Post by Jonathan Sullivan

My thoughts for Saturday night. You are the problem. Not Donald Trump, not Chuck Shumer.  And you’re falling victim to America’s true enemies. I wrote this. Me, Jon Sullivan. This is not a forward, and I’m curious who will read it.  I can’t tell you how often I see posts from friends and family that are simply forwards of posts from pages like The other 98%, MeidasTouch, The Democratic Coalition, RedState, Townhall, and PJ Media. You forward these posts because they echo your personal sentiments. This makes sense. The problem lies in that you have no idea who is actually behind these posts and what their actual motives are. Most of these forwarded posts appear factual, but in reality only provide partial truths. In those partial truths, the authors are utilizing narrative framing, selective emphasis, emotional amplification, identity signaling and strategic amplification to forward their own agendas. Many of you will claim that you fact check before you forward, that’s great, but do you really look at the material with a critical eye before you forward something that appears to echo your feelings? While these posts are personal to you because these are challenging and emotional times, you have to remember that the author is using you to advance his (or her) agenda. Forwarding a post provides an exponential expansion of the author’s reach and you are playing right into their hands. This is exactly what John Sellers, Andrew Boyd, Nathan Lerner, Jennifer Van Laar, and Larry O’Connor want you to do. If you’re wondering, these are some of the American names associated with the pages that I mentioned. They may likely be Americans sure, but where are their true allegiances? Who is funding them. A September 2024 Reuters report by Chris Bing and Katie Paul directly lays out how U.S. intelligence officials found that Russia is increasingly relying on American social media influencers, both witting and unwitting, to spread narratives favorable to Russian interests and deepen societal divisions. I explain it to my students like this. Think of these posts like water in the crack of a sidewalk. What happens when that water freezes? The crack widens. These authors are using what is now professionally referred to as “Memetic Warfare” to further divide America. A divided America is a weakened America. If you want to post about how you dislike Trump, or Shumer, or how you fear the course of the world today, please do so. This is 100% your right. But stop being lazy and manipulated. Please, put in the effort to write your own thoughts. Don’t use the thoughts of an enemy group who is just trying to make us weaker.