“The Smear is a political tactic used to destroy a person or idea through the use of fake news and spin doctors. The tactic is often based on a small amount of truth, but the goal is to obscure the truth. The Smear is used to undermine arguments and critiques and can be used to shape the image of a person or idea,” according to left-leaning Wikipedia. As this primer and news analysis will explore, variations on the smear are not just a United States phenomenon, as this 2.16.2024 News.CA (CTV) headline reminds us: “CTV News’ Michael Stittle and Nanos Research’s Nik Nanos react to the sharp criticism of a top strategist for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre — here’s Nik’s take on the strategy behind the Liberal attacks.” The battle over media is global, not just domestic. The Cambridge Dictionary reveals that smear tactics can be used in business as well as politics. That source defined as “smear” as “a planned attempt to harm the reputation of a person or company by telling lies about them,” and gave as its example the following sentence: “They accused competitors of mounting a smear campaign to drive them out of the market. The Smear was the title of one of award-winning Sharyl Attkisson’s books. The following is from the Amazon website. Her book has a 4.7 out of 5-star rating on Amazon and is declared as a New York Times bestseller.
Part I
Ever wonder how politics turned into a take-no-prisoners blood sport? The New York Times bestselling author of Stonewalled pulls back the curtain on the shady world of opposition research and reveals the dirty tricks those in power use to influence your opinions.
Behind most major political stories in the modern era, there is an agenda; an effort by opposition researchers, spin doctors, and outside interests to destroy an idea or a person. The tactic they use is the Smear. Every day, Americans are influenced by the Smear without knowing it. Paid forces cleverly shape virtually every image you cross. Maybe you read that Donald Trump is a racist misogynist, or saw someone on the news mocking the Bernie Sanders campaign. The trick of the Smear is that it is often based on some shred of truth, but these media-driven “hit pieces” are designed to obscure the truth. Success hinges on the Smear artist’s ability to remain invisible; to make it seem as if their work is neither calculated nor scripted. It must appear to be precisely what it is not.
Veteran journalist Sharyl Attkisson has witnessed this practice firsthand. After years of being pitched hit jobs and puff pieces, she’s an expert at detecting Smear campaigns. Now, the hard-hitting investigative reporter shares her inside knowledge, revealing how the Smear takes shape and who its perpetrators are—including Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal and, most influential of all, “right-wing assassin turned left-wing assassin” (National Review) political operative David Brock and his Media Matters for America empire.
Attkisson exposes the diabolical tactics of Smear artists, and their outrageous access to the biggest names in political media—operatives who are corrupting the political process, and discouraging widespread citizen involvement in our democracy.
The better description would arguably be the media “influences” rather than “controls” the public, but the core points made by Attkisson remains.
The X post that follows shows a short video clip of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA-D) explaining how the wrap up smear works to journalists.
Nancy Pelosi explaining step by step how they successfully were able to smear Kavanaugh.
It’s called the wrap up smear
“You deamonize somebody, with falsehoods and all the rest and then you merchandise it. “ pic.twitter.com/veCZb7tVZo
— Cjaye (@LoneStarCjaye) October 7, 2018
Left-leaning Reuters has the text of those comments by Pelosi (D) as follows.
“And it’s a diversionary tactic. It’s a self-fulfilling proph(ecy). You demonize – we call it the wrap-up smear. If you want to talk politics. We call it the wrap-up smear. You smear somebody with falsehoods and all the rest and then you merchandise it and then you write it and they’ll say, see, it’s reported in the press that this, this, this and this, so they have that validation that the press reported the smear and then it’s called a wrap-up smear. Now I am going to merchandise the press’ report on the smear that we made. It’s a tactic.”
Note that such smear tactics can be used by any partisan political operative.
But smear tactics can also be used in business, cultural, religious, or virtually any other context. The goals of a smear tactic can be many, or it may be focused and subtle. In passing, it is worth mentioning because it can be related, that veteran and award-winning CNN journalist turned award-winning nationally syndicated WMAL satirical pundit Chris Plante says that one of the greatest powers of the mainstream media is the media’s power to ignore. What ought to be news is often downplayed or ignored, says Plante.
Malcom X famously phrased his view of the media, which he himself used on many occasions, in the following fashion per BrainyQuote and other sources. “They have the power to make the innocent [appear to be] guilty and to make the guilty [appear to be] innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” While it may be debated if the media is “the most powerful entity on earth,” the fact that it is powerful is the reason that the debate over media is so heated. If it wasn’t powerful, who would care?
In fairness, there are reporters, journalists, and news sources that are more balanced and honest and others that are less so.
While some portray media bias, the power to ignore, or “drive by” and “wrap up” smears as newer tactics, they have been around for well over a century. The reason that some governments want to control their media is precisely because it can give a significant measure of influence over society.
