Tactic #15: Shaming and blaming

Tactic #15: Shaming and blaming
Futurescapes21C ©, Posted July 6, 2020
 

Tactic #15: Shaming and blaming
​Shaming defined
“…the act or activity of subjecting someone to shame, disgrace, humiliation, or disrepute especially by public exposure or criticism.” (Merriam Webster) (1)
 
Many of us, around the tender age of five or six years old, were introduced to shaming as a means of persuasion. Call it the child-parent-finish-your-supper stand-off. Parents often told kids refusing to finish their meal that millions of hungry kids elsewhere in the world would be happy to do so. In most cases, the reluctant eater would have been more than happy to oblige those hungry kids if it were possible. Suffice to say most children of six haven’t yet developed a moral compas on the subject of food waste.
 
I was introduced to a more sophisticated form of this genre of persuasion that I'll call commercial shaming as a teen riding to town with my dad one day. When the farm pick-up truck ahead of us stopped at an intersection, I was able to read the message on the blue sticker on the back bumper. The gist of it: Consumers shouldn’t complain about their food with their mouths full. A pesticide manufacturer was delivering a snarky rebuke to any well-fed consumers tempted to complain about how their food is produced. In short, they should be ashamed of themselves. At least that's what I thought at the time. 
 
For years, I smugly assumed that ungrateful consumers were the primary targets of the bumper sticker message. Ultimately, I realized the primary target was members of the farming community; people like my Dad and other agricultural producers. The apparent shaming of ungrateful consumers was really  a backhand love note to us: your friendly agribusiness supplier is looking out for you, so you should stick with us. I recall my warm fuzzy reaction to the message. It played perfectly into our collective sense of farmer victimhood. Thanks for caring Big Agribusiness. Cue the violin music.
 
I completed an agriculture degree in 1971, majoring in animal science and graduating to a lengthy career in the agriculture industry. That led to many years of service in a variety of roles from a livestock reproductive specialist to a corporate strategist with a specialty in foresight. As a strategist, I often turned my analytic lens on my own industry. The agriculture and agrifood sectors’ propensity for shaming PR campaigns was odd and drearisome. How does one explain its incurable martyr complex? But that’s a subject for another day.
 
Flash forward to today where shaming and blaming is a standard tactic of political aggressors waging an ideological war. The tactic can simultaneously serve two purposes. An effective shaming assault can cast a reputational shadow on an opponent while also accruing virtue points and applause from allies. Effective shaming ostracizes while it ingratiates the aggressor to followers and fans. (Ostracize is: to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.) (2) 
 
To be clear, I’m not condemning legitimate criticisms of unethical or immoral behaviour. Shaming has its place. A small business owner in the US reopened his ice cream parlour following the COVID-19 shut down and immediately re-closed it. The reason; among other things, unruly customers were  were verbally abusing his teenage employees. He commented:
 
‘"But the words she was called and the language, you wouldn't even say in a men's locker room. And to say it to a 17-year-old kid, they should be ashamed of themselves." (3) Fair enough!
 
It seems most of society agrees that people who drink and drive, beat their spouses and prey on children should also be shamed or at least their behaviour should be. Jesus shamed those who turned the temple, a place of worship, into a “den of thieves” (4). The use of pillories or public shaming posts was common in the 17th to 19th centuries for a variety of offences (5).
 
Politically motivated shaming is distinctly different. It’s the tactic of casting aspersions on the moral character of an opponent simply because they hold a different point of view. It’s disingenuous and manipulative. Metaphorically, once the political prey is singled out and separated from the herd by this tactic, it can be easily brought down and eaten by media jackals. Effective shaming campaigns can leave a political partisan and his or her cause terminally shattered. 
 
Shaming is a means of accusing, convicting and punishing someone without the messy inconvenience of granting the  accused due process. Sometimes, it can be achieved by mere inference -- a wink. This is war after all, and in war, our opponents largely believe that the end justifies the means.
 
Justin Trudeau Liberals are fond of shaming. They frequently attempted to shame former Conservative leader, Andrew Scheer for the grievous sin of failing to regularly attend LGBT+ parades (6). Seemingly, in the inverted world of Canadian politics, it’s not a matter of how one manages in the realms of fiscal management, foreign policy, economic development, education and health care that defines leadership. No, it’s faithfulness in pandering to members of the protected classes. It's not coincidental that Rule Number 10 in Matt Taibbi’s Ten Rules of Hate is “Feeling Superior” (7).
 
