Alex Gibney and Lawrence Wright stand and face the general public and media to discuss and defend their film.
David Miscavige hides, while directing anonymous smears against Gibney and Wright and those who appear in his film.
Why is it that the “ecclesiastical leader of the scientology religion” is unable to stand up and speak on behalf of his (admittedly dwindling) flock? Why isn’t he setting the example and going on TV or being interviewed in major publications to present the “scientology side”? And after refusing repeated requests to be interviewed, they then whine that the “media refuses to speak to us” and “always get it wrong.”
Funny how the shoe is on the other foot when Freedom magazine (or Miscavige himself at his Nuremberg rally style events) rants on and on about the horrors of psychiatry? Never seen them even ASK a psychiatrist to participate in their “exposes”? Yet, they proclaim themselves to be conducting “journalism in the public interest.”
And also funny that they don’t include any response from me (or anyone else) to their smears? Why not?
This is scientology media handling 101:
1. Hear a story is being worked on and ignore it.
2. Don’t respond to requests for interviews.
3. Hope the reporter/filmmaker goes away because they are getting no cooperation.
4. Brief lawyers if it appears that pretending it doesn’t exist isn’t making it go away.
5. Send threatening lawyer letters.
6. Do everything possible to find out who the media is speaking to (and if they cannot find out, just allege they are in bed with certain people).
7. Send “D/A” packs on the people thought to be in the show. Smear anyone and everyone possible.
8. Proclaim there is nobody on planet earth qualified to talk about scientology except a scientologist in good standing, none of whom will talk.
9. Keep up a constant barrage of letters asserting the story (whatever they assume it is) is wrong and insist that the REAL story they SHOULD be covering is the “massive international expansion” of scientology that is demonstrated by their real estate portfolio.
10. Continue to refuse to be interviewed.
11. Continue to threaten dire legal consequences if the now almost completed piece seems that it will see the light of day.
12. As the time nears for publication/release, send a contingent of “people who will tell you the real story” to wait outside the offices. Nobody will talk on camera or agree to an interview, but they are all “ready to communicate”.
13. As soon as the piece is published/aired — start smearing the author and everyone mentioned with anonymous pieces that proclaim that everyone who participated is a part of a conspiracy and a bigot.
14. Buy airtime to get “scientology’s message out” by linking to the anonymously written smears.
15. Continue to refuse to be interviewed while proclaiming “they didn’t listen to our side of the story” and “it’s just a one-sided hatchet job.”
16. Accuse everyone involved of being bigots/haters/money motivated etc etc etc. Continue to refuse to be interviewed.
17. Proclaim that “we weren’t interviewed for the piece” while continuing to refuse to be interviewed.
18. Whine some more, while continuing to refuse to be interviewed.
19. Keep whining.
20. Pretend to be persecuted.
Scientology could rightly be known as the “Anonymous Smear Religion.” They want to be seen as the paragons of virtue, champions of human rights and great proponents of free speech. And they want to be regarded as a real religion. The problem is they don’t ACT like a religion. They rely exclusively on the IRS determination of their religious status and contemptuously ignore public perception. And then they wonder why everyone laughs at them. The Catholic church didn’t create anonymous websites smearing journalists who exposed the activities of pedophile priests. The public would have crucified them had they done so. Let alone if the Catholic church had put out anonymous smear sites about the VICTIMS of their abuse…. It’s just not what a real religion does.
But Miscavige and Co jump up and down and DEMAND they be afforded the respect of a legitimate religion. But they don’t act anything like one.
Scientology’s media playbook is one page long, written in crayon and smeared with pouty tears. Everyone in the world can see it for the ad hominem sleaze it is.
Jesus Christ! Scientology is absurd! There is nothing else I can say at this point. I can maybe hit my head on the wall a couple times, but that’s about it. It’s that exasperating. If the Miscavige empire doesn’t fall soon, I’m going to stop following this whole incredible saga. I can only take so much non-stop f***ing stupid and watch that atrocity of a so-called “church” survive under that hopelessly f***ed in the head leader.
In Dog I Trust: Beautifully stated. The Whackometer has exploded; time for this shit to end!
Reply to Mark:
Can I get a witness? Thank you brother! For realz!
Thou has been witnessed, Dog! You are welcome.Cheers!