In the U.S., it became known that government agencies decades ago paid reporters, obviously with the intent to influence reporting. An example of that is CIA Operation Mockingbird, which the investigative Congressional Church Committee exposed. Here is how left-leaning Wikipedia explains an important aspect of that committee’s revelations.
In a 1977 Rolling Stone magazine article, “The CIA and the Media,”[8] reporter Carl Bernstein expanded upon the Church Committee’s report and wrote that more than 400 US press members had secretly carried out assignments for the CIA, including New York Times publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger, columnist and political analyst Stewart Alsop and Time magazine.[7] Bernstein documented the way in which overseas branches of major US news agencies had for many years served as the “eyes and ears” of Operation Mockingbird, which functioned to disseminate CIA propaganda through domestic US media.[9]
Wikipedia opened that article with this.
Operation Mockingbird is an alleged large-scale program of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that began in the early years of the Cold War and attempted to manipulate domestic American news media organizations for propaganda purposes.
The above and what follows are examples of why it is useful to have a reasonably good sense of history. In the view of this writer for MHProNews as a multiple award-winning history buff, the following is one of the best explanations of the importance of understanding history. Then House Majority Whip James “Jim” Clyburn (SC-D) said the following.
Sometimes wrongly attributed to Mark Twain, is this useful insight into history.
History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, But it Often Rhymes
Stating the obvious can be clarifying. We just finished an election cycle here in the U.S. That means that the battle over the next midterm, off year, and next general election cycles has already begun. Former Governor Howard Dean (VT-D) was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election and was the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009, per Wikipedia. Dean explained his notion of the permanent campaign like this: “You can’t just show up at election time and expect to win. You have to be there all the time, building relationships and trust with voters.” Dean stressed that his 50-state Democratic strategy didn’t mean that large sums of money would be spent in Republican strongholds. But he did say a presence was necessary in every state. That useful insight has political as well as other implications. With that understood, there is an almost relentless effort by partisans to control the narrative on a range of issues. Among them are those that impact the manufactured housing profession, but the same could be said about any other profession.
Part II – Additional Information with More MHProNews Analysis and Commentary
What follows will be a look first at some takeaways for the diminished manufactured housing industry (a.k.a. MHVille) and then for the nation more broadly. So, starting with manufactured housing are the following observations.
1) In a report earlier this week, MHProNews explored the bad news that was emerging from the Miami, FL area due to the planned closure and related eviction process involving the Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater. Negative events like the one below occur from time to time involving manufactured housing across the U.S. It provides grist for the mill of industry detractors. That is why state and national associations that claim to represent “all segments” of the industry should be always prepared to respond accurately and fairly. The same principle holds true for weather or other events involving pre-HUD Code mobile homes or post-HUD Code manufactured homes.
2) But let’s step back from MHVille for a few moments and look at what has been deemed a smear campaign against President-Elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee to be the next Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth. Whether or not Hegseth gets confirmed, there is an apparent effort to smear the man. The point has been made from often ‘anonymous sources’ about some aspect of his personal life that may have little or nothing to do with his potential role. As was seen earlier in this article, there may be some ‘kernel of truth’ to the story that is being hyped or exaggerated for partisan advantages. There are lessons to be learned from what is occurring. Detractors are piling on. Partisan supporters are rallying to defend Hegseth. With that scenario in mind, how is it possible that the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and their state affiliates are unprepared to do the same sorts of things when it comes to issues relevant to manufactured housing? As the report linked here and above detailed, people inside MHI, or who were longtime MHI members, have criticized that trade group for not being prepared to deal with issues that arise on a fairly routine basis.
3) If MHI was prepared and actually wanted to advance a broad acceptance of the manufactured home industry with the goal of achieving 500,000 or more annual shipments produced nationwide, then they would be ready to turn any proverbial lemon into lemonade. That is why the remarks by Tim Williams, former MHI chairman and still president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway owned 21st Mortgage Corporation remain so relevant and important. Based on the experiences of the past 20 years or so, Williams is not likely to be accused of being anti-MHI.
The next few items that follow are background to the issue of the smear and media engagement by trade voices or businesses engaged in the manufactured housing profession. While the focus of this report is the smear and tactics using the media, MHI’s vulnerabilities needs to be understood if it is to be a functional advocate for all segments of the industry as it claims. The alternative is to create a new post-production trade group that does what MHI claims but apparently fails to do properly.
4) Like it or not, a new administration is coming into office. The manufactured housing industry has witnessed several shifts from Democrats to Republicans and back again over the course of the past 3 decades. A quick review of the changes at the White House, and thus federal bureaucracy levels, will illustrate.
