9-11 and Cognitive Dissonance
Duty to Warn
9/11 and Cognitive Dissonance
By Gary G. Kohls, MD
There is an epidemic of a psychological phenomenon called cognitive dissonance in the world today. Everybody is susceptible to the reality of cognitive dissonance in one degree or another, but, to many observers, it seems to be especially prevalent in average Americans today. Cognitive dissonance refers to the psychological or emotional discomfort felt when one is confronted with new information or a new reality that contradicts one’s deeply held beliefs or belief systems. It seems especially common among people who have been victimized by TV commercials and other methods of brain-washing and propaganda. It is also true of cult membership that is led by a charismatic, deceptive leader or membership in some other authoritarian system, including punitive parenting and religious or political indoctrination. When there is a confrontation of conflicting and mutually exclusive beliefs, intelligent, open-minded and thoughtful people are usually willing to change their minds by re-evaluating their prior stances, looking carefully and honestly at the new evidence, reassessing the credibility of both positions and then making a decision to adopt or reject the new information, depending on the evidence before them. Close-minded, distracted, un-informed, ignorant, too-busy, addicted or intensely conservative people may not, for a variety of reasons, have the time, inclination, intelligence or political will to look at new evidence that might run contrary to their ingrained beliefs. Therefore they may unconsciously or reflexively reject the new information, even if the evidence is overwhelmingly and provably true. Two good examples of avoidance of unwelcome truths (and the fear of cognitive dissonance) about atrocities committed during US wars of aggression are the corporate media’s total blackballing of those taboo subjects: veterans of the Vietnam War and the Afghanistan/Iraq wars coming home to testify about the war crimes they committed overseas. (See http://www.wintersoldier.com/<http://www.wintersoldier.com/
<<<Cognitive dissonance and 9/11 truth>>>
The best recent example of society-wide cognitive dissonance that has placed America on the slippery slope of global conflagration, economic collapse, “Big Brother” surveillance states, endless foreign wars and domestic martial law is what has been happening ever since millions of observant, open-minded patriots saw, and then courageously said something about, what really happened on 9/11/01. What they saw contradicted what the 24/7 corporate media reportage that was coming out of the Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld/Rove White House and the NeoCons of the Project for the new American Century (google PNAC and 911). The disinformation was obediently echoed – and enforced – by the NSA, the FBI, the CIA, the Pentagon and by members of both political parties who couldn’t admit that they were destined to be part of a major conspiracy that would lead to the evisceration of the Constitution and the deaths of and disruptions to millions of innocent, unarmed men, women and children in the Middle East. <<<Believe your eyes and not the lies>>> People who watched the events of 9/11/01 on live television or were actually present in Manhattan saw fireballs erupt near the top of both 110 story twin towers and then burn out rapidly. Most eyewitnesses didn’t see the first plane hit a tower until a day or two later when accidental coverage by some French videographers was shown on US television. President Bush had lied when he said that he had seen the first plane hitting the tower because there was no live TV coverage of that incident. Many credible eyewitnesses (especially the scores of NYFD firefighters) saw and heard multiple explosions in multiple sites in both towers just before they exploded and were reduced to pyroclastic clouds of fine dust. There is testimonial and video evidence of widespread destruction in the bottom floors of the Twin Towers before the buildings were imploded. See: http://911blogger.com/news/
<<<The “lone assassin” and false flag operations fool most of the people most of the time>>>
It is important to de-mystify the favored “blame it on a deranged lone shooter instead of guilty entities that profit from the killing” explanation (and therefore non-conspiratorial] for assassinations that governments love to trot out when their official pat answers about how the latest progressive leader or journalist or whistleblower had been “offed”. (Recall the “lone assassins” Lee Harvey Oswald, James Earl Ray and Sirhan Sirhan who had been fingered as ending the lives and missions of antifascist peace and justice advocates like JFK, MLK and RFK.) There is abundant evidence, always silenced by a total media blackout, that legitimately questions the validity of the official theories of, for example, who killed JFK, MLK and RFK, or Paul Wellstone, for that matter. (See Dr. James Fetzer’swww.assassinationscience.com <http://www.
The master propagandist, now unconsciously emulated by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Shawn Hannity and Bill O’Reilly was Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. Goebbels had authoritarian control over all of Nazi Germany’s print media, radio broadcasts and the movie industry. If it was broadcast on German radio in the 1930s, it was information that was right-wing, state-sanctioned and pro-Nazi. Dissension was verboten, and no alternative news reporting was allowed. Liberal printing presses were smashed and their editors and journalists were often thrown in prison or concentration camps. As an example of the many official (and legal) repressive actions, Goebbels was able to suppress the showing of the classic antiwar movie “All Quiet on the Western Front” by, initially, having his obedient brown-shirted, thuggish, traumatized ex-combat vets (from World War I) in the right-wing SA set off stink bombs and released mice in the theaters. Goebbels subsequently banned the showing of that movie, which, by the way, is likewise frowned upon as being too truthful about the savagery of war by all militarized nations, including our own. Goebbels’ techniques of brain-washing eventually were supplemented by harsh legislation that was enforced by the Gestapo and punished by the People’s Courts (often resulting in the death penalty). Listening to radio broadcasts from the BBC was a capital crime in Nazi Germany.