The reason David Miscavige won’t allow an interview is because in 1992 he did grant an interview with Ted Koppel and was OWNED by him. Koppel continued to intimidate the little midget with very difficult questions and would not accept Davie’s glib answers. Miscavige was calling women “girls” and Mr. Koppel corrected him on it several times. They aren’t girls, they are women. When Davey made some outlandish statement Mr. Koppel asked for the documents and just wouldn’t back off. I watched the interview again last night and observed the midget getting flustered and trying all of his tricks and they didn’t work with a real journalist.
Any professional reporter would make mince meat out of the little guy and he knows it. His tricks only work on the initiated clams and even they are beginning to have serious doubts about his ability to lead. I can only imagine how devastating it would be if the dwarf were to grant an interview to a professional like Alex Gibney.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZSjVOXAb8U
I protest. You simply can’t compare David Miscavige with Bert Lahr.
Bert was 5’9″…..
Good on exposing the Scientology Media 101 playbook.
Funny how the shoe is on the other foot when Freedom magazine (or Miscavige himself at his Nuremberg rally style events) rants on and on about the horrors of psychiatry? Never seen them even ASK a psychiatrist to participate in their “exposes”? Yet, they proclaim themselves to be conducting “journalism in the public interest.”
Actually, they (CCHR) sent CHILDREN to interview psychiatrists at their annual meeting in New Orleans about five years ago. I knew a few of the kids to went (Delphi LA students) and it was filmed too. The kids would ask the doctor walking outside the convention center if they could ask a few questions and then fire the usual “Have you ever cured anybody?” questions. The doctors would get a little dumbfounded and didn’t really want to engage the young teens in an argument and would politely excuse themselves. The film was never shown at the events as far as I know – I never saw it, or heard mention of it again.
It seemed pretty sleazy and cowardly to use teens like this.
Someone earlier in this chain mentioned “Lou” – meaning I think Laurisse Stuckenbrock. Does anyone have any inside information regarding her current situation? I would think of all people suffering the most extreme levels of insanity right now, it would be her. No mortal being could suffer what she must have to endure on a daily basis, without going insane. I hope she is the next one to blow.
Somehow, unlike the staff imprisoned and being abused currently and previously in the Hole, I don’t feel the urge to enfold Laurisse Stuckenbrock in my arms with comforting words. In fairness, I don’t know her but common sense would dictate that, along with Crazy Jenny, she went with eyes wide open into the relationship she enjoys (or doesn’t) with Miscavige.
I have to agree with Aquamarine here.
In my 29 year experience with Scientology, through study of the most comprehensive course on the subject to becoming a counselor aka auditor I never found a religion. The “war” for religious status was to “protect scientology from what was promoted to our public as it’s certain end if it wasn’t won. That fear mongering tool was used to separate me, our local fellow students of scientology study and those in every organization in the world from huge sums of money for “our warchest” to “prevent the end of scientology” and create a future without controls or “outside scrutiny”. That was my understanding from the briefings and regging I received. It has always been a lie to me since the first day I walked in to the organization and questioned the word “church” on their sign. I was shown an old dictionary entry defining “church” as a group of people who gather toward a common purpose and support each other in the agreed purpose. I’d said at the time so that means bird lovers are a church or “the bird religion”. That was met with a big smile and nod of approval while reassuring me that was how harmless it was to call scientology a religion. That was in 1985.
“To continue to do the same thing and expect different results is the definition of……….INSANITY!”………Somebody call a shrink
Very nicely stated, Mike.
Brilliant commentary, Mike.
David Miscavige doesn’t stand up in front of the world and address the documentary’s issues because he can’t, on two counts: First, he has to follow “Never defend, always attack” and the second is that the allegations of abuse at his hands are all true and he’d not only make a damned fool out of himself denying them.
His only play is to pretend to be above the fray, doing his “vital hat”, seemingly oblivious to this sordidness around him, when in fact he is cowering behind OSA’s and his lawyers’ skirts, helpless.
If this were a chess game one could not say that Miscavige has been checkmated yet because he still has some pawns and knights to move around, but the time is drawing near when neither he nor his players will have any further moves.
It is too late for DM. He has destroyed the good parts of Scientology and he has made the bad parts even far worse than they already were. As Mike has mentioned before, he has brought in a lot of money during his tenure, so one can give him credit for that. But without exchange and without new bodies in the shop donations will dwindle to nothing within a few years. And then it will only be a matter of time.
Brilliant analysis, Mike. So true, so funny, so sad.
And yes, so Mad. That is the best word to describe this beingness, logic and conduct.
And of course the only way for it to persist is the creation of …a bubble, sealed tightly with fear, implants, lies and glossy PR.
