CNN national security analyst Asha Rangappa took took the cynical outrage level up to about an 11 in response to a monologue he gave on his Monday show about parents who make their children wear masks.
Carlson's point about masks being unnecessary for outdoor activities was seemingly confirmed on Tuesday by the CDC, but host Alisyn Camerota took issue with another part of the segment, "I don't think we played the most outrageous part, Asha, where he basically says if you see a child wearing a mask, to him, it is the same as child abuse, and you should call the police if you see a child wearing a mask."
The World Health Organization's guidelines state that children under five should not wear masks while children ages 6-11 should only wear masks under certain circumstances nor should they wear masks while engaged in physical activities.
While there was no scientist to point this out, it would be fair to say Carlson went too far when urging people call the police or CPS as Rangappa contended when she declared, "Yes, they -- people should not call the police on parents who have their children out wearing a mask. That is a waste of resources and it distracts law enforcement from real things that they need to be dealing with, so that is not an appropriate response."
However, she then escalated her criticisms of Tucker, "I think that, you know, on the substance, his rant is kind of objectively bonkers, but he is also a master class in propaganda, Alisyn. He's very effective at meeting the three goals of propaganda which is to, one, shake people's beliefs, two reinforce those beliefs, and, three, to get people to act on those beliefs."
Rangappa then went to full national security crisis mode, alleging, "But what he's now doing is channeling his propaganda to condition them to engage in anti-social behavior against their own neighbors, their fellow citizens, their kids' schools, he mentions that. I think this should be very troubling. When, you know, foreign countries do it to us we call it active measures."
Wikipedia, which is about as trustworthy as CNN, defines actives measures as "Political warfare conducted by the Soviet or Russian government since the 1920s. It includes offensive programs such as disinformation, propaganda, deception, sabotage, destabilization and espionage."
For a network that has a history of pressuring Fox to take Carlson off the air, the Soviet propaganda comparisons come off as bitter and cynical.
This segment was sponsored by Dell.
Here is a transcript of the April 27 show:
CNN
CNN Newsroom with Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell
2:43 PM ET
ALISYN CAMEROTA: I, Brian, to your point, I don't think we played the most outrageous part, Asha, where he basically says if you see a child wearing a mask, to him, it is the same as child abuse, and you should call the police if you see a child wearing a mask. Do you think, you've been a law enforcement officer, a couple of questions for you, Asha, do you think Americans should be calling the police on their neighbors' kids, do you think that's something that the viewers even of FNC would be game for and as a law enforcement officer what will happen when the police field phone calls about “I see a child wearing a mask”?
ASHA RANGAPPA: Yes, they -- people should not call the police on parents who have their children out wearing a mask. That is a waste of resources and it distracts law enforcement from real things that they need to be dealing with, so that is not an appropriate response. I think that, you know, on the substance, his rant is kind of objectively bonkers, but he is also a master class in propaganda, Alisyn. He's very effective at meeting the three goals of propaganda which is to, one, shake people's beliefs, two reinforce those beliefs, and, three, to get people to act on those beliefs. And in this case, what he's trying to do, we already have seen how he's have conditioned people to cognitively see mask wearing, vaccines, as dangerous and to, you know, impact their own behavior, by not doing those things. But what he's now doing is channeling his propaganda to condition them to engage in anti-social behavior against their own neighbors, their fellow citizens, their kids' schools, he mentions that. I think this should be very troubling. When, you know, foreign countries do it to us we call it active measures.