<<<The three “wise” monkeys>>>
As children we all saw the pictures of the “three wise monkeys” that we were told were supposedly telling us to “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”. I thought about that “lesson” a lot as I grew up. There was something profoundly true about the image of the monkeys holding their hands over eyes, ears and mouths, but there was something subtly wrong with the sentiment that was giving children a moral message to stay away from evil. I now think that the three monkeys were actually conveying to us something entirely different. They could as easily have been conveying this much more sobering message, one of obedience to authority: “Avoid seeing, listening or speaking painful truths”; be good little patriots and mindlessly say the pledge of allegiance to the flag every day. The Sicilian Mafia, who demanded unconditional obedience to authority, probably saw the image and message that way. That brutal organization actually still uses the symbol of the monkeys as emblematic of their code of conduct and “honor”, which is a code of secrecy similar to the oath of allegiance that many powerful institutions abide by, including such groups as the National Security Agency, the Pentagon, the CIA, the FBI, local law enforcement agencies, multinational corporations and many political groups. The Mafia – as is true of most of the other groups mentioned above – never admits their criminality, immorality or unconstitutional behaviors. The reason that they promote falsehoods or engage in other illegal activities does not involve cognitive dissonance. Rather, they remain silent (pleading the 5th Amendment if they ever get subpoenaed) because they are threatened, are afraid for their lives or livelihood or have been paid off. The rule in many such authoritarian groups is “if you rat on us – you die”. Such “traitors” are cold-shouldered, blackballed, imprisoned or disappeared, which was or will be the fate of all those whistleblowers mentioned above, but their motivation is not the fear of psychological discomfort. <<<Trying to save the soul of our errant nation by speaking truth to power>>> Most of the whistleblowers that I know are altruistic patriots who have seen the dark underbelly of their own nations and choose to overcome their cognitive dissonance and courageously speak the painful truth, risking the chance that they will be unfairly labeled “conspiracy theorists” by those that don’t know any better. They are trying to save the souls of their errant, but beloved nations. The painful truth of the matter is this: contrary to the drumbeat we have heard over and over again about 9/11 for the last 12 years, the Cheney/Bush/Rumsfeld/Rove White House Conspiracy Theory about 9/11 is provably false and the proof has been available since 2001. There has been so much evidence disproving it that it is almost laughable that anybody who looks at the evidence and still believes the lies could still defend their beliefs. 9/11 is still regarded as a taboo subject in America and one of the reasons for average citizens remaining ignorant about it is cognitive dissonance, the reluctance to admit to having been fooled by the propaganda machine. The ability to accept the humiliation of being conned into believing a falsehood is not a common trait among Americans. Many American may not care enough and perhaps are too distracted, too busy or too addicted (to brain-altering drugs, entertainment, videogaming, food, sports, religion, etc) to take the time to do their own research and to double-check the veracity of what has been proven over and over again about the WTC towers: they were demolished by unknown insiders who pre-planted the explosives and not by foreigners. That is both important and tragic, for 9/11 is the Crime and Cover-up of the Century. It is the most serious issue of our day, the cause of massive death, destruction and wars and one that is deciding the increasingly dismal future that may not be able to sustain a healthy living environment for those who are following us. To continue to ignore the truths uncovered by the multitudes of thoughtful, highly intelligent and courageous prophetic voices world-wide and to continue to believe the absurd official theories when there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary is to helplessly go along with the evil agenda of shadowy, exploitive, psychopathic powers that are not your friends; nor are they the friends of your children, your nation or the earth. To continue to be oblivious about the Crime and Cover-up of the Century will be putting our children and their planet in peril. For more information, please start your research here: (check out these very informative websites that reveal the truth about 9/11, including Dr James Fetzer’s Scholars for 9/11 Truth athttp://911scholars.org/ <http://911scholars.org/> , Richard Gage’s Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth at: http://www.ae911truth.org/ <http://www.ae911truth.org/> or Scholars for 9/11 Truth and Justice at www.http://stj911.org/ <http://stj911.org/> . Dr. Kohls is a retired physician who practiced holistic mental health care for the last decade of his career. He has been involved in peace and justice issues for decades and continues to speak out against totalitarianism, fascism, corporatism, militarism, racism and other anti-democratic movements. He is also a member of Medical Professionals for 9/11Truth (http://patriotsquestion911.