“Miscavige and Co jump up and down and DEMAND they be afforded the respect of a legitimate religion.” Mr. Miscavige, Psychiatry demands that you treat them like a legitimate, lawful branch of medicine. Big Pharma demands that you treat them like a legitimate business that complies with the laws of the US. Apostates demand that you treat them as citizens who have the same 1st Amendment rights you keep reminding us you have.
Outstanding logic jgg2012. Miscavige is a stuck flow of me me me me!
The UN convention on a Human Rights, and the wage and hour laws of western nations, demand that the church stop using slave and child labor. A church that violates the human rights of its members, and sees critics as enemies to be destroyed, as no right to demand it be considered a respected religion.
Ineresting read
It looks like the Secret Service Dept, the KGB of Scientology, has taken over Scientology Inc.
Money is leaking away, people stay clear of it, the pressure inside will be unbearable, and things will only get worse and their KGB is turning beserk. Their captain went beserk a long time ago.
The only thing to do now is keeping on the pressure. Till the bubble bursts. And it will.
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
Mike your column is a great summary of the strategy of Pope Misleader the First. Short may he rain.
Really great post, Mike.
The first wave of the tsunami has struck.
Scientology will have to seek higher ground, figuratively speaking,
In order to survive.
The trouble is, it goes against their scripture, so they can’t admit wrongdoing.
You have reached a new level of snarkyness with this post. I nominate you for ‘Snarky Emeritus of Snarkdom’. A bowling trophy (with some guy bowling on it) will be your prize. I echo other commenters statements that anyone doing a story on the CO$ should read this post. It has become the new public relations policy of the clampire. And it is still laughable, very laughable……
Your name is indeed an indication for your character. Like the cow you follow the herd without thinking. Now run along to masters and buy a few intensives of sec checks.
In my book,’snarkyness’ is a complement. Some very funny comments from the commenteers also.
If that is indeed your intention, i apologize.
Mike: I do have a question about the constant wailing of the cult about not being interviewed / refusing interview requests. “They didn’t even talk to us” is the constant refrain the cult uses to try and prove the media is one sided, but as you said above the cult refuses every request for interviews. Why doesn’t HBO or other production outfits point out the cult refused all reasonable interview opportunities or the cult put completely ludicrous demands on any proposed interview?
It always bothers me when the cult claims this because we all know most of these production would love to interview scientologists, or even better a live representative of the CoS. But the cult basically insists on some scripted propaganda session – not a sort of a real interview. When the production outfit says we won’t give you a platform to give a 20 min propaganda speech they scream they weren’t “interviewed.”
I just wish the record would be set straight on what the cult demands or says to all the numerous interview requests as ar rebuttal to the “they didn’t talk to us” claims.
(I also understand one of their tactics with news pieces is for them to wait until they know the piece is well into post production. (When it’s far too late to conduct a new interview or add in anything without major budget and deadline over runs, maybe then the jump up and agree to one.) At that point the cult then jumps up and agrees to an interview, and when they are told it’s too late or why didn’t you responds six months ago to our twenty requests, they just scream the refused to interview us.
There is a list shown at the end of the film of all the people that refused to be interviewed.
Excellent!! I hope someone issues that list as a point blank response to all the claims the cult makes about “interviews” to the media in the coming weeks.
Now when you google “Mike Rinder” there’s a big paid google ad at the top trying to direct you to the Freedumb magazine on the HBO documentary and some article about Mike (or discredited sources? lol. the irony) I actually don’t know what article it would take me to (there’s four listed) because I won’t click on their garbage or go to cult websites without a proxy.
In fact if you google Marty, Lawrence, or any host of people telling the truth about Scientology you now get the same paid ad. Paying google ads is the only hope they have for any one visiting any of their sloppy propaganda sites – and I’d say 99% of the visits they get are entirely accidental and as soon as the person realizes they are in the land of church sponsored BS they click off to find reliable sources.
(FYI Mindlessly clicking on those ads does cost the cult money – so if you’d like to roboclick on some ads you’ll be taking money out of the cult’s OSA smear campaign budget.)
I would think it is quite an honor that the COS buys ads to be shown when someone googles for Mike. Something like a goldenrod, which you can proudly show in videos 🙂
Mike, this is a terrific article. I’m still left with the question of WHY Miscavige doesn’t come up with some spokesperson who will address the press in print interviews and on camera. The conspicuous absence of any church spokesperson (the frequently unhinged letters signed Karin Pouw don’t really constitute a spokesperson) in the face of widespread press interest is itself damning of the church in the minds of the public (and, I presume, politicians and law enforcement). What will it take for the church to relent to having a spokesperson to answer–however absurdly–the many questions and serious charges raised in the Going Clear book and doc? And when they do so, who will it be? Karin Pouw? Monique Yingling? Miscavige himself? Tommy Davis pressed back into service? The Squirrel Busters? Some third-party hired PR professional?
