HAS AMERICA’S BRAINWASHING BY FOX, FACEBOOK VIA CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA, AND OTHERS RUINED DEMOCRACY FOREVER?

With everything that’s going on these days, as the end maybe near for either our nation, Facebook or Donald J. Trump, I had an epiphany about why it may be too late to save the people who believe the lies and refuse to see the truth

SO THE OTHER DAY I WAS HAVING A CONVERSATION with a lovely lady I spent the day with on one of my many day jobs I do to help pay my rent. On a few occasions what my fellow workmate was telling me, turned shall we say to the darker side of our current political reality. These spitballs, she was throwing, had me scouring Google afterwards for the answers to the multitude of questions now circling my brain. Which then had me tweeting a few S O S’s asking if what I had discovered were conspiracies, realities, or simply a matter of a brainwashed individual spreading conspiracies she believed as the truth? The more I think about it, the more I can’t believe I actually spent as much time as I did, in search of answers that I should’ve saw coming a mile away. But in finding the truth in my search, the answers turned out to make me question everything else about our last Presidential election and the nightmare that most of us realize that we’re currently living in.

So here’s the run down, I was working the Vision Expo convention, in New York’s famous or perhaps infamous Jacob Javits Center. I should say, before hand that it was a really fun gig, the people I worked with were all cool and the convention attendees themselves could not have been nicer and more charming. My job this time, was scanning attendee’s badges into and out of seminars. I was assigned with another person, a lovely elderly white Christian woman. I only mention this because one of the reasons Donald J. Trump became President was his winning the votes on this segment of the population. So hearing what turns out be to be conspiracies concocted by the publicity wing of the Republican party, orchestrated by Cambridge Analytica, and spread across Mark Zuckerberg’s baby, Facebook as facts, from someone who at first would seem to be living in reality was way off putting. Hence my latest Neilizms and hopefully an answer or at least an explanation of why some still believe the lies about Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and how Donald J. Trump won the hearts, minds, and votes of millions of American citizens.

So this lovely lady and myself were assigned together to scan in and scan out people who were taking credited courses in the vision field. For the most part everything was groovy. Through out the day between helping the attendees, we also had a day long conversation about many things. Mostly about the job, the attendees we were dealing with, the other people we were working with, life, our families and our respective histories. All was very enjoyable, and all seemed normal. That was until politics came into that portion of the program. Something I am learning way too slowly, that one shouldn’t decide to ever do. You’ve got a fifty percent chance to discover the person sitting beside you might not be someone that subject is something you ever want to discuss with them. But it may also put in perspective every other thing that they have said and have you come out of it thinking about them and about everything else a little bit differently. It sure did it for me in this instance, and has done it on sadly too many occasions in the recent past. About twenty feet away or so from us, there was a huge monitor hanging showcasing one of the news channels, I think CNBC. Because of the monitor we discussed what news channels we watched. She claimed she watched them all, didn’t believe everything she saw, and researched the things she questions or heard. All of which sounded reasonable to me. 

At one point while awaiting for the current seminar to end, to begin the scanning out process, the two of us were sitting talking once more, I received a news bump up, or whatever they are called, on my iPhone’s screen about something that one of Trump’s minion’s had pulled, and at the same time on the huge hanging monitor across the way there was also a news flash about the same event. The news flash, reminded me about something about Trump and the conversation altered into a reality I wasn’t expecting or ever wanted to be a part of. 

It really started going south when I mentioned Rachel Maddow and her take on events and why she is my favorite news person on air. Sadly my co-worker didn’t agree with me, usually a big red flag in my book with anyone. I explained that I only turn on Fox News, or as I call them Fox Faux News, just to see what they were currently making stuff up on, or what they weren’t reporting as they instead discussed issues with either the Obama Presidency or Hillary’s many illegal activities.

I must mention, that earlier she had told me that she worked at the polls during Election Days, and it was actually very interesting. She explained about paper ballots and computers ones. How they work and how they get recounted. We had discussed the possibility that the voting machines were hacked and perhaps the election had been effected by it. So her explanation on why that wasn’t possible seemed plausible, and while not making me feel any better it did give me more information for future thoughts. Or more appropriately, here’s when the train went off the rails.

