Rumours, lies and propaganda

Donald Trump is an inveterate liar and a born bully.  According to the record, Trump perfected his abilities to lie and threaten people at the feet of Roy Cohn and Roger Stone.

Trump’s propaganda, however, is of a different provenance.  According to Ivana Trump, Donald kept a copy of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside.  It should be remembered that Hitler believed that the bigger the lie, the easier it was to convince people of that lie.

But Trump is not alone in the global propaganda machine.  Vladimir Putin can be said to have perfected the methods Trump is using on the American electorate.

Putin was a KGB spy who specialized in propaganda and has capitalized on his skillset to great effect in Russia.  The election of Trump through the use of Russian trolls being perhaps Putin’s crowning achievement.

There is an excellent explainer video on Vox about the “firehosing” method through which Putin, and later Trump, have learned to twist the dominant discourse to their perverse ends.  Trump has tasted power, he continues to speak as if he wants more, and everyone should be concerned about what his tactics reveal about his ultimate endgame.