by David Martin, author of America's Dreyfus Affair
Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring
down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based
defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these
techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a
mere token opposition party.
1. Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.
2. Wax indignant. This is also known as the "how dare you?" gambit.
3. Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors."
If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn
about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors."
4. Knock down straw men. Deal only with the weakest aspect of the
weakest charges. Even better, create your own straw men. Make up wild
rumors and give them lead play when you appear to debunk all the
charges, real and fanciful alike.
5. Call the skeptics names like "conspiracy theorist," "nut," "ranter,"
"kook," "crackpot," and of course, "rumor monger." You must then
carefully avoid fair and open debate with any of the people you have
thus maligned.
6. Impugn motives. Attempt to marginalize the critics by suggesting
strongly that they are not really interested in the truth but are
simply pursuing a partisan political agenda or are out to make money.
7. Invoke authority. Here the controlled press and the sham opposition
can be very useful.
8. Dismiss the charges as "old news."
9. Come half-clean. This is also known as "confession and avoidance" or
"taking the limited hang-out route." This way, you create the
impression of candor and honesty while you admit only to relatively
harmless, less-than-criminal "mistakes." This stratagem often equires
the embrace of a fall-back position quite different from the one
originally taken.
10. Characterize the crimes as impossibly complex and the truth as
ultimately unknowable.
11. Reason backward, using the deductive method with a vengeance. With
thoroughly rigorous deduction, troublesome evidence is irrelevant. For
example: We have a completely free press. If they know of evidence
that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) had prior
knowledge of the Oklahoma City bombing they would have reported it.
They haven't reported it, so there was no prior knowledge by the BATF.
Another variation on this theme involves the likelihood of a
conspiracy leaker and a press that would report it.
12. Require the skeptics to solve the crime completely. For example: If
Vince Foster was murdered, who did it and why?
13. Change the subject. This technique includes creating and/or
reporting a distraction.
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