The foreign adventurism of the Trump Administration has been epic. Trump built his MAGA-base based on serial lies about how his administration would keep the United States out of foreign conflicts. That's not going too well. So much for holding to John Quincy Adams assertion that America 'Goes Not Abroad in Search of Monsters to Destroy.' Under Trump America is now on a global roll of engaging in wars of aggression.
Yeman, Greenland (laughs), Venezuela, Cuba, now Iran, with his sights set on Russia and China as well as any country in the Global South which fails to accept America as its hegemonic Lord and Savior

However, one aspect of engaging in these wars offers to those with analytical minds:

It provides a Master Class on the use of propaganda in order to manufacture the consent of the common people to support war.

Here are some aspect of propaganda that have been used during the adventurism of Trump's Department of War:

1. Outright Lying and Fabrication Campaigns frequently involve deliberate falsehoods, such as exaggerated atrocity stories or invented threats, to manipulate public opinion and garner support for policies. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

2. Name-Calling Targets are labeled with derogatory terms like "terrorists" or "dictators" to evoke negative emotions and simplify complex geopolitical issues into moral binaries. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

3. Scapegoating Blaming specific groups, such as ethnic minorities or foreign nations, for domestic problems to divert attention from internal failures and unite the populace against a common foe. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

4. Appeal to Fear Instilling dread through images or narratives of imminent danger, such as invasion threats or catastrophic attacks, to mobilize support for defense spending or wars. Sources: https://archives.gov

5. Glorification of the Military Portraying armed forces as heroic and invincible while downplaying casualties or ethical concerns to encourage enlistment and public backing. Sources: https://pbs.org

6. Patriotic Appeals Invoking national pride, duty, and symbols like flags to pressure individuals into conformity, often shaming those who dissent as unpatriotic. Sources: https://neversuchinnocence.comhttps://bbc.co.uk

7. Selective Reporting Emphasizing successes and omitting failures or atrocities committed by one's own side, creating a biased narrative through card-stacking techniques. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.eduhttps://bbc.co.uk

8. Half-Truths Presenting partial facts out of context to mislead, such as highlighting enemy aggressions while ignoring provocative actions by Western powers. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

9. Emotional Manipulation Using vivid imagery, personal stories, or appeals to family and home to bypass rational analysis and provoke instinctive responses. Sources: https://archives.gov

10. Censorship and Suppression Controlling media to silence opposing views, ensuring only approved narratives reach the public and labeling dissent as disloyalty. Sources: https://pbs.org

11. Binary Framing Reducing conflicts to good versus evil, democracy versus tyranny, to eliminate nuance and rally unconditional support. Sources: https://globalchallenges.ch

12. Guilt by Association Linking critics or neutral parties to hated enemies to discredit them without evidence. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

13. Historical Revisionism Rewriting past events to align with current agendas, such as portraying colonial histories as benevolent civilizing missions. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

14. Use of Mass Media Channels Disseminating messages through news, films, posters, and social media to achieve widespread indoctrination. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.orghttps://web.stanford.edu

15. Targeting Reference Groups Influencing key social circles like families or communities to relay propaganda indirectly for greater credibility. Sources: https://britannica.com

16. Exploitation of Prejudices Amplifying existing biases, such as racism or xenophobia, to fuel division and support discriminatory policies. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

17. Glamorization of War Depicting conflicts as adventurous or noble through cultural integrations like movies, making violence appealing. Sources: https://media-studies.ca

18. Black Propaganda Tactics Spreading disinformation while masquerading as the opposition to sow confusion and discredit enemies. Sources: https://rte.ie

19. Repetition and Big Lie Technique Repeating falsehoods persistently until they are accepted as truth, overwhelming critical thinking with volume. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

20. Dehumanization of Enemies Western propaganda often portrays adversaries as subhuman, barbaric, or monstrous to justify military actions and reduce empathy, such as depicting Germans as "Huns" during World War I or enemies as cowards and butchers in World War II. Sources: https://pbs.orghttps://bbc.co.uk

Here is list of six highly regarded books that provide master-level insights into the theory, techniques, mechanisms, and historical application of propaganda. So instead of "doom-scrolling" main-stream media (propaganda), take the time to read up on the techniques then apply them to what you read from ALL SIDE of any given conflict.

