Cognitive infiltration?
Should the Federal government be infiltrating and disrupting groups they deem to hold conspiracy theories or who may hold what they deem as non-mainstream views? Not that they pose any physical threat mind you. It seems like implementing such a policy would essentially validate any conspiracy theorists paranoia.
In a 2008 academic paper, President Barack Obama’s appointee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs advocated “cognitive infiltration” of groups that advocate “conspiracy theories” like the ones surrounding 9/11.
Sunstein argued that “government might undertake (legal) tactics for breaking up the tight cognitive clusters of extremist theories.” He suggested that “government agents (and their allies) might enter chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine percolating conspiracy theories by raising doubts about their factual premises, causal logic or implications for political action.” ~rawstory.com
Is this our future under Obama and one-party rule? Government infiltrators meant to discredit and shape public opinion? I’m absolutely positive from the comments already made public by democrats that Tea Party protestors would be prime targets as well.
He says that the reason this must be done is that these ‘conspiracy theorists’ are uninformed. So the government must send in infiltrators to undermine their arguments and create confusion, distrust, and fear. Hmm.
That alone is enough, but this Obama official also suggests some insane speech chilling policies.
Sunstein’s book is a blueprint for online censorship as he wants to hold blogs and web hosting services accountable for the remarks of commenters on websites while altering libel laws to make it easier to sue for spreading “rumors.”
Smith notes that bloggers and others would be forced to remove such criticism unless they could be “proven”. The litigation expense would be daunting; the time necessary to defend a posting (or an article) would work to the benefit of the public figure being criticized since the delay would probably allow the figure to win an election before the truth “won out”. The mere threat of retaliatory actions would be enough to dissuade many commentators from daring to issue a word of criticism or skepticism. ~americanthinker.com
These kinds of regulations coupled with reimplementation of the Fairness Doctrine would effectively cripple the free speech of conservatives. Which is the reason that Democrats are proposing these ideas in the first place.
I think that this is exactly what was meant when Michelle Obama said that Barack would, “never allow us to go back to our lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.”
Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.
~Michelle Obama, Speech at UCLA