Real Heroes II

Real Heroes II

Recently I entered a post involving Lee Marvin, Capt. Kangaroo and Mr. Rogers. It is a story that has circulated over the last three or four years to emphasize a point. The point being that true heroes are usually those common folks that show uncommon courage when in the heat of battle and still be able to not allow those experiences to overcome their humanitarian spirits. The purpose of this myth is to set up a construct to elicit a positive response from the reader and follow that with an action requesting positive support. In other words, to “sell” a point of view or action that if stated alone would may not engender support. Classic marketing technique!
This is fine in the ordinary world of commercial advertising. However,
some of our politicians have refined this technique to help sell their policy's to the unsuspecting public. The technique is as follows;

1) start with the truth (i.e. Lee Marvin was a Marine) (but not on Iwo Jima)!! or (Sadam is a strong man dictator)

2) use a half truth ( Capt. Kangaroo was in the Marines) ( but only at the end of W.W.II, too late to see combat). or (Sadam controls his country in a brutal fashion)

3) Use of a total fabrication ( Mr. Rogers was never in military service) ( upon graduation from university he became an ordained minister). or ( Sadam has weapons of mass destruction and is in cahoots with Al Quida)

4) Use points 1-3 above to support your desired action. ( Invade Iraq NOW) (so we can fight them there so we won’t have to fight them here)

Thus the advertising technique becomes a cynical inverting or distortion of facts, which, for example, makes the victim appear as culprit.
As Joseph Goebbels has been quoted “Propaganda is the art of persuading others of what you do not necessarily believe yourself”.

SOUND FAMILIAR?????