{"id":256781,"date":"2022-07-30T07:06:37","date_gmt":"2022-07-30T07:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=256781"},"modified":"2022-07-31T07:32:34","modified_gmt":"2022-07-31T07:32:34","slug":"the-phoniest-most-pr-intensive-war-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=256781","title":{"rendered":"The Phoniest, Most PR-Intensive War Of All Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Caitlin Johnstone \u2013 Medium July 27, 2022<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>The president and first lady of Ukraine have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/lifestyle\/president-zelenskyy-first-lady-zelenska-193937295.html\">posed for a romantic photoshoot<\/a> with Vogue magazine, wherein President Volodymyr Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/life-style\/olena-zelenska-marriage-vogue-interview-b2131738.html\">waxes poetical<\/a> about his love for his darling wife.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I know what you\u2019re thinking: how is Zelensky making time for a Vogue photoshoot amidst his busy schedule of PR appearances for other major western institutions?<\/p>\n<p>I mean this is after all the same Volodymyr Zelensky who has been so busy making video appearances for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grammy.com\/news\/ukraine-president-volodymyr-zelensky-speech-2022-grammys\">the Grammy Awards<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2022\/05\/18\/entertainment\/cannes-volodymyr-zelensky\/index.html\">Cannes Film Festival<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/video\/?520500-1\/ukrainian-president-zelensky-addresses-world-economic-forum-davos\">World Economic Forum<\/a> and probably <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jun\/04\/bilderberg-reconvenes-in-person-after-two-year-pandemic-gap\">the Bilderberg group<\/a> as well, and having meetings with celebrities like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-news\/ben-stiller-meets-with-ukraine-president-volodymyr-zelensky-youre-my-hero-1235168754\/\">Ben Stiller<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/MrGei\">Sean Penn<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/eprimefeed.com\/latest-news\/bono-and-the-edge-met-with-zelensky-and-sing-in-the-kiev-subway\/82035\/\">Bono and the Edge from U2<\/a>. It\u2019s as busy a PR tour as he could possibly have without having a discussion about the strategic importance of long-range artillery with Elmo on Sesame Street.<\/p>\n<p>Oh yeah, and also isn\u2019t there like a war or something happening in Ukraine? You\u2019d think he\u2019d probably be somewhat busy with that too.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">wartime vogue photo shoots. very serious. let\u2019s keep sending ukraine weekly billion dollar aid packages to protect \u201cdemocracy.\u201d don\u2019t question it. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MXVaW16K0y\">pic.twitter.com\/MXVaW16K0y<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Logan Hall (@loganclarkhall) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/loganclarkhall\/status\/1552009719509925888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Call me crazy, but I\u2019m beginning to suspect that there might be a concerted effort to manipulate the way we think about the war in Ukraine. In fact, I\u2019d even go so far as to say it\u2019s the most aggressively perception-managed war we\u2019ve ever experienced.<\/p>\n<p>Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February we have not only been <a href=\"https:\/\/responsiblestatecraft.org\/2022\/04\/08\/networks-covered-the-war-in-ukraine-more-than-the-us-invasion-of-iraq\/\">smashed<\/a> with<a href=\"https:\/\/responsiblestatecraft.org\/2022\/04\/08\/networks-covered-the-war-in-ukraine-more-than-the-us-invasion-of-iraq\/\"> mass media propaganda<\/a> unlike <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ivan_8848\/status\/1547050932604641281?s=20&amp;t=WupZgOM2dUBcye4uX6gTSw\">anything we\u2019ve ever seen<\/a> while <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ramzybaroud.net\/rationality-is-not-permitted-chomsky-on-russia-ukraine-and-the-price-of-media-censorship\/\">Russian media<\/a> are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2022-03-02\/rt-sputnik-content-officially-banned-across-european-union#xj4y7vzkg\">purged from the airwaves<\/a>, we\u2019re also seeing the new media element of <a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/p\/defending-freedom-and-democracy-sure?s=w\">unprecedented<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/2022\/04\/15\/more-escalations-in-online-censorship\/\">amounts<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/2022\/03\/03\/spotify-purges-dissident-voices-in-latest-censorship-escalation\/\">online<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/2022\/05\/20\/twitter-to-ramp-up-censorship-of-misinformation-about-the-ukraine-war\/\">censorship<\/a>, algorithm-boosted <a href=\"https:\/\/consortiumnews.com\/2022\/03\/20\/caitlin-johnstone-the-jaw-dropping-power-of-us-propaganda\/\">propaganda<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/caitoz\/status\/1552275058541727746?s=20&amp;t=00OjsBYQYvpIbwtexsRjQw\">social media<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/p\/ukraine-is-the-most-aggressively\">trolling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019ve literally never seen this much overall effort put into manipulating the way the public thinks about a war. Which makes sense, given that it\u2019s a profoundly dangerous proxy war which stands to benefit ordinary people in no way, shape or form.