Sure sucks to be Miscavige who cannot trust anybody to ‘do it right’!
Greta
I vote for the LAXaDiva her self, Jenny “Why don’t you live a normal life and get bags under your eyes like me?” Linson!
This is a great post STILL ON YOUR SIDE.
I believe Miscavige is parked in the Industrial Age.
(Slave labor, still making a factory produce antiquated CDs and DVDs and hard copy books)
He does not understand that we in the Informational/Digital age and exposure and revelations travels at the speed of light on the Informational super highway.
The IRS is not going to revoke the church’s tax exempt status unless there are congressional hearings on why the IRS granted the exemption in the first place. I think those hearings will take place, I am just not optimistic they will take place soon. In the meantime, the church is doing an excellent job of destroying itself by proving every expose of its horrendous activities is true.
The Miscavige-ordered smears are revealing. What kind of church, and what kind of people, place vicious articles and videos on church-connected websites for the purpose of attempting to destroy ex-parishoners who are exposing the church’s filthy underbelly and how that filth has personally harmed them? Does Miscavige not realize his vile smears make the average person more protective of his victims? Is Miscavige so out of touch with reality he hasn’t learned that Americans, at the end of the day, hate dirty tactics implemented by organizations that operate in the dark?
When the Gibney film reaches millions of people on HBO, and it is being about discussed by millions who then discuss it with millions of other people, how will Miscavige defend the church and his one-man leadership of it? How will he defend his attacks on a grandmother who is not allowed to see or have any contact with her granddaughter? How will he defend his slimy attack on a mother who lost her son and then was denied the right to say a final goodbye to him? How will he defend his seige of unabated attacks on a woman who was never a member of the church? How will he defend his attacks on a woman who was forced to have an abortion as a minor and punished for wanting to see her mother at age 12? As we know, these are just a very small percentage of the abuses and criminal behavior Miscavige has directed.
Right now Miscavige hides from interviews and public speaking, and has ordered every other Scientologist to do the same. When the sh*t really hits the fan, Miscavige may increase the volume of slimy attacks, or he may pull out the “Operation Snowhite” playbook and issue statements blaming individuals in the church by name, claim they have been “ex-communicated,” and insist via “checker’s” style mea culpas that the church is going to operate differently in the future. Of course neither course of action will work. It might have worked 30 years ago, but it won’t work in the Internet Information Age. The church, as it is now, is fast approaching the end. There is nothing in Miscavige’s playbook that will change that.
Excellent comment Still on your side. Yes indeed the average citizen has been underestimated. The sleazy organization that operates in the dark will never be accepted broadly.
Very true. One of the main problems that Miscavige and Co. has, it that they continually underestimate people. They think that people are generally irrational, unintelligent, immoral, and unenlightened. Making such sweeping generalizations about our fellows in society is a foolish thing to do.
It’s quite ironic that while they engage in this thinking, they cannot see that they will never be broadly accepted by that same society that they prefer to discredit.
At this point, the church can do no right. The jig is up.
I’m not sure if Division 4 or Division 6 is correct for the post, Director of Pouty Tears.
I’m not sure if Division 4 or Division 6 is correct for the post, Director of Pouty Tears.
Dept 21 seems more appropriate
Mike, your examples of what would or could have been similar or comparable responses from the catholic church using their pedofile crisis as a backdrop really hit the mark and shows the truly unreligious nature of the scientology organization.
Okay, soooo, for grins and giggles I went onto the internet to see what scientology had to say about Mike (I’m a “never-in” BTW). I had poked around the freedumb mag here and there and had seen some articles written about both Mike and Mark, but was never really able to get thru and read them because of all the bullshit and outright lies.
I follow three blogs, The Underground Bunker, and both Mike and Mark’s. I began my journey of interest in “all things scientology” with the New Yorker article and researching articles in the “Clearwater newspapers. I ran across freedumb mag in the other blogs and tried (operative word “tried”) to read some of their articles, but really could only get thru a few paragraphs before it became apparent that the tactics used in those articles are precisely what is being used now to smear “Going Clear”.
