Special US Mid-Terms Round Up: Democracy on the ballot
Prepare for a maelstrom of disinformation
Since the 2020 presidential election the radicalised Republican Party has been preparing the ground for another assault on US democracy. The mid-terms will see the Republicans refusing to accept the results where they lose. In their own words…
Despite the events of January 6, little had been done to challenge this attack on democracy. Democrats are now out in force with passionate speeches, however this is too late and not enough considering the scale of the effort to undermine the integrity of elections. To make matters worse, the purchase of Twitter a week before the elections comes at a troubling time when accuracy of information in the coming days will be of vital importance when there will be a maelstrom of misinformation.
Considerable expense and effort has gone into purging the Republican Party of those who refuse to deny election results. What used to be the fringes now has much greater control of the party than it did two years ago. There will be far fewer Republicans willing to speak up this time around.
Pelosi House Attack
The threat of political violence has been stoked by the propaganda and rhetoric thats been deployed. Misinformation has become one of the main tools in creating chaos and division while deflecting public attention away from the key issue, democracy being under attack.
The speed at which disinformation spread after the attack on the Pelosi home demonstrates the issue.
We can see how conspiracy theories rely on those with large platforms to propagate rapidly. This isn’t conspiracies from the fringe bubbling up into the mainstream, this is top down distribution of disinformation.
Reality no longer matters with post-truth politics.
Candidates
Over 50% of Republican candidates still claim the 2020 election was stolen. If elected they will be prepared to try and overturn the 2024 presidential election if the result doesn’t go their way. If they lose these elections then we will see repeats of Stop the Steal across the US. The candidates are not hiding their views, some examples.
Kari Lake
Scott Jensen
Scott Jensen has been heavily involved in a number of covid disinformation groups including Pandata and the World Doctors Alliance.
WDA and its umbrella group the World Freedom Alliance have promoted the violent rhetoric of Nuremberg 2.0, calling for healthcare workers and academics to be put on trial for the crimes of lockdown and vaccination programmes.
Covid disinformation has been a force for right wing radicalisation in the US and in other countries. The Pelosi house attacker cited covid disinformation while in the UK the perpetrator of a firebomb attack on an asylum processing centre last week was sharing covid conspiracy theories on their social media.
Ron Johnson
Dr Oz
Mehmet Oz pushed for unproven treatments while having a financial interest in their approval.
His TV show has become a hotbed for disinformation.
If more evidence was needed that disinformation is a coordinated and deliberate tactic then consider the huge financial weight backing the likes of Dr Oz.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
This is MTG posting the day before the Pelosi home attack.
Current speculation is that she is being lined up run as Vice President alongside the Republican candidate in 2024.
Voter Intimidation and other underhand tactics
There are also increasing concerns regarding canvassing and polling stations
Militias
Militias connected to the events of January 6 seem to have shifted from the fringe of the Republican Party to being a blunt instrument of the GOP. Considering the role such groups played in the events of January 6 there are well founded concerns regarding what the militias may do in the coming week.
Prior to the Pelosi home attack security authorities were already worried about the threat of political violence.
With the militias we see a blending of religion and disinformation. The Black Robe Regiment whose founding member sits on the board of the CNP linked Truth for Health Foundation is the perfect example of where covid disinformation is used as a gateway into other conspiracy theories and religious extremism
The Great Awakening Tour
This tour demonstrates how single issue culture war campaign groups and a wide variety conspiracy theories come together to create a dangerous political narrative culminating with the claim that the “angel of death is coming” for their “satanic” political opponents.
The increase in these conspiracies about globalist agenda’s has now been accompanied by an alarming increase in anti-antisemitism in the US. It is not an exaggeration to compare the Great Awakening Tour to rallied held in 1930’s Germany. The rhetoric on display appears intentionally designed to incite violence.
The NAR which has been involved in the Great Awakening Tour and has links to militias like the Black Robes and Oathkeepers is an important cog in the growth of Christian Nationalism. They are another group that seems comfortable with the prospect of civil war.
Attacks on Institutions
Attacks on institutions continue, from inside as well as outside. Electoral boundaries, health authorities, education, energy, every aspect of American society has been dragged into the culture wars. Campaigners in other countries need to study what has occurred in the US and how this has happened because the same disinformation ecosystem and infrastructure is reaching maturity in many countries who haven’t controlled the flow of dark money and foreign influence. The UK is a prime example of where they are reaching a tipping point beyond which it will be difficult to return politics to a basic level of integrity and accountibility.
Worrying evidence also continues to emerge regarding the role of Justice Thomas and his wife in January 6.
If they gain the power to do so, the GOP will systematically dismantle every organisation and institute that isn’t willing to adopt their interpretation of reality. There will be a particular focus on healthcare and academia. One day the anti-vaxxers might get their Nuremberg 2.0 show trials. If this seems unbelievable it is worth remembering those who warned of the removal of abortion rights in 2016 were not taken seriously by the majority.
Organisations like the CDC and FDA face retribution for trying to resit political interference by the Trump Administration at the start of the pandemic.
Twitter & Musk
The above is just the start of a detailed thread that is worth reading in its entirety.
Implications
If they take control of the Senate and Congress Republicans are threatening to force a debt default which would have huge ramifications for the global economy and politics. Its likely that US support for Ukraine will be considerably scaled back providing Putin a boost just as Ukraine have began winning back ground.
The individuals and organisations are known, their international connections have been identified. While its difficult to see how radicalised conspiracy theorists can be returned to reality, there is an apathetic middle ground in many countries who are sleep walking through the erosion of democracy from the inside.
Machiavelli’s comments about putting trust in the populous to make the best decisions for the state is often quoted by libertarians, what they often forget to mention is that this requires a well informed populous. The intention of the maelstrom of disinformation, the fog of information warfare, is designed not to persuade but to sow chaos, to keep the apathetic or unaware middle ground in a state of paralysed confusion. Machiavelli said that an uninformed populous is open to be corrupted, that a state can survive a corrupted government but when the populous are corrupted then anarchy, tyranny and ruin are to be expected.
This is why its so important to understand the networks and agendas at play in what could be one of the most important mid-terms in US history. Democracy is on the ballot.
The threads below were written about the current political instability in the UK, but it is just as relevant to the US and other countries, they are after all merely following a few footsteps behind the path the US is taking.
