BRANDON J. WEICHERT & CHRIS BUSKIRK | AMERICAN GREATNESS
In the 2010 hit film, Inception, the lead character—portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio—explains to his protégé—played by Ellen Page, “An idea is like a virus. Resilient. Highly contagious. And even the smallest seed of an idea can grow. It can grow to define or destroy you.” The story centers around DiCaprio and his team kidnapping a corporate CEO, invading his dreams, and planting into his subconscious a false notion about why he should destroy his own company. The most effective lies—or disinformation—work in exactly this way.
What began as a simple false notion from the American Left―that the Russians hacked the 2016 presidential election to benefit Donald Trump’s candidacy―slowly evolved into a full-blown constitutional crisis. Soon, that false notion—that lie—could work its way from the far Left political fringe and into the political mainstream. If the lie is repeated enough times and by enough different voices that it becomes indistinguishable from other, more believable news (i.e., that Hillary Clinton used her family’s charity as a sop for illegal campaign donations when she was Secretary of State), then just as it did in the movie, the false notion will begin to consume the target audience. It will proceed until the target acts according to the dictates of that false notion—in this case, to impeach (or otherwise to turn against) President Trump.
Brandon J. Weichert is a geopolitical analyst and author. His book, "Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower" is due out in Fall 2020 from Republic Book Publishers and addresses the need for a U.S. Space Force, the threats the United States faces from rising technological powers, such as China, in space, and where the United States should be moving in terms of space defense, exploration, and development. On top of that, Brandon is the founder and manager of The Weichert Report: World News Done Right, where he delivers unconventional reportage on some of the world's most important news stories. He is also a contributing editor at American Greatness and The American Spectator, and he contributes to Real Clear Public Affairs, Real Clear World, and Real Clear Defense regularly. Brandon's work on national security has also been republished in Yahoo! News, the New York Post, The Spectator US, and The National Interest. Brandon is a frequent guest on The John Batchelor Show where he comments on Chinese technology and trade policies. He travels the country briefing audiences from the military and tech investment community on matters related to technology and national security. Brandon is a recovering Congressional staffer who holds an M.A. in Statecraft and National Security Affairs from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. and he can be followed on Twitter @WeTheBrandon. Please be sure to follow The Weichert Report's Facebook page @theweichertreport, too. For any press or media inquiries email him at theweichertreport@gmail.com.
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