(np) (political) the Big O institutes a new Cointelpro?

[Robert Mahnke]

I don't understand why the paper is "truly pernicious."  From a first glance
(thanks for the pointer), it's kinda fun, and doesn't bear much resemblance
to the description below (in the sentence that starts, "In 2008").  While
the phrase "cognitive infiltration" sounds sinister, the explanation of what
it means (on page 14) -- counterspeech, either by the government or by
formally hiring credible private parties, and informally enlisting private
parties -- is something else entirely.  Maybe the phrase itself is bait for
conspiracy theorists?

On 1/22/10, Michael Bailey <michael.lee.bailey at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> http://www.alternet.org/story/145229/obama_confidant%27s_spine-chilling_proposal_to_%27cognitively_infiltrate%27_conspiracy_theorist_groups
>
> "Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama's closest confidants.
> Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court,
> Sunstein is currently Obama's head of the Office of Information and
> Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for
> "overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and
> statistical programs."  In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein
> co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government
> employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-"independent" advocates to
> "cognitively infiltrate" online groups and websites -- as well as
> other activist groups -- which advocate views that Sunstein deems
> "false conspiracy theories" about the government.  This would be
> designed to increase citizens' faith in government officials and
> undermine the credibility of conspiracists.  The paper's abstract can
> be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.
> http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585
>
> ....
>
> "This isn't an instance where some government official wrote a bizarre
> paper in college 30 years ago about matters unrelated to his official
> powers; this was written 18 months ago, at a time when the ascendancy
> of Sunstein's close friend to the Presidency looked likely, in exactly
> the area he now oversees.  Additionally, the government-controlled
> messaging that Sunstein desires has been a prominent feature of U.S.
> Government actions over the last decade, including in some recently
> revealed practices of the current administration, and the mindset in
> which it is grounded explains a great deal about our political class.
> All of that makes Sunstein's paper worth examining in greater detail.
>
>
>
> sheesh - do we really need to spend tax money to quash rumors of
> government malfeasance???
>
> while it's still legal, let me just say this:      Tuskegee Experiment,
> Cointelpro, Downing Street Memo, Gulf of Tonkin, the Maine,
> BCCI, Election 2000, Salvador Allende, Mohammad Mossadegh,
> Watergate, Operation Paperclip, Iran-freakin'-Contra, Whitewater,
> Troopergate,
> Monicagate, Monkeygate (monkey can subvert Diebold voting machine),
> Coingate (Ohio scandal)...
>
> ...the Business Plot (attempted coup in 1931), Enron, General Motors
> Streetcar Conspiracy, Yellowcake forgery...
> (okay, now I'm just quoting wikipedia:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conspiracies_(political) )
>
> and, aw, heck:  Chemtrails!  Area 51!  Shakespeare's plays weren't
> written by Shakespeare at all, but by another man with the same
> name...
>
>
>
> OTOH, maybe I could get a job infiltrating those groups...hmmm, I
> could be the Hector Zuniga of the 9-11 truthiness movement...
> something to consider - I hear the benefits are pretty okay...
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> - "Releasing all we can, protecting what we must" - slogan of the
> National Declassification Center
>
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