Somewhere along the way I mentioned to her, that maybe Hillary Clinton would run again. Why not? Let see if we have a Rocky 2 scenario and this time like in the hit movie in the end the original loser gets declared champ. I mean why shouldn’t Hillary want to run again, why not, if after all that has come out, perhaps a new run would either turn out the same, worse for her or actually this time, she would win. Even if just they only alowed same people to vote, since they were the only ones who voted in the first place. How different the totals could now be with the ongoing Mueller investigation and all the leaks which have now shall we say fleshed out the story? Of course that scenario would never be allowed to happen in the real world. What could happen however is the next Presidential campaign, we have a re-do in the campaign. I mean we could have another primary campaign and Hillary and Donald again could win. And yes, even with everyone still trying to tell us what an unlikable person Hillary is, and what a bad campaign she ran, somehow the fact that she got almost 66 million votes never comes into the conversation. Somehow all of those votes never happened, and all the hanky panky that did occur that possibly made her numbers much lower than they would have been are never discussed. That is if Donald, is still running for re-election, and not awaiting his long walk on the long Green Mile, as Stephen King, called it. Depending on what the final outcome is, if its just bank fraud, obstruction of justice or if Trump actually sold our nation out  to Vladimir and rightfully deserves that long walk to visit Old Sparky.

Well according to my new friend, Hillary running for President would never happen, because she wasn’t healthy enough to run again. I went huh? When? What happened? Well, seemingly the should be President, whose rightful position might possibly have been stolen by Cambridge Analytica misuse of Facebook’s data, according to her, had recently had a head injury. She had fallen again. You know, as if it was an every day event and the woman has no blance to save her life. She mentioned that this health scare had happened in India. I went really, that’s news to me, I hope you’re wrong, but we’ll see. One would think if Hillary Clinton the almost President of the United States health had suddenly taken a nose dive, that this bit of news would be every where. Like on the screen hanging 20 or so feet away.

Well I Google searched her current ailments and discovered a treasure trove of right-wing conspiracies on Hillary Clinton’s health. None of which appear to come from places like the New York Times, CNN, or any so-called left leaning news organizations, you know the ones who report the truth and facts. But in fact nothing, except lots of FOX and their ilk thowring out what sounded like made up gibberish. As for the head trauma or whatever, all I found was video of her slipping on what looked like wet stone steps in India. Sadly, these false reports of course caused the return of the infamous videos of her fainting during the campaign which had the world discussing how long the former Secretary of State had to live, and if she somehow survives, what if any her mental capabilities would be. 

The second Uh-oh moment came when I brought up President Barack Obama and the First lady of the United States, Michele Obama, by using them as examples in comparison to whats currently in the White House. Warning, warning, its turned out she wasn’t a fan of either of them too. Out of left field she told be something I couldn’t recall ever hearing before which made me almost scream out loud with both laughter and venom. Both of which, as controlled as possible, I kept to myself. I asked her how could she be okay with Trump after he spent 7 years attacking our President’s very citizenship? Even if you didn’t agree with President Barack Obama’s politics, for me that should have been an end to any fan ship of the orange dyed current President. Well what I heard from her made me have to sit up and go wait a minute. It also possibly explained to me why the person many think of as this nations last real President, many now currently believe should never have been Commander in Chief in the first place. It also might explain why so many believe the non-stop lies by the man in orange about everything and disbelieve whatever truth is thrown at them against him to buck his self professed greatness.

It seems according to my lovely co-worker, on President Barack Obama birth certificate that was finally released, all thanks to Donald J. Trump, Barack Hussein Obama was born an African-American. As she was telling me this I went, hm, that’s news to me. I think I would have heard about this somewhere. I mean every where, if she was telling me the truth. According to her, at the time that former President Barack Obama was born, they didn’t use that term. In other words the birth certificate was fake. That’s all she needed to believe Trump and the rest of the birthers. Hence, Barack was an illegal, not Hawaiian born, but from Kenya. Not American, but an other. So what she was telling me was that Donald was right all these years. He was the truther and saw the promised land, not the rest of the left-wing media, and Hillary the monster, was in bed with all of them. What a sell out she is, what a hateful person. Yup, she told me that too. That was her defense in believing Donald J. Trump was the fact that Obama’s birth certificate had been proven a phony. 

