We often hear of viewing the world in black and white terms. In many of my interviews I talk about the tendency of people to simplify politics by dividing its actors into two groups: guys in white hats versus guys in black hats. I don’t know how much of this is cultural, nor have I pinpointed a correlation further explaining this phenomenon. But I know one thing: in our current political world filled with deception and showcased on a stage of smoke and mirrors, this trend of seeking absolute heroes and villains counters the ultimate goal of finding the truth and real answers.
No one can deny the existence of a multitude of dark villains in the center of the current political machine directing our current police state. Similarly, no one would deny the existence of the very few heroes who dare this machine and attempt to expose and counter it. However, only a small percentage is able to identify another category present on this stage, and an even lesser percentage has the courage and willingness to point to it and call it what it is.
Yes, there are many villains. And yes, there indeed are a few heroes. But there exists another group: The villains-made heroes.
Villains can be very smart and calculative; as we all know. Just as we do, they too know a thing or two about this thing called the psychology of the masses. They are aware of the increase in the number of those who are turning away from the villains’ mainstream outlets to those considered alternative. They understand the masses’ tendency to seek and follow heroes. Trust me; they do, and their knowledge of all this translates into more planning, plotting and action; and think about it—what would that planning, plotting and action entail?
Think about wolves in sheep’s’ clothing. Think about the use of decoys. Think about penetration and neutralization.
Let me put it this way: the latest surveys show that virtually No One trusts the mainstream media. See it for yourself: here—a new Gallup poll shows that a whopping 77% of Americans distrust mainstream media television.
Do you believe we the people are the only ones who see, read, hear, and realize this new phenomenon? In other words: Don’t you think the villains are perfectly aware of this reality? Okay, now think about what the villains would do knowing this fact. Put yourself in the villains’ shoes and think what ploys you would come up with to keep up with these latest changes, or even better, what would you do to stay ahead of the curve with the changing trends and counter them.
Do I have to spell it out further? If you are the villain, and you are aware of the new trend called ‘alternative media,’ would you still plot, plan, and work as you did years ago, and extend your tentacles only into the mainstream media domain? Or would you grow more tentacles, grab hold of the outlets within the new arena called the alternatives? Would you put all your plots and actions into baskets no longer trusted, such as Fox, NYT or Times Magazine? Or would you cast your net over and get your hooks into villain-made and funded channels posing as alternatives, such as the Nation, Salon and the like?
The exact same principle applies to heroes. Villains know and fully understand the hero phenomenon and the danger presented by heroes. I am talking about real heroes who rise among the people and take on the villains—as they’ve done throughout human history. I am referring to real heroes who earn the public’s respect and trust, and who are followed and supported by the people. I mean those who are perceived by the villains as a real threat.
The villains know all about the power of heroes. They are fully aware of the influence heroes exert on the people. They know and understand the people’s hero phenomenon. Villains never underestimate the power and importance of heroes. In fact, they take it very seriously- serious enough to plan, create, and plant their own heroes posing as the people’s heroes. Let’s call these plans the villains’ counter-hero measures, or perhaps Manchurian-Heroes:villain-made heroes.
Villain-made heroes have tremendous utility. They can be used to penetrate the real heroes’ realm. They can be used as decoys to neutralize or eliminate real heroes. They can be used to distract and re-channel the people’s dissatisfaction, discontent, and/or rage. They can be used to manufacture consent . . . As I’ve said- the villain-made heroes can be very useful to the villains.
If I were a villain among the plentiful villains, I would put my hero-sniffers out via NGOs who have been set up to detect and neutralize heroes or to-be-heroes. If I were a villain, I would pick, groom, and plant alternative journalists who would be perceived by many real heroes as trustworthy channels to turn to. I would make sure my villain-made journalist looks as real as possible by having him or her write some damning condemnation of me, and be the loudest amongst the villain-damning crowd. How else could you fool, entrap, and neutralize real heroes and real public condemnation?