1. Propaganda by Edward L. Bernays (1928)

This foundational text, written by the pioneer of modern public relations, candidly explains propaganda as an indispensable tool for shaping public opinion in democratic societies. Bernays outlines practical methods for influencing perceptions across politics, business, and culture, treating it as a legitimate mechanism of social organization.

2. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes by Jacques Ellul (1962, English translation 1965)

Ellul delivers a profound sociological and philosophical analysis, distinguishing types of propaganda (political, sociological, integration) and arguing its inevitability in technological societies. The book examines how propaganda integrates individuals into systems, suppresses critical thought, and reshapes worldviews on a structural level.

3. How Propaganda Works by Jason Stanley (2015)

Stanley offers a contemporary philosophical framework for identifying propaganda in democratic discourse, focusing on how it exploits ideologies, social identities, and linguistic mechanisms to undermine rational deliberation. It provides rigorous tools for detecting subtle manipulation in political language.

4. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky (1988, with updated editions)

The authors articulate the "propaganda model," detailing five structural filters (ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and prevailing ideological threats) that systematically bias media content toward elite interests. This empirically supported analysis illustrates how free media institutions manufacture public consent.

5. Propaganda Technique in World War I by Harold D. Lasswell (1927, reissued editions)

Lasswell systematically classifies propaganda methods from the First World War, developing a general theory of strategy and tactics. It analyzes psychological materials, content categorization (e.g., value demands versus expectations), and organizational execution, offering one of the earliest rigorous, evidence-based examinations of wartime propaganda that remains influential.

6. The Ten Commandments of Propaganda by Brian Anse Patrick (2012)

Patrick distills propaganda into ten core principles (or "commandments") that govern its effective use and understanding. The book serves dual purposes: defensive (dispelling misconceptions and trivializations of propaganda) and offensive (providing a practical guide to its application). It emphasizes propaganda as a situational bid to control meaning and information flow in given circumstances, drawing on decades of study in communication and rhetoric.

2 minutes ago, connda said:

The foreign adventurism of the Trump Administration has been epic. Trump built his MAGA-base based on serial lies about how his administration would keep the United States out of foreign conflicts. That's not going too well. So much for holding to John Quincy Adams assertion that America 'Goes Not Abroad in Search of Monsters to Destroy.' Under Trump America is now on a global roll of engaging in wars of aggression.
Yeman, Greenland (laughs), Venezuela, Cuba, now Iran, with his sights set on Russia and China as well as any country in the Global South which fails to accept America as its hegemonic Lord and Savior

However, one aspect of engaging in these wars offers to those with analytical minds:

It provides a Master Class on the use of propaganda in order to manufacture the consent of the common people to support war.

Here are some aspect of propaganda that have been used during the adventurism of Trump's Department of War:

1. Outright Lying and Fabrication Campaigns frequently involve deliberate falsehoods, such as exaggerated atrocity stories or invented threats, to manipulate public opinion and garner support for policies. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

2. Name-Calling Targets are labeled with derogatory terms like "terrorists" or "dictators" to evoke negative emotions and simplify complex geopolitical issues into moral binaries. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

3. Scapegoating Blaming specific groups, such as ethnic minorities or foreign nations, for domestic problems to divert attention from internal failures and unite the populace against a common foe. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

4. Appeal to Fear Instilling dread through images or narratives of imminent danger, such as invasion threats or catastrophic attacks, to mobilize support for defense spending or wars. Sources: https://archives.gov

5. Glorification of the Military Portraying armed forces as heroic and invincible while downplaying casualties or ethical concerns to encourage enlistment and public backing. Sources: https://pbs.org

6. Patriotic Appeals Invoking national pride, duty, and symbols like flags to pressure individuals into conformity, often shaming those who dissent as unpatriotic. Sources: https://neversuchinnocence.comhttps://bbc.co.uk

7. Selective Reporting Emphasizing successes and omitting failures or atrocities committed by one's own side, creating a biased narrative through card-stacking techniques. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.eduhttps://bbc.co.uk

8. Half-Truths Presenting partial facts out of context to mislead, such as highlighting enemy aggressions while ignoring provocative actions by Western powers. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