All I can say at this point is that I am counting down the days till March 16 so I can watch the HBO expose. Let’s see what scientology does after its airing, or if scientology will attempt to stop the airing with its smear campaign of legal atrocities. Things are going to get reeeaaal interesting, real interesting!!
Anyone unable to see March 16 as a potential snapping point for Miscavige is still suffering from the lingering effects of Kool-Aid.
Not really a snapping point, just hopefully, the beginning of a slow painful end!
Mike, there is a solution to expose this properly.
Can Gibney ask PUBLICLY for interviews? Easy as that.
Scientology can then not deny it did not receive an offer.
And to avoid further lies from the cult (eg. “Gibney did not bother to answer
after making the request”) each step has to be PUBLIC and signed of by lawyers.
Gibney has to be very precise. He has to tell the cult time and location (eg. a TV show).
And if they don’t show up at this very precise event, then all becomes obvious.
This way Miscavige has to send someone … maybe a puppet from the hole.
It’s already been v public. The end of the film has a listing of those who refused to be interviewed.
I think it would be great to see some of those defamed by the church as it did in its Freedom Mag to sue for libel.
well. because scientology is NOT a religion.
D.M. is rock solid and fixed . Whatever the C of $ does will make things worse.
You can set your watch to that.
That just about sums it up, Mike. I would just add one more point at the end of your list:
21. Continue to refuse to be interviewed.
The Church of Scientology must be the only *church* in the world that has Dead Agent material on so many of it’s former members. Funny, you’d think if the “Psychs”were public enemy number one they’d be busy attacking each and every one of those “criminals”. No response from Scientology because everyone is out buying more Goldenrod for the next new wave of apostates.
What is dead agent material?
Lies and slander or twisted half-truths spun for the purpose of character assassination. I believe they hope to fully discredit the source so an audience will no longer listen to what that source is saying (lies, all lies!).
Incidentally, dead agenting (character assassination) is rebounding right back on them with the full force of 6 karma decades, and their only achievement presently is to underscore the credibility of the various sources and fully discredit themselves.
Fascinating.
Material that is put together to discredit a critic or anyone the church wants to discredit. Sometimes the material has been gathered from a person’s private counseling (auditing) folders and/or from other sources and usually grossly exaggerated. The idea is that the “damning evidence” makes the “agent” less credible as a threat or “dead”.
This is the idea behind the smear websites and ridiculous articles in their Freedom Magazine. This is all based on Hubbard’s policies on the topic of handling critics, etc.
Free advise to the RCS: Whenever you put your head in the sand, you set yourself up for a kick in the rear that you don’t see coming. Whatever happened to CONFRONT and shatter suppression? Oh yes, its not suppression the RCS is facing, its the truth.
It is amazing how low-toned this group actually is. The two most prominent tones appear to be overt hostility and covert hostility. They are overtly hostile to their own members, let alone someone who is attacking them. And how quickly they will drop to covert hostility. OSAs chronic tone MUST be covert hostility. And DM standing before the sheeple, lying his ass off. Gawd, what person in their right mind would want anything to do with these guys? My only defense for being involved is thirty years ago access to critical information about Scn was relatively sparse; nowadays its everywhere you turn.
Funny that a group which proclaims to be about rationale and reason is so incapable of having a rational conversation about their own philosophy.
It never ceases to amaze me how stupid DM can be. Promoting the church’s “good deeds” is smart. But attacking anyone that criticizes them – calling them all liars and criminals simply backfires. I can’t believe he hasn’t spotted that yet.
He helped significantly in turning Going Clear into the hottest film at Sundance. The church could’ve reacted to the film by a:ignoring it (smartest option) or b:oh – someone made another film about us – yes, that happens a lot.
I just had one of my best non-scn friends sum it clearly and tersely – they are so f’n vicious.
“It never ceases to amaze me how stupid DM can be. Promoting the church’s “good deeds” is smart. BUT ATTACKING ANYONE THAT CRITICIZES THEM…”
Sheldon, DM is just following LRH firm policy. But I agree that LRH wrote a lot of stupid crap for his followers. DM just isn’t smart enough to see the stupidity of what policy orders him to do.
These are the voyages of the Starship $cientology. To boldly lie where no one has dared lie before… oh, sorry, got a bit carried away with the off the planet behaviour of miscavige but he does resemble Zackary Smith from “Lost in Space” when you think about it. I think the Cof$ should seriously consider moving on to target 2 now – this planet is getting cleared of them pretty much and they are the only group ever rejected by the Borg and the Wraith complain they are of no nutritional value and taste funny.
