That Flotilla

Every once in a while, a phrase creeps up into the news cycle that carries its context with it, obliterating all prior use of the phrase. Wordsmithing is to be expected. That's the genius of modern media, meme creation. It doesn't need to be either grounded in reality or respecting of traditional usage. I would wager that we have a relative spike in the use of new idioms of this sort.

As I listen to No Agenda, I am reminded of the power of PR firms. They know things we don't know about how to create things we are expected to know. A world of bourgeois info consumers, that's what we are - those of us with disposable income and disposable brain cycles. It's why the iPad is popular. Because we have time to read all that brain spew. I'm a brain spewer myself. I've got time to think and no particular village to run. I'm no Hill & Knowlton or Fleishman Hillard and neither are you. So try to remember that your opinion is brilliant, but nobody knows about it because you don't have those guys working for you.

But what a lot of people already suspect can be amped into virtual media certitude with the assistance of an intelligence service, a PR giant, a sufficient editorial dollop of yellow journalism or a government agency or two. And what we tend to forget is that when, oh say Saudi Arabia and Syria have an interest in spreading their spin on events, the right words will ring in the right ears. So if you suspect that Israel is up to no good, it doesn't take a million dollar PR budget to buy yourself the proper global media meme.

And so today we are living with the word 'flotilla' pretty much at the top of the search trends, although I've waited a few days to publish this or say anything, so who knows what's transpired since I wrote it. I refuse to dignify 'peace flotilla'. Well I guess I just did by putting the two words together. It's PR, and it's fake and it's deceptive and it's all over the English, Hebrew and Arabic speaking world. 

I don't generally care to comment on Israel or the Palestinians other than to note from time to time how lame our policy has been since Shalit was abducted. I have generally abandoned care and snidely suggest an international protectorate for Jerusalem, but David Goldman recently let me know that has been tried before. I am satisfied with all of my investigations that the Israelis are doing a commendable job, all things considered.

So let be be one more to jump on Caroline Glick's bandwagon.Oh and by the way, I will use the terms 'military blockade' and 'human sheild' in reference to the matter of the Marvi Marmara.