Congress May Reverse Ban On Domestic Distribution Of Propaganda Material

[DearAbby]

Remember the good ol’ days, when you went to the movie theaters and got to see a short propaganda reel before the main feature? Well, now our propaganda may no longer be relegated to films like Battleship, because an amendment added to a new defense bill will reverse a long-standing ban on disseminating propaganda materials in the United States. Supporters of the amendment argue that such propaganda is needed to combat propaganda being spread online by al-Qaeda.


According to Buzzfeed, if the amendment is passed, “it would give sweeping powers to the State Department and Pentagon to push television, radio, newspaper, and social media onto the U.S. public.” What exactly is the bill trying to accomplish?

The tweak to the bill would essentially neutralize two previous acts—the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 and Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 1987—that had been passed to protect U.S. audiences from our own government’s misinformation campaigns.

The bi-partisan amendment is sponsored by Rep. Mark Thornberry from Texas and Rep. Adam Smith from Washington State.

In a little noticed press release earlier in the week — buried beneath the other high-profile issues in the $642 billion defense bill, including indefinite detention and a prohibition on gay marriage at military installations — Thornberry warned that in the Internet age, the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way.”

More at http://www.mediaite.com/online/congress-may-reverse-ban-on-domestic-distribution-of-propaganda-material/

[awoke_in_2003]

1. oh, i thought this meant...

they were shutting down Fox.

[Uncle Joe]

2. I'm afraid this means the government will become FOX.

[msongs]

3. our freedom loving president will veto it.....yes? nt

[silverweb]

4. Just the next phase.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]You know, the planned 1-2 sucker punches to the dumbed-down, beaten-down citizenry.

(1) Corporations are people and, instead of paying any fair share of taxes, get to spend unlimited amounts of money anonymously lying in whatever way they wish to get people to believe that corporate profits are in their own interest.

(2) The military gets to spend unlimited amounts of our tax dollars (and corporate donations) concocting psy-ops against our population for whatever its partners in the military-industrial complex wish to promote -- like new jingoistic exceptionalism tales, new "terrorist threats," and new wars for profit.

Not at all complicated.

[Kablooie]

5. They are trying to legitimize Republican policy since its all empty propaganda.