~~Posted by InsightAnalytical-GRL
A personal note…
I received sad news this week that a person I had been writing to since 2001 passed away after a long illness. Sharon and I “met” after she wrote to me about something I had written for Buzzflash. Sharon was just about to marry Ian and move to Europe at the time we started corresponding. Over the years she and Ian became long-distance friends. Sharon and I both loved cooking, dogs, and politics, and I will miss her frequent, long email letters describing the political situation in the UK and how the U.S. scene was being reported there… To Ian, I extend my deepest condolences and a hope that we will be staying in touch…
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Polls, Polls, Polls…
Polls are on everyone’s minds these days and I came across a couple of interesting articles to highlight.
First, here’s a discussion detailing a discussion with a purported internal pollster for Obama: Conversations with an internal pollster for Obama…
From the GOP side, a blogger did a very interesting overview on the polls at “Blogs for John McCain” under the title Obama’s Lead Crumbling, an Electoral Guide, which was posted on Thursday, October 16. Although things might not be crumbling at this point, the analysis is worth a look.
This week we we learned that Gallup is now using a different polling model which Uppity Woman discussed in detail (also posted by No Quarter). A post I wrote in July about polling methods which is now even more relevant. As a matter of full disclosure, I was a study director at the “original” Gallup before it was sold; George Gallup, Sr., the founder of the company, was still active and Andy Kohut, who now runs Pew Research Center, was the President. It’s sort of a “primer on polling.” See: Musings on Pollsters: Confessions of a Former Gallup Study Director…(Updated 2X)
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Can’t let the week go by without a mention of Raila Odinga. For some reason, the posts I wrote about him months ago have been percolating the last couple of weeks. Here’s a link to a very powerful video which uses news clips to present a graphic portrayal of Odinga, his followers and the violence following the 2007 election, his political roots, and his relationship with Barack Obama. It is definitely something to pass around to as many people as possible.
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In case you missed this…from The Wall Street Journal’s “Market Watch” Community…an intriguing post about the Clintons vs. ACORN-Obama. Is it true? Who knows?…but it IS intriguing…
Clintons File RICO Suit Against Obama – ACORN Stole the Nomination Too!
According to this post, Patrick Fitzgerald on the case.
Our source in federal courts said, “Any crime that involves more than two people and is carried out across state lines qualifies as a corrupt organization. The fact that those “Goodwill” donations were made in Texas and received at Obama headquarters in Chicago or Washington means it qualifies for RICO.”
The “Goodwill donations” referred to above are the $228 million in undocumented, unverified campaign contributions the Obama camp has received — which the McCain campaigned filed a complaint to the FEC on this past Monday.
We’ve also heard that the Clinton campaign filed complaints to the FBI and other federal agencies over Obama’s fraud in the Iowa, Texas and other caucuses: voter intimidation, registration fraud, and other illegal activities.
The last thing we were told tonight in regards to all of this was that “the memo here is a tying together of all these various threads. That’s what you will see in the last weeks of the campaign: all things being tied together”.
If everything rumored here is true, it looks like David Axelrod, Howard Dean, Donna Brazile, Obama himself, and possibly even Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were all involved, together, in massive RICO violations, and thus federal fraud, if the DNC and party leadership knew what the Obama campaign and ACORN were up to and allowed it to proceed. Knowledge of federal crimes being committed makes all parties accessories to those crimes — and part of the conspiracy to defraud the public.
Boy, wouldn’t that be something if all this were true?
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Tonight (Saturday) I’ve seen an ad running on The History Channel from the Republican Congressional Committee and John McCain…a joint ad. Topic? Taxpayers money going to Rezko, headlines about corrupt Obama ties, Congressional Democrats featuring a lineup of Reid, Pelosi, and Barney Frank, and a parting message about the average guy being taxed so more money gets into the hands of the Democratic Congress. Threads are being connected in this ad.
I watched The History Channel program called “Secrets of Body Language.” The commentators “swooned” over Obama’s voice…a commentor saying he’s so “powerful” a speaker that “the words become irrelevant.” They followed Obama with a segment on McCain, who, they said, speaks in a manner “exactly opposite” — more like a “technician” and with sincerity. Remember just before the NH primary when Hillary showed emotion? Well, guess what? The experts were split on whether it was real or coached…
And here’s something else to ponder…Obama’s use of hypnosis techniques. I became certified in hypnosis and what’s in this piece sounds entirely plausible to me…
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Finally, I caught most of “Chicago” on IFC tonight…a great flick and it was really funny to hear Richard Gere “tapping dancing” on the subject of Chicago corruption. One great line from Gere’s character–“This is Chicago, kid–You can’t beat fresh blood on the wall.” The whole picture seemed so…current.
