iReckon

There are easily several hundred Operation Mockingbird style admin assets on the right wing and it has never been clearer than this week. Their specific purpose is to act as independent journalists, political commentators and social media influencers that get paid directly or indirectly to act as the decentralized mainstream media. They are compensated in a multitude of formats that span from direct payments to sponsorships to signal boosts from admin affiliates to exclusive and/or limited access to information that allows them to capitalize on breaking stories. They find the ones who have the least integrity and the best acting skills. They prop them up, feed them opportunities and get them so hooked on fame and consistent cash flow that they eventually have no other means of income. Once they have developed reliable cash flow, they are dependent on these flows to sustain their lifestyle. They become a media company. They employ people. They build networks and absorb smaller creators under their umbrella using the same format. Eventually, those who flow them cash and access find ways to bend their initial principles while continuing the illusion of independence. They become financially trapped by this structure at a certain point, where they have to decide to be a useful tool of a greater purpose or go back out on their own without the advantages they've leaned on for years. Many likely figure that being "part of something bigger" is actually ok, so long as they believe the ends justify the means. "What's a lie or a deception here and there if it theoretically serves a greater good?" is what I imagine they think. Sooner or later, it becomes much easier to just go along to get along. To be part of the machine. To be an operative. These are the people who sit atop the pyramid of "independent" political influence now. At some point they decided that they needed to protect themselves, their family, their income and their personal legend. Even, perhaps, at the cost of the country or the constituency they originally sought to stand up for. I don't believe they are bad people, but I believe many of them have simply lost their way. We can not let these people enrich themselves by lying to us and carrying water for the admin any longer. They must be called to task. They must be loudly rebuked until they either change course or lose their influence. They will be discarded by the same machine that propped them up once their influence evaporates. This will force the power players to seek fresh faces to corrupt or control in the same way. The people, if they are to participate in the conversation of changing hearts and minds, must heighten their awareness of this reality. Force themselves to maximize their discernment and either join the conversation or elevate voices they trust will not be controlled in the same way. This will be an ongoing process, but if there was to be any meaningful change in the short term, we must understand that primary season will be here in just a few months. If we don't choose where to focus our attention wisely between now and then, we will be presented with the exact same crop of do-nothing representatives that will lead us down the same path again. We will look at the primary candidates and say "I don't like or trust any of these people, is this the best we've got?" You, the individual, have the power to influence this process now more than ever. Proceed accordingly.