This hit home, because recently I had acted in a play performing the role of Willie Lynch, a fictional character that lived in the 1700’s that some people think was real. Willie Lynch is believed by some to be the reason the hangings of black slaves are called lynchings. The character is most famous for his supposed letter of instructions on how to train slaves. As I researched him, trying to create a back story, I discovered several of the expressions used in the list, for example, the word refueling, didn’t exist at the time. Which made the experts decide that he was created and not a real person. Regardless if its a true or made-up story, discovering the tale made hearing this new accusation about President Barack Obama’s birth certificate eye-opening. 

One would think, as with Hillary on her last leg scenario, this whopper of information, about Barack’s birth certificate, would have been front page news and not just showcased on conspiracy websites or shared by Russian Bots all over the social networks. Well luckily for me on Google I discovered amongst the clutter, Snopes.com’s take down on this conspiracy talking point. Thanks to them I now have the perfect response the next time someone decides to use this false narrative on me. Point blank its fake. According to Snopes, nowhere on the birth certificate does it say African American. However, the conspiracy arose by the fact that the term African actually does appear on it. But its written in response to the question about his father’s race. Which is explained that people of color were sometimes called African in those days. His father was from Kenya. Mystery solved. Conspiracy debunked. A nothing burger to the highest power. Yet people believe because they heard others spread this lie.

I must also add a similar occurrence at another day gig, happened recently with another woman of a comparable age, sex and color, who also threw out a few talking points which made this weeks uh oh moments feel that there is a pattern forming. Maybe its just this job and not a nation wide phenomenon? Maybe its just me and some kind of chemical I give off when I’m talking politics with the wrong people? or maybe my realization is right on the money. They keep saying Trump won that huge voters block of middle aged to elderly white woman, well seems now I see why. Its called brainwashing, its called lies.

On television, every so often they trot out groups of women, very similar to the ones I am writing about and they discuss their feelings for Trump. Each time I’ve seen it, it has always puzzled me. Honestly I haven’t a clue how anyone has fallen or could fall under the spell of Donald or any one of the Republicans. But maybe now I can almost understand the how in it a little. How can you win someone’s vote when others have tainted people’s feelings for them so much by brainwashing them with conspiracies that for whatever reason they are too stupid too realize are utter nonsense. 

I am so sick of hearing how nothing that was done to our social networks, or shared on them, had an any effect on the election results. Really? People believe lies as fact now. They actually hate Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama and even the former first Lady, Michelle, because of lies that they heard, over and over again. That no matter what you say, they refuse to listen to. What’s maddening in all this is that everyone of the lies can be easily debunked, sadly the problem being that these brainwashed fools keep refusing to listen to the truth. 

I think what occurred on our social networks did have an effect on our Presidential election. Seems Steve Bannon use of Cambridge Analytica probably was the smartest campaign move that the Trump campagin might have done. Donald might be insane, but the man may not just be as dumb as we all think he is. Seems he didn’t just luck out or accidentally was in the right place at the right time during the last several years. Apparently Steve Bannon while working for Trump’s campaign hired Cambridge Analytica to help brainwash millions of people into believing lies and disbelieving facts and the truth by using Facebook against us. So now Mark Zuckerberg has got lots of explaining to do. Either he was duped, or was in on the whole crime. Perhaps his buddying up to Russia wasn’t just a business move like Trump’s was, but maybe another coordinated piece of a huge puzzle that Vladimir Putin has been maneuvering ever since he started his attempt at turning Russia back in the evil Soviet Empire of old. 

The best part in all this, if one can say there is anything good that can come of it, the fools who pulled the stunt have been outed, and have been showcased all over the net and the news on video bragging about doing it. Its possible now that Facebook will have to face the music for their possible crimes in helping Vladimir’s preferred candidate into the high chair that currently has replaced the President’s seat of choice. One would hope this latest bombshell about Cambridge Analytica misuse of Facebook might finally be the straw that broke the camels back. Perhaps discovering Facebook was indeed used as a weapon against Hillary Clinton and as a way for Donald J. Trump to lie his way into office might finally awaken the zombies. I hope they wake up in time to witness Donald’s walk along the green mile, cause it would be sad if they are still blind to the truth and react to it as if his removal was the crime and not all of the monstrous acts he really pulled and is still pulling. 

Just one man’s opinion

© Neil Feigeles, Neilizms, Wednesday, March 21, 2018