9. Emotional Manipulation Using vivid imagery, personal stories, or appeals to family and home to bypass rational analysis and provoke instinctive responses. Sources: https://archives.gov

10. Censorship and Suppression Controlling media to silence opposing views, ensuring only approved narratives reach the public and labeling dissent as disloyalty. Sources: https://pbs.org

11. Binary Framing Reducing conflicts to good versus evil, democracy versus tyranny, to eliminate nuance and rally unconditional support. Sources: https://globalchallenges.ch

12. Guilt by Association Linking critics or neutral parties to hated enemies to discredit them without evidence. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

13. Historical Revisionism Rewriting past events to align with current agendas, such as portraying colonial histories as benevolent civilizing missions. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

14. Use of Mass Media Channels Disseminating messages through news, films, posters, and social media to achieve widespread indoctrination. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.orghttps://web.stanford.edu

15. Targeting Reference Groups Influencing key social circles like families or communities to relay propaganda indirectly for greater credibility. Sources: https://britannica.com

16. Exploitation of Prejudices Amplifying existing biases, such as racism or xenophobia, to fuel division and support discriminatory policies. Sources: https://digital-library.csun.edu

17. Glamorization of War Depicting conflicts as adventurous or noble through cultural integrations like movies, making violence appealing. Sources: https://media-studies.ca

18. Black Propaganda Tactics Spreading disinformation while masquerading as the opposition to sow confusion and discredit enemies. Sources: https://rte.ie

19. Repetition and Big Lie Technique Repeating falsehoods persistently until they are accepted as truth, overwhelming critical thinking with volume. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org

20. Dehumanization of Enemies Western propaganda often portrays adversaries as subhuman, barbaric, or monstrous to justify military actions and reduce empathy, such as depicting Germans as "Huns" during World War I or enemies as cowards and butchers in World War II. Sources: https://pbs.orghttps://bbc.co.uk

Here is list of six highly regarded books that provide master-level insights into the theory, techniques, mechanisms, and historical application of propaganda. So instead of "doom-scrolling" main-stream media (propaganda), take the time to read up on the techniques then apply them to what you read from ALL SIDE of any given conflict.

1. Propaganda by Edward L. Bernays (1928)

This foundational text, written by the pioneer of modern public relations, candidly explains propaganda as an indispensable tool for shaping public opinion in democratic societies. Bernays outlines practical methods for influencing perceptions across politics, business, and culture, treating it as a legitimate mechanism of social organization.

2. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes by Jacques Ellul (1962, English translation 1965)

Ellul delivers a profound sociological and philosophical analysis, distinguishing types of propaganda (political, sociological, integration) and arguing its inevitability in technological societies. The book examines how propaganda integrates individuals into systems, suppresses critical thought, and reshapes worldviews on a structural level.

3. How Propaganda Works by Jason Stanley (2015)

Stanley offers a contemporary philosophical framework for identifying propaganda in democratic discourse, focusing on how it exploits ideologies, social identities, and linguistic mechanisms to undermine rational deliberation. It provides rigorous tools for detecting subtle manipulation in political language.

4. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky (1988, with updated editions)

The authors articulate the "propaganda model," detailing five structural filters (ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and prevailing ideological threats) that systematically bias media content toward elite interests. This empirically supported analysis illustrates how free media institutions manufacture public consent.

5. Propaganda Technique in World War I by Harold D. Lasswell (1927, reissued editions)

Lasswell systematically classifies propaganda methods from the First World War, developing a general theory of strategy and tactics. It analyzes psychological materials, content categorization (e.g., value demands versus expectations), and organizational execution, offering one of the earliest rigorous, evidence-based examinations of wartime propaganda that remains influential.

6. The Ten Commandments of Propaganda by Brian Anse Patrick (2012)

Patrick distills propaganda into ten core principles (or "commandments") that govern its effective use and understanding. The book serves dual purposes: defensive (dispelling misconceptions and trivializations of propaganda) and offensive (providing a practical guide to its application). It emphasizes propaganda as a situational bid to control meaning and information flow in given circumstances, drawing on decades of study in communication and rhetoric.

This is hardly confined to the USA. Russia comes to mind. Can you believe that Russia actually made it a crime to call it's war against Ukraine a war. Instead the Russian government insists that it be called a Special Military Operation. How Orwellian is that? Russian citizens have actually been imprisoned for violating that law.

