Kentuckians Against Matt Bevin: 2017

I have been working on this post for more than a week. In the time it's taken me to finish, the Bevin administration has started a new social media account on Instagram, launched yet another website, and had several new propaganda pieces hit the internet via Kentucky Today.

Thanks to the United States Constitution, we Americans enjoy a freedom of press that is unheard of in some nations. Russia, China, N. Korea, and Turkey all have state-owned media, where the government not only controls what the media says, they can control what citizens can see on the internet. These countries in particular are all under autocratic rule.

United States Constitution, Amendment I ¹ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

A free press is vital to democracy;² it keeps the public educated, informed, and works as a watchdog to help curb government corruption. Given that knowledge, it should come as no surprise that authoritarian leaders often try to control the free press for their own gain, and failing that, they seek to destroy them. With this blog entry, I will be attempting to illustrate how KY Governor Matt Bevin is one such leader. Since coming into office he has sought to control the media, destroy the media, and create his own media, not strictly in that order. He has come just short of giving it a name, a lesson likely learned from his bestie, VP Mike Pence, who once attempted to create an official state-run news site³ and found out that it wasn't such a good idea.⁴ Regardless, Bevin has continued to use his exhaustive resources to create a well coordinated propaganda network, which I have lovingly dubbed BNN (Bevin News Network.)

SOCIAL MEDIA

Why does Bevin rely so heavily on social media? Well, as Bevin's communications director, Amanda Stamper⁵, said before a live audience, the governor's office prefers "[...] to control the message without having to go through the different filters that the media puts on things.”⁶

The Governor paints his social media use as open, honest, transparent⁷, and direct, though it has actually proven anything but. Bevin uses social media to talk at constituents, to control the message, and to shape his constituents' opinions; dictating what they should & should not believe. He also uses it to bully opponents⁸ and critics⁹, cast doubt on the media¹⁰, and lob attacks at duly elected constitutional officers.¹¹

Matt Bevin repeatedly solicits constituents to follow him on social media, yet when they get there they are oft times censored, blocked¹², or banned in an effort to control the response, as well as limiting his supporters' exposure to opposing views. Social media users are met with a variety of posts touting his "accomplishments"¹³, disparaging his enemies¹⁴ ¹⁵ ¹⁶ , and introducing new initiatives¹⁷ that seek to paint the governor in a good light. His posts often beseech followers to share videos, stories, and pictures while utilizing special hashtags that help increase his overall social media presence, and disseminate his propaganda.¹⁸

This post pictured above was particularly disingenuous¹⁹, as it's part of Bevin's quest to paint himself as the "second chances" governor. Through posting this picture, on facebook and Twitter, as well as making a press release, the Bevin administration sought to trick the public into thinking he had just signed an executive order which would grant low level felons, without violent or sexual offenses, their rights. However, this was not the case; he had actually signed 24 separate orders granting 24 separate individuals their rights to vote and run for office, including 2 who had been convicted of bribing a county judge magistrate.²⁰ These were the first 24 individuals he restored rights to after more than a year of failure to restore any. Yet, for several days following the post, there were numerous articles praising the Governor for his "bold move," and countless supporters thanking him for being so "gracious" and "selfless."

SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

Matt Bevin / Governor Matt Bevin (Facebook)
First Lady Glenna Bevin (Facebook)Matt Bevin / Governor Matt Bevin (Twitter)
Jenean Hampton / LG Jenean Hampton (Twitter)
Governor Matt Bevin (Instagram)
Bevin-Hampton Administration (Youtube Channel)

WEBSITES

http://www.mattbevin.com/meet_matt
http://governor.ky.gov/
http://thinkkentucky.com/http://redtapereduction.com/
http://dontletthemdie.com/
https://pensions.ky.gov/Pages/index.aspx

Here's one of the first things you see on thinkkentucky, RTW propaganda.

Bevin has used Red Tape Reduction to accomplish two goals, the first of which is to cut pesky regulations which get in the way of GOP profits; the second is propaganda. The Governor made Red Scissor pins to signify Red Tape Reduction, which he then passed out to state workers and politicians around the nation. It's as much to hype himself, as it is to hype the initiative itself.

The first thing you currently see on dontletthemdie is a newly created initiative to paint rocks in order to help fight opioid addiction, Bevin co-opted the work of several children for this particular stunt. The Governor often uses pictures of children to paint himself in a better light.

