When In Doubt, Trust America

[Mr. Dictator]

Caution: Excess freedom can lead to uncontrollable bouts of happiness and long life.

An amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on deregulate information channels for American audiences is being inserted into the latest defense authorization Liberty Preservation bill, Buzzfeed has learned terrorists have leaked.
The amendment would “strike the current ban on domestic dissemination” of propaganda material produced by the State Department and the Pentagon "allow for unbiased coverage of current events", according to the summary of the law at the House Rules Committee's official website.
The tweak to the bill would essentially neutralize two previous acts—the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 1987—that had been passed to protect isolate U.S. audiences from our own government’s misinformation campaigns strategic information structuring.
The bi-partisan amendment is sponsored by Rep. Mark Thornberry from Texas and Rep. Adam Smith from Washington State.
In a little noticed press release earlier in the week — buried beneath the other high-profile issues in the $642 billion defense bill, including indefinite detention unresolved custody and a prohibition on gay marriage at military installations — Thornberry warned that in the Internet age, the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way.”
The bill's supporters say the informational material used overseas to influence foreign audiences is too good to not use at home, and that new techniques are needed to help fight Al-Qaeda, a borderless enemy whose own propaganda reaches Americans online.

Please note: Bipartisan.

 

[strijder20]

*Sigh*

 

[Mr. Dictator]

*Sigh*

Your elation upon witnessing the graceful fulfillment of our nation's inherent destiny has been logged in our freedom records.

 

[Ayn Rand]

The bill's supporters say the informational material used overseas to influence foreign audiences is too good to not use at home

Wait... wut!?! Watsatmean?

 

[Mr. Dictator]

Wait... wut!?! Watsatmean?

Dude, we've been pulling you guys around for years.

 

[Save_Ferris]

We can't have propaganda if no two people can agree on anything.

 

[Formaldehyde]

In an apparent retaliation to the USA Today investigation, the two reporters working on the story appear to have been targeted by Pentagon contractors, who created fake Facebook pages and Twitter accounts in an attempt to discredit them.

So it would just "legalize" what has always occurred.

See the second quote in my sig for further details.

 

[Leoreth]

This is a moot point. I'm sure everything propagated abroad is nothing compared to what Fox News churns out.

 

[Andvare]

I do not love "America", as I do not love any country. I have yet to find one that deserves love, and anyhoo I think it's odd to love a collection of people you do not know.

However, I do love that poll.

 

[Andvare]

Funny how the train of thought "if it works for our enemies, we should use it" have become acceptable. Just like the proponents of the SOPA bill said that the measures that would be used, worked for Iran and China, and so it would work in the US. That should not be a positive, but a screaming sign that something is very wrong.

Freedom of thought, no-no, let us influence our fellow countrymen, instead of them deciding for themselves, instead of educating them, instead of granting them all the freedom we can.
How far the liberal political idea have fallen. So much blood spilled, and it's so easy to undo.
I think good ol' Benjamin belongs here:
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

 

[Andvare]

This is a moot point. I'm sure everything propagated abroad is nothing compared to what Fox News churns out.

There is a little difference there. One is the state, the other is not.

While private propaganda is bad enough, it can easily be countered by other private sponsored propaganda (and stopped by the state).
State sponsored propaganda cannot.
It can easily become "the truth" in terms of media, and is a frighteningly big step towards a totalitarian state.

 

[Save_Ferris]

I'm no proponent of this, but it'll probably only be used in times of crisis. There would be a huge backlash otherwise.

 

[illram]

In an apparent retaliation to the USA Today investigation, the two reporters working on the story appear to have been targeted by Pentagon contractors, who created fake Facebook pages and Twitter accounts in an attempt to discredit them.

Woah!

TBH I am curious what this would look like, considering all the misinformation we are already fed on a daily basis.

 

[LucyDuke]

Love your country, but never trust its government.

I'm no proponent of this, but it'll probably only be used in times of crisis. There would be a huge backlash otherwise.

With the bar for "times of crisis" as low(erable) as it is, that's really not reassuring in the slightest.

 

[jtb1127]

I do not love "America", as I do not love any country. I have yet to find one that deserves love, and anyhoo I think it's odd to love a collection of people you do not know.

Nah, when someone says they love a country it doesn't mean that they love each individual person in the country nor that country's government.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

I'm no proponent of this, but it'll probably only be used in times of crisis. There would be a huge backlash otherwise.

We've always been at war with al qaida.

 

[Agent327]

It´s a sad thing when people start believing their own propaganda.... But seriously, what´s considered ´news´ in the US differs very little from propaganda in the first place.

 

[Save_Ferris]

Love your country, but never trust its government.



With the bar for "times of crisis" as low(erable) as it is, that's really not reassuring in the slightest.

Real crises.

 

[madviking]

Real crises.

Ha. Nice one.

 

[Save_Ferris]

Ha. Nice one.

?
Propaganda could play a part in a major world war. Not this half-dead Al-Quida stuff that we've mostly forgotten about.