Gaslighting, as I have come to understand the use of the word, is simply trying to make someone believe something that is not true. A spouse for instance who tries to convince their mate that he or she is going insane.
Gaslighting is employed generously in today’s political environment. Normally it’s when there is a truth that is too damaging to be commonly known. The hunter Biden laptop is a stark example of this and provides us a highly teachable moment.
The president’s son, who apparently chooses to live part of his life in a fog, dropped a computer off at a shop and forgot to retrieve it. After 90 days the proprietor of the computer shop became the legal owner of that laptop. When he looked into it however, he became very concerned because there were things on that laptop that, for normal people like himself, would be considered a felony. Dutifully, he gave it to the FBI thinking they would handle it from there, but after months nothing happened. Well then just weeks before the 2020 election, word of this laptop got out and became a news item. You can imagine the panic in the Biden campaign when this became known.
So what we have here is a truth that is much too uncomfortable to be commonly known.
Time for gaslighting: Russian disinformation, they said. Rudy Giuliani was working with the Russians to bring new information into the campaign, they said. Former security heads have signed a letter declaring it looks like Russian disinformation, they said.
As a chorus, all across the media, they carried that theme. Every one of those people knew it was a made up smokescreen. And you’ll notice that that didn’t stop them.
Nor, did it stop there. These were dire times. This was just weeks ahead of an election, and maybe some people would not believe the smokescreen. Simply gaslighting the population with a new version of the truth may not be enough. So this is what happened next…and this is a new new tool, if you will, in the arsenal of the propagandist.
The media did, as we said, present the Russian disinformation theme incessantly. But because any discussion of the real truth could be too damaging, it was necessary to penalize people that dared to speak it.
All across the land, people who spoke or wrote about the Biden laptop, found that their voices were silenced. The microphone was taken out of their hands. Their social media accounts—some with millions of followers—were closed down. It became a dangerous topic to discuss. Walk on eggshells or risk being silenced. And, within days, people just stopped talking about it. And when people stopped talking about it, it went away—no longer a topic of discussion in the public forum— no longer a fact.
Today, after the election, it’s generally acknowledged that it was a lie. There was no Russian disinformation. The laptop actually was that of Hunter Biden and those who spoke of it were speaking the truth. But the dire timing of this damaging story needed the one-two punch: First, gaslight—replace the truth with a new, dishonest narrative. And secondly—place a high penalty on anyone who dared to speak anything else.
And it worked. People stopped talking about it. 10% of the people who voted for Joe Biden said they had never heard of the laptop, and if they had heard of it, it might have turned their heads. And the rest is history.
So this is what is done when when gaslighting is not enough—when the truth is just too damaging to be spoken. First, gaslight and then penalize. Shut down the truth and replace it with a fabricated narrative.
Since then, we’ve seen it again. there was yet another truth too damaging to be spoken.
Maybe you noticed that after the 2020 election there was a great deal of discussion about the integrity of that election. Do you hear about ballot hijinks anymore? Not at all. All discussion on that topic has ceased.
Trumps big lie, they call it now. The cleanest election ever, they now say. More social media accounts were closed down. Billion Dollar lawsuits were filed against those who dared to speak it. And once again it’s gone away. No longer a topic of discussion. Must not be a fact.
Gaslight and penalize. Are you seeing the pattern?
