The Latest Attempt to Gaslight

NEW: The White House wanted the USS John McCain “out of sight” for Trump’s visit to Japan. A tarp was hung over the ship’s name ahead of the trip, and sailors—who wear caps bearing the ship’s name—were given the day off for Trump’s visit. w/@gluboldhttps://t.co/6ugPceCOre pic.twitter.com/KuIoWJK5Kt — Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) May 29, 2019 archive.is

Yet another attempt at gaslighting was made Wednesday evening. One must wonder why it is so worth it today to post a tweet that can be so easily debunked. But that is what Rebecca Ballhaus of the Wall Street Journal did. The WSJ reporter has a history of doing such things, which is why the source must be considered. She tweeted that the White House had ordered the obscuring of the USS John McCain, named after the late senator’s father and grandfather. The senators name was added in 2018 after his death.

It hurts beyond anything I have ever borne.

Conflating issues and misleading the public regarding the content of a WSJ article is nothing new to this journalist. This time, some well meaning (but ridiculously stupid) staffer at the White House thought it would be good to make sure the USS John McCain is out of sight of the president during his visit to Japan. The president, of course, said he knew nothing of it, and that he would never do such a thing.

Full Color Propaganda

The WSJ article featured a full color photo of the USS McCain with a tarpaulin covering its stern. The issue with that is the picture was taken on Friday, and the tarp was removed Saturday. The WSJ deliberately posted a picture it knew was not related to the story at hand. This picture alone was enough to set the left off.

But this picture had a caption that read “ahead of President Trump’s visit to Japan.” This caption deliberately misleads the public into thinking the tarp was there because they wished to cover the name of the ship for Trump’s visit. This forced the Navy to respond, stating the tarp was there because of repairs being made to the ship resulting from a recent collision. Maybe that is why the paint barge was “obscuring the name.”

And they did put that part in the article. Several paragraphs BELOW the picture. From the WSJ: “The picture of the tarp was taken on Friday and the tarp was taken down on Saturday, a Navy official said. The paint barge was also removed ahead of the presidential visit, said Cmdr. Clayton Doss, a spokesman for the Navy’s Seventh Fleet.” Hmm. Now, why in the world would there be a paint barge near the USS John S McCain when it was being repaired?

Poisoned Fruit for Title Readers

If there is one thing a journalist knows, it is that people do not like big articles, preferring instead to take snippets and soundbites in and call themselves up to date. Several other things are glaringly fake. Such as the absence of names regarding who specifically shared this information with the WSJ. Not to mention, the title is fake news on it’s own. They know, though, that any time they say “The White House,” people will immediately attribute it to President Trump. That is why they said “The White House” instead of “White House Military Office.” It was poisoned fruit for title readers, otherwise known as gaslighting.

The article itself, while couched in anti-Trump rhetoric and liberally sprinkled with unnamed US officials, nevertheless provided one or two lines that were the actual truth. Such as “While traveling in Indonesia on Thursday, Mr. Shanahan said he first heard about the matter from reports in the media. ‘What I read this morning was the first I heard about it,’ he said.”

Someone is Lying

“Mr. Shanahan” is Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, who the article claims to have been aware of the concerns with the name of the ship and “approved measures to ensure it didn’t interfere with the president’s visit.” This claim is given by yet another unnamed US official, and is contradictory to his own claim he knew nothing about the debacle until he saw it in the media. If he knew nothing of it, he could not have approved measures to deal with it. Someone is lying, and it is not Pat Shanahan. In fact, Shanahan’s office issued its own statement to Business Insider.

“Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, despite reports to the contrary, ‘was not aware of the directive to move the USS John S. McCain nor was he aware of the concern precipitating the directive,’ Lt. Col. Joe Buccino, a spokesman for the secretary, said in an emailed statement.” In addition to that, Business Insider shares this gem: “‘There were emails between lower-level officers, but once leadership heard about it, they said knock it off,’ a senior Navy official told CNN. A Navy official was able to confirm for BI that this was, indeed, the case.”

Gaslighting Very Common

This is a commonly used tactic called “gaslighting” in which information is manipulated to such a degree as to make people believe things that are not true, or to doubt things that are. In this particular instance, the goal seems to be to put an ugly tarnish on an otherwise stellar international visit between two world leaders. Other instances of gaslighting in this article include this gem: “Sailors on the ship, who typically wear caps bearing its name, were given the day off during Mr. Trump’s visit, people familiar with the matter said.”

That bit made it seem like they were given the day off to keep their caps out of the president’s sight. In addition to that, the New York Times wants us to believe they were deliberately left out of the invites to President Trump’s speech because they were assigned to the USS McCain, and their clothing would reveal that. One official told Business Insider that it was because the command was already on a 96 hour shore leave.

Perhaps Repairs Responsible for Shore-leave?

No one who peddled the claim that they were given that leave to keep their caps out of the presidents eyesight thought of the repairs of the ship. And no one in the Navy is saying why the crew was given leave. One would think the practicality of not having sailors crawling all over a ship being repaired would cross people’s minds. I guess not, though, as it contributes nothing of use to the gaslighting attempt.

The NYT’s claim that those of the McCain command who tried to gain entry to the ship were turned away because of the clothes they were wearing would make one believe it is all about the name McCain, but it’s merely another gaslighting attempt. Business Insider tells us the truth: “A Navy official explained to BI that they were likely sent away because they were not dressed in the proper attire, suggesting that the sailors were wearing command ball caps with the McCain’s insignia rather than the eight-point covers and Type IIIs required of participating commands.”

It wasn’t the name on their clothing that got them turned away. It was that they were out of regulation for events of such nature. This is typical stuff for the gaslighting mainstream media. Americans of all persuasions should probably wake up and pay attention with their brains, rather than the emotions which can so easily be played like a fine tuned fiddle.

8 Point covers and Type III’s. Aka, FATIGUES.

My Personal Thoughts

My father passed away December 8, 2018, of brain cancer associated with agent orange. He was a Vietnam veteran, and my personal hero. My view of him may be different from those who only heard of him. It is this girl who is bringing these thoughts to you today. This needs to stop. America is a victim in this, but more specifically, Meghan McCain is the worst casualty in this silly war on the American mind.

Others remember her father differently than she does, and are constantly trying to tell her who her daddy was. It is insufferable and should never happen. But this was a national scale abuse of her grief as a daughter. When my daddy died, I felt like someone ripped a vital appendage off my body, and I still feel the wound keenly. My hero is gone. And until I go Home, I will not hear his voice again except for one small audio clip.

It hurts beyond anything I have ever borne. As that man’s daughter, I appeal to all readers. Please leave Meghan McCain alone. She doesn’t know the man you heard of. She knows her daddy. To inflame tensions between the McCain family and the President is absurdly and wildly abhorrent. To poke at a wounded child who misses her daddy dearly just to get your next news story is beyond reprehensible. Let that woman heal.