2010-01-15 Obama confidant's spine-chilling proposal

2010-01-15 Glenn Greenwald Salon \conspiracy theory\Cass Sunstein\9-11/truth/antipathy\cognitive infiltration\war on the internet\Barack Obama/criticism http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/01/15/sunstein/index.html Obama confidant's spine-chilling proposal Obama confidant's spine-chilling proposal  Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama's closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama's head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for "overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs." In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-"independent" advocates to " cognitively infiltrate " online groups and websites -- as well as other activist groups -- which advocate views that Sunstein deems "false conspiracy theories" about the Government. This would be designed to increase citizens' faith in government officials and undermine the credibility of conspiracists. The paper's abstract can be read, and the full paper downloaded, here.

Sunstein advocates that the Government's stealth infiltration should be accomplished by sending covert agents into "chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups." He also proposes that the Government make secret payments to so-called "independent" credible voices to bolster the Government's messaging (on the ground that those who don't believe government sources will be more inclined to listen to those who appear independent while secretly acting on behalf of the Government). This program would target those advocating false "conspiracy theories," which they define to mean: "an attempt to explain an event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role." Sunstein's 2008 paper was flagged by this blogger, and then amplified in an excellent report by Raw Story 's Daniel Tencer.

There's no evidence that the Obama administration has actually implemented a program exactly of the type advocated by Sunstein, though in light of this paper and the fact that Sunstein's position would include exactly such policies, that question certainly ought to be asked. An interesting point to note: Sunstein admits, in that same paper, that many "conspiracy theories" (including some dismissed as "insane") do ultimately turn out to be true: He acknowledges that some "conspiracy theories" previously dismissed as insane and fringe have turned out to be entirely true (his examples: the CIA really did secretly administer LSD in "mind control" experiments; the DOD really did plot the commission of terrorist acts inside the U.S. with the intent to blame Castro; the Nixon White House really did bug the DNC headquarters). This is possibly the first time I have encountered an admission of this fact within "mainstream" writing. That Greenwald takes this admission and runs with it, rather than dismissing it as unhinged and using that dismissal to further tar Sunstein, is very encouraging; perhaps we will soon finally start seeing rational discussion of 9/11 anomalies?

&ldquo;In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Government employ teams of covert agents and pseudo-"independent" advocates to " cognitively infiltrate " online groups and websites -- as well as other activist groups -- which advocate views that Sunstein deems "false conspiracy theories" about the Government.&rdquo;   