After being a whistleblower for over eleven years, and working with government whistleblowers and whistleblower issues for nine years, I have learned a thing or two about villain-made channels and villain-made heroes. And I am certain I have before me much more to learn- as we all know, the villains grow, evolve and improvise continuously, and sometimes they manage to stay a few steps ahead of us.
What I have learned and experienced-personally and through dozens of real whistleblower cases, tells me that things are rarely what they seem to be. It is important, crucial, to investigate, ask questions, and demand real answers. Sometimes it is unpopular to question and expose the popular villain-made channels or heroes. It is a matter of mass psychology. It is one of the greatest contributing factors to mass ignorance. It was the case when I publicly questioned, criticized and condemned Barack Obama in 2008–2009–2010. He talked like a real hero; he wrote like one. He even assumed all the body-language and mimics of a real hero. He was a villain-made masterpiece among many other villain-made heroes.
It was an unpopular thing for me to do during the height of popularity of that Manchurian-Hero. Today not so much. Same goes for our staunch stand as a news and information site when it comes to casting needed doubts on currently popular channels posing as alternatives and characters masquerading as heroes. Time and experience have taught us to look beyond the hero appearances, detect irregularities and inconsistencies, ask the questions that need to be asked, and help expose what needs to be exposed. Doing all that when no one else does—daring to dare current popularity. The real truth is never popular-when truth really matters.
Like so many cover-ups throughout history the veils covering villain-created channels and villain-made heroes are bound to fall. It is up to us whether to leave the unveiling to the passage of time as we become history, or to take it upon ourselves to lift the veils. It is up to us to seek and attain the truth sooner rather than later; unpopularity notwithstanding.
In addition to publishing Boiling Frogs, where this article originally appeared, Sibel Edmonds is the founder and president of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers. She has appeared on national radio and TV as a commentator on matters related to whistleblowers, national security, and excessive secrecy & classification, and has been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The American Conservative, and others. Her book, ‘Shooting the Messenger,’ co-authored with Professor William Weaver is forthcoming from Kansas University Press.
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Villains, heroes & villain-made heroes
The real truth is never popular when truth really matters
Posted on July 10, 2013 by Sibel Edmonds
We often hear of viewing the world in black and white terms. In many of my interviews I talk about the tendency of people to simplify politics by dividing its actors into two groups: guys in white hats versus guys in black hats. I don’t know how much of this is cultural, nor have I pinpointed a correlation further explaining this phenomenon. But I know one thing: in our current political world filled with deception and showcased on a stage of smoke and mirrors, this trend of seeking absolute heroes and villains counters the ultimate goal of finding the truth and real answers.
No one can deny the existence of a multitude of dark villains in the center of the current political machine directing our current police state. Similarly, no one would deny the existence of the very few heroes who dare this machine and attempt to expose and counter it. However, only a small percentage is able to identify another category present on this stage, and an even lesser percentage has the courage and willingness to point to it and call it what it is.
Yes, there are many villains. And yes, there indeed are a few heroes. But there exists another group: The villains-made heroes.
Villains can be very smart and calculative; as we all know. Just as we do, they too know a thing or two about this thing called the psychology of the masses. They are aware of the increase in the number of those who are turning away from the villains’ mainstream outlets to those considered alternative. They understand the masses’ tendency to seek and follow heroes. Trust me; they do, and their knowledge of all this translates into more planning, plotting and action; and think about it—what would that planning, plotting and action entail?
Think about wolves in sheep’s’ clothing. Think about the use of decoys. Think about penetration and neutralization.
Let me put it this way: the latest surveys show that virtually No One trusts the mainstream media. See it for yourself: here—a new Gallup poll shows that a whopping 77% of Americans distrust mainstream media television.
Do you believe we the people are the only ones who see, read, hear, and realize this new phenomenon? In other words: Don’t you think the villains are perfectly aware of this reality? Okay, now think about what the villains would do knowing this fact. Put yourself in the villains’ shoes and think what ploys you would come up with to keep up with these latest changes, or even better, what would you do to stay ahead of the curve with the changing trends and counter them.
