(Soviet Kirov Cruiser image used in campaign ad celebrating Navy’s 247th).

This is one of those delightful mornings of seasonal change- a slight edge to the dawn in the upper thirties as the sun rises, promising to warm up through the course of the day to something right in the middle edge of comfort. “77” according to the Lady in red on the flatscreen last night.

DeMille told us to enjoy it, since the prediction going forward from here is increasing cold. We will not see a day like this for a while. The box on the table tells us the prediction over at the airfield, which is close enough for government work.

We did some of that on the porch as the light richened. The discussion varied by the intensity of the fight for public information on the issues. You can imagine there would have been some passion in that discussion, but some of us went back to the bunkhouse to get hoodies to ward off the temporary chill.

Conversation was animated, and included discussion of the advertising campaign some of us saw yesterday. In addition to the birthday of the U.S. Navy, 247 years of proud service, the various campaigns for Congress attempted to scour some advantage from the occasion. The image at the intro is a sample.

We doubt if Brian Jeffery Mast, a GOP politician running to keep his seat in Florida, picked out the ship in the ad. It is a proud nautical profile, product of a last design step to ensure there is something proud and warlike to it. A slight problem with the image is that it is a Russian ship. We took a poll around the circle and most of us thought it was a Soviet-era Kirov-class cruiser.

We all have dealt with problems in the Graphics shop in similar production issues. You ask for one thing to illustrate a presentation point and it comes back as something else. Congressman Mast wouldn’t have done it himself, of course. He is a vet with service in a very dangerous specialty. He lost both his legs as an explosive ordnance disposal technician in Afghanistan in 2010.

There were several similar issues- information issues- like this one reported elsewhere. Warships all look alike, right? They are cool looking ships, after all.

We have a glimmer on information operations, and this is an inadvertent symptom of the volume of material being produced as influencing devices. Minor mistakes naturally occur. But that is how we seem to be making public policy, and some of that doesn’t appear to be inadvertent at all.

Copyright 2022 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com