Analysis Summary
This article tries to convince you that certain media outlets are unpatriotic by selectively quoting them and making it seem like they're against national pride. It uses strong, emotional language to create a sense of division between 'us' and 'them' to make you feel angry and distrustful towards those outlets without giving you the full picture of their arguments.
Cross-Outlet PSYOP Detected
This article is part of a narrative being pushed across multiple outlets:
FATE Analysis
Four dimensions of psychological manipulation: how content captures Focus, exploits Authority, triggers Tribal identity, and engineers Emotion.
Focus signals
"In the wake of Team USA’s first Olympic gold in men’s hockey since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice,” two prominent leftist outlets derided the patriotic celebration, triggering a visceral response from the American public."
This frames the current derision of patriotic celebration as a significant, perhaps unparalleled, event since a historic win, suggesting a novel and attention-grabbing conflict.
"The post was brutally “ratioed” — social media shorthand for when replies vastly outnumber likes. By Monday morning, it had received roughly 25,000 replies compared to about 1,500 likes."
Highlighting the 'brutal ratioing' and specific, large numbers of replies and likes uses a novel, social media-specific metric to signal an extraordinary event deserving of attention.
Authority signals
"Huffington Post posted the following on X: “If waving the American flag or chanting ‘USA!’ turns you off right now, you’re not alone.”"
Leverages the institutional weight of 'Huffington Post' as a 'prominent leftist outlet' to lend credibility and weight to the viewpoint being described as problematic.
"If you can’t be excited about winning gold at the Olympics— including in OT vs Canada, you don’t have a pulse. Some people will pick victimhood and being miserable over having an ounce of patriotism. Good luck,” Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin wrote on X."
Uses the title and affiliation ('Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin') to add perceived political authority and weight to the statement he makes.
"Axios acknowledged the celebratory environment but also threw cold water on the excitement, writing: “Celebrating American athletes is nothing new — but in a hyper-partisan political environment, the president and MAGA world voices have also used their platforms to boo some U.S. talent.”"
Uses 'Axios' as an established news organization to present a counterpoint or contextualization, implying its perspective holds significant weight.
Tribe signals
"two prominent leftist outlets derided the patriotic celebration, triggering a visceral response from the American public."
Establishes a clear 'us vs. them' dynamic: 'leftist outlets' (them) against 'the American public' and 'patriotic celebration' (us).
"“If waving the American flag or chanting ‘USA!’ turns you off right now, you’re not alone.”"
This quote, attributed to HuffPost, creates an 'us' (those turned off by patriotism) and implicitly an 'them' (those who are patriotic), thereby defining tribal lines.
"The degree to which you feel shame and guilt right now for cheering U.S. Olympians might also depend on how much cognitive dissonance you have between the stated values of being American –– freedom, revolutionary spirit, opportunity for all –– versus how our government has actually acted in the hundreds of years since the U.S. was formed …"
Weaponizes the concept of 'being American' and 'stated values' against the government's actions, implying a moral conflict that defines one's identity within a tribe.
"“Some people will pick victimhood and being miserable over having an ounce of patriotism. Good luck,” Oklahoma GOP Sen. Markwayne Mullin wrote on X."
Creates a binary choice between 'patriotism' and 'victimhood/being miserable,' clearly distinguishing between two opposing groups and implicitly shaming one.
"The Left mocking the patriotic Olympic moments is not new."
Explicitly labels and pits 'The Left' against 'patriotic Olympic moments,' reinforcing a long-standing tribal division.
Emotion signals
"two prominent leftist outlets derided the patriotic celebration, triggering a visceral response from the American public."
The phrase 'derided the patriotic celebration' and 'triggering a visceral response' intends to provoke outrage at the perceived disrespect for national pride.
"While President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda separates families, and federal agents detain 5-year-olds and kill unarmed civilians, American athletes are winning medals on behalf of the nation at the Olympics right now. This whiplash between pride for United States competitors and national shame for the federal government is common.”"
Contrasts the 'pride' of winning medals with 'national shame' over government actions like 'separates families,' 'detain 5-year-olds,' and 'kill unarmed civilians,' aiming to induce moral superiority in those who feel shame.
"This whiplash between pride for United States competitors and national shame for the federal government is common."
Describes a rapid shift between the positive emotion of 'pride' and the negative emotion of 'shame,' aiming to create emotional distress or a sense of internal conflict in the reader.
"The degree to which you feel shame and guilt right now for cheering U.S. Olympians might also depend on how much cognitive dissonance you have between the stated values of being American –– freedom, revolutionary spirit, opportunity for all –– versus how our government has actually acted in the hundreds of years since the U.S. was formed …"
Seeks to induce feelings of 'shame and guilt' in readers who may be cheering, by contrasting perceived 'American values' with alleged governmental failings, framing the emotional response as a sign of moral awareness.
