If you haven't seen the rant Fox News's Greg Gutfeld went on about the media hypocrisy around the "cheap fakes" narrative they're trying to spread about the videos that point out Biden is a mentally deficient octogenarian who should be in a retirement home, not an Oval Office, then you should definitely watch it.
As Sister Toldjah wrote, Gutfeld slammed the press in Gutfeld fashion, pointing out how it's carrying the "cheap fake" narrative like good little Democrat foot soldiers, yet was conspicuously absent during every hoax that was launched against Donald Trump during his presidency.
"Where were these anti-hoaxers in the ‘fine people hoax’, the ‘drinking bleach hoax’, the ‘koi pond hoax’, the ‘migrant kids in cages hoax’, the ‘border patrol migrants whipping migrants hoax’, the ‘lab leak is a conspiracy theory hoax’, the ‘Russian collusion hoax’…?”
Great monologue, but the underlying issue Gutfeld is complaining about is the left's use of Alinsky tactics. In this case, the use of rules 4, 5, 8, and 12.
They are:
Rule 4: "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules."
Rule 5: "Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon."
Rule 8: "Keep the pressure on. Never let up."
Rule 12: "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."
The media's pattern of utilizing Alinsky tactics has done it and the left a lot of good, and they've had quite a bit of success with it, even in recent times. The issue is that the law of undulation is absolute. Alinsky's tactics have a shelf-life and the more they're utilized, the more people are going to figure out what you're doing and then find ways to fight it.
Where Alinsky was once the Red Bull that gave the left wings, it's now the weight that drags them down. The sugar high is wearing off. They attacked too much, ridiculed too often; when you target, freeze, personalize, and polarize anyone too often, the fear of being targeted wears off. This especially applies when you attack the same target over and over again.
In this case, the target has been Trump. They wanted to make Trump look like a massive villain, and they succeeded in many ways, but now it's becoming clear that a lot of the Democrats' theatrical hyperventilating about the man was all just that: theatrics. Every attack, from the Russian hoax to the New York trial where Trump was found guilty of multiple felonies, is all Alinsky tactics made manifest.
And all of it is in an attempt to enact the fourth rule, making you live up to your own book of rules.
The left wants you to see Trump as a villain, too. They want you to see all these vile stories about him. They're feeding you reasons as a stand-up citizen of traditional values to reject him. He's a convicted criminal!
And yet...no one's biting. In fact, we Americans, with our traditional values, seem to be more enthused to vote for Trump than ever before. I would argue that this is because of a massive miscalculation by the left. It doesn't understand American culture. Yes, it's largely Judeo-Christian, but our entire culture and the blood that flows through our veins is based in rebellion. We don't like the establishment by nature. We're untrusting of it, and the Democrats have proven themselves to be the establishment, making Trump the de facto rebel leader in the minds of many by virtue of simply being the target of constant attacks.
There's nothing in Alinsky's rule book about this. The left continues with its failing tactic because it doesn't know what else to do.
What's worse is that the population that is catching onto the strategy — even if they don't know it by name — and is utilizing counter-strategies to combat the left.
For instance, every time the left attempts to utilize five, eight, and 12 to get people to obey with four, the right begins pointing out the left's hypocrisies and crimes forthwith. Whatever attack they mustered is immediately shrugged off, and the left is forced to stand there weaponless and embarrassed...or as embarrassed as a sociopathic ideology can feel.
Moreover, it shows that the left doesn't just misunderstand America, it misunderstands conservatives. Alinsky wrote the rules to apply in a land where conservatives were largely passive and happy to ask forgiveness out of pure politeness. It was easy to shame people into compliance back then, not because they were better people, but because they thought we were all playing by the same rules.
That brand of conservatism is pretty much gone at this point. We've learned that these rules only apply to one side, and if that's the case, then we aren't going to play this stupid game. The conservatives in America have evolved, and the left hasn't caught on yet, despite having their faces continuously rubbed in the fact.
Does this mean the left is weaponless?
Not even remotely. The left still controls too many stages, from the news to entertainment. The fact that the "cheap fake" narrative exists at all is proof of just how controlled these outlets are. Anything remotely moderate would have laughed it off.
Moreover, they own many information gateways and will happily manipulate what they can to give weight to their narratives.
So, while their tactics might be failing, their weapons are still sharp. The good news is that their weapons can only hurt so much if they no longer know how to use them.