- William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton (D) – January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001
- George Walker Bush (R) – January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
- Barack Hussien Obama (D) – January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017
- Donald John Trump (R) – January 20, 2017 – January 20, 2021
- Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden Jr. – January 20, 2021 – (if Biden doesn’t step down, die, or is otherwise removed from office, he is supposed to leave on January 20, 2025)
Thus, there shouldn’t be any surprises in the pattern above from the perspective of a manufactured housing industry association professional. When a Democrat is in office, they will tend to appoint Democrats to positions at federal agencies such as HUD, FHFA, DOE, USDA, etc. that may have some impact on manufactured housing at the federal level. This is part of association basics 101.
5) Historically speaking, the reason that the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) originally broke away from MHI and formed is precisely because they felt that MHI could have been doing a better job at certain federal regulatory issues. Agree or not, that was the motivation of what was originally called AAR (Association for Regulatory Reform) and was later renamed as the Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform. While that article on the MHARR history linked there and here is publicly available, on this date, on the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) website is devoid of its own previously publicly provided article on MHI’s own history. Fortunately, MHProNews has preserved that MHI article circa May 16, 2023, which is linked below. Some insights into the Federated States, which used to be body association independent of MHI, is linked here.
When the election results for this past election cycle occurred, both MHI and MHARR have published statements. MHProNews explored both in depth at the link below.
6) But previously, MHI didn’t just post an article on their website. They actually issued a press release and post that press release on their own website.
MHProNews periodically has checked MHI’s website for what is found there and what isn’t available there. As an example of MHI’s engagement with mainstream media, in 2016, MHI issued a press release to announce their support for then HUD Secretary nominee Dr. Ben Carson.
7) That same statement was posted on MHI’s website, see that past screen capture at this link here. But on this date (12.7.2024), MHI’s website no longer has that same item. Meaning that for whatever reason MHI deleted it, at least from the public facing side of their website. That should beg the question, why?
8 years ago, the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) issued a press release AND posted that press release on their own website. But in 2024, MHI apparently backdated their post on their website about Eric Scott Turner’s being named by President-Elect Trump. MHI didn’t issue a press release. Others in media quoted MHI, but no press release. Why the difference? Why would MHI waste that opportunity?
8) MHI is arguably and evidently guilty of failing to adhere to the very kinds of commonsense standards that Tim Williams, cited above, said should be done by the trade group. Why MHI has committed years of such failures is a fair question, which is not the focus of this article. Rather, the focus is simpler. Shouldn’t MHI leaders turn the page now and create a fresh narrative based on reality instead of posturing? Why not be the trade group that they claim to be? MHI could start with something as simple as what MHARR has done since shortly after their website was first launched. Publicly publish manufactured housing statistics. The National Association of Realtors (NAR), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), and MHARR all do so. Why not MHI? This is a public call for MHI to turn the page and begin to do so ASAP.
9) MHARR has said that the industry needs to have three critical points of focus.
a) The first is to stop the DOE Energy Rule. MHARR themselves reached out directly to the Trump transition team to push that message. MHI could do the same, but as a production and post-production “umbrella” trade group, MHI could issue a press release on the topic to draw attention to that pressing need.
b) MHARR has also said that manufactured housing needs to press for full enforcement of the Duty to Serve (DTS) manufactured housing in competitive lending AND there needs to be a full press for the routine and robust enforcement of the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000 (a.k.a. MHIA 2000, MHIA, 2000 Reform Law, 2000 Reform Act). Beyond lobbying, or media engagement, MHARR has pointed out that in the post-Chevron Deference era, the regulatory landscape is now arguably more likely to be successful with litigation than it was prior to the Loper Bright Supreme Court ruling.
c) MHARR is an independent producer’s trade group, that have said that marketing and educational campaigns are not their focus. They aren’t opposed, they simply keep their eyes on the regulatory issues. That noted, it has been MHProNews’ stance from shortly after we launched this publication over 15 years ago that the industry needs to invest in that sort of effort.
d) MHI also felt that was necessary, which is why some 20 years ago they commissioned what became known as the Roper Report that was communicated to the industry’s professionals some 19 years ago.
e) There are any number of things that MHI used to raise as issues that are now missing from their own website, not to mention, from the broader media landscape. MHI leaders should make the proverbial New Year’s Resolution to change the industry’s woes in the 21st century into the industry’s true potential that they themselves used to embrace and champion. Let’s sum these items up. MHI should:
- engage on all levels to stop the DOE energy rule from going into effect. More on that in the days ahead, but MHI’s own attorneys remark that it could cause “irreparable harm” should be one reason why they should move heaven and earth to stop it now that Trump is president-elect.