Group shaming offers an appealing economy of effort. Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” bomb was crudely aimed at a "one half” of Trump’s supporters. It was a multi-pronged, pillorying of the entire group as “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it.” In short, a group comprised of millions of US citizens was to be written off as contemptible -- morally beyond the pale (8).
 
The blowback generated by her condemnation was likely unanticipated. Mrs. Clinton didn’t abandon the tactic, however. She later employed the same ploy to try and herd American women as a block into voting for her (9). Today's Democrats have decided to make  identity politics warfare, their specialty it seems.
 
Governments have adopted shaming as a convenient, low cost means of behaviour management. And this one, like many of the other rhetorical devices, can be employed in a wide variety of circumstances. National governments have found it to be a particularly effective tool in managing the populace throughout the current COVID-19 “live exercise” as US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, described it (10).
 
Western governments publicly shame dissidents in order to secure uniform compliance with stay-at-home and social distancing directives prescribed by so-called medical “authorities.” In the UK, police survielled citizens from the sky with drones and publicly shamed those guilty of taking “non-essential” walks by publishing the video on line (11).
 
Compliant political partisans quickly take up the tactic on behalf of their political masters. Some members of the UK's liberal left have been accusing any who call for an easing of the COVID lockdown of being ‘callous, ‘selfish,' ‘psychopaths’ and  guilty of putting ‘profits before people.’ The catchy little 'profits before people' meme carries a stinging moral judgment that infers: “you are inhumane -- shame on you.” The OffGuaridan calls this a ‘lazy ad hominem,’ -- one intended to paint subjects as morally deficient (12).
 
“Roberta Pollack was running down a deserted road in Delevan, Wisconsin, when a driver took her to task. ‘They yelled that exercising wasn't a necessary thing, and I shouldn't be outside, and that I should get back inside before I get sick,’” Pollock recalled.
 
Those who are genuinely politically awake are repulsed by the socially toxic, Orwellian nature of such campaigns. One independent thinking journalist’s headline complains: Stop shaming us about going outdoors, the risks are generally low… (13). Another satirical headline asks: What’s next…A train to Dachau? 
 
The same article points out that social shaming isn’t without a cost. Sonja Diya, from IQ Solutions, specialists in public health communication, says:
 
"…there is a cost that should be acknowledged -- casualties who are taken down by this unfairly, and the normalization of neighborhood surveillance," (14).
 
It's unlikely that concern for the social or human costs will bring an end to the mainstream media's habit of COVID shaming. Now, those who reject invasive contact tracing or everyday face mask wearing in public spaces are fair game for shame-smearing.
 
Like delusional conspiracy theorists, they appear to believe that the government’s COVIDSafe app is some Big Brother-style super surveillance system” (15).
 
The smear oozes the kind of "nothing to see here -- we know better" arrogance that now characterizes the cancel culture politics of the left. It's an attitude that ultimately could eat its media benefactors and host. Author and journalist, Matt Taibbi, asserts that the venomous and vindictive nature of leftist liberal politics is now consuming the media: 
 
“The leaders of this new movement are replacing traditional liberal beliefs about tolerance, free inquiry, and even racial harmony with ideas so toxic and unattractive that they eschew debate, moving straight to shaming, threats, and intimidation” (16).
 
Shame and blame attacks on dissenters have been a feature of the information war for decades. And the subjects, not always aware they are now the "enemy," or fully comprehending why, are easy targets. But in fairness, who could have imagined that speech freedoms celebrated by the majority a couple years ago would have so soon become crimes? Who would have imagined that posing logical questions would mark someone a heretic according to the tenets a strange, new religious cult? 
 
Climate change skeptics:
You might not be convinced that humans are the chief contributor to global warming climate change or even that the planet is headed into a period of increased atmospheric temperatures. In the judgment of the climate change righteous, you are “anti science” or a climate change “denier.”
 
Perhaps you’ve withheld your applause at Greta Thunberg performances. You may doubt that the supposed 15 year old climate change wunderkind could lead the world to environmental salvation. You may be suspicious that some big money puppet masters lurk behind the curtain.
 
If you voiced such concerns or challenged her assertions, rest assured her neoliberal devotees have already branded you and like-minded individuals "dinosaurs" and “bullies.” The name calling aside, it shouldn't go unnoticed that political ideologues have a habit of using children as human shields when advancing their logic-defying no-questions-asked assaults on reason. 
 