I just can’t take anything about that lot seriously. Their boss acts like a little rich spoilt brat and hides in an expensive bullet proof bunker and wont come out and writes nasty things about people. He may as well go, he’s worn out his welcome here, that’s for sure.
Right up there with Shakespearian insults Yawn……”they taste funny”. LOL!
Mike,
Excellent post! Hit the nail on the head numerous times! One of my favorite points you made is the double standard/hypocrisy with Scientology’s anti-psych documentaries. The church will have to issue a recall on all those one-sided anti-psych DVDs that parishioners have been buying in bulk to send out to “OLs” over the last several years (because of course the church couldn’t just put the videos online for free, especially since they know how to drive millions of “target marketed” Super Bowl viewers who would love nothing more after the big game than to watch Scientology curse their fictional enemies). And how funny would it be for the psychiatric industry to start running full page ads to vilify (promote) Scientology’s anti-psych videos? No, only Scientology/DM is that stupid.
It’s a damn good thing that all of these bad things happening to Scientology can be explained away by the one convenient scripture about “signs of success”, and not the countless inconvenient scripture about motivators.
Mike, I cannot wait to see the film. Thank you again for all that you do to shine the light of truth on the abuses, fraud and other crimes. I hope with all my heart that this film reaches people in the bubble. I know it’s very early to say this, but I predict another Academy Award for Alex Gibney.
His WHY was correct: the blind leading the blind ..
When this came out as the word .. I thought myself: how nuts can one be to give that as truth. So I talked about with others .. it came out that a lot felt not under good control in the church and at all .. as like myself stated at the beginning of a discussion about .. I said further: I was not blind at the day when I came into the church .. if one tells me today that the blind leading the blind .. he has to watch the point that I became maybe blind .. and that that problem is not solved with the statement ..
What I mean is basically that no one found his way into scientology because of his blindness .. no, the opposite is true .. certainly (I think) .. but on the other side, 100% of all people which whom I spoke about found it right what Miscavige has said .. so, they were blind for my realisation .. none of them saw the given invalidation in such a statement .. and as something which was surely not be true .. but again, I found then 100% agreement with Miscavige words ..
I went then deeper in it, and asked what they mean with blindness. Some scientologist do that in this way. So I found that all of them did trust LRH for becoming an OT. Everybody did trust LRH for the way of then becoming an OT .. also the blindness indicated from Miscavige was a given hope to get faster OT .. that is was I found out .. all did agree that they were blind OTs ..
LRH said once, you are as you are .. it is you what you think or believe .. it is now, not yesterday ..
If you came into scientology as a blind (which I do not believe) .. then you became much more blind then before .. so and so .. the words from Miscavige were nuts to me .. it had no logic at all ..
The best scientologist which I met in my life were people who went down in deeply cognitive dissonance, they knew always everything on a higher state but could never speak out freely what they had as hidden data .. and this is cognitive dissonance in pure fashion .. so is scientology, and Miscavige works with this points of behaviour of people .. so is the way to OT .. it isn’t, but some think it is ..
An OT would never go with cognitive dissonance .. never, never, never, never, never ..
Last night I had a dream. It was a little bit dramatic .. I had a fight about seeing Tone Level 1.2 against Tone Level 9.0 .. it is a little bit the same in flows ..
Perfect. Every journalist who decides to write a story about Scientology, no matter how apparently trivial the subject matter, should read this.
Great reporting, Mike. I like the part, they “Continue to refuse to be interviewed while proclaiming “they didn’t listen to our side of the story.”
Fabulous. I’m sure your clear logic is helping a lot of people in the press articulate their positions.
Yes. Why not learn from your PR mistakes in 2009 when you were nailed on the Truth Rd Tampa Times media piece? Oh that’s, right the strongest intention in the universe is to be right.
I’d offer now that DM, who now has most likely over a billion+ dollar “bubble”, has actually no concerns about much of anything. Why would he? Would you really care, if you had that amount of money, other than an occasional show or event every now and then to ‘make a showing’ and keep the thing going?
I don’t think for a second that he really cares as he’s very well covered and can easily avoid being ‘put on trial’ at a moments notice. Do you know any billionaires who do not have escape plans 1,2 or,3. And the sad fact that money can and does buy anything here on earth.
Unfortunately money can and also does buy that ‘security’ too – and which he has for sure. I’d have been happy to leave after a mere 100-200 million and dealt with the complications. Power does indeed do it’s evil in begetting more, yet at another certain point, it’s just a game and one has no real worries anymore.