For those interested in an undergraduate level book on propaganda, I'd suggest Brian Anse Patrick's The Ten Commandments of Propaganda. It's a easy read.

1. Control the Flow of Information

The most important commandment: propagandists must dominate or restrict access to information on a given topic or issue to shape perceptions and outcomes effectively.

2. Piggyback on Existing Beliefs and Values

Propaganda succeeds by aligning with pre-existing ideas, attitudes, and values in the audience's minds rather than attempting to create entirely new ones from scratch.

3. Eliminate Ambiguity

Ambiguity weakens propaganda; effective efforts create clear, binary distinctions (e.g., black and white, us versus them, good versus evil) to simplify complex realities and eliminate shades of gray.

4. Resonate with Primal Psycho-Social Needs

Propaganda must appeal to fundamental human drives, emotions, and psychological imperatives (such as fear, security, belonging, or identity) to achieve deep resonance.

5. Maintain Ubiquity and Repetition

Propaganda operates through persistent, widespread dissemination to normalize messages and overwhelm alternative interpretations.

6. Exploit Situational Control

Propaganda is inherently situational; success depends on seizing the right to define meaning in a given context or crisis.

7. Dehumanize or Demonize the Opponent

Portray adversaries in ways that reduce empathy, often by associating them with evil, barbarism, or subhuman traits.

8. Appeal to Authority and Expertise

Leverage perceived credible sources, institutions, or figures to lend legitimacy to the propagated narrative.

9. Use Emotional and Ideological Appeals

Prioritize affective (emotional) and value-based persuasion over purely rational argumentation.

10. Ensure Self-Interest Alignment

However, Propaganda by Edward Berneys is by no means outdated. Give it a read.

Examples from WW2. In the meanwhile, ruminate of Trump's recent rant that:

From the Times of Israel - "They (Iranian leaders) cut babies’ heads off. They chop women in half — take a look at October 7. Take a look at one they’ve done over the last 47 years,” Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One, appearing to conflate Iran and Hamas...“They’re complaining about a desalination plant. We complain about the fact that they shouldn’t be chopping babies’ heads off,” Trump adds.
While there was initial testimony of babies beheaded on October 7, it was never verified by Israeli authorities.
Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/trump-irans-regime-among-most-evil-people-on-earth-they-cut-babies-heads-off/

Classic propaganda. This is right up there with a Kuwaiti girl in a Congressional testimony claiming that Iraqi troops were throwing babies in incubators onto the floor. Subsequent investigations, including reports by journalists (e.g., John Martin of ABC News in March 1991) and human rights organizations (e.g., Middle East Watch/Human Rights Watch in 1991–1992), concluded that the specific incubator atrocity story was false or unsubstantiated. However, it is great propaganda.

Propaganda like this gets the low-information types in the American public riled up to literally demand that the US go to war. Manufacturing consent at its finest.

Republicans have often been good at that!

Remember the G.W. Bush administration. Iraq's fake WDM and alleged support of Islamic terrorism.

They even proposed relatives of the 9/11 victims to put the victim's names on missiles to be used in Iraq.

Core Propaganda Techniques employed in Trump's rant:

1. Ad Nauseam / Repetition Core assertions—such as Iran being "beat to HELL," having "surrendered," and now being "THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST"—are repeated emphatically and in capitalized, emphatic phrasing. This relentless reiteration aims to normalize the narrative of inevitable Iranian defeat through sheer volume and persistence, exploiting the illusory truth effect where repetition increases perceived credibility absent evidence.

2. Assertion (Bare Assertion / Bald Statement) Claims are presented as self-evident facts without supporting evidence: Iran has "apologized and surrendered," thanked Trump personally, lost for the "first time... in thousands of years," and faces "complete destruction and certain death." No verification is offered; the authority of the speaker substitutes for proof, a classic assertion tactic that discourages scrutiny.

3. Dehumanization and Demonization Iran is reduced to a defeated, humiliated entity stripped of agency and dignity: no longer the "Bully of the Middle East" but the "LOSER," destined to "completely collapse" due to "bad behavior." This language evokes contempt rather than reasoned opposition, aligning with Patrick's commandment to dehumanize or demonize the opponent to erode empathy and justify escalation.