Meat Eaters
Suppose you’re someone who considers meat an essential part of your diet. You have already been tried and convicted of a crime by vegan activists. Your accusers believe that meat is murder, so by implication that makes you a murderer deserving of shaming. I've recently learned that in a UK context, the pejorative term for white, meat eating conservative middle aged supporters of Brexit is “gammon” a type said to be visibly aligned with "a certain kind of conservative alpha-masculinity" (17).
 
The vaccine cautious
Big Pharma’s condemnation of the vaccine cautious has become militant and uncompromising in recent years. Doubters have recently been coming under intense fire for questioning the motives of Big Pharma. You may question the biological wisdom of imposing an ever expanding regimen of vaccines on babies and young children. Perhaps you consider the principles of bodily sovereignty and informed choice worthy of defence in the face of Big Pharma’s pursuit of vaccine mandates. Will “my body, my choice” be as effective a defense for the vaccine-cautious as it has been for abortionists? 
 
If you identify with these positions, you are portrayed as a threat -- the enemy. You are a disgusting "antivaxxer.” The fact that vaccines do, on some occasions, result in what can be life long injuries and untold medical expense for parents and victims shouldn’t be glossed over. The US government’s vaccine damages program has awarded some $4 billion dollars to victims. And that’s with some critics arguing that the burden of proof on injured families is exceptionally high (18).
 
National sovereigntists
Those calling for respect for national borders are shame targets. Are you someone who believes that a porous national border isn’t in your country’s best interests? Perhaps you consider enforcement of border security to be an integral feature of national security, “irregular migrants” notwithstanding.

As reasonable or pragmatic as this may sound, UN-aligned globalist elites and their minions are quick to brand you “racist,” “xenophobic,” “anti-migrant” or some other equally derogatory term.  It's the usual shaming and blaming harangue. But it also confirms something about our accusers in that who but dedicated globalists could be offended by expressions of unabashed patriotism.  
 
Transgender theory skeptics
Perhaps you oppose gender theory, its inclusion in school sex ed curricula or the promotion of gender transitioning to children. You may be among those who believe that men aspiring to become woman via surgery and hormone injections shouldn’t be competing with biological women in school, amateur or professional sports. Or perhaps you’re opposed to the promotion of the drag queen life style to young kids via “Drag Queen story hour" in public libraries. If so, rest assured the shamers and blamers have branded you a ‘hater” or a “transphobe.” It’s truly amazing how quickly those who once called for “tolerance” for their cause have become intolerant of those who dare question, isn't it? 
 
Peace advocates  
Neocons also seize the shame-thrower when it suits their purposes. It’s particularly popular with the servants of the UK-Amero-Zionist military complex. They use shaming to herd the masses into supporting their calls for regime-change wars. Here is an excerpt from an MSM article:
 
The world’s silence today — as hundreds of civilians are slaughtered; hospitals destroyed in precision strikes; elderly men shot dead and burned on the street; and hundreds of thousands of people are forced to flee, some on foot — risks gifting HTS with a narrative win on the revolutionary street (19).
 
The journalist that authored the piece would like us to believe that our silence (and inaction) in the face of his portrayal of Syrian President Assad is shameful. The questionable authenticity of his sources and accuracy of his claims aside, what would he prefer? It’s a humanitarian intervention of course, starting perhaps with Western imposition of a rather innocent sounding play called a “no-fly zone,” a “buffer zone” or a “humanitarian corridor” (20).
 
The standard rationales for foreign invasions like delivering democracy to the oppressed or conducting an humanitarian intervention are merely pretexts for launching illegal regime change campaigns against a foreign nations. They have resulted in incalculable chaos, death and destruction for the last 18 years across in the Middle East. 
 
The current list of shame targets is lengthy. It also includes categories like: White people, white males (just for being white), Christians, men, conservatives, traditional liberals, national founding fathers and those described as "cisgender." We must include of course anyone who doesn’t fall to their knees in response to the carefully-crafted Black Lives Matter  narrative regarding the death of George Floyd. Shame on the non-believers.
 