Davey appears to have no further real connections to any further family or human relations, and has written them off, as all goes, so he can disappear anywhere, whenever he wants it seems.
Unfortunately I’m thinking this is how it will go, instead of the trial of the century we all hope for.
It’ll morph into something else while davey fades into oblivion
Interesting thoughts, Roger. It’s very feasible. He’s not one for going down with the ship. (Probably the only Captain in history to deliberately sink his ship before being the first to leap off, skirts pulled high.)
Roger,
You got a strong point here though usually problems are associated with no or too little money as well as
with TOO MUCH money. He still has his dog(s)! There are still PROBLEMS, just of a different nature.
Now it would be more along the line of ‘can I trust my cook’? ‘Can I trust my butler’? ‘What about Lou? Is she just hanging around for the money’?
The biographies of the “too rich” are quite revealing, more paranoia on the horizon…
Greta
” Is she just hanging around for the money’?”
Not likely but she probably does Ok with the pain and sex …….. such as it is.
I’m sure that dm and his cohorts are feeling a bit stressed at this point, knowing the HBO special is going to reach a few million people very soon. A large break in reality is looming and I don’t think whining is going to fix it. Earth to dm,…..put some clothes on.
Alas Rodger you maybe right! A billion dollars to fuel his ego and keep him safe is a sad reality indeed!
One can only hope that his meglomania drives him nuts and he weaves the rope of his own noose, kicks his last bucket of support and hangs there like a pig for all to see!
I would crack the don perenon, light a candle for friends lost and bring on the dancing girls at that point. JUSTICE!
Absolutely true.
It is RIDICULOUS that an IRS-certified religion which sells itself as the home of the greatest communication training on earth has a leader who CANNOT communicate.
Ever.
In public or on camera.
He is less than a laughing stock because no one knows who he is.
As for the phrase ARC, could you ever associate it with the violent paranoia that oozes from David Miscavige?
Eventually, and only because he has NO choice in the matter, David Miscavige will make a statement on the record. And it will be utterly cringe-worthy.
Until then, I look forward to more epic playground insults from the Church of Scientology, which doesn’t even realize how much its stupid is showing.
Morons.
DM needs to be inaccessible in case some of his flock ask him for detailed accounts of how IAS money is spent.
David Miscarrage is a known coward who hides behind several large body guards and cruel security.
Miscavige’s bubble is getter smaller and smaller. He soon will be seeing BT’s on fence posts, street signs,, and on his lecterns. He may even beg to be electrocuted with precision by a super duper Mark Ultra Eight. He doesn’t even know there is a way out of the labyrinth he’s created, but his ego, fear, and paranoia, and desire for power, are what built the labyrinth. Sad and pathetic,
I would bet Miscavige doesn’t believe in BT’s aside from the fact the belief in them from
others equals $ for him. In fact I would bet he hasn’t done the levels featuring BT’s.
Actually I would be surprised if he has done Grade IV…..correctly anyway.
Electrocuting himself?…..He doesn’t have the balls to do something like that.
And the truly sad part is he does not see or consider he has created a labyrinth.
I think he considers himself to be quite successful.
Potpie
Likely DM already got a false pass on the Comm Course. From then on too steep a gradient…
He has never mastered Scientology for himself.
Greta
Come on! DM has done the bridge many times. Last year he studied the new student hat and re-did the objectives with Tom. He then co-audited the GAT II grades up to clear.
And the Basics are completed since ages. DM was the first super-OT, who personally met Xenu and punched his face.
DM took all his personal income to become Patron. I was told that owning a Ferrari is an overt against the 3rd dynamic. DM doesn’t own a Ferrari! This guy is the best example for a Scientologist. His wife and family love him. Nobody would ever blow. Applause, applause.
David Miscavige was Lisa Mc Pheasons CS and she died a horrible death .
I just hope they keep doing what they are doing. It makes them look even MORE foolish and (shall I say it) CRAZY. I hope that just one person somewhere up the line decides it is time to DUMP the good leader and turn the rest free. All it would take is that decision being made and it would crumble so fast. I hope more people come out in the media with stories and proof that will lead to the tax exempt status being reversed. That should be the next focus – congressional hearings – oh can not wait.
Hi Ellie. 🙂 You should come to the party OSD’s gonna have when that happens. It’ll be good to see you again.