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This week in the fall garden–finally got my arugula, pak choi, and more chard seeds planted. The mustard is growing rapidly. Haven’t seen a hummingbird for a few days. The nights are getting pretty chilly, so soon I’ll be putting up the plastic “greenhouse.”
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THIS WEEK’S POSTS
*By Grail Guardian
**By kenosha Marge
***By American Lassie
*Part 3-Independent Thinking: STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
Part 2–Independent Thinking: THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY/LATRINE NEEDS THE TY-D-BOL MAN
**Part 1–Independent Thinking: PARTISAN NO MORE
2001 Article from Chicago’s Community News Project (Funded by Woods Fund) Mentions Obama under “Organizing and Islam” Section
***Shakespeare, Warlocks and Barack Obama…(UPDATE 1X)
*Announcing the End of the “PC” ERA
The Past Week: Recaps & Random Thoughts, October 5-11 (Cloward-Piven, Mortgage Connections w/Charts; ACORN ad; Uh-Oh-Ohio; Musings on Middle Names; Slaughtering Sarah; Feeling Prickly)
Filed under: Current Politics | Tagged: "Chicago", "Goodwill donations", ACORN, Andy Kohut, arugula, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, body language, fall garden, FEC, Gallup, George Gallup Sr, Hillary Clinton, hummingbirds, hynosis, internal polls, John McCain, mustard greens, NLP, opinion polling, Patrick Fitzgerald, Pew Research Center, Raila Odinga, RICO |
InsightAnalytical -- Watching Our World 
API has some interesting stories on Odinga, too.
Yes and we’re still waiting to see if they are really legit. A lot of speculation surround them!!
ia,
It’s good to see you link to the study of Obama’s use of hypnosis. When I first saw that article I thought, “Oh, geez…another tinfoil hat theory.” But it came recommended by someone I respect, so I read it all the way through.
I came away with a new understanding of why Obama’s supporters are so illogical. Their support has nothing whatsoever to do with the issues. They don’t even know why they support him. They just do.
Whoever coined the phrase “drank the kool-aid” was on the right track. It’s an excellent metaphor for succumbing to the spell Obama casts with his verbal pacing and leading and his co-ordinated gestures.
For anyone who does not believe hypnotizing someone in everyday conversation is possible, please look at this video from England.
Within seconds the target had turned over to the hypnotist (a total stranger on the street) his keys, his watch and his phone. Having recovered enough to realize what he’d done, he retrieved them from the hypnotist…AND THEN RETURNED THEM TO HIM.
If nothing else, the pennypress paper on Obama’s use of hypnotism at least explains the reason for his supporters’ slavish devotion. There’s some small comfort in knowing why this disaster is happening.
If this election isn’t totally through the looking glass. What a round up you have in this one post! This gets me: **The “Goodwill donations” referred to above are the $228 million in undocumented, unverified campaign contributions the Obama camp has received — which the McCain campaigned filed a complaint to the FEC on this past Monday. **
Is this any way for the greatest democracy in the world to run an election?
GRL,
You are spot on about the hypnosis angle. I spent some time with Anthony Robbins in my youth, and I can tell you for fact that Obama uses NLP (or NAC as Robbins calls it). In fact, I’d put real money on a bet that Obama has studied with Robbins (either directly or through a go-between trainer, but I’d opt for directly).
I once sat in an audience of over 800 people at a Robbins certification course and watched as nearly all the audience tranced out as the speaker simply read from a book. I (and another person that didn’t fall under) actually had to dive to catch a young woman that was literally falling out of her seat she was so deeply under. I’ve suspected for some time that this is why I’ve never found Obama appealing in any way – I seem to have a natural immunity to the techniques Robbins teaches to hypnotize the masses. Apparently it’s a PUMA trait…
Grail…As I mentioned, I studied hypnosis and actually used it with a few clients for weight loss, cancer, and past-life. It was the latter exercise that prompted me to decide NOT to push for a bigger practice. Although nothing happened that was bad, I just felt that I did not have the proper training to use it wisely. OK with the stuff like weight loss, but I did not want to become a “therapist” since I did not have training in that.
I went to an Advanced Hypnosis training session which delved into NLP. I was a subject and I did find that it was very effective in stopping my driving problems…I veered to the left when someone passed me on the right…I had been hit by someone doing that. The NLP demo did really cut that down on that reaction.
Which shows how powerful this sort of stuff can be…in the wrong hands, it can be frightening. Your mention of Tony Robbins certainly makes a whole lot of sense to me!!
Another experience I had was at the Omega Institute…a workshop on “Psychic Self-Defense” which was frightening. It was the one time in my life that I had a hard time “coming back” and I couldn’t eat lunch afterward.. This from someone who never misses a meal!
