Tech | January 13, 2012 | 20 comments

Obama czar proposed government should ‘infiltrate’ social network sites, chat rooms, message boards

source: http://kleinonline.wnd.com/2012/01/12/obama-czar-proposed/

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maasanova
Cass Sunstein wrote a paper in 2008 advocating thought and speech control through goverment enforcement titled Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures.

In it, Sunstein recommends a number of bizarre ways in which the government could "ban conspiracy theories including “infiltrating” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards; called "cognitive infiltration,”

The find comes as a government document reportedly relates the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report.

Sunstein said government agents “might enter chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine percolating conspiracy theories by raising doubts about their factual premises, causal logic or implications for political action.”

Sunstein defined a conspiracy theory as “an effort to explain some event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.”

Some “conspiracy theories” recommended for ban by Sunstein include:

•“Holocaust denial"
•“Anti-Israel sentiments"
•“9/11 Truth"
•“The theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud”
•“The view that the Central Intelligence Agency was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy”
•“The 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 was caused by a U.S. military missile”
•“The Trilateral Commission is responsible for important movements of the international economy”
•“That Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by federal agents”
•“The moon landing was staged and never actually occurred”
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    Tech,  Obama,  Science,  Internet,  14 more
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20 comments // Obama czar proposed government should ‘infiltrate’ social network sites, chat rooms, message boards

  • Anonmaly
    • 0
      Anonmaly  

    • Okay he proposed this in 08... He now works for "The Ministry of Truth".... You couldn't convince me they hadn't started doing this long ago...

      Of course I could have a "a crippled epistemology"....

    • 4 months ago
  • misfit20
  • maasanova
    • 0
      maasanova  

    • This silly thing about this whole thing is that if these conspiracy "theories" are so crazy and ludicrous like so many people like to claim, then there wouldn't even be a need to counter these false theories.

      Sunstein actually addresses this; the pros and cons of the government even addressing conspiracy "theories" and laughable, the only reason that he could come up with is that people who believe in conspiracy theories would start blowing things up, like Timothy McVeigh.

      Reading Sunstein's "Conspriacy Theories" leaves one with the impression that it is people like Sunstein and his ilk who are the paranoid, derranged and dangerous ones, not the conspiracy theorists.

    • 5 months ago
  • LivingPong
    • +1
      LivingPong  

    • I've considered a gallery of sock-puppets, but it would teach them too much about their mistakes and serve as a handy check-list of exposed identities.

    • 5 months ago
  • Incredulous
  • misfit20
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • johnsawyer
  • Truthitswhatsfordinner
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • bailey78
  • Wyley_Wombat
  • bailey78
  • rerushg
    • -2
      rerushg  

    • Actually a very good post, maasanova. Both the source (Klein) and the subject, Sunstein, are interesting figures. We could go on at length but, fact is, except for the obvious flashy issues very little is discussed at any depth around here. Just three thoughts:
      1. The thought of Sunstein actually running anything is scary. He's a "gee, I had a thought, think I'll write a book" academic.
      2. There would be far fewer conspiracy theories if responsible parties would just clean up their sh*t in a timely fashion. Building 7 anyone?
      3. Just another "too clever by half" concept. We have this nasty habit of imagining bizarre, complex problems then bizarre, complex ways to "fix" them. By the time they figure out what they're trying to do society has moved on.

    • 5 months ago
  • Anonmaly
    • +5
      Anonmaly  

    • They've been monitoring certain people for YEARS.... I'm certain beyond a shadow of a doubt certain participants here (and there are several), are quite carefully watched....

      I actually feel what's being suggested by this "Czar" has been going on for a long time too...

    • 5 months ago
  • maasanova
    • +4
      maasanova  
    • Anonmaly:

      Every forum always has some kind of subversive infiltrators. Has Current been infiltrated by government agents? There's no doubt that there infiltrators with an agenda here, but IMO they are too stupid and obvious to be a part of Cass Sunstein's program.

      This is a really good read if you have never read it.

      Twenty-Five Ways To Suppress Truth: The Rules of Disinformation

      http://911blogger.com/node/20684

      1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.
      2. Become incredulous and indignant.
      3. Create rumor mongers.
      4. Use a straw man.
      5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule.
      6. Hit and Run.
      7. Question motives.
      9. Play Dumb.
      10. Associate opponent charges with old news.
      11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions.
      12. Enigmas have no solution.
      13. Alice in Wonderland Logic.
      14. Demand complete solutions.
      15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions.
      16. Vanish evidence and witnesses.
      17. Change the subject.
      18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. .
      19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs.
      20. False evidence.
      21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body.
      22. Manufacture a new truth.
      23. Create bigger distractions.
      24. Silence critics.
      25. Vanish.

    • 5 months ago
  • Conniepae
  • RevKen
    • +4
      RevKen  

    • I am not sure about the rest of them but I do know The Trilateral Commission is responsible for a lot of what happens in the world.

      I have a customer that was once a member and I have asked him about it. He has never discussed it and with this particular person he would talk about it if there was nothing to talk about.

    • 5 months ago
  • maasanova
    • +2
      maasanova  
    • RevKen:

      It's kind of hard to deny that the Trilateral Commission is not what conspiracy theorists say that they are when you can go right to their website and read about what they have done and what they intend to do.

    • 5 months ago
  • rerushg
    • 0
      rerushg  
    • RevKen:

      The Trilateral Commission does exist in the mist somewhere, possibly superceded by Bilderberg. But they're most infamous for "The Crisis of Democracy" in the 70's that suggested that the problem with governance was "too much democracy". Always troubled me. :)

    • 5 months ago
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