It’s that feeling you get when you catch a whiff of something that takes you right back to the last time you smelled it; that familiar sound that sets the needle on a record in your head even though you haven’t heard it in ages; it’s déjà vu all over again. It’s the Clinton playbook.

For all her talk of being a forward-thinking change-maker, Hillary Clinton is downright Pavlovian in how she handles charges of wrongdoing and corruption.

The Clinton playbook became a media bestseller in the 1990s. It’s short and to the point: Lie, deny, delay, and when you can no longer do those, dismiss as old news.

Attack the accuser. Demonize him or her. Attack friends of the accuser. Demonize them. Attack anyone associated with the accuser. Demonize them. Attack anyone who reports what the accuser is accusing you of. Demonize them. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It’s a reflex for Bill and Hillary Clinton, and those in their orbit gleefully play their roles. When you find something that works, you stick with it.

In any fair society, where justice was truly blind and laws applied to everyone equally, Bill Clinton would have been removed from office for committing perjury while president. He didn’t forget or “mis-remember.” He wasn’t unsure of the meaning of the word “is.” He flat-out lied, several times, to cover his own ass.

A mere mortal, a regular American, would’ve faced fines and prison; Bill Clinton finished his term, raked in hundreds of millions of dollars and is poised to move back into the scene of one of his many crimes.

But the Clinton playbook wasn’t deployed only during the Monica Lewinsky scandal; it was the standard operating procedure for every Clinton scandal.

Travelgate, FBI Filegate, Whitewater, raising campaign money from Chinese monks and businessmen with communist government ties, etc., etc. The response was always by the book.

Those who dared seek the truth were turned into history’s greatest monsters. Their “sin” was to seek the truth about a Clinton, even if it exonerated them. Considering the obstruction and recriminations they faced, it’s no wonder the truth never did exonerate them. And the obstruction they faced said all there was to say about the possibility of exoneration.

But Hillary Clinton has a problem – the playbook doesn’t have time to work this time, and it’s all she knows.

When the FBI announced 11 days before election day it had reopened the criminal investigation into her secret, non-secured email server, the Clinton machine snapped into action. Director Comey was attacked, his motives questioned, his integrity smeared. The entire FBI was smeared.

But there’s a problem for the Clintons – there isn’t enough time, even with help from their media allies, for it to work.

Memories of Democrats, including Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, praising Comey are fresh in the minds of too many people. YouTube has videos. Facebook lets you share them. You can’t “massage the truth” through media indoctrination when everyone has their own news channel. At least not in 11 days.

Perhaps the most telling part of this whole affair is just how powerless Hillary Clinton is to break from the script. There was literally nothing she or any of her supporters could do or say to change the facts surrounding the FBI’s announcement. No combination of words, no allegations levied or foul cried against the bureau was going to put that toothpaste back in the tube. Yet she couldn’t help herself.

All Hillary had to do was acknowledge this was happening, say she had no idea why but was confident in her innocence and had faith in Comey and the FBI to get it right, and this story would have faded.

The sustained attacks, conspiracy theories and cries of unfairness from her and her campaign breathe new life into this story on an hourly basis. Innocent people proclaim their innocence; they don’t declare themselves victims…

Whether this latest revelation will be a deal breaker is impossible to know, but it does expose that the Clintons are, were, and always will be the Clintons.

The most important aspect, though, is to attack. Always. Attack the accuser. Demonize him or her. Attack friends of the accuser. Demonize them. Attack anyone associated with the accuser. Demonize them. Attack anyone who reports what the accuser is accusing you of. Demonize them. Lather, rinse, repeat.

#5

Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation

Note: The first rule and last five (or six, depending on situation) rules are generally not directly within the ability of the traditional disinfo artist to apply.

These rules are generally used more directly by those at the leadership, key players, or planning level of the conspiracy or coverup.