Narrative Analysis (PCP)
How the article reshapes thinking: Perception (what beliefs are targeted), Context (what information is shifted or omitted), and Permission (what behavior is being encouraged).
The article aims to instill a belief that mainstream leftist media outlets are out of touch with common American patriotism and actively deride national pride, especially regarding Olympic victories. It seeks to reinforce the idea that there is a fundamental cultural divide, where showing national pride is viewed negatively by a certain segment of the media.
The article shifts the context from a simple sports triumph and national celebration to a political battleground where patriotism is weaponized. It takes the specific critiques from other articles (criticisms of government policy linked to national pride) and frames them generally as 'deriding the patriotic celebration', thereby making the 'visceral response from the American public' seem like a natural and justified reaction to an unpatriotic stance.
The article omits the full context of the 'leftist outlets'' argument beyond select quotes. For example, it doesn't elaborate on the specific policy criticisms mentioned (deportation agenda, separating families, federal agents detaining children, killing unarmed civilians). By presenting only the 'derision' aspect without the full rationale, it makes the critique appear unprovoked and solely aimed at patriotism itself, rather than complex government actions.
The article implicitly grants permission for the reader to feel outrage, disgust, and distrust towards 'leftist outlets' and those who question national pride. It encourages the reader to validate their own feelings of patriotism and to reject what is portrayed as unpatriotic or un-American sentiment, leading to a polarized 'us vs. them' mentality.
SMRP Pattern
Four manipulation maintenance tactics: Socializing the idea as normal, Minimizing concerns, Rationalizing with logic, and Projecting blame.
Red Flags
High-severity indicators: silencing dissent, coordinated messaging, or weaponizing identity to shut down debate.
"If you can’t be excited about winning gold at the Olympics— including in OT vs Canada, you don’t have a pulse. Some people will pick victimhood and being miserable over having an ounce of patriotism. Good luck. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸"
Techniques Found(9)
Specific propaganda techniques identified using the SemEval-2023 academic taxonomy of 23 techniques across 6 categories.
"two prominent leftist outlets derided the patriotic celebration, triggering a visceral response from the American public."
The terms 'leftist outlets' and 'derided the patriotic celebration' are emotionally charged and designed to evoke a negative reaction from the reader towards the mentioned outlets, while 'visceral response' underscores the intensity of the public's reaction.
"While President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda separates families, and federal agents detain 5-year-olds and kill unarmed civilians, American athletes are winning medals on behalf of the nation at the Olympics right now."
Phrases like 'separates families,' 'detain 5-year-olds,' and 'kill unarmed civilians' are highly emotionally charged and aim to elicit a strong negative emotional response from the reader, contrasting sharply with the 'winning medals' to highlight perceived hypocrisy or moral conflict.
"This whiplash between pride for United States competitors and national shame for the federal government is common."
This statement presents a false dilemma by suggesting that one must experience either pride for athletes or shame for the government, implying these two emotions or sentiments are mutually exclusive when they can coexist or be independent.
"the stated values of being American –– freedom, revolutionary spirit, opportunity for all"
This quote invokes widely accepted American values to create a contrast with perceived government actions, aiming to justify a particular viewpoint by aligning it with these shared ideals.
"The post was brutally 'ratioed' — social media shorthand for when replies vastly outnumber likes."
The word 'brutally' is an emotionally charged adjective that exaggerates the negative reception of the post, aiming to influence the reader's perception of the post's content and its authors.
"Some people will pick victimhood and being miserable over having an ounce of patriotism."
The words 'victimhood' and 'miserable' are used to denigrate those who might criticize patriotic celebrations, framing their perspective negatively while implicitly praising 'patriotism.'
"Axios acknowledged the celebratory environment but also threw cold water on the excitement"
The phrase 'threw cold water on the excitement' is an idiom used to negatively characterize Axios's actions, implying they dampened a positive atmosphere, thereby influencing the reader's perception of Axios's reporting.
"The Left mocking the patriotic Olympic moments is not new."
The phrase 'The Left mocking' uses a broad political label ('The Left') to generalize and negatively characterize a group's actions, associating them with 'mocking patriotic moments' without specific, universally agreed-upon evidence for the entire group.
"a grating cliché, much more likely to inspire a cringe in the context of Sochi than a wistful stare into the distance."
The terms 'grating cliché' and 'inspire a cringe' are emotionally charged and disparaging, designed to evoke a negative emotional response in the reader towards the 'Miracle on Ice' legacy, as portrayed by Time Magazine.