) and two because the hysteria was just ludicrous on its face. It was made out to be Sputnik. Stupid emotive scares like that impact even serious analysts and results in failures like the bomber/missile gaps (seeing phantom threats) and alternatively the cuban missile crisis where a very real threat was ignored/discounted until very late in the day.
America is awash in propaganda. It is coming from foreign and domestic sources. There used to be a protective membrane in government, the military/IC and among the public, that more frequently than not could separate fact from fiction. That capacity has been severely eroded in the public and legislative segments.
It is under constant assault in the other segments and I have noticed a decline although no where near as severe as among the public. When senior FBI officials and their counterparts in other places start asking whether Sharia law has taken over jurisdictions within certain states, or when the FBI cannot distinguish between a riot (18 U.S. Code § 2101) and an insurrection (18 U.S. Code § 2383) (I have witnessed both issues first hand); then we have a problem.
Hmmm…I think this just might be satire. Of course, you never know anymore since there are so many “alternative” facts out there (I’m sure that has nothing to do with Chinese or Russian analysis of rapidly declining average US intelligence.)
Deliberate cognitive dissonance is a useful tool to encourage alternative analysis. The added snark is two fold - one to indicate that it is satire (for the reasons you state) and two because the hysteria was just ludicrous on its face. It was made out to be Sputnik. Stupid emotive scares like that impact even serious analysts and results in failures like the bomber/missile gaps (seeing phantom threats) and alternatively the cuban missile crisis where a very real threat was ignored/discounted until very late in the day.
America is awash in propaganda. It is coming from foreign and domestic sources. There used to be a protective membrane in government, the military/IC and among the public, that more frequently than not could separate fact from fiction. That capacity has been severely eroded in the public and legislative segments.
It is under constant assault in the other segments and I have noticed a decline although no where near as severe as among the public. When senior FBI officials and their counterparts in other places start asking whether Sharia law has taken over jurisdictions within certain states, or when the FBI cannot distinguish between a riot (18 U.S. Code § 2101) and an insurrection (18 U.S. Code § 2383) (I have witnessed both issues first hand); then we have a problem.