NewsBreakingOnline

Click here to view this media Most normal moviegoing folks — especially those of us with kids — are looking forward to July 15 for one very good reason: It’s the release date for the final Harry Potter film , and the trailers look terrific. The end of Voldemort, at last! Then there are the hapless conservadweebs who instead will plunk down their hard-earned dollars to endure two hours of propaganda devoted to singing the praises of Sarah Palin titled The Undefeated . Of course, this is kind of a strange title, considering that Palin indeed was defeated in her campaign for the vice presidency. And for some reason, they didn’t title it The Uncompleted as a way of actually describing her term as governor. Or The Quitter, which would also be more accurate. Anyway, Andrew Breitbart plumped the first trailer for the movie yesterday. You’ll notice that he didn’t bother to mention to readers that he’s in the trailer. There is no need for full disclosure at propaganda mills like Breitbart’s operation. Indeed, the Palin trailer — and no doubt the movie itself — reminds me of the propaganda techniques identified half a century ago by the long-defunct Institute for Propaganda Analysis , because each of them can be seen at work here: — Name Calling, or hanging a bad label on ideas or persons. — Card Stacking, or the selective use of facts or outright falsehoods. — Band Wagon, or claiming that everyone like us thinks this way. — Testimonial, or the association of a respected or hated person with an approved or despised idea, respectively. — Plain Folks, a technique whereby the idea and its proponents are linked to “people just like you and me.” — Transfer, or an assertion of a connection between something valued or hated and the idea or commodity being discussed. — Glittering Generality, or an association of something with a “virtue word” to gain approval without examining the evidence. Now, you may ask yourself: Why would Sarah Palin put out a propaganda movie about herself right now if she weren’t running for the presidency? And that would be a good question. The answer, of course: She wouldn’t. Meanwhile, look for a fresh bumper crop of “Republicans for Voldemort” bumper stickers.