The power of the lies, half-lies and the propaganda the corporate media puts out is demonstrated once again. A YouGov Poll shows 59 percent of Democrats believe Trump won because Russia hacked electronic voting machines, despite the fact the Obama administration denied this ever happened, and that that infamous CIA, FBI and DNI Intelligence Assessment on Russian influence on the election never claimed Russia hacked American voting machines.

Yet, nonetheless a large majority of Democrats believe the "Evil Russkies" literally hacked the vote for Trump, rather than merely tried to influence the election.

59% of Democrats say that Russia tampered with vote tallies despite no evidence and FBI, DHS denials #journalism https://t.co/fp6S8LegdI pic.twitter.com/p1NHhfissw

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) May 27, 2017

How did this happen? By misdirection and misleading reporting by our major media outlets. In short, the same way the media convinced 70 percent of Americans back in the day that Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 terror attacks, even though they never came out and directly said so. Caitlyn Johnstone explains exactly how our media has fooled so many people into drinking the Russian Conspiracy Kool Aid:

These poll results have been out for more than a week, so naturally one could expect a Google search to turn up a bunch of articles by the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN and other mainstream media outlets hastening to correct this widespread misinformation.

Right?

Of course not. There are precisely zero establishment outlets correcting this completely evidence-free belief that has become so widespread, despite the fact that corporate media outlets have been directly responsible for its promulgation by their repeated use of the phrase “election hacking” in their headlines and reports in the months following the November election.

The continual repetition of certain words can bias people's opinions about a whole range of topics. Ad agencies and public relations firms have used this technique for decades. You simply repeat the same words and associate them with the product that you are selling, and voila!, people start to believe the product really possesses the qualities those words imply.

In this case, the product our media has been selling is the story that Russia hacked our elections. Not influenced them, but "hacked" them. Even though no mainstream media outlet ever seriously suggested there was evidence that Russia hacked into our voting machines and flipped votes to Trump, they laid the groundwork for people to reach that conclusion on their own by repeatedly mentioning "Russia" and "hacked the election" in the same breath, over and over again.

The constant repetition of the emotionally loaded word "hacking" and associating it with "Russia," "Russian intelligence services" or "Putin" has had a dramatic impact on what people, especially Democrats, believe. In effect, this propaganda technique has convinced enough of them that Russia literally stole the election from Hillary by hacking into thousands of electronic voting machines across the country.

As she often does, Caitlyn explains this insidious process better than anyone:

[R]eports and headlines marrying the words “election” and “hacking” have deliberately created this misperception among liberal Americans. Establishment politicians have been using their mass media-aided platforms to advance this false narrative as well, with corporate Democrats like Cory Booker openly claiming that Russia directly undermined the ability of Americans to express their opinions at the polls, as in [a Corey Booker] Facebook video which received over a million views ...

By the way, here's the link to Booker's Facebook video and post to which Caitlyn referred, entitled "In a democracy, this is the bedrock of a free nation," with a short excerpt:

We saw an unprecedented attack on our nation during our election with hacking, cyberattacks, propaganda and more from the Russians. The bedrock of a free nation is the ability to express yourself and your opinions, especially at the polls. Russia tried to undermine that and attacked our country.

Booker's emotionally charged language in effect implied that Russia directly interfered with the ability of millions of Americans to cast their votes, even though the only claim that anyone has ever made was that Russia allegedly hacked the DNC and John Podesta's email account. Booker inflated that as yet unproven allegation into a cyberattack by Russia to undermine the people's right to "express themselves at the polls." How else is one to take that language other than a claim that Russia hacked voting machines and changed the votes of millions of people to elect Trump?

And this inflammatory verbiage that Booker employed was not dissimilar to what is broadcast day after day on cable news, or published in mainstream newspapers and their online editions. A quick Google search using the key terms "Russia hacked US elections came up with roughly 4.4 million hits. Countless headlines about the alleged Russian interference in the general election included the words "hack" or "hacked."

It's been a coordinated campaign, with mainstream media relying upon anonymous sources in the intelligence community, and current and former federal intelligence officers and elected officials making often grandiose claims about what Russia did to elect Trump. Indeed, they have gone beyond asserting Russia "hacked the US elections and are are now pointing the finger at Russia for interfering in Europe's elections, as well.

It's a dangerous game in which the media is a primary player. NATO forces are conducting military exercises along Russia's borders and deploying missiles there. American and Russian forces in Syria risk accidental military engagements everyday that could lead to a war where nuclear weapons are employed. And with a polarized, divided country, caused by the manipulation of public opinion by the major media outlets once more, that risk will only increase.

I'll give Caitlyn Johnstone the last word:

Without the mass media propaganda machine, it would never in a million years occur to any American that any of this is normal. It would never occur to normal Americans that they should worry about some icy potato patch on the other side of the planet unless the media was constantly telling them it’s attacking their democracy. It would never occur to normal Americans that their government should be involving itself in the affairs of other nations while they themselves face growing poverty and go without healthcare. The insane behaviors of the US oligarchs would never be consented to without the constant assurance of the oligarch-owned media conglomerates that this is all a perfectly normal and healthy way to go about life.

Other sources for this post:

“Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”

YouGov Poll Question:

Trump, Putin, and the New Cold War
What lay behind Russia’s interference in the 2016 election—and what lies ahead?

U.S. Officials Defend Integrity of Vote, Despite Hacking Fears

Propaganda: The Impact of Words (subsection: Emotional Words)

"What Obama Said to Putin on the Red Phone About the Election Hack"

"Why The Media Uses Anonymous Sources"

"Anonymous Leaks to the WashPost About the CIA’s Russia Beliefs Are No Substitute for Evidence"

"Russia warns that US missiles based in Europe are increasing the risk of a nuclear war"