Obama Breaks Silence on Trump’s ‘Unimaginable’ Presidency - “Imagine if I had done any of this,” the former two-term president said.

[u/Quirkie]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/obama-breaks-silence-on-trumps-unimaginable-presidency/

[u/sunnyspiders]

They can’t imagine.

That’s why they’re so angry.

They cannot imagine.  They have to be told.

And even then, they have to be shown.

And even then, it has to happen to them.

[u/Kalavazita → u/sunnyspiders]

39 years ago, a KGB defector chillingly predicted modern America

Bezmenov explained that the most striking thing about ideological subversion is that it happens in the open as a legitimate process. “You can see it with your own eyes,” he said.

“What it basically means is: to change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that despite of the abundance of information no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their families, their community, and their country.”

Bezmenov described this process as “a great brainwashing”…

“They are programmed to think and react to certain stimuli in a certain pattern [alluding to Pavlov]. You can not change their mind even if you expose them to authentic information. Even if you prove that white is white and black is black, you still can not change the basic perception and the logic of behavior.”

“As I mentioned before, exposure to true information does not matter anymore,” said Bezmenov. “A person who was demoralized is unable to assess true information. The facts tell nothing to him. Even if I shower him with information, with authentic proof, with documents, with pictures; even if I take him by force to the Soviet Union and show him [a] concentration camp, he will refuse to believe it, until he [receives] a kick in his fan-bottom. When a military boot crashes his balls then he will understand. But not before that. That’s the [tragedy] of the situation of demoralization.”

Yuri Bezmenov: The Four Stages of Ideological Subversion

Operation InfeKtion: How Russia Perfected the Art of War | NYT Opinion

Meet the KGB Spies Who Invented Fake News | NYT Opinion

The Seven Commandments of Fake News | NYT Opinion

Propaganda techniques

Edited to add a new relevant link. A bit of a heavier read but very informative.

How the United States Will Lose the Next War

The future of the republic does not depend on U.S. military superiority and the physical war-fighting capability. It depends on the United States’ ability to defend and counter the information and cognitive war that will take place in the collective shared understanding of every U.S. citizen.

[u/kungfungus → u/Kalavazita]

US has practiced this many times, in other countries. It's perfected skill.