We must be getting familiar with the deep state’s playbook by now. But there’s one gambit I’d like to make sure we recognize, perhaps because it’s so commonly used.
When I was a grad student in Sociology around 1985, we called it “the mirror effect.” What you were accusing another of mirrored things you had done yourself or were in some way involved with – not the other person.
I call it “reverse-blaming” – we blame the other person for what we do ourselves.
Vladmir Putin called it “the oldest play in the book.” (1) Let’s see what others have to say about it.
A nameless source said to Real Raw News‘ Michael Baxter, “it’s a praxis [i.e., a practice] of the Deep State to accuse their enemies of the very crimes they are committing.” (2)
Tulsi Gabbard also warned us of this gambit:
”Bad actors and their friends in the legacy, mainstream, propaganda media will accuse us of the very things they are guilty of in order to deflect from how they and their actions are undermining the Constitution, the rights and freedoms, and civil liberties of the American people.” (3)
An illustration of it in action is Chelsea Clinton saying of Ivanka Trump that they were friends “until she went to the dark side.” It was Chelsea who followed her mother to the dark side, not Ivanka. Chelsea was arrested in the act of trafficking children. She was tribunaled and executed. (4)
The Washington Post, probably well used to manufacturing crises or going along with them (climate change, pandemic fears, endless wars, etc.), accused the Trump administration of doing the same.
Ethan White of Gazetteller called them out, being a mirror to their mirror:
“The Washington Post recently tried to discredit Trump’s moves as “manufacturing a crisis.” That’s pure projection.
“The real crisis is the one they’ve been manufacturing for decades—mass border infiltration, FISA court abuse, digital ID pre-planning, bio-surveillance projects, and financial control grids built around BlackRock, Vanguard, and IMF proxy shells.” (5)
Commentators like Jordan Peterson and Scott Jennings have tremendous impact by simply mirroring back to their detractors what they’re doing. Not rebutting them. Not defending themselves. Simply mirroring back to one reverse-blaming what they’re doing, which usually sees the latter fall silent.
Projection, reverse-blaming, the mirror effect is one means of deflecting or distracting attention from what’s really transpiring. It advocates substituting a lie for the truth and, as you’d guess I’d say, in my view, it has no future with us.
This article has been added to On the Self-Serving Bias, which can be downloaded at https://goldenageofgaia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/On-the-Self-Serving-Bias-R3.pdf
On the Self Serving Bias R3Footnotes
(1) “It is is common that the Deep State accuses its enemies of heinous crimes they perpetrate themselves. It is, how do you say it, the oldest play in the book.” (Vladimir Putin in Michael Baxter, “Putin Laughs at International Arrest Warrant,” Real Raw News, March 17, 2023, at https://realrawnews.com/2023/03/putin-laughs-at-international-arrest-warrant/.)
(2) In Michael Baxter, “Military Arrests Liz Cheney,” Real Raw News, April 2, 20123, at https://realrawnews.com/2023/04/military-arrests-liz-cheney/.
(3) At https://x.com/ODNIgov/status/1927883337324187878.
(4) “The younger Clinton was questioned by host Andy Cohen over her friendship with the daughter of the 45th US president, whom her mother famously ran against and lost to in the 2016 election. “We were friends,” Clinton said. ‘She is not the person I called when I was curious about something for my kids or if I was debating a life decision, but we were definitely friends … and then she went to the dark side.’” (“News Burst 11 September 2022 – Get The News! by Disclosure News | Updated on 10 September, 2022” at https://www.disclosurenews.it/news-burst-11-september-2022-get-the-news/.) Chelsea was hung for treason. See ….., “Chelsea Clinton Hanged at GITMO, Real Raw News, Nov. 8, 2021, at https://realrawnews.com/2021/11/chelsea-clinton-hanged-at-gitmo/.
(5) Ethan White, “RED ALERT! Trump Launches Largest Domestic Military Operation in U.S. History: 4000 Troops Deployed Across 19 States as Martial Law Goes Live, Secret Arrests Begin, and Deep State Cities Fall Under Military Control!” Gazetteller, August 26, 2025, at https://gazetteller.com/red-alert-trump-launches-largest-domestic-military-operation-in-u-s-history-4000-troops-deployed-across-19-states-as-martial-law-goes-live-secret-arrests-begin-and-deep-state-cities-fall-under-mi/.
The Golden Age of Gaia has been hit with malware so often that we only link to our own sites now. I apologize for the inconvenience.