Check out the extremely propagandistic background of the new state pension website. It should be noted that this site claims the pension debt is almost double the most recent estimate; a move no doubt meant to justify the gutting of current and future pensions, altering of the KY tax code to benefit the wealthy, and slashing of public services across the board.

The governor has a monthly email "newsletter"²¹, which I like to call "Bevin's Propaganda Monthly." With this, they are able to finely tune and sleekly package their message, sending it straight to consumers without any pesky interference from watchdogs, reporters, and/or critics.

MEDIA COLLABORATORS

Bevin can often be found whining about his critics, and the issue du jour, on Terry Meiners radio show. ²² When the going gets tough, you can bet there will be a Meiners appearance. More recently he has also taken to including more softball interviews with small radio stations throughout the state, but Meiners remains a constant fixture.

Kentucky Today²³ is the media arm of the Kentucky Baptist Convention²⁴, along with the Western Recorder²⁵, whose logo is so religious it utilizes a cross in place of the t. Since Bevin, a devout southern baptist, became Governor, the KBC has run a non-stop bevy of propaganda in his his favor. ²⁶ ²⁷ ²⁸ ²⁹ ³⁰ ³¹ ³² ³³

Richard Nelson ³⁴is a Bevin supporter who can frequently be found releasing pro-Bevin propaganda.³⁵ ³⁶ ³⁷ Mr. Nelson³⁸ is the executive director of the Commonwealth Policy Center (CPC)³⁹ ⁴⁰. He formerly worked with The Family Foundation of Kentucky⁴¹ ⁴² and the Family Research Institute⁴³. Richard Nelson, and other members of the CPC, have authored a multitude of pro-Bevin propaganda pieces, including some which were published in conjunction with Kentucky Today.⁴⁴

This⁴⁵ is what Matt Bevin had to say about Richard Nelson:

“Richard Nelson and the Commonwealth Policy Center are an asset to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Not only do they provide incredible perspective on important social issues, they are also working daily to shore up the pillars of society—life, marriage and religious freedom. Their political engagement on behalf of conservative candidates has been helpful for many, including my own race for governor. I applaud the work they are doing." Governor Matt Bevin

The CPC also has a Youtube channel⁴⁶, where nearly half of their uploaded videos⁴⁷ feature Governor Bevin.

Jeff Jobe,⁴⁸ is the founder & CEO at Jobe Publishing Inc. He writes and publishes pro-Bevin propaganda⁴⁹ ⁵⁰ ⁵¹ pieces in his publications, in addition to bashing "liberal" journalists for their supposed bias while commenting on the Governor's official Facebook page (as pictured below.)

Mr. Jobe can also be found commenting about the biased liberal media on Matt Bevin's official gubernatorial Facebook page.

The Bevin administration also writes their own op-eds, which they send to all the smaller papers⁵² throughout the state in hopes that they'll be published. Some of those op-eds have even bashed the state's two largest newspapers, and when those same papers have subsequently refused to print said op-eds Bevin proceeded to use it as fodder⁵³ in his ongoing "war" on the media.

RIGHT-HAND MAN

Blake Brickman⁵⁴ is Matt Bevin's chief of staff, who spends a seemingly inordinate amount of his time on Facebook⁵⁵ making public posts in which he grouses about the media and extolls the virtues of his boss. He also helps boss Bevin by writing propagandistic op-eds for whichever paper will deign to publish them. ⁵⁶ ⁵⁷ ⁵⁸

Other players include (but are not limited to):

Jim Waters,⁵⁹ president and CEO of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions (BIPPS) ⁶⁰ ⁶¹
The Republican Party of Kentucky⁶² ⁶³
Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development⁶⁴
Kentucky Association for Economic Development (KAED)⁶⁵ ⁶⁶
Kentucky Labor Cabinet⁶⁷
Kentucky Chamber of Commerce⁶⁸ ⁶⁹

HASHTAGS

Bevin utilizes a bevy of hashtags across social media platforms in an effort to enlist followers in disseminating his propaganda. They include, among others, #WeAreKY #KYShines #WeAreKentucky #ThinkKentucky #KYMakes

SELFIES

Bevin has tried a lot of different methods to get constituents on board with sharing his propaganda, but it all started with selfies. He even tried a "selfie contest⁷⁰." His obsession with selfies appears to be two-fold; first, as previously stated, to get constituents on board with sharing his propaganda, and secondly, to make himself appear friendly, approachable, and available to the public.