Oooo! Did I just hear somebody say congressional hearings? Oh okay, it was Ellie Wilson. Now that’s on a level I never even thought of. I like that level! Thanks for the new food for thought Ellie! Boy, the cake just keeps getting richer and richer. Yummy!
Yes indeed, it’s wholly insane but alas, it’s what the founder Hubbard did: he was wholly paranoïd and schizophrenic.
A perfect summary of how I have seen them work, way to go Mike!
Saruman your staff is broken!
Bring on Wormtongue to finish the job, maybe the Shermonator perhaps?
A concise summation of their strategy. Thank you!
Church of DM = Victimology
“In the face of any attack on the sanctity of DM, throw all of your toys out of the pram. Don’t explain. Don’t engage in conversation. Just WHINE.”
Awesome article Mike.
Miss cabbage acts like a little bitch. Runs and hides and doesn’t even have the balls to defend his own bullshit game in public because he knows he would look like an idiot.
FUCK YOU COB!! I will laugh so hard when you fall!!!
Ditto, Tony; all He has left is those remaining. Sheeple characteristically don’t like being ridiculed and condemned by society at large. Once they start to hear the whispers of that ridicule, they will jump ship; it’ll be the popular thing to do. Fine with me. Whatever it takes.
Dave,
On March 16th when you attempt to ‘carry on as usual’ you become more hallucinatory than delusional.
For the record, check out the National Catholic Reporter sometime (ncronline.org). Can you imagine an independent Scientology journalistic outlet that criticized the Co$? Catholics bitch about the church as a normal part of life. It doesn’t get you excommunicated. That being said, even excommunicated catholics (which is hard to do), are still allowed to go to church. The Co$ loves to draw parallels with the Catholic Church, but priests that break the priest/penitent situation- the Seal of the Confessional- are automatically excommunicated, though not if they reveal confessions at the request of the person doing the confession. Someone should point that out to Laura DeCrecenzo.
DM is used to, through fear, threats, and abusive behavior to get what he thinks he deserves. If he considers is not the expected result we have evidence of the treatment people get under his ‘command’. He is so disconnected from the real world outside that he thinks the media and general public will bow to his threats and whimpering. He believes he ‘deserves’ to be followed and obeyed, or else.
He has no awareness that people outside, in the normal world DO communicate, exchange ideas, may get into difficulties, may react and attack at times, but overall people, with all the information easily available in Internet, eventually communicate, live and let others do the same.
He is so encroached in a mad universe that, like Hitler or Al Capone, can’t see his ruin: his pretended empire is just inside the bubble and is dominated by terror and threats that, in fact, the media is now saying it openly: the hallmark of scientology is a back handed, litigious organization. The more he reacts, the worse is going to get.
On the other hand Alex G thanks him for the unbelievable promotion he is doing for the film; the more DM rants, the more people will attend the show.
His WHY was correct: the blind leading the blind.
That’s extremely well put, Sylvia. Thank you.
Very well said Sylvia.
David Miscavige is a reclusive Cult Leader and is “the blind”. I seriously doubt his mental stability, and combined with alcohol abuse, who knows how long he’ll be able to stay in the game before the organic brain syndrome sets in and he’s rendered permanently demented.
So I am one of those bigots that refuses to call it a religion. So what? The real question is how many foot bullets can they take and not bleed out? It really is a demonstration in cognitive dissonance that even the newest, casual observer sees their reactions as infantile, ineffective and insane. My greatest hope is that a huge percentage of the dwindling sheeple get embarrassed by this rigid adherence to the faulty ‘tech’, recognize it for what it is and throw in the towel.
As you noted in Park City, otherwise intelligent people convinced to do incredibly stupid stuff.
Amazing.
The sheeple see the ridiculous behavior, but cannot understand what is wrong with it. When you point it out to them, they just look at you stupidly.
And the beauty of it is, WHEN they have it to do all over again, they’ll handle it the exact same way. Epic fail does not begin to capture what a train wreck this is for them.
Ain’t it the truth! Ain’t it the truth!
What a great summation of their modus operandi. This is a home run you hit here, Mike!
“But Miscavige and Co jump up and down and DEMAND they be afforded the respect of a legitimate religion. But they don’t act anything like one.” Yep, you hit the nail on the head.
“Pouty tears” is the best yet. Thank you for the much needed levity, Mike.
What KNT says, especially about the levity.
Smacked it out of the park Mike…Bravo! Excellent column…well reasoned in a clear voice.
Ditto
Ahahahah, what a great summary Mike!
Greta
Fantastically witty, Mike!