I want to talk a bit about conspiracies.
No, I'm not going full Alex Jones.
My job is to present news that looks like it's satire, but isn't. That involves an ample amount of scrutinizing the media complex that has, until recently, had a stranglehold over the information market as gatekeepers.
Whenever there is an event, rumors and theories abound. Was the release of Covid orchestrated as a purposeful attack? Was Dominion Voting Systems either hacked or complicit in ballot miscounts? Was there a second shooter at the water tower at the Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump rally? Were aliens responsible?
Most of these theories are anecdotal, sensational clickbait. They are centered around nuggets of truth but remain unprovable at best because of the lack of transparency around a certain event.
As such, it's not best to focus on them. One can keep the data points of the wilder claims in mind (and laugh at the truly crazy stuff), but don't go believing every random anon's crackpot theory.
Wise people should know better.
William of Ockham posited in the 14th century that the simplest explanation is often the best: Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem ("Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity"). Long before him, Aristotle argued that a person can assume that an idea "which derives from fewer postulates or hypotheses" is the better one. Ptolemy also argued that the "simplest hypothesis possible" is best.
The adage doesn't always work. Simpler explanations are not always better, especially when dealing with the work of God, but when you combine simple hypotheses with evidence that looks at incentives (assuming you have a good understanding of human nature), you can often explain what happened or predict the future, like Vivek last November:
Ockham's adage can also be combined with a saying of Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, (Joe Biden's very own town!): "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
Pushing aside the extraneous evidence and keeping these principles in mind, one can come to certain conclusions about recent events and their parallels in recent years.
In 2020, the donor class, political insiders, and the managerial bureaucracy moved heaven and earth to stack the odds against Donald Trump in the presidential election against Joe Biden.
They had spent 3 years falsely portraying Trump as a neo-Nazi sympathizer — blatantly taking his "very fine people" quote out of context — as well as pushing the completely fabricated narrative of the Steele Dossier and the allegation that Trump was a Russian agent.
The propaganda campaign extended to all areas of Trump's presidency, including the moment that "redpilled" me — the circus show that was the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The narrative relied on slander and half-baked accusations. You may remember that Kamala Harris was at the center of that particular propaganda push.
Because this propaganda had failed to unseat Trump's popularity and policies, the Total State drew on the chaos of 2020 in order to crush their enemies. Covid was a perfect vehicle for imposing relaxed voting policies and portraying conservatives as unkind and uncaring. You may recall Kamala being at the forefront of that messaging as well.
When Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the back of George Floyd, a violent felon who was in the process of resisting arrest after committing fraud and was high on multiple drugs including fentanyl, it provided the optics needed for another propaganda push. Rioters caused billions of dollars of damage across America. Those pushing the lies about Floyd's arrest knew what they were doing, but it made Trump look weak and authoritarian, so they were fine with it. You may recall that Kamala Harris even bailed out the rioters.
Finally, when the story of Hunter Biden's very-real laptop dropped, the Total State said it was fake and censored the story across the internet. No one was allowed to talk about it. Later polls would show that 17% of voters would have changed their minds about voting Biden if they had known about some of the scandals surrounding him and his family.
As a parting shot, the Total State then spent the next 2-3 years focused on January 6th as a constant reminder of what will happen if you go against them.
So, how does this pattern inform the current election in 2024?
It started off last year with the media promoting GOP candidates like Nikki Haley and Chris Christie - allies of the Total State - while downplaying anyone else.
When that failed, the cases against Donald Trump began to ramp up. He was hauled into court in New York on three separate cases: a civil case alleging sexual assault, a case from the state attorney general related to his businesses, and a case from the NYC district attorney involving campaign finance. He was also indicted in Georgia on RICO charges. Then, just to make sure he wouldn't escape, Joe Biden's attorney general appointed a special prosecutor to raid Trump's home and charge him on the mishandling of classified documents (an action that was recently ruled unconstitutional).
None of these cases have stopped Trump, and his popularity has continued to surge. Mugshots, bad press, and jury convictions have not swayed public opinion. Instead of backing off, however, the Total State tripled down on comparing Trump to Hitler, with the sitting president himself warning that Trump's election would essentially be the end of America.
Whether or not there was an element of conspiracy involved in the assassination attempt on Trump a week ago (and I believe there is actually a strong argument there until, if and when, the American people get actual details about that day), the propaganda itself had that aim. Trillions of dollars spent on calling a guy Satan incarnate can push quite a few unstable people into violence. The attempt on Trump's life was inevitable — and they knew it.
Joe Biden being replaced was always part of the plan; at least, if Trump couldn't be stopped. He has been a useful host body for the parasite of the Total State, but after his debate performance, it was clear he had no further use. Consider how the stories all came out of nowhere all at once. All of a sudden, it seemed, everyone was criticizing the president's cognitive abilities. Biden's decline should have been a surprise to exactly no one, but the journalists acted as if they were the most shocked of us all. It was all theater.
Biden's resignation from his campaign on X, and his deferral to Kamala Harris on X, was the perfect example of how the Total State does regime changes. You aren't supposed to ask where Biden is, or why he didn't address the nation personally, or why the media was running interference for him up until 5 minutes ago. You are simply supposed to accept that the old king is gone and the new black female Veep is ready to step in as our glorious leader.
What is happening in 2024 is exactly what happened in 2020. Most of the actors are even the same, though the "story" of the propaganda machine is slightly different this time around, given how Covid lockdowns and BLM did a lot of damage to the Total State's "brand."
Imagine the state of the race today if, in a single week, Trump had been murdered right before the RNC and Joe Biden had stepped down.
Scary, right?
Over the next four months, ask yourself what message the news is trying to tell you. Pay attention to how certain stories go viral or line up at a particular time. Do this for every single thing you watch or read (including this article).
