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CNN's "Cyber Shockwave"

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2046

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I know most of you have lives and don't bother with this kind of nonsense generally, but for the last half hour at least CNN has been running a program called "We Were Warned: Cyber Shockwave," in which they run a simulated cyber attack from some unknown enemy against the United States.

http://www.newsonnews.net/cnn/1968-nationa...ely-on-cnn.html

CNN will air a two-hour production, We Were Warned: Cyber Shockwave, based upon exclusive television access to a national security cyber “war game” scenario. The simulated event was developed by The Bipartisan Policy Center and will debut Saturday, Feb. 20 and Sunday, Feb. 21 at 8pm, 11pm and 2am ET on CNN. The scenario was created by Fmr. CIA Director, General Michael Hayden (ret.) as well as the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission, Fmr. Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN) and Fmr. Gov. Thomas Kean (R-NJ).

[...]

Additional participants who served various roles for the scenario are: Fmr. U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, Fmr. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, Fmr. White House Homeland Security Advisor and CNN contributor Fran Townsend, Fmr. Director of Central Intelligence John McLaughlin, Fmr. U.S. Senator Bennett Johnston, Jr. (D-LA), Fmr. National Economic Council Director Stephen Friedman, Fmr. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, Fmr. White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart, Fmr. National Security Agency General Counsel Stewart Baker, and Gen. Charles Wald, USAF (Ret.), former Deputy Commander of the United States European Command.

The unrehearsed event simulated a real-time White House Situation Room response to a massive cyber attack. Participants received simulated intelligence and news reports that required their rapid, informed advice for a U.S. president.

I can't believe some of the stuff I'm hearing from this panel. Thus far they have discussed mobilizing the national guard in American cities, imposing martial law, nationalizing the energy industry, nationalizing the telecommunications industry, seizing control of the internet, imposing rationing, and suspending the constitution. They constantly ask the person playing the role of Attorney General whether or not they have authority to do any of this, she says no not really, then they all agree that they can't afford to "second guess," waste time, or worry about the statues, we can't argue about things like legal authority, we're in a state of panic, we just have to act! "Better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission!" Then CNN chimes in and basically says 'see! look how unprepared we are! we need to pass laws, legislation is needed right now, we need to give the government power in case of an emergency! Aren't you glad we're doing this?' They literally said "we need to scare the public. That's a good thing. When the public is scared, there's a demand for government to serve them."

Then Chertoff says 'we're just going to send guys to the private sector and tell them to do whatever we say, or else.' Then CNN chimes in and says 'oh we're not for a dictatorship, this is a partnership between public and private! This is a team! We wouldn't dream of dictatorship! This is a crisis! We just want to restore normalcy.' I can almost hear Dr. Floyd Ferris go, "We are for free enterprise!" Chertoff literally says 'we have to get the public to buy into it! We have to remind the public that it's an emergency and convince them to trust us, so we can act on both statutory and non-statutory grounds. Just like Lincoln. Which means we have to tell Congress to grow up and just do whatever we need to do without them.'

Yes just say the magic word "Lincoln" and every bit of tyranny and oppression is justified.

“The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and peace, and it covers with its shield of protection all classes of men, at all times and under all circumstances. No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of men that any of its great provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of Government” (Chief Justice Salmon P Chase, majority decision in Ex parte Mulligan, 1866.)

Anyone else seeing this?

Edited by 2046
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Thanks, had seen ads but haven't watched.

It's like model UN: imposing the naive values and worldview of academic-types on reality. Doesn't work. Why? Because their knowledge is second-hand. Academic studies of 'conflict' and 'diplomacy' consist of cheap second-hand knowledge. These sort of exercises are even more worse - because they deal with second-hand knowledge second-hand. It's as useful as school recess.

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Only one technique is used to sell anything nowadays, the appeal to emotion. The is the necessary result of an anti-conceptual education system and pragmatist culture. The only variety is in whether the pitch is to sex, fear, or greed.

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I was shocked to hear the OP's summary of what was going on in this thing. So I searched for it and watched it on Youtube.

Here's video one of nine.

There were a lot of creepy suggestions going back and forth. Basically everything the OP summarized, was said. Just not always as blatantly.

I get the impression that this is propaganda, designed to prepare Americans to accept a government takeover of everything in such a situation without too much outrage. Notice how they constantly stress that taking over things is the only way they're going to be able to save us.

I'm going more on a gut feeling than anything when I say this, so take it with a grain of salt. But we may have just witnessed our government taking a first step towards statism.

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Only one technique is used to sell anything nowadays, the appeal to emotion. The is the necessary result of an anti-conceptual education system and pragmatist culture. The only variety is in whether the pitch is to sex, fear, or greed.

Agreed. Coming from a motorcycle background, a lot of the industry irritates me as it doesn't deal well with providing data. "It's new!" is often accepted as a reason to have it...before someone else does.

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