To think that we might possibly have mind control operating now…well, a while ago I mentioned “The Manchurian Candidate” and I think it’s time to see that movie again…not exactly the same scenario, but politically relevant all the same…
If you look at the blind devotion his followers have, for no reason obvious to those of us immune to his tools, NLP makes perfect sense. I think this is an innate skill all despotic leaders have had (Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Castro, Gueverra, et al), but in Obama it is fine-tuned. He does possess Robbins level skills, and Tony has been working at this full time for years. I believe Obama’s real handlers have been at it with him for years, as well. In fact, since he was a child.
The jury’s still out for me on whether he’s a Manchurian Candidate for the Frank Davis/Khalid al Mansour/Bill Ayers crowd, the Middle Eastern Sunni Muslim crowd, the Global Corporate/Bilderberg crowd, or some weird combination of the above – but there is no doubt whatsoever for me that he will morph into something none of us recognize within a very short time of seizing power in America.
Very insightful analysis if you will, IMHO.
“I (and another person that didn’t fall under) actually had to dive to catch a young woman that was literally falling out of her seat she was so deeply under. “
Do you think that is why we were hearing about women fainting at his rallies early on?
Absolutely. Ericksonian hypnosis is extremely powerful, and most people are easily put into a trance state. I firmly believe that the reason PUMAs have not fallen for Obama’s line is that we are the people doing the most rational thinking during this election season (If you didn’t read the pdf file GRL linked above, please take the time to do so. It explains what’s happened scientifically in ordinary terms, and it is well cited.) since we have learned most of our news via the web instead of by the hypnotic pulsing and droning of TV that has been used to subdue us and sell us for decades now.
The one lesson I learned well from Tony Robbins was that pain is a much better motivator than pleasure. Obama has used pain and fear to lead America down his chosen path. The pain of war, the fear of racism (or being perceived as a racist), fear of McCain magically morphing into George W. Bush, fear of losing Roe v. Wade, fear of an unknown woman with a funny accent, fear of women emasculating/fear of losing male approval if you agree with women, and fear of not belonging to the “chosen” group of his supporters. Obama would have us believe his message is Hope and Change and Unity and Cooperation – but his real message is fear and pain.
GRL is onto something here, and it could change the future of this nation if we don’t start the rest of America thinking rationally. Those that are undecideds in this campaign are those that haven’t followed it closely on a daily basis. They haven’t listen to Obama a lot, and haven’t seen him in person. This is the group of Americans that will decide this election. It also explains why Obama fares so poorly in debates; the time is limited, the language cannot be preplanned, and the opponent(s) wake the viewer up and kick them back to rational thought before much of a message has had a chance to take root (except with those that give him their rapt attention at a moment when he can weave his cadence and gestures back into the conversation. It may also be why the moderators allow Obama to speak so much longer than McCain.
This (hypnosis) makes so much more sense than anything else….
Last night I went out with a friend who had supported Obama, then after listening to my arguments re: Sen. Clinton, changed her support to Hillary – in time to vote in the primary. Now, she’s back in the Obama camp. I spoke with her about the various smears that the Obama camp has engaged in and continue to perpetrate. She said she thought it was the McCain campaign that was actually manufacturing the smears (including the Sarah Palin is a c#nt tee shirts).
I was driving and nearly hit a tree when she said that !
This from a bright woman….I said I didn’t need to get her any kool-aid for xmas, as she’d already drunk enough for the next 3 years. (I ought to have said 4 years, I guess.)
I then mentioned the FISA vote. She said,”Everyone makes mistakes”. When I pointed out that he was supposed to be a Constitutional scholar, and that this bill eviscerated our 1st and 4th amendment rights, she had nothing to say.
Well thank goodness the election is close. I won’t even try to change her mind. She has been listening to his speeches – something I steadfastly refuse to do. Instead of thinking his speeches are wonderful exhibits of great oratory, I find the tone, the cadence, the dropped final syllables to be intolerable.
No wonder that young lady passed out….She was holding her breath for him to finish the thought, and he never did.
on another note —
GRL, I send you my thoughts for peaceful moments as you think about the friend you recently lost. I am sorry for this loss. Your friendship was a true blessing.
I went back and did a bit more research on Barack’s “epiphany” line, as described by the paper mentioned by GRL, because I wanted to see the video on which the comments were based.
It turns out that he’s used the same kind of line more than once.
And it doesn’t always come out the same way. Some times it’s much more obvious than others. The example used in the McCain ad about “The One” is far more subtle than the delivery Obama used in New Hampshire before the primaries (perhaps at Dartmouth). There is a youtube video called “Obama: There will be bamboozling II” in which the embedded command tactic can be seen with undeniable clarity around the 4:05 mark: “You will experience an epiphany (pause) and you will suddenly realize (pause) that you MUST (pause) go to the polls and VOTE FOR BARACK.”
