The art of misdirection: The Left is manipulating the narrative on gun-control

June 29, 2018

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

CEO/Founder

The Art of War by Sun Tzu is largely predicated on misdirection as a tactical strength in warfare. In it, he advises:

Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment — that which they cannot anticipate.

The attentive viewer, the careful listener can spot even the cleverest misdirection. It's that nagging feeling, that twinge in your gut, the suspicion that something just ain't right. You can sense a con and you don't like it. You can tell that something sinister is at play. The media has perfected an agenda-setting approach to news that is deception at its finest. They control the narrative, the framing, the output of information.

So when the media swarmed around the February 14th massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, many of us suspected that something else was going on.

Why all the focus on this killing? Why now? Why such vigor? Why didn't the Las Vegas killer provoke the same reaction? And how did the entire thing turn into a circus of protests and outrage so intense that most of us forgot where we should even be looking?

As Sun Tzu wrote, "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity."

Politicians on the Left, along with the media, have a permanent anti-gun stance that they will move mountains to promote.

According to the media, our attention was meant to be trained on two things: Guns and the teenager victims. Politicians on the Left, along with the media, have a permanent anti-gun stance that they will move mountains to promote.

Just like we've seen lately with the media suddenly caring about children on the border when it's actually been a problem for years, for the Left, the end always justifies the means. When it comes to guns, they have their "guns are the problem" story and they stick to it religiously.

The Left is motivated on all fronts to skirt the truth and broadcast their doctrine.

In the Parkland case, the media framed a group of smart, charismatic kids, who, being kids, loved the chance to be rock stars, without ever realizing that they were tools in the whole scheme — and don't balk at the term "rock star." It's not hyperbole. The group is currently on a 70-city tour, the "March for Our Lives: Road to Change."

From the start, Hogg and his classmates proved impervious to criticism. They actually thrive on it — painting themselves as victims of gun rights advocates has become part of their foundation. Using these children as representatives, the media was able to push a gun-control narrative, and accuse critics of verbally abusing children anytime that narrative was challenged. Where, then, should we redirect our gaze?

For starters, there's the mass killer himself. Since 2010, police had been called to the killer's home 39 times. Multiple requests were sent to the Broward County Sheriff's Office to have the killer's cache of rifles taken away. Online, he posted pictures of bloodied dead frogs and said things like: "I wanna shoot people with my AR-15" and "I'm going to be a professional school shooter." In another post from his now-deleted Instagram account, the shooter posted a photo of a bullet-riddled target and the caption: "Group therapy. Sometimes it works." The killer had been expelled from the campus he would eventually terrorize and teachers were told to remain alert. Even the FBI had been warned. The agency received important information about the killer but chose not to follow up.

The school district, the Broward County Sheriff's Department, the FBI — all failed to stop the killer.

The media has portrayed the killer as a product of Trump's America when in reality, he is a shining example of incompetence at every level short of the office of the President. The school district, the Broward County Sheriff's Department, the FBI — all failed to stop the killer.

It's no secret the Broward County Sheriff's Department has conducted themselves poorly from the very start. The day of the killing, police from nearby Coral Springs arrived at the school to find officers from Broward County hunkered down behind their squad cars outside the school. According to news sources, the Coral Springs officers have expressed resentment toward the Broward Country officers "about what they perceived to be a dereliction of duty."

Then there's the car. No, not the Lamborghini (which turned out to be on loan from a local dealership, in 2014, for a Toys for Tots charity). I'm talking about this car — or, more specifically, this tweet:

Our new #dodge #charger. Do you like the paint job? pic.twitter.com/l6EfKxuaru
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) June 24, 2018

The car, like most repurposed police cars, is more than likely a confiscated car, meaning the department did not spend taxpayer dollars on it. The issue here is more about how tone-deaf the tweet is. And, honestly, given the Department's record, they probably should've gone with a Prius or even a scooter. Or, better yet, they could've auctioned the car off and donated the money to a meaningful cause. Maybe even just wait until a year or so had passed, then get back to tweeting like a teenager again.

Although, in this case, a tweeting teenager, Kyle Kashuv, made far more sense of the whole ordeal with his criticism of the Broward County Sheriff's Department:

Coward of Broward https://t.co/cItenVsRDO
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) March 28, 2018

Most recently, we learned about Andrew Medina and David Taylor, two security guards at the school who could have prevented the entire killing, but chose cowardice instead. One of the guards, Medina, saw the killer approaching the school and failed to phone in a code red.

"I'm telling you I knew who the kid was," Medina told investigators. "Because we had a meeting about him last year and we said, 'If there's gonna be anybody who's gonna come to this school and shoot this school up, it's gonna be that kid.'"

Regarding the killer's threat, Taylor said the same thing: "Not only me, but all of our security personnel. I would say everybody [knew]."

Yet, upon seeing the killer approaching the school in military gear, Medina radioed Taylor, who briefly encountered the killer, then huddled to safety in a janitor's closet.

To make matters worse, Medina had previously sexually harassed Meadow Pollack, one of the victims of the killing. He'd asked her out for drinks, so aggressively that she complained to the school. A report on the matter notes that she and another student "became so uncomfortable with Mr. Medina's comments and actions, they sought out different routes to their classes in an attempt to avoid him."

Why has the media largely shrugged off or ignored new details surrounding the killing? As facts continue to emerge, we gain a fuller picture of the tragedy that occurred that day, and the myriad mistakes that brought it to life. Yet the media has chosen to depict the shooting as strictly a gun-related issue.

No one is pursuing truth — everyone is just persuing victory.

It wasn't the guns — it was the combination of a mentally disturbed teenager, with city, county and school district corruption. But in order to cover their own backsides, public officials were eager to cede the spotlight to the photogenic Parkland students, who in turn provided the media with the holy grail of anti-gun propaganda material.

In the words of Sun Tzu:

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

From gun-control to border-control, the nation's over-the-top rhetoric has reached an unsustainable level. No one is pursuing truth — everyone is just pursuing victory.

Now, outside the Red Hen restaurant in Virginia, Trump supporters are throwing feces at people like monkeys. I can only say "monkeys" here because I'm talking about Republicans. I'd be a racist if I said that and it was Democrats flinging poop.

At what point does this rhetoric spill over into civil war? It would be easy to do with 400 million guns out there. Even then, God forbid, it wouldn't be guns causing the war, it would be the people. Guns didn't cause the Civil War in 1861 either.

If we're going to survive, we have to stop all the instant outrage and ground ourselves in principles and in the truth.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

David McNew / Staff | Getty Images

"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

Joe Raedle / Staff | Getty Images

"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

Dan Mullan / Staff | Getty Images

"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

VALERIE MACON / Contributor | Getty Images

"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

Oleg Nikishin / Stringer | Getty Images

Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

New York Daily News Archive / Contributor | Getty Images

The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

Galerie Bilderwelt / Contributor | Getty Images

Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

Nick Ut / Contributor | Getty Images

The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

Bill Hinton / Contributor | Getty Images

Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

WPA Pool / Pool | Getty Images

Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

NICHOLAS KAMM / Contributor | Getty Images

The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

Fiona Goodall / Stringer | Getty Images

Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO / Contributor | Getty Images

As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity