> It was something about just overwhelming people with pointless crisis and issues to keep you busy and preoccupied both physically and mentally so not to notic

> It was something about just overwhelming people with pointless crisis and issues to keep you busy and preoccupied both physically and mentally so not to notice the truly bad things going when the democratic state was eroding. This is something that Russia has been doing for more than a decade: > We characterize the contemporary Russian model for propaganda as “the firehose of falsehood” because of two of its distinctive features: high numbers of channels and messages and a shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions. In the words of one observer, “[N]ew Russian propaganda entertains, confuses and overwhelms the audience.”2 > Contemporary Russian propaganda has at least two other distinctive features. It is also rapid, continuous, and repetitive, and it lacks commitment to consistency. > Interestingly, several of these features run directly counter to the conventional wisdom on effective influence and communication from government or defense sources, which traditionally emphasize the importance of truth, credibility, and the avoidance of contradiction.3 Despite ignoring these traditional principles, Russia seems to have enjoyed some success under its contemporary propaganda model, either through more direct persuasion and influence or by engaging in obfuscation, confusion, and the disruption or diminution of truthful reporting and messaging. * https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html Steve Bannon used the same technique during Trump 1.0: > While watching the news coverage of Steve Bannon’s initial appearance in federal court on Monday, I kept thinking about his 2018 confession to the acclaimed writer Michael Lewis. His quote is like a compass that orients this crazy era of American politics. “The Democrats don’t matter,” Bannon told Lewis. “The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” > That’s the Bannon business model: Flood the zone. Stink up the joint. As Jonathan Rauch once said, citing Bannon’s infamous quote, “This is not about persuasion: This is about disorientation.” * https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/steve-bannon-reliable-sources https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/16/media/steve-bannon-reliable-s... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bannon#Political_ideology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Bannon#Political_ideolog...