Free Republic

It’s been a bad few months for democracy. Election results offensive to the European Union were annulled in Romania; an attempted coup occurred in Georgia over elections that didn’t go the way the west wanted; the French government, widely hated, teetered over the abyss as president Emmanual Macron tried to ignore the last election; on December 16, Washington’s pet German government fell; lots of funny-business happened in the Moldovan referendum and election, amid widespread disenfranchisement of Moldovan voters living in Russia; elections were long ago cancelled in dictatorial Ukraine; and South Korea hosted an attempted coup. In short, western democracies’...

Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party. Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.Wax indignant. This is also known as the "How dare you?" gambit. Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through...

This video shows the manipulation of the audience to gain public consensus for a regional transportation plan the metropolitan transportation commission was assembled by a number of radical environmentalist groups, social justice, social equity groups, in response to California's AB 32 and SB375. AB32 is currently held up in court, and was based on doctored data generated by a California Air Resources Board member, that falsely claimed to have a PhD. He was exposed, but the radically liberal and union owned democratic legislature decided to proceed with the legislation anyway that mis-informed california population voted for. Wake up viewers! This...

This research was conducted in the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute.: As targets of information aggression, the United States and its European allies must protect themselves against the effects of psychological manipulation and influence. The authors describe apparent efforts by Russia and its agents to use information to shape Russia's operating environment, and they identify possible defensive approaches for United States European Command and its partners. Research Questions: 1- What content is produced and disseminated by Russia and its agents? 2- How do Russia and its agents manipulate information? 3- What is...

Since its 2008 incursion into Georgia (if not before), there has been a remarkable evolution in Russia's approach to propaganda. This new approach was on full display during the country's 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula. It continues to be demonstrated in support of ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria and in pursuit of nefarious and long-term goals in Russia's “near abroad” and against NATO allies.In some ways, the current Russian approach to propaganda builds on Soviet Cold War–era techniques, with an emphasis on obfuscation and on getting targets to act in the interests of the propagandist without realizing that...

The Better Angels organization (better-angels.org) is currently seeking Trump supporters to join non-Trump supporters for a weekend of facilitated conversation, refreshments, music and fellowship as part of its “One America” National Bus Tour. The project, which will take place in Ithaca (venue TBA) the weekend of Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15, seeks to help bridge the divide between citizens on the political left and right. “It is necessary that we have an equal number of ‘red’ Americans and ‘blue’ Americans participate in the gathering and so far our ‘blue’ numbers are too high.” said Dana LaCroix, one of...

Five people were arrested Friday night and two officers were injured in skirmishes that broke out after Donald Trump abruptly canceled a Chicago rally on Friday. And Donald Trump had no doubts about who was to blame for the shocking violence: organized “thugs.” Trump tweeted on Saturday: "The organized group of people, many of them thugs, who shut down our First Amendment rights in Chicago, have totally energized America!" Rivals quickly pointed the finger at Trump though, saying that the violence at his rallies reflect the tenor of the frontrunner’s campaign. “A campaign bears responsibility for creating an environment,” said...

The Delphi Technique and consensus building are both founded in the same principle - the Hegelian dialectic of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, with synthesis becoming the new thesis. In group settings, the Delphi Technique is an unethical method of achieving consensus on controversial topics. It requires well-trained professionals, known as "facilitators" or "change agents," who deliberately escalate tension among group members, pitting one faction against another to make a preordained viewpoint appear "sensible," while making opposing views appear ridiculous. The facilitators or change agents encourage each person in a group to express concerns about the programs, projects, or policies in...

...[C]urrent U.S. intelligence and defense officials who spoke to The Daily Beast on Monday say the process for exchanging Taliban for Bergdahl this time was rushed and closely held, in some instances leaving little room for any push back against a policy clearly favored by the White House. “This was an example of forcing the consensus,” one U.S. military official said. “The White House knew the answer they wanted and they ended up getting it.” The White House did not even consult or inform Congress until after the prisoner release had begun. Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic chairwoman of the Senate...

A Baltimore-area police chief is reviewing the arrest of a man who rose at a town hall-style meeting to challenge the national Common Core standards and wound up in an angry confrontation with an off-duty police officer. Robert Small,46,showed up at the public forum Thursday night in Towson,but when he began asking questions about Common Core, the police officer,who was providing security at the meeting,shut him down. “My question is how does lowering educational standards prepare kids for ... college,because that’s what it’s all about?” Small asked in a scene caught on videotape. But audience members had been told to...

