Fellow Americans, You Should Know About the Smith-Mundt Act

A year ago, I saw the video Kenosha protests footage but I didn’t form an opinion. I have watched the entire Kyle Rittenhouse trial, and I’m appalled at the media’s mischaracterization of events.

Much to my surprise, each of the prosecution’s witnesses has corroborated the self-defense argument, including the media’s “lone survivor,” Gaige Grosskreutz. The judge’s “Asian food” comment was a joke–he was hungry and hoped that the food would arrive quickly (i.e., not stuck in the ports with goods coming from overseas). The prosecution was allowed to show their evidence, including that which the media claims was blocked, but was not allowed to “pinch and zoom” on the iPad because their own expert could not could explain which color of pixels would be interpolated into the zoomed-in image. The judge got upset at the prosecution, not because he is a “white supremacist,” but because the prosecution criticized Rittenhouse for exercising his constitutional right to post-arrest silence, and this shortly after introducing a photo that the judge had previously ruled irrelevant to the case and arguing extensively over the issue. The entire trial, as well as short clips, are readily available.

The media is misleading to you. Whether you lean left or right, you can’t trust your news sources. Let me tell you why.

Propaganda in America

In 2012, Congress passed that Smith-Mundt Modernization Act as part of a larger piece of legislature, repealing the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948. In doing so, Congress repealed the ban of propaganda on American soil and allowed for the spread of government-manufactured news to the American people.

Propaganda is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as: ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc.

My fellow Americans, our government is legally permitted to lie to and mislead us, and to do so via commercial media sources, such as CNN and Fox News. They can insert their messaging into reality TV, children’s programs, video games, and social media advertising. If we allow ourselves, we will be continually bombarded with fake, slated, or ill-intended content.

Perhaps the repeal of the propaganda ban was innocent or well-intended, but I believe it opens the door for misuse and abuse, and you deserve to be aware of that possibility.

Here is the H.R.5736 – Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 in full:

I’ve said it before: I don’t like to talk politics. However, given the harsh difference between the dozens of hours of testimony I’ve watched and the mainstream portrayal of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, I can’t sit back on this one. Whether the misleading headlines are malicious propaganda or individual bias, they are intentionally misleading. I have never observed it so blatantly, and it makes me call into question all of the topics I’ve formed opinions on without doing my due diligence.

So, fellow Americans, this is a friendly notice that your government is allowed to spread propaganda amongst its people. Whether they take advantage of that opportunity is up for debate, but be wary. Pay attention. Watch original footage and draw your own conclusions. Use unbiased search engines, such as DuckDuckGo, rather than Google. Sample both sides, and give higher credibility to stories that are consistent across multiple angles. Take all media you consume with a generous grain of salt. Practice critical thinking. Notice if stories don’t add up, and consider that there may be a reasonable explanation.