I wrote in my last rant that I’m reading “Mindf*ck” (That’s the title) by Christopher Wylie and would be writing about some of what I’m learning in that book in this rant. Today I’m listening to “The Last Word,” one of the shows I watch on MSNBC, as I’m writing this. It’s interesting that all three of the guests on Lawrence O’Donnell’s show, Joy Reid, Michelle Goldberg, and Nickolas Kristoff, are struggling with how the republicans in Congress across America can continue to support individual 1 despite ALL the reasons why they should be falling off from their support like leaves falling from the trees in October. Well, I believe Wylie’s book – which is focused on his experience as the person who, essentially, started Cambridge Analytica goes a long way in helping to understand the curiosity of those who can’t understand individual 1’s “grip” on the republicans in Congress.

As a preface to the rest of these remarks, here’s the definition of a cult: “a system of religious veneration and devotion directed toward a particular figure or object.” Or, if you’re a republican and you say, “I’m not ‘religious'”: “A misplaced or excessive admiration for a particular person or thing.” And, no, these definitions didn’t come from someplace like the NY Times, instead it came from the “Oxford U.S. dictionary.” And, if you’re an individual 1 supporter, you’re a member of what can easily be described as a CULT.

I’ve started out with the definition of a cult because when you read Wylie’s book it supports the inference that individual 1 has created a massive CULT – with the help of Steve Bannon, in particular, along with Vladimir Putin – and, somehow, whoever the democratic nominee ultimately becomes, he/she SHOULD make this reality part of the campaign. In essence, MANY of individual 1’s supporters have been BRAINWASHED and when you read Wylie’s book you better understand why that assertion is NOT “poppycock.”

Cambridge Analytica (CA) evolved out of a data collection and analysis firm located in London, England which helped, among others, America’s NSA to be able to identify and predict the behavior of, for example, people who were being radicalized online in the U.S. One of the directors of this company, originally called “Strategic Communications Laboratories” (SCL), was a guy named Alexander Nix and he ultimately became the head of CA. SCL’s work was identified to Wylie, as he was being recruited to join, as “work for military and intelligence agencies on projects that governments couldn’t officially undertake themselves.” Wylie ended up helping SCL and, then, Cambridge Analytica improve their sophistication in “The world of psychological warfare.”

So, Wylie began his time working for SCL helping them become much more sophisticated in how they collected and used “data.” They were performing “experiments” in countries located in Africa and/or the Caribbean where it was easy to get permission to do what, in more advanced countries, would be considered violations of people’s privacy. Soon after Wylie became employed by SCL a new potential client showed up: Steve Bannon. Yes, the same Steve Bannon who, to this day, is promoting the right wing “White Nationalist” movement which is spreading from America across Europe.

It was Bannon’s intro to SCL which ultimately led to Cambridge Analytica and, of course, the focus became political surreptitious “warfare.” The first challenge was Brexit which found CA (and a subsidiary which was unnamed at the time) using the data collection tactics which were developed while Wylie was helping SCL, and then, CA prior to Bannon’s intro to their work. Bannon brought in Robert and Rebekah Mercer who provided the “seed” money to start Cambridge Analytica. Wylie claims, in the book, he was “naive” to the intentions of Bannon and the Mercer’s to begin with and, as he better understood what was happening with the data and research he instigated, he chose to leave CA.

At the time he left he says Nix told him, “You’ll be nowhere and we’ll all be in the White House.” Wylie says he thought Nix was crazy, but, of course, at least Bannon did end up in the White House. How did they do this? Well, by now, most people who’ve been paying attention know Cambridge Analytica managed to steal the data from something like 87 MILLION Facebook users and Wylie was right in the middle of that. It appears Facebook almost was encouraging this because, if I understood it correctly, Facebook actually was able to monetize this theft of their user’s data.

CA actually paid people to give up their data which resulted, on average, of CA being able to gain EVERYTHING on not only them, but also 300 of their “likes.” I don’t do Facebook, so I’m only sharing what I saw in Wylie’s book. Thousands of people gave up their information, essentially ALL of it, when CA paid them $1 to fill out a form which was the mechanism which opened the door to EVERYTHING they say and do – plus all their friends. Once they had the data they began what was essentially an experiment to see if they could psychologically change people’s beliefs. They organized the data into groups of tendencies and figured out how to “attack” these groups by intensifying their emotions which would lead to possibly changing voting tendency.

