Scandals and intrigues often spelt the downfall of
many prominent politicians. Consider these instances of famous Filipino and
foreign figures whose political careers have been (or were almost) ruined by
it…
·
Elpidio
Quirino's 1953 re-election attempt was quashed by a circulated gossip. He
reportedly bought a golden arinola for personal use in the Malacanang. Thanks
to the nasty rumor, rival Ramon Magsaysay won a landslide victory over him.
·
Apolinario
Mabini fell prey to a vicious tsismis
that he contracted syphilis (a sexually-transmitted disease), causing his
demise. This arose during the time the still-living Mabini was nominated to be
the country’s first Supreme Court Chief Justice. But in truth, cholera claimed
the life of the Sublime Paralytic on May 13, 1903. He got ill from it after
ingesting unboiled, contaminated carabao milk.
·
If
not for James Garfield's reputation as a good speller, a letter (that he
allegedly written) would have cost him the 1880 US presidency. In the letter,
he says he approves of the unhampered immigration of Chinese workers to the US
- threatening unemployed Americans. But two spelling mistakes revealed it as a
forgery. And so, he went on to become America's 20th president.
All three became victims to acts of black propaganda –
any systematic effort to spread negative opinions or beliefs against a person
(or virtually anything that anyone wants discredited). Recent approaches have
become more subtle, giving the appearance that no smear campaign is being
waged. BUT, IF ONE IS AWARE OF THE METHODS, THEY CAN BE NEUTRALIZED AT THE MERE
HINT OF THEIR USE. Many have sought how black propaganda is carried out, and
the late American author, Herbert I. Schiller gave ideas how in his book, “The
Mind Managers”. In reading it, one may get the idea that waging black
propaganda is no different from psychological warfare. Also called, “psy-ops”
(short for psychological operations); it’s one of the most insidious forms of
combat – insidious, in the sense that it involves exhorting a group to turn
against one of their own. No weapons are involved except the images, statements
or staged actions meant to trick an enemy nation’s citizens to lend support for
(or submit to) a cause – that Schiller would say- “not in their long-term
interest”. The Chinese military has a long, documented history of augmenting
psy-ops into their war campaigns. China’s wordplay over the Spratly issue
(including the use of harassing tactics by her navy against Philippine ships)
is such an example. Her methods were meant to cause the Philippines to succumb
to her demands, without firing a single shot. In an episode in Chinese history,
the future first Han emperor, Liu Bang, forced a town to yield to him using
mere threats. An insurrection after the fall of the Ch’in dynasty put the
officials in the town of P’ei in a quandary: should they go support the
rebellion or side with the Ch’in loyalists? They reluctantly chose the former
option and enlisted the services of Liu Bang (then an outlaw) for the cause.
Liu openly accepted their offer, and then set off for P’ei with a hundred men.
But upon arriving at the town gates, they (the town authorities) locked him
out. The feeble-minded officials decided at the last minute to scrap the
agreement. A furious Liu wrote a threat (that he tied to an arrow to shoot over
the gates) exhorting the townspeople to execute the idiots and to let him in,
at the risk of being massacred. The circumstances of the moment prompted them
to do. They believed that a skirmish with his group (at a time like that) was
out of the question. Apparently, his threat got the better of them, as he was
rumored to be extremely ruthless and cunning. Either he kills them or the
loyalists would, since their leaders formerly agreed to side with the rebels.
Liu Bang then became the town’s protector, from where he started his quest to
be China’s next emperor. Waging psy-ops fulfills one of Sun Tzu’s tenets: subdue,
without fighting the enemy. Winning (or subduing) the hearts and minds of the
people counts much in winning a war – or any desired objective. Advertising
also counts on winning the hearts and minds of the people for a product,
service – or belief. And that leads to Schiller’s definition of what a mind
manager is. But first, one has to look at his positive obverse, the media
manager. (To be continued…)
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