I remember as a kid, my mum would always mix in the Vitamin C tablets to our cereal so we would eat them without knowing, or at least by the time we noticed what was happening it was already too late. Political memes, in a similar sense, are an incredibly powerful mechanism for both propaganda and distraction – and have an imperative place in the present and future of politics.
In the recent weeks, Clive Palmer has been in the attention of the media for his absurd tweets and bizarre presence on social media. Interestingly, this activity coincided with “court action over the collapse of his mining business Queensland Nickel, which saw 800 workers lose their jobs”
According to reporter Hedley Thomas, “When Clive is under significant pressure, he throws the switch to vaudeville and creates this entertaining deflection… it distracts attention from scrutiny [of] the problem he is facing.” (Thomas, 2017)
Memes are powerful information packages, with the ability to propagate a particular point of view, and in some cases, distract the public from the greater underlying issues of a particular event or occurrence.
Featured Image: “TrumpDiTprotest6” by Global Justice Now, licensed under Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Lazy Susan. 
Clive Palmer of Facebook is one of the funniest things I’ve ever witnessed. I could agree more that he is using it as a distraction and propaganda… possibly I’m not sure. But it’s something you just let happen because it’s so funny. As funny as it is, what do you think Clive would do if he was in significant trouble? Like to the point where a wack facebook status can’t help him?
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I love how you compare your mother tricking you into eating your vitamins, to memes.. because it is so true! without us even realizing it, memes are being used to transport so much important information and ideas, and you explained this so cleverly!
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Hey Susan, This is a great example of our own horrible political media sphere. It is an excellent way that you have used the memes as a metaphor for hidden vitamins, they are so close to it in fact that I believe its a motif rather than a metaphor. Memes are saturated so much in politics that it is the new and fun propaganda of the world today. Apparently everything is a joke now. Check out http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/mike-bairds-most-memorable-tweets/news-story/d730f013f036592fce82c4f186b0e36a if you wish to reminisce on tha man the myth the legend, mike baird.
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