The Fifth Column …You will obey me while I lead you, and eat the garbage that I feed you, Until the day that we don’t need you. Don’t go for help, no one will heed you. Your mind is totally controlled; it has been stuffed into my mold, And you will do as you are told until the rights to you are sold… “I’m the Slime.” Album: “Over-Nite Sensation.” Written by Frank Zappa. Performed by The Mothers of Invention. Discrete Records 1974 “The Fifth Column” is defined as a clandestine group or faction of subversive agents who attempt to undermine a nation’s solidarity. Psychological warfare is an important factor: winning hearts and minds. The term was coined during the Spanish Civil War. Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces, with the support of Germany, were marching on Madrid in four columns. In a telegram to the German ambassador, Franco advised him of the four columns of soldiers and that “the fifth column waited to rise from the inside.” Since then, the term has been regularly used to describe an insider attack. Over the years the term has become less about its original application to a single battle or armed conflict generally, and more about the use of dis- and mis-information to undermine an adversary’s message. Today, its true power is becoming apparent. I am old enough to remember when Walter Cronkite read the news every night. When he did, he read the four W’s: Who, What, Where and When. That was the news. It was on for 30 minutes every night, facts were stated and that was it until the morning news. Newspapers had opinions- on the Opinion page. News was called news and opinions were called opinions. It was up to us to draw our own conclusions. No more. It began as a trickle, first with cable TV and the 24/7 news cycle. Slowly, stealthily, the line between news and opinion began to blur, then shift. No longer were we trusted to form our own opinions based on facts. Our opinions were provided for us disguised as facts. This filtered into print media also, as opinion leaked from the op-ed pages into the articles. Even so, we still had the ability to filter the facts. Then came the internet. This was and is a dangerous turn. Between cable news and the rise of the internet and social media, the news has become a sea of noise. Today, between the five of them, Apple, Twitter, Google, Amazon and Facebook control the vast majority of internet and social media platforms. The First Amendment severely restricts any attempt by the government to inhibit free speech. The same is not true of the privately owned internet and social media platforms. The government can’t silence you if your political views are unpopular. The Big 5 can, and do. They started by deleting individual messages or banning individual users for “offensive content,” the definition of which grew to include “hate speech,” as defined by them. Then hate speech grew to include political views with which they do not agree, which then grew to include any statement that a member of the woke Twitter mob found offensive. Thought that did not conform got disappeared. As I remember, the correct way to think is to think for yourself, but that no longer seems to be the case. Between their academics and their cellphones, our children, starting in kindergarten and going all the way through college, are not being taught the correct way to think, they are being taught to think correctly. That’s a big difference. But it’s not just the kids. Through politically motivated “news” sources, internet tycoons and the social media mob, the Fifth Column has wormed its way into every corner of our society. The onslaught is constant and unwavering. Here are some examples of what is being presented as fact: You know what? Never mind. I started citing examples and felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Instead, I will just summarize: War is Peace Freedom is Slavery Ignorance is Strength Our very lives are under a Fifth Column assault the likes of which the world has never seen. It has been rising for years, more and more boldly, and is reaching a fever pitch. The message saturates our society, pushed relentlessly through all avenues great and small while dissenting voices are ruthlessly shouted down or crushed. The events in Washington on January 6th pushed it into overdrive. Now, not only are individual voices being silenced, but the Big 5 are actively “deplatforming” websites and social media outlets which, in their view, promote what they call sedition. So free speech became hate speech which is now sedition. But why? What is the motive? The Fifth Column is not a goal in itself; it’s a weapon. Whose weapon? One only needs to look at whose political agenda the Fifth Column promotes. The message is everywhere. I will feed you. Vote for me. He has what you don’t, I can give you what he earned. Vote for me. He is your oppressor; I will take his power. Vote for me. He is your enemy, I am your ally. Vote for me. Don’t listen to him, listen to me. Oh, wait, you can’t listen to him; his voice has been muzzled. Good. Vote for me. Give me control and all will be well. These are dangerous times.