4. Binary Framing / Elimination of Ambiguity The conflict is simplified into stark opposites: Iran as aspiring regional tyrant ("looking to take over and rule the Middle East") versus triumphant U.S.-Israeli forces enforcing justice. Pezeshkian's conditional de-escalation is reframed as full surrender, erasing nuance (e.g., ongoing strikes, internal Iranian dynamics, or mutual provocations) to create a clear good-versus-evil dichotomy.

5. Appeal to Victory / Projection of Inevitability (Piggybacking on Desire for Success) The post taps into audience desires for quick, decisive triumph by declaring Iran's defeat already accomplished and irreversible ("will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse"). This aligns with Patrick's principle of resonating with primal psycho-social needs (e.g., security, dominance) and control of situational meaning.

6. Name-Calling Derogatory labels—"beat to HELL," "LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST"—serve to ridicule and diminish Iran, simplifying complex geopolitics into playground taunts that evoke emotional disdain rather than analytical assessment.

7. Exaggeration / Hyperbole Combined with Threat Historical claims ("first time... in thousands of years") and future threats ("hit very hard," "complete destruction and certain death" for previously off-limits targets) amplify perceived power disparity and urgency, creating fear of escalation while projecting overwhelming superiority.

8. Self-Glorification / Appeal to Authority Trump inserts himself as the decisive agent ("They have said, 'Thank you President Trump.' I have said, 'You're welcome!'"), claiming personal credit for Iran's alleged reversal. This reinforces the propagandist's role as infallible leader.

On 3/8/2026 at 12:21 PM, Alan Zweibel said:

This is hardly confined to the USA. Russia comes to mind. Can you believe that Russia actually made it a crime to call it's war against Ukraine a war. Instead the Russian government insists that it be called a Special Military Operation. How Orwellian is that? Russian citizens have actually been imprisoned for violating that law.

Like a bad tweet in the UK or germany can put you in jail ?

Here is a great example of propaganda in 2026.

Listen for variations of the phrase "Americans will experience short-term pain for long-term gain" which will now be endlessly repeated on US and Western media outlet.
You truly are a fool if you believe that main-stream media are independent of the US government. The media owners and those who run the US government are cut from the same cloth.

This is right up there with the propaganda slogan, "Flatten The Curve."

What I find sad is that most people are too stupid to see propaganda. Not IQ stupid, but "common sense" stupid.

Propaganda Techniques employed:

1. Repetition (Ad Nauseam): The phrase is reiterated verbatim by anchors, commentators, and officials across diverse networks, including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and Newsmax, creating an echo chamber effect that fosters perceived truth through sheer frequency. This tactic overwhelms critical analysis, leveraging psychological principles where repeated exposure enhances credibility, even absent empirical support.

2. Minimization and Euphemism: By framing economic disruptions (e.g., soaring oil prices and supply chain issues), civilian hardships, and military casualties as mere "short-term pain," the narrative downplays the severity of immediate consequences while implying they are temporary and tolerable. This softens public resistance by using neutral or positive language to obscure the human and financial toll.

3. Appeal to Future Benefits (or Deferred Gratification): The slogan promises vague "long-term gain"—such as enhanced security or economic stability—without specifying measurable outcomes or timelines, encouraging audiences to endure present sacrifices based on aspirational outcomes. This technique exploits optimism bias, associating the conflict with eventual prosperity or safety.

4. Bandwagon Effect: The uniform adoption of the phrase across ostensibly independent media outlets implies a broad consensus, pressuring viewers to align with the narrative to avoid isolation. Montages highlighting this synchronization underscore the manufactured unity, fostering a sense of inevitability.

5. Assertion without Evidence: Claims of "long-term gain" are presented as self-evident, often linked to administration talking points, without substantiating data on projected benefits or historical precedents. This relies on authoritative delivery to bypass demands for verification.

6. Transfer or Association: The phrase draws parallels to prior Trump-era policies, such as tariffs, repurposing a familiar economic rationale to legitimize military action and imply consistency in strategy. This transfers perceived successes from one domain to another, enhancing acceptance.

These techniques collectively function to manufacture consent for the conflict by reframing adversity as investment, while critics have highlighted them as indicative of scripted propaganda.