Do I have to spell it out further? If you are the villain, and you are aware of the new trend called ‘alternative media,’ would you still plot, plan, and work as you did years ago, and extend your tentacles only into the mainstream media domain? Or would you grow more tentacles, grab hold of the outlets within the new arena called the alternatives? Would you put all your plots and actions into baskets no longer trusted, such as Fox, NYT or Times Magazine? Or would you cast your net over and get your hooks into villain-made and funded channels posing as alternatives, such as the Nation, Salon and the like?
The exact same principle applies to heroes. Villains know and fully understand the hero phenomenon and the danger presented by heroes. I am talking about real heroes who rise among the people and take on the villains—as they’ve done throughout human history. I am referring to real heroes who earn the public’s respect and trust, and who are followed and supported by the people. I mean those who are perceived by the villains as a real threat.
The villains know all about the power of heroes. They are fully aware of the influence heroes exert on the people. They know and understand the people’s hero phenomenon. Villains never underestimate the power and importance of heroes. In fact, they take it very seriously- serious enough to plan, create, and plant their own heroes posing as the people’s heroes. Let’s call these plans the villains’ counter-hero measures, or perhaps Manchurian-Heroes: villain-made heroes.
Villain-made heroes have tremendous utility. They can be used to penetrate the real heroes’ realm. They can be used as decoys to neutralize or eliminate real heroes. They can be used to distract and re-channel the people’s dissatisfaction, discontent, and/or rage. They can be used to manufacture consent . . . As I’ve said- the villain-made heroes can be very useful to the villains.
If I were a villain among the plentiful villains, I would put my hero-sniffers out via NGOs who have been set up to detect and neutralize heroes or to-be-heroes. If I were a villain, I would pick, groom, and plant alternative journalists who would be perceived by many real heroes as trustworthy channels to turn to. I would make sure my villain-made journalist looks as real as possible by having him or her write some damning condemnation of me, and be the loudest amongst the villain-damning crowd. How else could you fool, entrap, and neutralize real heroes and real public condemnation?
After being a whistleblower for over eleven years, and working with government whistleblowers and whistleblower issues for nine years, I have learned a thing or two about villain-made channels and villain-made heroes. And I am certain I have before me much more to learn- as we all know, the villains grow, evolve and improvise continuously, and sometimes they manage to stay a few steps ahead of us.
What I have learned and experienced-personally and through dozens of real whistleblower cases, tells me that things are rarely what they seem to be. It is important, crucial, to investigate, ask questions, and demand real answers. Sometimes it is unpopular to question and expose the popular villain-made channels or heroes. It is a matter of mass psychology. It is one of the greatest contributing factors to mass ignorance. It was the case when I publicly questioned, criticized and condemned Barack Obama in 2008–2009–2010. He talked like a real hero; he wrote like one. He even assumed all the body-language and mimics of a real hero. He was a villain-made masterpiece among many other villain-made heroes.
It was an unpopular thing for me to do during the height of popularity of that Manchurian-Hero. Today not so much. Same goes for our staunch stand as a news and information site when it comes to casting needed doubts on currently popular channels posing as alternatives and characters masquerading as heroes. Time and experience have taught us to look beyond the hero appearances, detect irregularities and inconsistencies, ask the questions that need to be asked, and help expose what needs to be exposed. Doing all that when no one else does—daring to dare current popularity. The real truth is never popular-when truth really matters.
Like so many cover-ups throughout history the veils covering villain-created channels and villain-made heroes are bound to fall. It is up to us whether to leave the unveiling to the passage of time as we become history, or to take it upon ourselves to lift the veils. It is up to us to seek and attain the truth sooner rather than later; unpopularity notwithstanding.
In addition to publishing Boiling Frogs, where this article originally appeared, Sibel Edmonds is the founder and president of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers. She has appeared on national radio and TV as a commentator on matters related to whistleblowers, national security, and excessive secrecy & classification, and has been featured on CBS 60 Minutes, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and in the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, The American Conservative, and others. Her book, ‘Shooting the Messenger,’ co-authored with Professor William Weaver is forthcoming from Kansas University Press.