RELIGION

One of Bevin's biggest tools in his propaganda tool box is Religion. For some insight into Bevin's religion, as well as how & why he uses it so frequently, check out this previous post I wrote on Bevin's religious agenda entitled, "The Pervasive, Invasive, and Insidious Religious Agenda of Governor Matt Bevin." Bevin has tightly woven religion into every aspect of his persona, using it to recruit and to appease. Religion is a powerful tool, and Bevin wields it expertly. Just check out the comments section of his official Facebook page to see why it works so well (provided you check it out when he's not in the midst of a PR crisis for suggesting we keep statues of traitorous Confederates in a place of honor at the state capitol, and equating BLM to the KKK and other supremacist groups.)⁷¹

CENSORSHIP

Another tool the Bevin administration often employs is the censorship of critics on social media, through a combination of hiding comments, deleting comments, and blocking critical accounts. Their social media policy is not clearly posted on any of the multitude of accounts they use across multiple social media platforms, and it seems to have changed on numerous occasions due to increased focus on the widespread censorship of citizens on social media by GOP politicians.

For over a year⁷², the Bevin administration blocked⁷³ critical commenters rather indiscriminately, which was clear when looking at his official gubernatorial facebook page and seeing 90% positive comments. Now, Bevin claims that they only block commenters who are rude to other commenters, make off-topic comments⁷⁴, or spam the page. While they are much less aggressive with their blockings now, they have become much more aggressive with the hiding of comments & auto-filtering, as well as giving obvious preference to off-topic posts and rude responses from individuals who're supporters versus critics. Their obvious change in tactics is due in part to the lawsuit⁷⁵ made against the POTUS for his unconstitutional blockings on Twitter, and more recently, the lawsuit filed against Bevin by the ACLU.⁷⁶

WAR ON THE MEDIA

As I stated earlier, the Governor started a "war" on the media. Specifically, KY's two largest papers, the Courier-Journal⁷⁷ and the Herald-Leader⁷⁸, which he often refers to using descriptors like FAKE NEWS, liberal rags, sad excuse for a paper, and embarrassments. Bevin also dislikes WDRB⁷⁹ and WAVE 3.⁸⁰ He makes frequent videos calling out the "FAKE NEWS"⁸¹ ⁸² and feeding into his followers' anti-media fervor, most notably stoked by our media hating president.⁸³

The Governor's real issue with the media isn't that it's fake, it's that they are watchdogs who keep digging for the truth. It's why he has blacklisted and bullied certain reporters, namely capital reporters⁸⁴ Ronnie Ellis⁸⁵ of CNHI⁸⁶, and Tom Loftus⁸⁷ of the Courier-Journal. You can find their "offending" stories here⁸⁸, and here.⁸⁹ Bevin has also taken to calling Mr. Loftus, a Kentucky Hall of Fame journalist, a "Peeping Tom" because Loftus was in the vicinity of his Anchorage mansion in order to investigate his news story. He has since used that epithet so many times that he has his supporters believing Tom Loftus is a pervert who should be locked up.

One of Bevin's most recent attack videos⁹⁰ tries to paint the "media" as a pack of perverts, spies, and criminals. In it, he uses very descriptive and persuasive language to try and dictate how the viewer should feel, then asked everyone to post their comments below the video. Bevin ultimately doesn't care about the responses, having gotten what he wanted from the video; to whip his supporters into a fervor and increase the anti-media sentiment, thereby increasing what he can get away with while all eyes are focused on the bad old media bogeymen.

When Bevin demonizes journalists, tells supporters not to trust the mainstream media (MSM), and urges supporters to get their info by doing "their own research," he is actually hoping that they'll eschew real research and defer instead to rightwing sources like Breitbart and the Daily Caller. Taken in combination with Bevin's social media, newsletter, and other efforts, those sites (and others like them) will keep his supporters stuck in a perpetual rightwing feedback loop and never questioning his real agenda or motives.

"The line between a proper complaint about the content of a newspaper or television program and improper pressure on publishers and broadcasters is a fine one. " ⁹¹

"Even if the independence of the media has been established, the press has adapted to the free market, and journalists are upholding standards of responsibility, the battle has not been won. People must learn to live with a free press and broadcasting on a day-to-day basis. They must learn how to resolve their differences without placing the acceptance of the idea of free editorial judgment under too great a strain.