The mainstream media (MSM) echo chamber has played an essential role in the culture war. It seeds and amplifies   vengeful social justice narratives. I'm hard pressed to recall any occasion on which the MSM has expressed remorse for aiding in the shame maligning of dissenters. I do see a track record of success in ridiculing people into silence as it is described by conservative thinker, George Janek. And the ominous silence on the part of cowed conservatives regarding many vital political issues is a powerful testament to the effectiveness of the tactic. 
 
Taken to extreme, intense shaming campaigns can progress into the realm of dehumanizing. Futurist, Alvin Toffler, identified demonization and dehumanization as one of six methods for persuading a reluctant public to consent to going to war. In short, demonization is achieved by:

• Comparing them (targets) with known 'demons' such as Hitler or Pol Pot.
• Describing their actions as disgusting and abhorrent. (22) 

 
Demonization legitimizes an assault against alleged foreign enemies. It confers a mandate to kill, employing such measures as targeted assassinations. And it legitimizes, in the minds of some, the use of torture to extract information from enemy combatants. Similarly, the demonization of culture war targets also legitimizes  the use of "deadly" force in an all out attempt to destroy the enemy. In a social media context, it's called digital assassination. 
 
Defending oneself
Shaming and blaming is a manipulative, disingenuous and highly effective weapon used by culture war aggressors to stigmatize, suppress and silence opposition. Politically naïve and inexperienced victims of this tactic naturally tend toward either “duck and retreat” or impulsive angry reaction. Neither is effective.  
 
Duck and retreat amounts to silence, which in turn amounts to surrender. This has been the goal of your adversary from the outset. And an impulsive angry retort is seldom sufficiently thought through to be effective.  Shouting back, "no, I’m not a racist" in many contexts, for example is no more helpful than Richard Nixon’s “Well, I am not a crook” defense (23).
 
The discipline and principles of the martial arts can be an  effective antidote to both the above natural reactions. And, as in most matters, practice makes perfect. There are occasions of course when no response is required. The attack may be so egregious, or its manipulative intent so apparent, it blows up in the face of the attacker like a hand grenade.

There are also times when a light or gentle response is sufficient. Christian scriptures say that a “soft answer turns away wrath.” The balance of that verse reads, "but grievous words stir up anger” (24). De-escalation is the goal, so if a gentle response disarms, so much the better. Your counter  could be as simple as the rhetorical question:

Are you sure you want to go down this path, Mr. Jones? Or perhaps, I respect you far too much to respond to that in kind, John.
 
Sometimes your intent is simply to expose the nature of the attack to the audience or your followers. For example:
 
Really Janice? I don’t think it’s helpful for us to go the shaming and blaming route. We’re both bigger than that. (an invitation to take the high road.)
 
Or more explicitly:
 
So, let’s be clear. Are you really suggesting that simply because I hold a different point of view than you, that I should be disqualified from (fill in the blank)? Is that what you’re implying? Is that your understanding of how democracy in Canada works?
 
In short, recognizing the nature of the attack and adopting the appropriate rhetorical stance is essential. It means exercising presence of mind in the heat of the moment. It means being deliberate. And if you are capable of that, your response is likely going to be much more powerful and persuasive.
 
The response of Trump supporters to Hilary Clinton’s  “deplorables” strike lends itself to the martial arts comparison. Her opponents didn’t cower nor act contrite. They didn’t furtively toss out red herrings or ad hominems  They took what Clinton gave them and turned it back on her. Trump supporters, individually and collectively, adopted the label as a badge of honour. Perhaps they understood that the public wasn’t entirely unaware of Hillary’s political baggage. It was the equivalent of a well-executed judo hip throw.
 
Conservatives can counter neoliberal climate change Greta shaming in several ways. One way is by pulling back the curtain on her stage-managed performances. Greta is a puppet, so it’s useful to expose the "strings" in the form of the PR campaign and the backers supporting her (25).
 
A common sense counter would question the logic of “panic like your house is on fire.” Has anyone with a basic understanding of human physiology and cognitive processes ever suggested that humans are most capable of clear thinking and strategic action on any front while in a state of panic?  Think about it, Greta.
 
Sometimes, others have already addressed the assault. And, they may have done so in more eloquent or persuasive terms than you ever could have. So, if you agree with their position, you can quote or re-tweet their remarks. Former author, educator, journalist and Seattle radio news director George Ure, for example, has candidly addressed the ga ga glorification of Greta T.
 
“That’s the whole secret of hype, though: Making it seem like something matters when it doesn’t. Anyone who would follow a 16-year old’s admonishments on climate not only should have their head examined, but they should lose their right to vote since their mental acuity is demonstrably deficient…”  (26.)
 
