Better in their words…

THIS ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON DR. MCDONALD’S SUBSTACK, DISSIDENT MD. YOU CAN ENROLL IN HIS NON-PARTISAN COURSE, THE RED-PILL COURSE, AT IPAK-EDU! ENROLLMENT ENDS JAN 31st – jlw

The threat to democracy through election interference is obvious. We hear about it constantly from both political parties. Essentially, it means adding or removing votes in violation of established laws and election norms. This could include universal mail-in ballots, ballot disqualification, or extending voting rights to felons and illegal aliens. Any action taken with the intent to benefit one party over another should be suspect. And it should be challenged. We must maintain the integrity of our elections, or we lose our democracy.

What about soft election interference? I’m referring to the psychological manipulation of elections, using tools that violate no laws and that can be employed in plain sight—the plainer the better. These methods derive their power from an ability to capture the voting population and change its behavior with the acceptance and complicity of the voter himself. This is a form of soft psychological warfare that has the potential to do far more damage to the integrity of our elections than blatant ballot box stuffing and voter disenfranchisement.

Traditional election-stealing methods have been largely the domain of the Democrat party, yet the more recent soft psychological interference appears to be non-partisan, its ultimate intent somewhat unclear. In the recent Iowa caucuses, several major national news organizations—Fox, CNN, and MSNBC—called the outcome in favor of Donald Trump only 31 minutes after the pools opened, well before even a majority had cast their ballots. What effect does this have on the not-yet-voted majority? Those who had planned to vote for Trump certainly had less incentive to brave the cold and cast their ballots after hearing that he had already achieved a decisive victory. The same goes for his opponents. Who wants to vote for a clear loser? In an election that is so clearly lopsided, calling a winner only minutes into the election process can only suppress the vote. Voter suppression is, by definition, election interference.

Lest this early announcement of a winner in Iowa be blamed on the DNC, we must remember that Fox News did this in the last presidential election in 2020 when it called the Arizona state vote for Joe Biden well before the polls had closed. That day, the outcome of the state election was uncertain. Although Biden was favored to win, pools still placed a Trump victory within the margin of error. Ignoring all the legitimate legal challenges to the registration, collection, and counting of votes—none of which were fairly adjudicated—this one action by the Fox News network most certainly affected the behavior of Arizona voters, a number of whom decided to stay home, believing their votes would not be matter. Regardless of whether Fox reported the numbers accurately, the timing of the report had the effect of suppressing voter turnout.

Bars and clubs have long used psychological tools to drive business. The rope line beside the entrance, visible from the street, sends a message to the public that the establishment is full inside and, therefore, in high demand. Why else would there be a line of people outside waiting to get in? If you have ever waited in one of those lines (and I have, years ago), you will remember that, once inside, often the room was largely empty. The bouncer wasn’t acting as a security guard but rather a marketing agent, using a simple psychological tool to alter your perception of reality to manipulate your behavior and encourage you to patronize the bar. Most people are drawn to what they believe others are drawn to.

The same drive works in reverse: Most people are drawn away from what they believe others are drawn away from. Inventing fake votes to increase one’s chosen candidate can draw unwanted attention. It can also be easily exposed and challenged. If your goal is to change the outcome of an election, it’s far easier and less risky to simply dissuade your opponent’s supporters from turning out. In third-world countries, that can be accomplished through threats of violence. In the US, though, psychological warfare is now waged with the weapon of information, carefully curated and timed to inflict maximum damage, all through behavioral manipulation.

Regardless of your political affiliation or who you vote for, this new soft psychological warfare, employed by big media, most certainly in concert with political power players behind the scenes, should frighten you. It can be just as easily directed at your side as it can the other. Effectively employed, it will subvert our elections and lead to a governing state that is democratic in name only. When the powerful are no longer accountable to the people, government is nothing but a sham, a stand-in for a dictatorship. Worse, the people are entirely unaware of the con.

Don’t be fooled. Learn how to identify psychological warfare, propaganda, lies, and deceit. Join my course How to Not be Fooled, open for registration through January, at IPAK-EDU.

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