Wylie was gone from CA by the time of Brexit but he was still in touch with many of the people still active in the company. Clearly, Brexit was influenced by the work of CA which was, by then, under the control of Bannon. CA also was, to a degree, connected with the Russians, to some degree, at that point in time, which supports my inference made a couple years ago that CA – and, therefore Bannon – and, ultimately Jared Kushner – were somehow associated with the Russian “meddling” in the 2016 American election. (“COLLUSION?”) How did CA work? Well, you hear individual 1 “project” all the time when he refers to “fake news.”

While Wylie helped CA collect and analyze immense amounts of data, the ultimate effect of what they were doing has to do with what they did with this data – I would call it very sophisticated and organized LYING. How did they figure out how to go about doing this? Well, Wylie, who is a Canadian, had gained so much access to people’s privacy that CA could actually watch TV with their unsuspecting targets by paying for interviews. This is where Wylie got introduced to Fox “news.” (My quotes) He was astonished as “People would flip on Fox and their rage became palpable.”

Here’s some of Wylie’s observations of Fox: “People would feel better about their day after an hour-long session in the Fox News rage room – they could groan out their stress, and afterward their problems at work or home were someone else’s fault.” He went on to say people watching Fox had been “programmed” to find various ways to blame “liberals” or “Obamacare” for their problems. He said, “Fox News fuels anger with its hyperbolic narratives because anger disrupts the ability to seek, rationalize, and weigh information.” Fox was “conditioning people’s sense of identity into something that could be weaponized.” In other words, Fox was giving CA strategies they could use to make the effect of the data they held to the satisfaction of Bannon.

Fox was reminding people, according to Wylie, that “if you are an ordinary American this is the way you think.” Wylie then gives a psychological analysis of what Fox is doing: “This primes people for identity-motivated reasoning, which is a bias that essentially makes people accept or reject information based on how it serves to build or threaten group identity rather than on the merits of the content.” I’ll simplify this to what I believe – they’re BRAINWASHING their audience. And, they’re doing it in concert with Bannon and others, who remain anonymous, in the right wing world who consider individual 1 a “useful idiot.”

Make no mistake, individual 1 – despite NEVER having a popularity over 45% AND having a commitment from something like 54% of Americans who say they would NEVER vote for him – very well could end up re-elected – possibly leading me into the world of depression! Cambridge Analytica no longer exists, but the Russians AND Bannon – at least – still have the data AND the strategies they used to pull of the unimaginable in 2016 – and, of course, individual 1 is almost openly welcoming the Russians back in and why would they NOT want individual 1 in the White House for another four years. Putin has made HUGE advances due to the policies of individual 1 which almost seems as if he’s intent on “making Russia Great again.”

So, just as the Russians were targeting groups of American to foment their vulnerabilities and intensifying anger and hate, Cambridge Analytica was doing the same. Based on what Wylie has included in his book – and, by the way, he includes the names of those involved – it’s hard to believe there wasn’t “COLLUSION” between Bannon and Kushner and the Russians. They were doing, essentially, the same thing – sending targeted MISINFORMATION (“Fake News”) to groups of people they were able to predict, usually accurately, how it would be received. Their focus was on intensifying the cultural divide which was “simmering” in America.

Bannon understood the sad reality there was a large group of people in America who were latent racists and were susceptible to “fake news” designed to tear off the “scabs.” That was one of the focuses of CA’s (and that of the Russians) attack on America’s electorate. Of course, they were also working in concert with Fox – basically, using the prejudices of the Fox viewers (which they knew who they were) and working to intensify the HATE which was simmering with that group of people. Their strategy was completely based on attacking the cultural divide in America which manifests itself in multiple ways.

Not only was CA trying to make those susceptible to the “White Nationalist” bent, but they also went after those in the African American community in an effort to keep African Americans from actually voting at all. (Obviously, they knew it was unlikely many African Americans would vote for individual 1) Additionally, they had identified the members of the “conservative Christian” community and they “attacked” them with fake news which was tilted toward HATING liberals – who, of course, were identified as democrats. (I can guarantee you, this is continuing as I’m writing this) Their (CA) strategy was based on “attacking” people’s fears and vulnerability leading toward increased anger – and their work was extremely effective.