1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Regardless of what you know, don't discuss it -- especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it's not reported, it didn't happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.
2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the 'How dare you!' gambit.
3. Create rumor mongers. Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method which works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such 'arguable rumors'. If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a 'wild rumor' from a 'bunch of kids on the Internet' which can have no basis in fact.
4. Use a straw man. Find or create a seeming element of your opponent's argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.
5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary 'attack the messenger' ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as 'kooks', 'right-wing', 'liberal', 'left-wing', 'terrorists', 'conspiracy buffs', 'radicals', 'militia', 'racists', 'religious fanatics', 'sexual deviates', and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.
6. Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack of your opponent or the opponent position and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet and letters-to-the-editor environments where a steady stream of new identities can be called upon without having to explain criticism, reasoning -- simply make an accusation or other attack, never discussing issues, and never answering any subsequent response, for that would dignify the opponent's viewpoint.
7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could be taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.
8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough 'jargon' and 'minutia' to illustrate you are 'one who knows', and simply say it isn't so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.
9. Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues except with denials they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.
10. Associate opponent charges with old news. A derivative of the straw man -- usually, in any large-scale matter of high visibility, someone will make charges early on which can be or were already easily dealt with - a kind of investment for the future should the matter not be so easily contained.) Where it can be foreseen, have your own side raise a straw man issue and have it dealt with early on as part of the initial contingency plans. Subsequent charges, regardless of validity or new ground uncovered, can usually then be associated with the original charge and dismissed as simply being a rehash without need to address current issues -- so much the better where the opponent is or was involved with the original source.
11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions. Using a minor matter or element of the facts, take the 'high road' and 'confess' with candor that some innocent mistake, in hindsight, was made -- but that opponents have seized on the opportunity to blow it all out of proportion and imply greater criminalities which, 'just isn't so.' Others can reinforce this on your behalf, later, and even publicly 'call for an end to the nonsense' because you have already 'done the right thing.' Done properly, this can garner sympathy and respect for 'coming clean' and 'owning up' to your mistakes without addressing more serious issues.
12. Enigmas have no solution. Drawing upon the overall umbrella of events surrounding the crime and the multitude of players and events, paint the entire affair as too complex to solve. This causes those otherwise following the matter to begin to lose interest more quickly without having to address the actual issues.
13. Alice in Wonderland Logic. Avoid discussion of the issues by reasoning backwards or with an apparent deductive logic which forbears any actual material fact.
14. Demand complete solutions. Avoid the issues by requiring opponents to solve the crime at hand completely, a ploy which works best with issues qualifying for rule 10.
15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions. This requires creative thinking unless the crime was planned with contingency conclusions in place.
16. Vanish evidence and witnesses. If it does not exist, it is not fact, and you won't have to address the issue.
17. Change the subject. Usually in connection with one of the other ploys listed here, find a way to side-track the discussion with abrasive or controversial comments in hopes of turning attention to a new, more manageable topic. This works especially well with companions who can 'argue' with you over the new topic and polarize the discussion arena in order to avoid discussing more key issues.
18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can't do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how 'sensitive they are to criticism.'
19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs. This is perhaps a variant of the 'play dumb' rule. Regardless of what material may be presented by an opponent in public forums, claim the material irrelevant and demand proof that is impossible for the opponent to come by (it may exist, but not be at his disposal, or it may be something which is known to be safely destroyed or withheld, such as a murder weapon.) In order to completely avoid discussing issues, it may be required that you to categorically deny and be critical of media or books as valid sources, deny that witnesses are acceptable, or even deny that statements made by government or other authorities have any meaning or relevance.
20. False evidence. Whenever possible, introduce new facts or clues designed and manufactured to conflict with opponent presentations -- as useful tools to neutralize sensitive issues or impede resolution. This works best when the crime was designed with contingencies for the purpose, and the facts cannot be easily separated from the fabrications.
21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body. Subvert the (process) to your benefit and effectively neutralize all sensitive issues without open discussion. Once convened, the evidence and testimony are required to be secret when properly handled. For instance, if you own the prosecuting attorney, it can insure a Grand Jury hears no useful evidence and that the evidence is sealed and unavailable to subsequent investigators. Once a favorable verdict is achieved, the matter can be considered officially closed. Usually, this technique is applied to find the guilty innocent, but it can also be used to obtain charges when seeking to frame a victim.
22. Manufacture a new truth. Create your own expert(s), group(s), author(s), leader(s) or influence existing ones willing to forge new ground via scientific, investigative, or social research or testimony which concludes favorably. In this way, if you must actually address issues, you can do so authoritatively.
23. Create bigger distractions. If the above does not seem to be working to distract from sensitive issues, or to prevent unwanted media coverage of unstoppable events such as trials, create bigger news stories (or treat them as such) to distract the multitudes.
24. Silence critics. If the above methods do not prevail, consider removing opponents from circulation by some definitive solution so that the need to address issues is removed entirely. This can be by their death, arrest and detention, blackmail or destruction of theircharacter by release of blackmail information, or merely by destroying them financially, emotionally, or severely damaging their health.
25. Vanish. If you are a key holder of secrets or otherwise overly illuminated and you think the heat is getting too hot, to avoid the issues, vacate the kitchen. .

How to spot the professional disinfo players by one or more of seven (now 8) distinct traits:

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