Satire remains one of the best approaches to countering verbal assaults and rhetorical bullying. Well-crafted satire playfully exposes absurdities in what is presented as sound arguments. It exposes naked emperors and their enablers. It slices through political hubris, pomposity and pretense like a hot knife through butter. The satirists at Babylon Bee regularly gift their readers with potent satirical counters to the neoliberal absurdity du jour. Their treatment of Greta gushing in: MasterClass replaces all instructors with Greta Thunberg, is incisive, humorous and right on target  (27). 
 
Neocon warmongers push relentlessly for wars of one kind or another, from the economic to the military variety. And they often wage information war as a precursor to or in parallel with both these forms of warfare. The objective of their  disinformation campaigns is to secure public consent for regime change dressed up as an “humanitarian” imperative. 
   
One counter to US-UK-Neocon war shaming is calling out its  fake compassion and predilection for "rescuing" oppressed peoples and nations. It’s disingenuous and imaginary. Counter by calling attention to its recent track record in the Middle East and Nothern Africa (MENA) region. Consider for example how all that compassion played out in Iraq and Libya, two countries now enduring the dark dystopia of failed states.  
 
Sometimes an opponent’s attack is an attempt to distract you or their audience from their own failures before they hit the news. Consider it a desperate, “Hey, look over there!” It may resemble what our grandparents described as the pot calling the kettle black. Or, it may be plain old psychological projection. Your counter can be summed up in a line from an Eric Clapton blues-rock song: Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself (28).
 
Remember, shaming is intended to ostracize – to separate you from the common cause of your community, or humanity in general. This may also be your opportunity to re-affirm your solidarity with or respect for core values of your community or country. Why apologize for your support for Canadian sovereignty at a time when it really matters? Why hide you love of country just because the PTB have decided to demonize patriotism? In the process of standing up for your country (a good thing until recently it seems) you are likely to strike a  chord with silent traditionalists in the audience and rally them to the cause.
 
Developing powerful short hand phrases and memorable  memes is an integral feature of information warfare. For example, many believe there’s something darkly Orwellian about the heavy-handed authoritarian management of the coronavirus. The COVID-1984 meme is a shorthand counter. It says: “I'm not buying the official narrative.” It speaks volumes. It's still true; a picture, or a powerful meme in this case, is worth 1000 words.
 
The endless LGBT+ marketing and promotion on the one hand and the shaming of “non-believers” is relentless. The original grievances of the homosexual lobby were addressed some time ago. Now it’s transformed into a demand for subservience and adoration. Those who fail to salute the LGBT+ flag or dance to its "pride" tune are demonized. My response to such demands on occasion includes sharing the views of courageous LGBT+ members who also find the movement’s politics repugnant.
 
The LGBT+ movement’s revisionist history, bullying and narcissism also repulses some conservatives within its ranks. Some don’t equate Drag Queen story hour offered at the local library for audiences of five and six year olds with motherhood and apple pie. Not all think gay pride parades are wholesome fun for the whole family like their neoliberal promoters. And some, no doubt, are just tired of being used as political pawns.
 
Sometimes the best response to the flaming shame arrow is to redirect it back to its origin. Shelly Luther, a Dallas Texas hairdresser was fined and threatened with jail time when she reopened her shop in order to generate needed income. The judge tried to shame her by asking if her decision to go to work wasn’t being selfish. While she attracted supporters, she was also targeted by neoliberals, the most famous perhaps being US Democrat, Maxine Waters who declared that Shelley should be ashamed of herself.
 
Luther was unrepentant and unbowed when asked about the Congresswoman’s sharply critical comments. Luther replied that it was Waters who should be ashamed of herself given that she was collecting a paycheck while telling other people (who badly needed one) not to work“ (29). 
 
Sometimes, the shamers are institutions and corporations that  launch wholesale shaming campaigns against ordinary people. The Covid project has surfaced many new candidates for posting to a metaphorical Wall of Shame I created a few years earlier. New nominees are:
Governments, which by their directives, and in the name of protecting us, callously destroy the businesses and livelihoods of millions of citizens who grew them.
 
Governments and their public health "authorities" that adopt the tactics of the infamous STASI – like installing snitch lines and encouraging citizens to turn in fellow citizens (30).
 