All of what went on in 2015 and 2016 (and which is ongoing) – whether coming from the Russians or Cambridge Analytica – explains what the pundits like I mentioned above (and many others as well) continue to wonder why republicans continue standing with individual 1 despite the reality he’s clearly the MOST corrupt (so-called) president in America’s history. (Today, I saw a segment showing the number of occasions which appeared to be examples of corruption coming from individual 1 and there were over 1000 examples of his self dealing since he took an oath to defend the constitution – which prohibits exactly that) A large segment of America has been BRAINWASHED. Yes, we all have our biases, but if you’ve ever attempted to dialogue with a Fox “news” viewer and seen the resulting throwing of things, you know what I’m talking about!

I would refer you back to the definition of a cult above. Clearly, based on both examples I listed – one regarding “religion” and one not – individual 1’s following would meet the definition of a cult. If that doesn’t get your attention, well, maybe you’re part of the cult. This is dangerous because there’s basically nothing “we the people” can say to influence this cult – because they are continually getting the same “fake news” from Fox and the Russians, among who knows who else. Yes, Cambridge Analytica no longer exists, but I’m certain their data, their research associated with that data, their methods of collecting and analyzing it still exists and, I’m certain it would be Bannon or the Mercers who have it.

This is all why I believe the misinformation campaign foisted on the unsuspecting American public is continuing as I’m writing this. In fact, this right wing “fake news” campaign is going on in various countries around the world. Sadly, this comes across as a populist movement, but the reality is that the issue of income inequality continues to get worse and it’s the people at the top (the so-called top 1%) who are the benefactors of the movement which has put their “useful idiot” in the White House. The bottom line here is creating a cult out of a political party is a “clear and present danger” to America’s republic!

Final Thought: When “we the people” are deciding who should be in the “White House” in November of this year my hope is the focus would be on the pressing issues such as CLIMATE CHANGE, health care, infrastructure, education, and, yes, an honorable immigration policy which is consistent with American history – among the many issues which are languishing in Moscow Mitch’s waste basket. During President Obama’s administration McConnell simply filibustered EVERYTHING – now, with the democrats passing something like 400 bills he simply “deep sixes” them – preventing even a debate and vote and MOST of what “we the people” want coming out of OUR Congress.

My hope is that with the clear and present danger of CLIMATE CHANGE being undeniable – as we are watching MILLIONS of acres in Australia burning (costing MILLIONS of animals like Koala’s and Kangaroos their lives) along with countless other examples of what is happening to our planet and the reality we can’t afford 4 more years of ignoring this threat to humanity – young people in America will head to the polls in November and VOTE in numbers never seen before. After all, it’s their lives on the line more than with old geezers like myself. Additionally, if there’s ever going to be a fight to mitigate gun violence in America the republicans have to “go.” And, health care? Right now, as I’m writing this, individual 1 is in court attempting to get rid of the Affordable Care Act (ie Obamacare) completely – with NO alternative.

Infrastructure? – nothing! (and, the issue with just roads and bridges would require at least a couple TRILLION dollars to bring existing structures up to code) Immigration? America’s immigration policy under individual 1 (and, of course, Stephen Miller) has been shameful! The “Dreamers” still are languishing in the courts, etc. I could go on and on with all this, but the bottom line is “we the people” need our young people to stand up and defend our republic in a way that works for their own best interest.

One More Thing: Last night it was reported Qasem Suleimani, the military leader of Iran, along with a military leader of Iraq were both killed at the airport in Baghdad. This is evidence of the power Mike Pompeo has over individual 1. Here’s the question: Are we headed for more intense WAR in the Middle East? Is this the result of individual 1 pulling America out of the “Iran Nuclear Agreement?” I heard a pundit on TV today suggest individual 1’s administration “wants regime change in Iran” – which, to me, is absurd (Do they know nothing of history – and how America was responsible for the Shah?) I wonder how many people around the world want “regime change” in America? Our voters will be challenged in November, because if “we the people” somehow send a message to the world that individual 1 is “acceptable” I believe this country will have forfeited it’s place as “the leader of the free world” for – maybe – forever!