War in the Age of Online Pressure Campaigns
I said the other day that the war between Russian and Ukraine is an example of war in the social media age. So it isn’t entirely surprising that it’s our first war in the age of online pressure campaigns since online pressure campaigns are a natural by-product of the social media age.
It’s been fascinating to watch the vapid narcissism of online pressure campaigns being deployed in response to war.
The same breathless dipshits who campaign to get a university to fire a professor for saying something counter to approved thought are now trying to get Russians living in the west fired from their jobs for not condemning Vladimir Putin.
The same hysterics who badger companies to pull their advertising from Fox News are now badgering companies to pull their businesses out of Russia.
And because the people who participate in online pressure campaigns are narcissists with a very narrow view of the world, it doesn’t occur to them that it’s insane to deploy against Russia the same tactics they use against, say, a celebrity who says women don’t have penises.
Yes, my friends, online pressure campaigns have found a new battleground and it’s the oldest battleground in human history.
Take a look at this:
I bet you ten bucks every one of those corporations was also pressured into releasing a statement in support of Black Lives Matter during the 2020 BLM riots.
And now, any corporation that won’t cut ties with Russia is being hectored and badgered by the same people who demand corporations stop advertising during Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Hashtags like #BoycottMcDonalds and #BoycottPepsi are trending on Twitter as the usual dopes demand that these companies bend to their wishes.
And as with every online pressure campaign, the media and politicians are jumping on the pig-pile.
Yesterday, Reuters published a piece suggesting that all “major global brands” pause their operations in Russia.
The Reuters article notes that New York State’s Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has sent letters to companies urging them “to review their business in Russia because they face ‘significant and growing legal, compliance, operational, human rights and personnel, and reputational risks.’”
It was reported yesterday that Russian soprano Anna Netrebko will not be performing this year at the Met because she won’t “repudiate” Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Netrebko has expressed her opposition to the war in Ukraine which she described as a “senseless war of aggression.”
But that isn’t enough. She must denounce Vladimir Putin.
See, it’s easy for us to “repudiate” Vladimir Putin because we don’t have family in Russia whose lives might be made extremely difficult by what we say.
A famous opera singer from Italy can repudiate Putin to her heart’s content without fear of putting a target on the back of her family.
This is what these gormless dopes don’t understand.
Their threats pale in comparison to what Vladimir Putin could do to this opera singer’s family.
And shame on the Met for caving.
But you know what’s worse? The Met is using the same virtue-signaling bullshit in response to this pressure campaign that got used during the BLM riots. In short, they’ve hired a Ukrainian singer to replace the Russian Netrebko.
See what I mean?
It is utterly fascinating the way these people treat an actual global cataclysm like a war in the same way they treat every other outrage du jour.
Russian athletes are getting kicked out of sporting events – including the Paralympics in Beijing.
Yeah, they’re punishing disabled Russians for Putin invading Ukraine.
Isn’t it ironic that the Paralympics is barring Russian athletes from games being held in friggin’ Beijing, China? Talk about a lack of self-awareness.
But wait! There’s more!
They’re also punishing Russian cats for shit’s sake.
I’m not kidding about that. The Federation Internationale Feline announced on Thursday that Russian cats will be banned from all competition until June at the earliest.
“The Board of FIFe feels it cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing,” the Federation’s statement said.
Was Ukraine invaded by a herd of Russian cats?!
Sweet merciful Zeus.
Actress Patricia Arquette tried to start another online pressure campaign yesterday, namely to get Russia kicked out of … wait for it … NATO.
Yeah. She’s that stupid.
It took her hours to delete that idiotic tweet. But I managed to capture it before she did.
What is amazing to me is how many people in the replies were totally on board with Patty’s call to remove Russia from the treaty organization set up to defend Western Europe … from Russia.
Great goobly-moobly, these people are retarded.
Dave Reaboi is right. It is a moral panic – the same way COVID and January 6 became moral panics.
Two years ago, people who questioned the sanity of shutting down the entire US economy over a virus were accused of wanting to kill grandma.
If you say the January 6 riot was stupid and foolish but it wasn’t an “Insurrection,” you’re accused of being a seditionist who is trying to destroy democracy.
During a moral panic, there can be no moderation or rational thought.
Now, thanks to this coordinated online pressure campaign being bolstered by the corporate news media and politicians from both parties, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released yesterday shows 74% of respondents want the US and NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
The poll itself is a pressure campaign and Reuters admits it in that article:
That puts pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to take more aggressive actions against Moscow, although he has dismissed the notion of no-fly zones because of the risk of open conflict between NATO and Russian forces.
Do the 74% of respondents in favor of this madness think a no-fly zone consists of a magical forcefield beamed over Ukraine?
Do they not realize how a no-fly zone is enforced?
I’m curious to know how Reuters/Ipsos worded the question here.
Truth is, I highly doubt respondents were told that a no-fly zone would require US and NATO forces to shoot down Russian aircraft that violate the no-fly zone, effectively pulling us into a direct shooting war with a nuclear power.
If I had to guess, I’d say 64% of that 74% don’t know that. And if Reuters/Ipsos made it clear, that number would drop precipitously.
But thanks to a coordinated, weeklong pressure campaign calling for a no-fly zone, 74% of respondents stupidly support it.
It’s also wise to keep in mind that there is an agitprop carpet-bombing campaign being waged by both pro-Ukraine and pro-Russia elements.
Writer David Reaboi, who wrote a book on Qatar’s information warfare, delves into the Russia/Ukraine information warfare in his latest Substack column, “Ukraine and the NGO Archipelago.” It is an outstanding read, and I highly recommend it.
You might ask yourself why would the American corporate media want to “pressure” the Biden administration into establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine? Surely they know it would result in a war between NATO and the Russian Federation.
Oh, they know. They just don’t care.
America getting dragged into another World War makes for excellent ratings.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, CNN was drawing over a million viewers a night to its primetime shows for the first time in months.
Imagine how much of a ratings boost CNN would get if war broke out between Russia and the United States.
Think that’s cynical?
This is the same cable network that was so thrilled at their bump in ratings during the Capitol riot, that one year later they had wall-to-wall coverage of the Democrats’ January 6 anniversary campaign event.
These are the guys that cheered the destruction of the US economy over a virus with a 99% survival rate just to get rid of a president they hated. Do you think the prospect of hundreds of Americans coming home in body bags gives them pause? Oh, honey. They love the idea because war is ratings gold.
But you know what worries me most about these online pressure campaigns that are happening right now?
The White House.
The Biden administration has a proven track record of caving to online pressure.
As I said in my column “The Twitter Administration: Governing By Internet Hoax:”
This has been a social media-driven administration from the get-go which is why so much of the garbage they are pushing, while popular on Twitter, really has no actual support out here in the real world.
I don’t doubt for a moment that Biden would announce a no-fly zone over Ukraine because of this coordinated, all-hands-on-deck pressure campaign.
This is the same administration that fell for the online pressure campaign calling for border patrol officers on horseback to be “investigated” and “fired” for “whipping” Haitian illegals.
It was an obvious lie. But administration officials from Alejandro Mayorkas to Kamala Harris to the President himself bought it hook, line, and sinker.
These guys are so plugged into the Outrage Machine on Twitter, it controls White House policy like a tail wagging a dog.
And, frankly, that scares the shit of me right now.
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