Petty individuals and mobs who are easily propagandized to do the bidding of Big Brother and obediently attack their neighbour as the enemy.
 
Government authorities who ban church services while applauding mass protests in the public square and work to ensure the wheels of the abortion machine keep running (you have discredited yourself).
 
COVID cops whose idea of serving and protecting is fining kids playing in empty parking lots and playgrounds.
 
Big Pharma whose criminal campaigns and manipulative abuse of science are aimed at generating windfall corporate profits from the sale of expensive treatments (vaccine or otherwise).

Sometimes, an honest self-assessment suggests a mea culpa is in order. Perhaps our own well-intentioned actions had unintended negative consequences. Humility is still a virtue. Our consolation lies in the mercy extended to the woman caught in adultery: Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her (31).
 
In conclusion, the shaming and blaming ploy is a potent information war tactic. It is used daily to ostracize those who don’t buy into official narratives. And it can quickly crush those whose only crime is thinking critically or thinking differently. But, only those capable of recognizing the tactic for what it is can adequately defend themselves against its toxic barbs.
 
We can take hope in the fact that the methods of the armies of virtue mongers and social justice warriors unleashed by our universities are, ultimately counterproductive. Their campaigns of angry intimidation sow the seeds of rebellion. Blogger, Mark Jeftovic offers this explanation for the 2016 election of Donald Trump.
 
“People were shame-fatigued, so sick of being called racist, immoral, deplorable, misogynistic, privileged, intolerant or were accused of dog whistling every time they disputed the prevailing narrative. Fearing reprisals for not fully embracing toxic virtue-ism they simply toed the line of virtue-mongers in public, then turned around and walked into the voting booth and pulled the other lever.” (32)
 
I suspect that renewed rebellion is bubbling beneath the surface. It's hard to gauge its potency, however, as so many have succumbed to the intimidating effect of shaming and blaming. Political analyst, Paul Craig Roberts recently described the neutering of white people. 
 
"White people are intellectually disarmed and at the mercy of Critical Race Theory which instills guilt and shame into them." (36)
 
An honest assessment tells us that the information war has produced a lot of casualties and devastated the landscape once reserved for robust political discourse. Many are now held captive under threat of shaming. This extends beyond the white population of course to any and all those who dare question cultural Marxist revolutionaries or their doctrine.

The first step toward liberation is understanding the nature of the information war that engulfs us. The second is understanding the use and potential impact of the (rhetorical) weapons directed at us. It seems clear that shaming and blaming is one of the most powerful, and for that reason, most popular in the arsenal of those intent on our destruction. Again, forewarned is forearmed. -- Rod
 
Sources:
1. Shaming: Merriam Webster on-line dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shaming
 
2. Ostracize: Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ostracize

3. One day after opening, an ice cream shop was forced temporarily because customers didn’t follow social distancing rules, CNN, May11, 2022 https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/10/us/ice-cream-shop-closes-employee-harassment-trnd/index.html
 
4. BibleHub, Matthew 21:13, https://biblehub.com/matthew/21-13.htm
 
5. Pillory, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillory
 
6. Trudeau blasts Scheer for not marching in Canadian Pride parades for third straight year, Global News, August 4, 2019,
https://globalnews.ca/news/5726434/trudeau-scheer-pride-parades/
 
7. Matt Taibbi’s Ten Rules of Hate, Dangerous Intersection, Nov 4, 2018,
https://dangerousintersection.org/2018/11/04/matt-taibbis-ten-rules-of-hate/
 
8.Read Hillary Clinton’s ‘Basket of Deplorables’ remarks about Donald Trump supporters, Time, September 10, 2016
https://time.com/4486502/hillary-clinton-basket-of-deplorables-transcript/
 
9. Shaming women who vote right, National Review, November 14, 2018
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/11/left-shames-conservative-women-as-racist-misled/
 
10. Share virus details with the “whole world”: Mike Pompeo to China https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/coronavirus-outbreak-us-secretary-of-state-mike-pompeo-urges-china-to-share-virus-details-with-whole-2198242
 
11. UK government shames couple with drone footage for going on “non-essential” walks,
https://www.sott.net/article/431407-Dystopia-UK-police-using-drones-to-shame-people-for-going-on-non-essential-walks
 
12. Opposing lockdown is not ‘profits before people’, Sign of the times, May 12, 2020,
https://www.sott.net/article/434347-Opposing-lockdown-is-NOT-profits-before-people
 