...we are seeing citizens being invited to “participate” in various forms of meetings...to “help determine” public policy in one field or another. They are supposedly being included to get ”input” from the public ... in one of these meetings... ...you will find that there is already someone designated to lead or “facilitate” the meeting. ... Actually, he or she is there for exactly the opposite reason: to see that the conclusions reached during the meeting are in accord with a plan already decided upon by those who called the meeting. The process used to “facilitate” the meeting is called the...

The US government is offering private intelligence companies contracts to create software to manage "fake people" on social media sites and create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues. The contract calls for the development of "Persona Management Software" which would help the user create and manage a variety of distinct fake profiles online. The job listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by internet activist last week.Click here to view the government contract (PDF)According to the contract, the software would "protect the identity of government agencies" by employing a number...

The Delphi Technique was originally conceived as a way to obtain the opinion of experts without necessarily bringing them together face to face. In recent times, however, it has taken on an all new meaning and purpose. In Educating for the New World Order by B. Eakman, the reader finds reference upon reference for the need to preserve the illusion that there is "…lay, or community, participation (in the decision-making process), while lay citizens were, in fact, being squeezed out." The Delphi Technique is the method being used to squeeze citizens out of the process, effecting a left-wing take over...

Immediately after Allen West took the stage at his Town Hall meeting on Tuesday Evening in Fort Lauderdale, several hecklers who were planted in the crowd began to jeer and interrupt his remarks, forcing West to pause several times and then continue once the crowd calmed down.  Police were ultimately forced to removed one of the hecklers from the event. When the hecklers refused to stop their harassment, West stated, “You’re not going to intimidate me.” Minutes later, a woman sitting behind West’s wife , who had been acting in a disruptive and combative manner by yelling at the Congressman and...

In the 1960s, I came across a small training manual distributed by the Communist Party that showed how a small group of people – as few as four – could dominate a much larger group and sway the outcome of any action taken by that group. It was called the Diamond Technique. The principle is based on the fact that people in groups tend to be effected by mass psychology. They derive comfort and security from being aligned with the majority, especially if controversy or conflict is involved. Even if they do not like what the majority is doing, if...

Is anybody who filled out the DoD DADT survey surprised at the announcement of its results? The questions made the outcome a foregone conclusion. My question is this: isn't the very fact that those who were most against repeal are the ones who do what militaries are made for - fight - a perfect reason to keep the ban in effect? Colonel, USAFR

I've been reading through President Obama's much touted Recovery.gov web site and thought I would share the Frequently Asked Questions part of the site. It is in fact, the Delphi Technique in action. Through the whole of that web site, the Consensus and Facilitation of the Hegelian Principle is at work. To fight this phenomenon in our country, Freedom Lovers need to understand the forces at work, and master the language and techniques that will allow us to overcome the Barrage of facilitators and change agents who have just overtaken our country, fully, at the federal level. Please take some...

When Washington makes a big decision—to pass the PATRIOT Act, to invade Iraq, to bail out Wall Street, to spend hundreds of billions "stimulating" the economy—the most important stage of the debate isn't the final agreement on what to do. That's just a bunch of details about portions and timing. The key stage comes in the initial rounds, when the acceptable radius of disagreement is established. Your sharpest critics are often your most radical critics, so it's important that their arguments be confined to the foreign press, the blogosphere, and other backwaters. Once those boundaries are ratified, you must police...

There has been much talk of the 8 year BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) from the left but I think it's time we admitted there are DS's on the right and we have to look no further than our own backyard here at FR to find the most glaring example, McCain Derangement Syndrome. McCain wasn't my preferred candidate. In fact, I'd have to go all the way back to Reagan to find my own preferred candidate victorious. But you never get everything you want in politics so many times you have to work with you got and make the best of...

Conservative evangelicals who saw environmentalism as alarmism welcomed Richard Cizik's resignation as the National Association of Evangelicals' Washington lobbyist last week. But evangelicals and scientists who had been working on "creation care" for several years saw it as a blow to their efforts. More than 50 evangelicals — including several environmental advocates — sent a letter to the NAE President Leith Anderson this morning, signaling their support for Cizik's efforts and urging the organization to "carry out Richard's vision of a broad Christian moral agenda." Those who signed the letter included presidents of organizations, professors, pastors, and authors, such as...