BTW, I don’t agree that he has Tony Robbins’ level of skill. He doesn’t use these techniques nearly as well on the fly as he does in prepared/rehearsed speeches. For example: How much did Joe the Plumber like to hear about spreading the wealth? There were many other ways he could have answered that question, saying less and getting himself into less hot water.
Bellevue,
I guess I overstated that. Obama isn’t as good as Tony Robbins is personally, but he is consistent with someone that’s studied with him in person. And Tony has a long history of dabbling in politics behind the scene (ie: influencing those that are in the spotlight, studying his “students” for political trends and willingness).
Besides, Tony Robbins rarely goes off script. He just has a better grasp of his subject matter than Obama does. Remember, he’s a political newbie and has spent every minute of his political career raising money, redistributing it to his friendsand associates, and running for the next office. When would he have the time to learn about banal things like Foreign Policy or Domestic Policy?
I think Obama would focus his use of these techniques on large crowds, where the emotion and “peer” energy would increase suggestibility and pull in more of a response to the techniques…Emotion is a key element in the effectiveness of of any type of suggestion which is key for hypnosis…
Grail, I agree that Obama’s NLP-style persuasion tactics are consistent with Robbins’. And I believe Robbins was saying at one point (this was ~8-10 years ago, maybe more) that he’d consulted for Clinton and his staff, so it’s at least possible if not probable. Point taken, about, we don’t really know how good Tony Robbins is off-script.
It’s really not surprising to see this stuff in a political campaign, though. Unconscious influence is part and parcel of advertising, and that’s a large part of what campaigning is about. Campaigns are either using at least some of these tactics, or handing the other side (which probably will use them) an unfair advantage.
What is sort of surprising to me, though, is how MUCH of it there seems to be in Obama’s campaign, to the exclusion of substance. It’s content-free politics!
Oh, and just to let you know, the lefties think we’re donning tinfoil hats. LOL, not a chance. My circle includes people at various NLP skill levels, from newbies, to newbie trainers, to people who hung with the developers of it in the 1980’s, so I’ve got a decent NLP BS detector. Having seen Obama’s “arena charisma” for what it was months ago, I’ve avoided listening to his speeches.
And I still believe he’s not that GOOD at it, just PRACTICED enough to be effective, based on comparisons against various peers. Obama is using a bunch of patterns developed by others years ago, which is really a newbie’s way of going about NLP influence work. It may be working well, largely because he can get an entire crowd on his side and use that to increase the effectiveness of the techniques, but it’s still a rather hackish effort. If he really “got it”, he would not have given Joe anything in the Obama platform (maybe McCain’s platform, though) to push back against.
close connections Ayers/ Obsama
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/10/16/ayers-to-keynote-university-of-nebraska-lincolns-100th-anniversary-celebration/
I love it! Policy-lite! No fat, no calories, no nutritional value! 8)
I am so interested in reading that PDF. I said early on Obama was using NLP tactics. I recognized them because I once knew someone who used them all the time. I’m telling you that stuff is SCARY. I only learned this person was using those tactics AFTER I wanted to distance myself from him. It was like getting out of a cult. Not everyone uses those techniques for ill will but, there are those who do. Entire websites and books are devoted to such purposes.
It’s powerful stuff and it doesn’t matter your level of education at all. It can work on ANYONE who can be absorbed in conversation that will appeal emotionally to you on a visceral level. That’s why I felt so many Obama people got to be known as “bots” they were parroting things based on emotion. IN FACT the Obama campaign early on in the primaries TOLD them to use “emotional talking points”
They knew what they were doing, I believe because when you go look up what that type of conversational hypnosis is and the techniques that are used it is so similar.
In other ways they use cult tactics too *and all cults use NLP like language* but, the other thing they do is “love bomb” you in and many people told me that immediately upon supporting Obama they were love bombed, and then if you are the Opposition you are demonized, irrationally so. There is no rational give and take, or exchange of ideas. It’s all or nothing. Shunning if you don’t go along.
I think the emotional component paired with the presumptive language and pressure Obama uses is EXACTLY what is done in cults, marketing and those who use NLP to manipulate and control others.
I’ve learned alot over the years about this and Obama gave me a deep feeling of mistrust the first time I saw him do this.
“Coming out” of it is HARD and that’s why you will get such unreasonable responses from some people. Even if everything you say makes sense, it feels like betrayal to them …to have those discourses. Operative word FEELS.
Critical thinking was indeed by passed and the rule of doing what you are used to doing and what feels most comfortable applies.
I LOATHE the idea of obama getting thirty straight minutes of all Obama t.v. time.
Thanks for the comment, Alice Paul!
Alice Paul,
Think of it this way – Obama’s cutting down on all the candidates for religious cults 🙂
[…] GRL pointed out last Sunday in the The Past Week roundup for October 12-18, there is substantial evidence (pdf […]