The results of these votes were shocking, but not surprising. The rules of capitalism have been gamed by the ruling kleptocracy and a lot of working people are angry. No mystery there. In the past week, however, the collective postmortem – on the left and right of politics – has focused on a concern with far greater long-term impact: the accidental or deliberate propagation of misinformation via social media. Many millions of people saw and believed fake reports that the pope had endorsed Trump; Democrats had paid and bussed anti-Trump protesters; Hillary Clinton was under criminal investigation for sexually assaulting a minor. About the only accusation not levelled at Clinton was implication in the murder of JFK, and that was because Trump had already used it against his Republican primary rival Ted Cruz. If democracy is predicated on reliable information, it’s in serious trouble right now.
There has always been the most ghastly distortion in politics. It’s just that it used to be controlled, directed even, by the gatekeepers of the media. Now it isn’t.
And there absolutely never was some golden age when all was patiently explained, facts only, and then people let to make up their minds.
That’s rich coming from Andrew Smith, an alien lizard from planet Zorg who preys on little boys.
“Nobody swallows our lies anymore” says leftist prick.
Boo fucking Hoo.
John Kerry made his entire career on lies. He smeared the US Army often and in public. Didn’t hurt his career any. Clinton hasn’t met a fact she didn’t feel compelled to lie about.
It is a bit much for the Left to be whining now.
DocBud – that’s bullshit, but I believe it.
Charles: Read the cable.
Bernstein: “Girls delightful in Cuba. Stop. Could send you prose poems about scenery, but don’t feel right spending your money. Stop. There is no war in Cuba, signed Wheeler.” Any answer?
Charles: Yes. “Dear Wheeler: you provide the prose poems. I’ll provide the war.”
‘Democrats had paid and bussed anti-Trump protesters; ‘
They did far worse, sending in people to violently disrupt Trump’s rallies.
There has always been the most ghastly distortion in politics. It’s just that it used to be controlled, directed even, by the gatekeepers of the media.
Dan Rather.
They just won’t face the essential fact that got Trump elected viz. that Hillary was an appalling candidate. Indeed, a candidate so unlikeable that the DNC had to rig the primaries so that she wouldn’t be beaten by some daft old socialist from the backwoods.
‘Democrats had paid and bussed anti-Trump protesters’
Robert Creamer and Scott Foval were fired for it. Well, actually, for getting caught.
Just because someone reads something doesn’t mean they have believed it or agree with it. Is the main stream media so lost in it’s own world that it thinks viewers/readers are never skeptical of what the msm produces?
With the Trump election it has turned the msm into bad losers. They were mostly batting for Hillary. If this was a position taken because they wanted to be seen to have called it right and thought she would win, or if it was because they generally support the Democrats, it doesn’t matter.
The news they claim is ‘fake’ is often simply news that wears its prejudices on its sleeve so we can put an appropriate value on it. Even if it’s tin foil hat stuff we can totally discount. This is in contrast to a media that has the prestige of access and coverage and persists with telling us it is fair but time and again has been shown, or grudgingly admits to, promoting causes and people. To this extent the msm is often dishonest while the ‘fake’ news is honest.
“Just because someone reads something doesn’t mean they have believed it or agree with it.”
Yes. If it was the case, Clinton would have won by miles because the MSM lied repeatedly to get her elected.
If people are now paying attention to outre stories on social media, the MSM only has itself to blame. They destroyed their own credibility as trustworthy news sources.
It’s real simple to declare something “fake news,” rather than refute it.
Today’s delicious tidbit (from WaPo):
‘In assessing Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Americans continue to look away from this election’s most alarming story: . . . the Russian government actively interfered in our elections.’
Time for numberwatch to start keeping track of why Trump shouldn’t be president. Might be more reasons than all the trouble global warming is causing (sic):
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
“‘Democrats had paid and bussed anti-Trump protesters’
Robert Creamer and Scott Foval were fired for it. Well, actually, for getting caught.”
I think you’ll find that the Fact Sherpas haven’t approved that original so it ust be fake news and anyway according to the NYT:
“Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the party committee moved to distance themselves from the behavior described in the videos, and the committee said the two men were no longer assisting it. The party also cast doubt on the veracity of the released videos, which were produced by Project Veritas, a conservative group led by the activist James O’Keefe that has been heavily criticized as using deceptive editing.”
So nothing to see there!
Seem to recall some royal journalist admitting that even at the time of the Charles and Di wedding the roya press corp was well aware of his relationship with Camila but persisted with the fairy tale story as it was good for ratings
The only bit of “fake news” I saw on my Facebook feed was this one:
http://www.snopes.com/1998-trump-people-quote/
Trump: “If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They’re the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.”
which I got about three time from different people. Seems to me “fake news” is only a problem if it comes from one side of the political spectrum…
I’m not saying that Hillary actually was running a child sex-trafficking ring out of a pizzeria in Chevy Chase. But there’s no smoke without fire, right?
yet another pointless berk in The Guardian…. spouting steaming bullshit.
The Fact Sherpas are going to have their work cut out in the near future.
This is an interesting (if long) piece by James Autio on Medium
https://medium.com/deepconnections/media-as-a-shaping-agent-of-society-wherefore-art-thou-treacherous-62b4c3f843d6#.7fhfrb7d2
When we are on the subject on fake news, let’s remember that Harry Reid claimed Mitt Romney had not paid his taxes for over a decade.
When called on it – later, needless to say – he said that Romney didn’t win. So that is alright then.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/harry-reid-is-proud-he-lied-about-mitt-romneys-taxes/article/2562300
There is even video of him doing it:
http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/31/reid-has-no-regrets-lying-about-romney-taxes-video/
Nobody in their right mind listens to Democrats talking about fake news.
Looks like the recount is on, what was it the media said about Trump not accepting vote, now that someone else has stumped up the cash the Clinton team have to support a recount as a matter of principle.
What will the crybaby Left do when the recounts fail to overturn the election? As was hypothesised in National Review, they might go full-on Jeremy Corbyn, which would be wonderful.
BobRocket, is James Autio some kind of Markov chain ?
“Forces of momentous change on our immediate event horizon are going to rattle the cage of our biological constitution.”
Didn’t get beyond the first two paras, tbh.
Hello Ducky (you are awful….)
I know what you mean but the opening paragraphs were written like that on purpose, which version did you get ?
“What will the crybaby Left do when the recounts fail to overturn the election?”
What sort of oversight will Trump have of this? I smell a fix here. A few hundred boxes of ‘lost’ ballots appearing? How easy is it to invent a few thousand online votes?
Pretty hard. They’d have to invent 70,000 in Pennsylvania alone. I very much doubt Trump will allow this to slide. And if I were he I would wait until after the inauguration and punish Clinton with every weapon at my disposal. I’d also see if Stein was bankrolled by Soros and if so find some way of ending her.
Morning Bobrocket – mobile and desktop, if that’s what you mean.