I SAVED AFRICA: KONY ISLAND WHITEWHASH

I recently did a program on disinformation and how we must be guarded in what we consider truth because any information source can be used as a toll to coerce you into doing something or believing in an untruth. It may even stop you from pursuing the real story. It may even want you to give up. Suddenly a clear disinformation campaign has hot the internet and it is interesting to see how it is all unfolding.

My facebook page was spammed recently with a link to a video. In all caps the message was WATCH THIS NOW HELP STOP THIS MAN KONY! Well I had mentioned Kony before on one of my shows with regard to child abuses and the idea of sacrificing children for what some leaders believe is a higher cause namely fighting Muslims in the Sudan. I found it difficult to hear that Joseph Kony considers himself to be a good Christian, and he wants Uganda to be a Christian nation.
In 1987 he formed a resistance group called the Lordundefineds Resistance Army (LRA), and the LRA has been at civil war against the Ugandan government ever since. If the LRA wins, Kony has promised that Uganda will become a theocracy, with laws based on the Biblical Ten Commandments. The craziest thing of all is that the LRA has kidnapped an estimated 20,000 children for use as fighters or sex slaves. As part of their initiation, these children are often required to kill their own parents, this way they will have a home for themselves.
Kony is evil, and demented. He is a disgusting individual, but the truth about Kony is he has all but done his damage and now a group called the Invisible Children’s Group has created a video that only can be described as emotional porn, equivalent to the death fetishist films of animals being tortured. They are asking for donations to stop KONY – however he seems to already have been silenced, and the Invisible Children’s group seems to just want to tally donation dollars and bank on the ignorance of the American people.
The mobilization of the privileged Americans to save “helpless Africans” is not a new story. We are actually very familiar with this narrative. We remember “We are the World” a song about feeding starving Africans. We were all aware of Live Aid, and several other Amercian celebrities who pose as heroes urging people to throw money at governments to save something, when most can’t even save themselves.
My listeners on face book wanted me to get behind this cause and talk about KONY and demand that something be done. However I am getting a bit overwhelmed with what can be called Slacktivism where people feel that they are doing their part by tweeting, and posting things on their facebook promoting causes that really don’t need promotions.
Many people hate the idea of internet fraud, but the biggest fraud of all is Internet cheerleaders who feel that their part is only re-tweeting and reposting things that people really don’t need or want for that matter. It is intrusive and without proper knowledge can be dangerous and misleading.
It would be safe to say that probably three fourths of all those who posted and reposted the video about Joseph Kony knew nothing about him, nor did they know who the invisible Children’s group is and their record for pocketing 75 percent of all donations. They probably were unaware that the United States has been secretly planning an African command in Uganda to watch over the oil rich landscape.
The international criminal court and U.S. Special forces say now that Kony’s “army” has been so degraded that they no longer consider Kony a threat to the region. Experts estimate that the LRA now has only about 250 fighters. However the video says he has about 30,000 fighters. Rear Admiral Brian L. Losey, the top U.S. special operations commander for Africa, told reporters last month that U.S. troops are now stationed in bases in Uganda, Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic as part of the anti-LRA fight. Losey said thereundefineds been a decrease in the lethality of LRA activities attributable to U.S. and partner nation efforts.
Yet this video pops out of nowhere demanding I say something or do something about this huge threat to Ugandan children. This video pulls on my heart strings and asks for 30 dollars when we already seem to have Kony in hiding and his LRA troops are virtually dying out.
I believe that he should stand trial for war crimes, however demanding money, that will allegedly be used to catch him is a bit too much to swallow. The film has been around since 2004 and it didn’t capture the attention of anyone until actors like George Clooney and singers like Brianna have now joined in the gullible fray. Now Joseph Kony has been virtually a
ghost since 2006 and we are being asked to help a charity that has fallen on hard times?
The big struggle for everyone is now we have a demon that is fighting Muslims in the Sudan and in the process was raping, and kidnapping children. He gets away with it, and we seem to have a charity that sees it as an opportunity to exploit the moment and in the meantime it is noble to spam websites, e-mails, twitter accounts, and facebook with a challenge to donate to a company you know nothing about.
Who really are the evil doers here?
Another comical irony with the entire mess is that Rush Limbaugh is now in the crosshairs again because he once said he supported Joseph Kony. In 2011, President Obama sent American troops to fight Joseph Kony and Limbaugh stated that Obama was trying to wipe out or kill Kony and his LRA.
“Lordundefineds Resistance Army are Christians. They are fighting the Muslims in Sudan. And Obama has sent troops, United States troops to remove them from the battlefield, which means kill them. Thatundefineds what the lingo means, undefinedto help regional forces remove from the battlefield,undefined meaning capture or kill.
So thatundefineds a new war, a hundred troops to wipe out Christians in Sudan, Uganda, and undefined (interruption) no, Iundefinedm not kidding. Jacob Tapper just reported it. Now, are we goanna help the Egyptians wipe out the Christians? Wouldnundefinedt you say that we are? “ Rush Limbaugh
Once again a disinformation campaign spins more disinformation on a top rated talk show.
In the meantime a video that is being passed around the net is loaded with disinformation and even after exaggerating figures and encouraging support. The solution of the Invisible Children group is to get you to sign its pledge, get the Kony 2012 bracelet and action kit (only $30!), and sign up to donate. Basically they want you to buy a bracelet and action kit and soothe the guilt we put you through after watching a video. They claim that awareness will convince President Obama not to pull troops out of Uganda.
Obama has no intentions of taking troops out of Uganda. In 2009 oil was found in Uganda by Tullow Oil and the 800 million barrels were valued at $50 billion but could lead to more being found at a later date.
The problem with this type of campaign as with any opinion about how other countries conduct their “business’ is that it is all too easy for someone to finance and produce a documentary, post it on youtube and suck-in millions of undefinedviewersundefined to leap enthusiastically on the band wagon.
Many times I have heard on my show of how `horrible Muslims are. How they abuse women, and torture children. Then Joseph Kony comes along and no one speaks out about a man who wants a theocracy based on the Ten Commandments to run Uganda. The only thing that makes him redeemable is fighting Muslims in the Sudan?
The best we can do now is by an action kit for $30 dollars in hopes that the troops won’t pull out?
I have gotten into arguments with people over and over again about how easy it is to play on emotions to get a desired response. The arguments are mostly with my religious friends who say they would never accept something as ‘evil” as the mark of the beast” or follow anyone that can be considered anti-Christ.
It’s not that hard to sell anyone on the idea of murder, pre-emptive strikes or allowing for the deaths of innocents because of some feigned empathy that is conjured for political; reasons, or religious convictions.
The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism, Nazism, communism, or even despotism. It is as easy to sell them with an infomercial or a viral video that is produced to act on your emotional whims.
The political environment of America is conservative, however that does not mean that a conservative view does not allow the encroachment of emotional blackmail to get the desired result. Every piece of unconstitutional legislation as of late has been penned by conservatives. It has then been approved and voted on by liberals. This has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with scapegoating, guilt and prejudice. All of our attitudes are now emotionally based because we have been wired to act before questioning motive for the coercion process.