Li Hamdan
There is a new trend being set by politicians who are bankrupt of ideas. It is the one-liner propaganda, which, for obvious reasons, is much favoured by liars.
Of late, you can see a lot of one-liner propaganda being promoted by unknown people in the social media with the 14th general election (GE14) expected to be held anytime soon. Surely, the campaigners have found it to be the cheapest though most unethical way to conduct their election campaigns.
The one-liners they’re propagating vary from the ludicrous “Democracy is Dead under PM Najib” to the ridiculous “UMNO is most hated of all,” with longer, unjustified statements such as “A national opinion survey shows Mahathir is favored by all Malaysians to be the 7th PM” being thrown in every once too often.
Well, you can guess who the macais responsible for the one-liners are or where they are from, can’t you? From some of the examples that you yourself might have come across or gathered over a period of time, I’m sure you can almost instantly identify the people behind it. Judging from way the one-liners are crafted or written, it is easy to figure out who is to benefit from them, if, at all, there are any benefits.
You see, one-liners constitute a fundamental element in the art of hit-and-run propaganda. Under normal circumstances – or in any normal campaigning – when one makes a political statement, one is obligated to give all reasons and rationale, be it valid or otherwise, for making such a statement and expect there to be differing opinions.
In other words, an intelligent debate should always be welcomed. But not in the business of one-liner propaganda. Here, you simply can say whatever you want – just anything, no matter how crazy, illogical or ridiculous it may sound – and feel absolutely innocent for not giving reasons.
How convenient!
Though this is to be expected, as the fact remains that those propagating one-liners never have good reasons for saying what they say. Yet, they flourish on, thanks to bankrupts and liars who thrive on their statements that, for all intents and purposes, are out of touch with reality!
*The views expressed above herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Third Force.
