Fodder for Propaganda

Big thanks to Jonathan Schwarz for digging up this [1] interesting piece of Americana: 

Theodore N. Kaufman was a 31-year old owner of a theatrical ticket agency in Newark, New Jersey who published at his own expense a 100-page book titled Germany Must Perish! in March, 1941. It called for the sterilization of the German population and the dismemberment of Germany, with its land being turned over to neighboring states. The book received no serious attention in the U.S., but the Nazis discovered it in July 1941. They played it up big...Late in September 1941, this pamphlet by Wolfgang Diewerge appeared in an edition, according to Goebbels, of five million...A month after publication, the Nazis released a four-page flyer to remind Germans of Kaufman's plan... 

Kaufman remained a mainstay of German propaganda for the remainder of the war, his last major appearance coming in a late-1944 pamphlet titled Never!, which collected every manner of Allied threat against Germany. 

Schwarz’s point is that oftentimes propaganda can be 100% factual.  When Coulter or Limbaugh or FOX News say something completely evil in the name of ratings, it is the record of these statements that is being used against us in a propaganda war in the Middle East – a war in which we are getting creamed.  Unfortunately, we are not dealing with a self-published wackjob from Newark, we’re talking about corporate-sponsored wackjobs with dedicated audiences numbering in the millions.  And the crazier these people get, the harder it is for us to pretend that the anti-American propaganda is wild conspiracy theory. 

That real irony of Schwarz’s post is that he was highlighting this promo from Glenn Beck who, with no sense of irony of his own, is apparently oh-so-astounded at the anti-American propaganda in the Middle East. 

Yeah, can’t imagine where they are getting this stuff.  Oh, wait – here is a transcript of Beck’s interview with our Keith Ellison, our first Muslim Congressman (from MediaMatters [2]): 

On the November 14 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck [3] interviewed Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN), who became the first Muslim ever elected [4] to Congress on November 7, and asked Ellison if he could "have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards up on the table." After Ellison agreed, Beck said: "I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, 'Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.' " Beck added: "I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way." 

Video here [2]. 

Comments

Vipaka (not verified)Thu, 2006-11-16 20:40

Oh Glenn Beck

you're killing me!!! You can't take what that man says seriously I don't think anyone does.

Liberal Truth Potion #9 (not verified)Thu, 2006-11-16 17:17

Seems we are on the same page

with Glenn Beck. Check out my blog [6] written this morning on the same topic. I'm currently updating it.