In the last article, I identified the problem and a remedy, but the challenge is where to begin? I have been a political observer since I was a child, glued to the TV with my Mom as she watched the events unfolding around President Kennedy’s assassination and not understanding why she was crying.  My interest continued to peak as my older brother developed a fascination with the Kennedy assassination and convinced his political science club at LaSalle College to call for more investigations and to reopen the case. He obviously hit a raw nerve, as his life and our family was threatened with harm if he persisted.

Special Note: my brother, was my hero. After graduating college, he became an NFO, a naval flight officer and after a distinguished career in the US Navy, he joined the CIA.  His Agency career was equally noteworthy as he became a case officer fighting the subversive tactics of the KGB, using both psychological warfare and physical combat in the jungles of Angola and other African nations along with the streets of Paris and  Krakow.  I have always looked up to him and as I continue along this current journey my admiration continues to grow.

Most recently the election of Donald Trump has crystallized the idea that there are actors behind the American stage, an invisible government working to remove or at the very least negate the Donald Trump presidency. As a marketing professor who teaches public relations, I am amazed at how the media polarizes around a single linguistic frame when an opportunity presents itself to disparage President Trump. An excellent example can be seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and the devastating flood that followed in southeast Texas.

In an effort to lend the support of the office of the President to the victims of the disaster Mr. Trump planned a trip to Texas.  The trip was meticulously planned so that the impact of the Presidential visit (which is enormous) would mitigate the impact on resources devoted to the victim’s recovery from Hurrican Harvey. Havey made landfall in Texas on Friday, August 25 and ultimately making a second landfall in Louisianna on August 30. President Trump made an initial visit to Texas on Tuesday the 28th, and what did the press have to say about the visit?  David A. Graham of The Atlantic penned an article titled: Harvey Exposes Trump’s Empathy Deficit.

A quick Google search using the keywords: Trump, Harvey, Empathy easily produce  over 450,000 results with articles titled similarly to The Atlantic’s article: Trump Wins Praise In Texas But Keeps Empathy At Bay from CNN Politics, USNews provided Trump Criticized For Lacking Empathy In Harvey Response, Trump’s Empathy Deficit Trips Him Up Again or also from the Washington Post, Trump Struggles With Empathy. So What? As a marketer and a public relations consultant, it would be nirvana to see this kind of story and linguistic consistency over so many media channels. But wait, President Trump’s lack of “empathy” was not only covered in print media but broadcast media also delivered a consistent lack of empathy message following the Harvey event.  Coincidence? Was a single behavioral research tool, used by all media outlets, key in determining that the President lacked empathy? Or was it the coordination of the deep state on a single message previously determined to be used to detract from President Trump’s management of the Hurricane Harvey disaster?

But wait, President Trump’s lack of “empathy” was not only covered in print media but broadcast media also delivered a consistent lack of empathy message following the Harvey event.  Coincidence? Was a single behavioral research tool, used by all media outlets, the key in determining that the President lacked empathy? Or was it the coordination of the deep state, Bernay’s executive arm of the invisible government, coordinating on a single message or meme, previously determined and designed to detract from the President’s leadership by suggesting that as a leader he lacks empathy?

Dan P. McAdams,  a professor of psychology at Northwestern University (did I mention that Edward Bernays was the nephew of Sigmund Freud) wrote a piece for The Atlantic in June 2016 where he assessed the mind of Donald Trump from various public appearances, determining that Candidate Trump was narcissistic, disagreeable, and prone to grandiosity. Pulling upon these observations McAdams uses the Big Five Personality traits to interpret Candidate Trump’s actions as lacking empathy. Could this article in 2016, prior to Candidate Trump winning the Republican nomination, be the basis for deep state coordination when an opportunity presented itself to use a “lack of empathy” meme?

While this could be an interesting starting point it will not be the point we use for the next several articles, rather L’etat C’est Moi will begin by examining the development of communism in Russia over 100 years ago. I suppose one might as are going back to the future? We shall see in the following segments of L’etat C’est Moi.  Stay tuned!

Special thanks to my cousin Joe who helped bring this article into focus!

Research
McAdams, D. P., (2016).  The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/)

Image:   media.breitbart.com/media/2017/08/ [harveyy-640×480.jpg]