It is not easy to live with this free exchange of ideas, especially where this tradition is absent. The rewards of this freedom, however, are great. Only with freedom of communication is a democratic society possible. Without freedom of communication, the state is deaf and so are the people."⁹¹

REBRANDING

Matt Bevin has made a huge effort to distinguish himself from other politicians throughout his political career. One of his biggest selling points being that he's "not a politician," but rather a businessman. In no other job would his be a selling point, but somehow it's become a plus for recent politicians like Bevin and Trump. Regardless of his supposed non-politician status, he does one thing just as well as his fellow GOP politicians, and that is rebranding. Rebranding is a concept taken from the advertising world, which politicians often use to distance themselves, or legislation they're championing, from the negative connotations associated with their current "brand." Like Right-to-Work, which was rebranded because Union-busting legislation doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Examples of rebranding by the Bevin administration include:

Governor Bevin has faced unprecedented levels of pushback over his pending Medicaid 1115 waiver, in which he is seeking the right to make changes to expanded Medicaid in KY which will push more than 95,000 beneficiaries off the roles. Knowing how risky the changes would prove, the Bevin administration sought to rebrand the move by claiming it was meant to "restore dignity"⁹² to participants. Their latest rebranding came when they attempted to change the narrative by claiming changes resulting from Bevin's waiver wouldn't cut anyone, but that participants would be opting out.⁹³
It's no secret Republicans purport to hate regulation. In reality they hate any regulation which gets in the way of their profits. Environmental, safety, banking, healthcare, and more are frequently the target of Republican ire, often branded as "job-killing"⁹⁴ in an effort to more easily build support for their repeal. Matt Bevin has skipped all that, and authored one giant regulation-killing initiative which he has branded "Red Tape Reduction." Whether or not the initiative has actually accomplished anything is up for debate, but it has been a successful source of publicity, frequently being touted by Bevin to prove he is a friend to "small business."
In a recent email/press release, the Bevin administration announced that they had signed KY onto a coalition asking the Trump administration to repeal the persuader rule, saying, "This regulation threatened to increase legal costs for businesses and undermine the longstanding and vital attorney-client privilege."⁹⁵ What they failed to mention, was that the persuader rule forces businesses to disclose when they've hired professional union busters during union elections. Obviously "business friendly" sounds better than "union busting."
Bevin's social media usage has been rebranded as "transparency," while his efforts to control the response through blocking and other censorship methods has been rebranded as "blocking individuals from engaging in [...] inappropriate conduct."⁹⁶

TARGET AUDIENCE

The more BNN you consume, the more you begin to notice certain trends. Using those trends one can begin to surmise who Governor Bevin is trying to target as potential supporters.

Christians
Families
Conservatives (Including right-leaning dems)
No College education, no liberal arts degree
"Pro-life" (Pro-birth, anti-abortion)
Heterosexual
"Taxpayers" (Not poor and/or don't qualify for safety net programs and/or resent safety net beneficiaries)
Trump voters
Militia
Frequent use of coded language seems to indicate a desire to attract and/or appease white supremacists, racists, and bigots
Heavy use of social media suggests a desire to attract younger voters to his following, as well as helping to cement brand loyalty (Tea Party/GOP)
A strategic targeting of LIVs (Low Information Voters) would appear to be behind their over reliance on catchy buzzwords & graphics, and their emphasis on anti-intellectualism, anti-science, and evangelicalism.

IN CLOSING

Using a combination of social media, websites, email, video, and radio Matt Bevin disseminates his message to supporters, potential supporters, and critics alike. He avoids television interviews and press conferences, in favor of internet videos which he can better control, while his radio interviews are conducted on local stations, with local personalities, and are essentially softball in nature. The websites they utilize are primarily run by state, while the newsletter contains content curated solely by the Bevin administration. All of these outlets are used in order to control the message in a highly coordinated effort to control consumers.

The best tool against Bevin's tactics is the truth, which is why he seeks to insulate and isolate his followers from it, seeking to cut them off from media sources other than those peddling right-wing propaganda which supports his agenda. However, now that you are aware of the Bevin administration's tactics you are better prepared to stay vigilant in their wake, and help others understand what they up against.

"It doesn’t take a dictator to smother a free press: the right combination of financial and political power will do." ⁹⁷

Kentuckians Against Matt Bevin

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Deconstructing BNN (Bevin News Network)