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, can you imagine if people were allowed to just think their own thoughts about their government\u2019s economic warfare against Russia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2022\/jul\/18\/costs-of-ukraine-war-pose-tests-for-european-leaders-and-it-may-get-worse\">which<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2022\/apr\/26\/ukraine-war-food-energy-prices-world-bank\">is<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/NNTEv\">hurting<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-62318376\">them<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2022\/7\/7\/inflation-pushed-71m-people-into-poverty-since-ukraine-war-undp\">financially<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/mate.substack.com\/p\/in-ukraine-a-proxy-war-on-the-planet\">pushing millions toward starvation<\/a> with the full awareness and approval of the US government? Or if Americans were allowed to wonder if the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2022\/05\/17\/ukraine-aid-bill-break-down\/9674471002\/?gnt-cfr=1\">billions they are pouring<\/a> into this proxy conflict could be better spent at home? Or if people started objecting to a needless conflict for geostrategic domination threatening their lives and the lives of everyone they know with <a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/p\/being-this-close-to-nuclear-war-should?s=w\">the risk<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/p\/the-huge-gap-between-how-serious?s=w\">nuclear annihilation<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>Can\u2019t have that.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Massive amount of ukrainian soldiers dying every day, Zelensky : lets have a vogue shooting <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BrNPYKZYR6\">pic.twitter.com\/BrNPYKZYR6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Levi (@Levi_godman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Levi_godman\/status\/1552031687365861376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There is a night-and-day difference between wanting to tell people the truth about something and wanting to manipulate their perception of something. There are times when true facts can be used to influence people\u2019s perception one way or the other, but if your agenda is to manipulate perception rather than tell the truth you will necessarily be forced to rely on lies, half-truths, distortion, and lies by omission wherever the truth doesn\u2019t serve that agenda.<\/p>\n<p>If they were telling us the truth about this war, they wouldn\u2019t be censoring Russian media. They wouldn\u2019t be censoring online voices who disagree with the official narratives about Ukraine. They wouldn\u2019t be continually blasting us in the face with mass media perception management, and they sure as hell wouldn\u2019t be putting Ukraine\u2019s celebrity-in-chief on the cover of Vogue magazine.<\/p>\n<p>We are being manipulated, and we are being deceived. And we are being manipulated and deceived because our perceiving clearly on our own would go against the interests of the empire. They are lying to us because the interests of the people and the interests of the empire are, as usual, squarely at odds.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">___________________<\/p>\n<p><em>My work is <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/2021\/05\/24\/my-experiments-with-hacking-capitalism\/\"><em>entirely reader-supported<\/em><\/a><em>, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following me on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CaitlinAJohnstone\/\"><em>Facebook<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/caitoz\"><em>Twitter<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/going_rogue\"><em>Soundcloud<\/em><\/a><em> or <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/CaitlinJohnstone\/videos\"><em>YouTube<\/em><\/a><em>, or throwing some money into my tip jar on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/caitlinjohnstone\"><em>Ko-fi<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/user?u=4445783\"><em>Patreon<\/em><\/a><em> or <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/paypal.me\/caitlinjohnstone\"><em>Paypal<\/em><\/a><em>. If you want to read more you can <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/caityjohnstone.medium.com\/books-by-caitlin-johnstone-a5a5e6f71772\"><em>buy my books<\/em><\/a><em>. The best way to make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.com\/\"><em>my website<\/em><\/a><em> or <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/caitlinjohnstone.substack.com\/\"><em>on Substack<\/em><\/a><em>, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@caityjohnstone\/i-permanently-release-all-copyrights-to-all-my-writing-use-any-of-it-however-you-want-9ad929b92d42\"><em>has my permission<\/em><\/a><em> to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I\u2019ve written) in any way they like free of charge. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I\u2019m trying to do with this platform, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@caityjohnstone\/11-things-you-should-know-about-me-and-where-im-coming-from-a6b9ddf9806e\"><em>click here<\/em><\/a><em>. All works co-authored with my American husband Tim Foley.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bitcoin donations:1Ac7PCQXoQoLA9Sh8fhAgiU3PHA2EX5Zm2<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/caityjohnstone.medium.com\/the-phoniest-most-pr-intensive-war-of-all-time-f619fcd9e998\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While President Zelensky drafted all Ukrainian men 18-60 and with little or no training sent them to fight the Russians, the president and his wife have been posing for glossy photo-shoots with Vogue magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":256783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Commentary","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=256781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256782,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256781\/revisions\/256782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/256783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=256781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=256781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=256781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}