13. Stop shaming people for going outside, the risks are generally low, and the benefits are endless, Sign of the  times, April 20, 2020.
https://www.sott.net/article/433399-Stop-shaming-people-for-going-outside-The-risks-are-generally-low-and-the-benefits-are-endless
 
14. What’s next… a train to Dachua?” – Snitching on social-distance denier sparks outrage across America, Zero Hedge, April 18-2020,
https://www.zerohedge.com/health/whats-next-train-dachau-snitching-social-distance-deniers-sparks-outrage-across-america
 
15. MSM article shames those who refuse contact tracing app, COVIDSAFE, The Freedom articles, May 13, 2020.
https://thefreedomarticles.com/msm-article-shames-those-refuse-surveillance-app-covidsafe/
 
16. Matt Taibbi: The American press is destroying itself, June 12, 2020,
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-news-media-is-destroying-itself
 
17. Unashamedly intolerant: Veganism promotes a religion of hate, attempt to guilt-trip and ridicule meat eaters, Signs of the Times, October 28, 2019,https://www.sott.net/article/422784-Unashamedly-intolerant-Veganism-promotes-a-religion-of-hate-attempts-to-guilt-trip-ridicule-meat-eaters
 
18. $4 billion and growing; US payouts for vaccine injuries and deaths keep climbing, Children’s Health Defense, November 19, 2018.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/news/4-billion-and-growing-u-s-payouts-for-vaccine-injuries-and-deaths-keep-climbing/
 
19. The world will pay for its silent indifference to the slaughter in Syria, Terry Gavin, National Post, February 6, 2020, https://nationalpost.com/opinion/terry-glavin-the-world-will-pay-for-its-silent-indifference-to-the-slaughter-in-syria
 
20. The “no fly zone”, “buffer zone” and “humanitarian corridor” scams, Global Research, September 8, 2016,
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-no-fly-zone-buffer-zone-and-humanitarian-corridor-scams/5544609
 
21. The mainstream media’s great trick: ridiculing people into silence, Sign of the Times, May 18, 2020, https://www.sott.net/article/435045-The-mainstream-medias-great-trick-Ridiculing-people-into-silence
 
22 Six tools for managing perception, Changing Minds, from War and Anti-War, by Alvin and Heidi Toffler, http://changingminds.org/techniques/propaganda/six_tools_perception_management.htm
 
23. Richard Nixon – I’m not a crook, YouTube, July 15, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh163n1lJ4M
 
24. Medium.com, Keith McGivern, Proverbs 15:1, https://medium.com/@keithmcgivern/a-soft-answer-turneth-away-wrath-but-grievous-words-stir-up-anger-proverbs-15-1-3d0994b0e6de
 
25. The manufacturing of Greta Thunberg – for consent: The political economy of the non-profit industrial complex, Wrong kind of green, Corey Morningstar, January 17, 2019, http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2019/01/17/the-manufacturing-of-greta-thunberg-for-consent-the-political-economy-of-the-non-profit-industrial-complex/
 
26. Is ethical journalism dead?, Strategic Living, April 2020, https://strategiclivingblog.com/is-ethical-journalism-dead-2/
 
27. MasterClass replaces all instructors with Greta Thunberg, Signs of the Times, May 13, 2020, https://www.sott.net/article/434665-MasterClass-replaces-all-instructors-with-Greta-Thunberg
 
28. Before you accuse me, AZlyrics.com, https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ericclapton/beforeyouaccuseme108913.html
 
29. Dallas salon owner has sharp message for Maxime Waters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQF2JT9O3aA
 
30. New York governor, Andrew Cuomo wants to fine people not wearing COVID-19 masks because they could ‘literally kill someone,’ Signs of the Times, May 4, 2020, https://www.sott.net/article/433842-New-York-Governor-Andrew-Cuomo-wants-to-fine-people-not-wearing-Covid-19-masks-because-they-could-literally-kill-someone
 
31. Biblehub, John 8:7, https://biblehub.com/john/8-7.htm
 
32. On toxic virtue and the new digital Samizdat, Mark Jeftovic, June 14, 2020, https://guerrilla-capitalism.com/articles/the-backchannel-backlash-against-toxic-virtue-mongers/
 
33. Will white people self-destruct?, Paul Craig Roberts, June 24, 2020, https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/06/paul-craig-roberts/will-white-people-self-destruct/