- MHI should make sure via press releases, op-eds, and starting with their first in-person meeting with new Trump Administration officials that they want to see manufactured housing treated equally to conventional housing on every level. That means that the “enhanced preemption” provision, along with all others, made law by the 2000 Reform Law should be fully implemented. That also means that MHI should authentically, as opposed to merely posturing or playacting, press for full implementation of DTS.
- MHI should stop its discriminatory behavior within the industry. It is arguably childish and a thumb on the scales for MHI to decide who gets their emails and who doesn’t. MHProNews, for example, gets emails from NAHB, NAR, NFIB, MHARR, and others. Why is it that MHI decides to exclude this publication? Especially after having praised us for years for our accuracy, balance, thorough reporting and the like? Furthermore, for MHI to pretend that MHARR doesn’t exist is childish. That is especially so given that MHI worked with MHARR to get DTS and the 2000 Reform Law enacted?
- Next, MHI should reconsider its entire stance towards its ‘partnership’ with conventional housing trade groups. As left-leaning Bing’s AI powered Copilot pointed out, if MHI is serious about advancing the industry it should press for existing laws to be enforced, rather than work with competitors of the industry that don’t help manufactured housing get those laws into effect. If MHI can work with industry competitors successfully to get our laws fully and properly enforced, great. But if not, it is either foolish at best, or treacherous or devious on some level for the MHI to ignore the industry’s interests in favor of rubbing shoulders with groups that have their own interests rather than MHVille’s in mind.
- Where necessary, MHI should sever ties to those that have a history of problematic behavior that makes them vulnerable to smears, be those smears authentic and merited or mere drive by smears. It is inconceivable that MHI keep Lesli Gooch as their CEO and the de facto face of that trade group, given her troubling history. MHI can signal a sincere change if they jettison Gooch, and any others like her, that have a serious history of conflicts of interests and failures.
- MHI should do precisely what Tim Williams said approaching eight years ago. MHI should also enforce its Code of Ethical Conduct. That’s not exhaustive. There is more. But those are basic standards given their own statements and legal commitments.
10) MHI’s CEO said 20 years ago that the industry was poised for a turnaround. That meant, the industry would return to the kind of production and shipment levels achieved during the mid-to-late 1990s. MHI is vulnerable to attacks, precisely because there are so many evidence-based concerns, such as having multiple higher profile members credibly being sued for national class action antitrust violations. When an MHI member has said that the industry should be pressing for essentially tripling the number of land-lease communities in the foreseeable future they certainly can’t say that it is only naysayers and critics who are raising such criticisms.
11) Stepping away from manufactured housing, and pivoting toward the broader national and societal picture, smear campaigns are an apparent part of the array of tactics that can be used to manipulate the public. MHProNews invested time in this year that is winding down to reveal how mainstream media operates, for good and ill. We look at insights from across the left-center-right media spectrum that revealed how consent can be ‘manufactured’ and how mainstream media can black hole important insights.
12) Our ongoing series of articles on the mainstream Patch has showcased related issues on the national or even international levels. Not just in the U.S., but in nations around the world, the public is often manipulated by big media and big tech. That might be rephrased, because big media is corporate owned. Big tech is corporate owned. At times, corporations and government officials collaborate for their own purposes. That sometimes massive scandals can largely escape public attention for years, sometimes a decade or longer, is evident from the third-linked report below.
13) The industry and our country has a chance for a fresh start. What will be made of that fresh start is yet to be determined. Affordable housing is widely misunderstood. Yet, amazingly, MHI has failed to make its best case and keep that case in the public eye month-after-month and year-after-year, as NAHB, NAR, RVIA, or others do.
14) The 50th anniversary of the HUD Code going into effect is approaching. The industry should prepare for that properly. Some issues crop up routinely, and as years of reports on MHProNews and MHLivingNews have illustrated, MHI rarely responds publicly to correct those in a robust fashion.
Either MHI and their leaders should face an array of private litigation and probes and legal actions by public officials, or they should authentically clean up their act and do their jobs properly. If that doesn’t happen, then a new trade group needs to be formed. New blood should be invited into the industry.
As to mainstream media, they have a job to police themselves and to police each other. That has long been the case. Learn more on those topics in the articles that are linked and a planned report in the near term.
Again, our thanks to free email subscribers and all readers like you, as well as our tipsters/sources, sponsors and God for making and keeping us the runaway number one source for authentic “News through the lens of manufactured homes and factory-built housing” © where “We Provide, You Decide.” © ## (Affordable housing, manufactured homes, reports, fact-checks, analysis, and commentary. Third-party images or content are provided under fair use guidelines for media.) See Related Reports, further below. Text/image boxes often are hot-linked to other reports that can be access by clicking on them.)
By L.A. “Tony” Kovach – for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
Connect on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/latonykovach
Related References:
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