“Squirrel!”: The Art of Misdirection and the Sustained Assault on Reason

Instead of longing for the good ol’ days — they never existed in the first place — we must replace the feel-good sensations of feelings and embrace the dispassion of cold reason. Only in that state of mind can anyone clearly see the lay of the land, assess enemies’ strengths, methods, and possible approaches, and best fight as we protect ourselves, tear down evil, and support, defend those weaker, and build back to better.

Or, as Sun-tzu said in The Art of War : Camp high, face the open, and always fight downhill.

US citizens are in an ideological and ethical pickle. Like a spouse that always has coffee ready for us every morning without being asked, we have taken for granted all the checks and balances the framers put into existence in our founding documents. Like the ignored spouse we stopped thanking, those checks and balances are fast leaving us — much to our surprise.

But what is causing the inattention of citizens to protect and defend the Constitution and Bill of Rights? Of all people, Al Gore had a clue in his 2007 book The Assault on Reason published by The Penguin Press.

I like to read the writings of public figures long after those have ceased to be the hot item of the month and their market share has ceased to be important because the passage of time gives historical context against which I can judge the narrative. Therefore, years after its publication, I read Gore’s book.

I shall state definitively that I do not like or trust Al Gore. His politics, his financial scam of selling carbon credits, and his operational lifestyle hypocrisy of “rules for thee, but not for me in this most horrible climate crisis” are reprehensible. Furthermore, still sore from conceding the 2000 presidential election to George Bush Two, the book was one big whinefest as he flogged that dead horse. Several times I found myself saying aloud “Let it go, Al. Geez!” Gore also quoted scripture with abandon in misapplication so broad and subtle as to lay a soft but clear case for the necessity of a one-world government.

Time has proven which side he is on and it isn’t freedom and justice.

However, his book made a very good point when it highlighted the methodology employed by all good illusionists: Misdirection.

The illusionists Gore spoke of, though, are all in the legacy media. Yes, they who have been quietly rolled up under a smaller and smaller corporate-owned umbrella. They, whose mandate has been given to increase ratings by misdirection onto things that are made to seem important, but make not one whit of difference to the important task of protection and defense of the Republic (Gore’s words). They, who wouldn’t know how to research if they had a how-to manual in front of them. Who couldn’t write their own copy if their lives depended on it. And who believe what they read on the teleprompter.

Thus, they holler Squirrel! And thus, Gore opined, the media began doing this in earnest at the O.J. Simpson trial that was, in his words, “just an unfortunate excess — an unwelcome departure from the normal good sense and judgment of our television news media”, though the foundation for that excess had already begun to be laid as it was the plan put in motion when opportunity arose.

Gore then lists other media squirrel moments: JonBenét Ramsey murder and the false confession; O.J. Simpson’s unpublished book “If I Did It”; Michael Jackson’s trial and death; Robert Blake’s trial; the murder of the high school girl in Aruba; the Runaway Bride; Lacy Peterson; Chandra Levy; Britney and KFed; Lindsay, Paris, Nicole; Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah’s sofa, marrying Katie Holmes, and Suri’s birth.

That was all just the first swell of the tsunami that became the wall-to-wall 24/7 so-called worldwide news cycle (yes, this type of thing was happening everywhere…by design) that has done nothing but highlight the bizarre as if these were the most important thing ever, misdirecting the attention of citizens away from what was really happening. And what was that?

Destruction of freedom.

As quoted in Gore’s book, Thomas Paine said “in free countries the law ought to be king and there ought to be no other”; but that ongoing chipping away at the foundation of the Republic has gathered steam with the new methodology of entertainment as news has been designed to set up the Aristocracy of Democratic Socialism, or what we rightly call The New Dictators of Communism.

Look at China’s dissing of the United States a few weeks ago as the Weakling on the World Stage. The ChiComs are merely parroting what the Woke Leftist Radicals have been saying for ages…and what Biden and his cabinet are saying publicly in their best but bad Rodney Dangerfield impression: Man, I tell ya, we don’t want no respect, no respect, I tell ya. That’s right we don’t deserve respect so don’t give us any respect.

What’s interesting, though, is that as more of the deplorable Neanderthal dogs begin to understand what the legacy news media are doing and turn their attention to other outlets for news, the legacy media is doubling down on hollering squirrel as they continue to attempt to convince viewers that if it isn’t on or in their approved, glossy, glitzy, established television, Internet, and radio shows or newspapers, then it simply isn’t real or true.

“Ignore the little man behind the curtain” was a prophecy we see being fulfilled.

In his book Gore said: “In order to reclaim our birthright, we Americans must resolve to repair the systemic decay of the public forum. We must create new ways to engage in a genuine and not manipulative conversation about our future.”

Gore also touts the Internet as “not just another platform for disseminating the truth. It’s a platform for pursuing the truth…” (Italics his) He says it “must be developed and protected, in the same way we develop and protect markets — through the establishment of fair rules of engagement and the exercise of the rule of law….We must ensure that the Internet remains open and accessible to all citizens without any limitation on the ability of individuals to choose the content they wish regardless” of which provider is used to access it.

At the time of Gore’s writing those words, Twitter and Facebook were just startups; one company started by a nerd who simply wanted an easy way to meet girls, and another who wanted a quick and easy way to share short messages with simplicity, constraint, and craftsmanship. Did Gore foresee the deployment of evil these two companies would come to do by weaponising technology?

In any case, Gore was not wrong about the power of the Internet, its value in the arsenal against the fight against Evil, and the good it can do. Which is why there has been such a governmental push to regulate it…for our own good, of course.

In any case, it is up to us not to be distracted with the Squirrels! shouted at us nonstop.

When the illusionist is pointing at an object the pretty girl is posing with, then it is up to us to ask what his other hand is doing. I believe that questioning, that watching where they don’t point, is already beginning — and is growing.

The legacy media outlets — audio, print, and televised— are all seeing massive drops in listeners, readers, and viewers. Advertisers are taking notice and putting their marketing dollars elsewhere. In fact, it seems that most ads these days on cable and broadcast television are offers for new medicines that will cure you (if they don’t maim or kill you first) and from personal injury attorneys who will be happy to represent you (or your loved ones if you are dead) against those evil snake oil salesmen.

And just look at the flop that was Harry, Meghan, and Oprah’s big PR Scam O’ Da Month.

This ideological fight takes a diligence, a conscientious attentiveness, that never waivers for long. Evil never quits. Evil never slows its march. So, camp high, face the open, and always fight downhill...and start ignoring those squirrels.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Thank you for participating in spreading good messaging and sharing this with your friends and social network! Born and raised in Georgia, Angela K. Durden is an author, publisher, editor, songwriter, performer, and more, living in the Metro Atlanta, Georgia, area. Her newest novel “The Case of the Snuff Tape Killers” is now available on Amazon.com. Get it today. Thank you!