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</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fake-news/right-wing-ecosystem-created-paul-pelosi-conspiracy-theory">https://www.mediamatters.org/fake-news/right-wing-ecosystem-created-paul-pelosi-conspiracy-theory</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>it&nbsp; took roughly 48 hours for the right-wing media ecosystem to turn a story about a man who committed political violence after becoming consumed by right-wing conspiracy theories about the depravity of the left into another right-wing conspiracy theory about the depravity of the left.</b>&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Friday morning, a man&nbsp;<a href="https://abc7news.com/paul-pelosi-attack-suspect-zip-ties-david-depape-nancy/12398127/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">broke into</a>&nbsp;the San Francisco home of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was reportedly carrying zip ties and duct tape and, according to law enforcement, was looking for the woman who is second in line to the presidency. She was not present, but the man did find and severely beat her 82-year-old husband, Paul, with a hammer, sending him to the hospital for emergency surgery.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The assailant, who was arrested and identified by police as David DePape, had an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/28/pelosi-attacker-online-hints-conspiracy-immersion-00064093" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">extensive Internet footprint</a>&nbsp;that suggests a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2022/10/29/david-depape-blog-pelosi-fairies/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">standard case</a>&nbsp;of online&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/28/politics/pelosi-attack-suspect-conspiracy-theories-invs" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">right-wing radicalization</a>. DePape’s writings show his adherence to a wide range of conspiracy theories that are often propped up or adopted in their entirety by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-report-about-paul-pelosis-attacker-briefly-annotated" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">prominent right-wing media figures</a>&nbsp;and Republican officials. President Joe Biden on Friday night&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3710199-biden-on-pelosi-attack-what-makes-us-think-stolen-election-talk-wont-corrode-the-political-climate/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">condemned</a>&nbsp;the impact the Republican Party’s “vitriol” has on those who may be mentally unbalanced.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But in the days since the attack, people who get their news from right-wing sources have instead been told an absurd and baseless conspiracy theory. In this telling, there was no home invasion; instead DePape is actually Paul Pelosi’s leftist gay lover, and the police,<b>&nbsp;Democrats, and the press are covering up that the assault was really a lovers’ spat. The tale was quickly adopted by influential right-wing figures – including Twitter owner Elon Musk – and, if past is prologue, will be accepted by a sizable percentage of the GOP base.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The Pelosi conspiracy theory took hold so quickly thanks to the parallel media ecosystem the right constructed over decades</span>.&nbsp;<b>That ecosystem features numerous outlets that generate conspiracy theories for partisan and financial gain</b>;<b><u>&nbsp;food-chain mechanisms</u></b>&nbsp;that swiftly distribute them to millions of people;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;an existing right-wing audience trained to demand such fantasies; minimal internal guardrails within the right-wing press to provide more credible information; and strong external barriers against contrary information from mainstream news sources.&nbsp;</span></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How the right built a Paul Pelosi conspiracy theory</font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The right’s conspiracy theorists went to work soon after news of Paul Pelosi’s assault broke. They create dubious but politically beneficial narratives by taking existing facts – particularly ones that emerge early in the life of a story, when initial reports are often wrong – mixing in falsehoods, and using wild logical jumps to put the result in a different context.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>First, an investigative journalist at a local TV affiliate&nbsp;<a href="https://heavy.com/news/paul-pelosi-underwear-david-depape/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">reported</a>&nbsp;on Friday that the assailant was wearing only his underwear when police arrived. But the journalist retracted that reporting the same day, and no other outlet confirmed it.</b>&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Second, the dispatcher who received a 911 call from Paul Pelosi said that he had identified the intruder as a “friend.” But Pelosi,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-29/paul-pelosi-attacker-police-hammer-nancy-pelosi-san-francisco" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">according to law enforcement</a>, was making that call surreptitiously from the bathroom and speaking “in code” to the dispatcher in an attempt to avoid his suspicion.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Third, some&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveKrak/status/1586421820818788353" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">alleged</a>&nbsp;that there were no signs of forced entry at the Pelosi home, suggesting that Paul Pelosi had willingly let DePape inside. In fact,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/29/paul-pelosi-attack-david-depape/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">police say</a>&nbsp;he forced entry through the rear door, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-speaker-pelosis-husband-violently-assaulted-pelosi-statement-2022-10-28/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">aerial photos and video</a>&nbsp;show shattered glass around that entryway (in fact, other internet sleuths&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1586201459175170048?s=46&t=jKTXFKEEVXY_sN4nW5zc8Q" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">claim</a>&nbsp;that the glass pattern is suspicious).</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fourth, Politico&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/28/police-pelosi-attack-intentional-00064098" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">reported</a>&nbsp;on Friday based on San Francisco Police Chief William Scott’s press conference that the first police officers responding on the scene “were let inside by an unknown person. They discovered DePape and Pelosi struggling for a hammer.” This generated speculation that a third individual had been present. But Scott&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/mccormackjohn/status/1586411149905768450?s=46&t=lk4UBJqq0AXUy4F4YlVY4w" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">did not actually say</a>&nbsp;that, and the SFPD&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/tom_winter/status/1586797283856744451" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">subsequently confirmed</a>&nbsp;only two people, DePape and Paul Pelosi, were at the home when police arrived.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The right’s conspiracy theorists took those four pieces of evidence, mixed in Paul Pelosi’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nancy-pelosis-husband-pleads-guilty-dui-charge-sentenced-5-days-jail-rcna44456" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">May DUI charge</a>, and concocted the narrative that he had been the victim of a drunken gay lovers’ spat that was subsequently covered up.&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Sunday, versions of this speculation were rampant on the right. Commentators who present themselves as credible offered a version in which they were simply asking questions because the press supposedly refused to do so.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>those who lack such airs simply claimed, as Dinesh D’Douza did, that “this guy, the assailant, is either a sexual partner or a male prostitute, and this is a sexual rendezvous that went sideways.”</b></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twt]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">eventually, the story reached Musk, a troll beloved on the right with a penchant for conspiracy theories. And on Sunday morning, he blasted it out to his 112 million Twitter followers.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After Hillary Clinton&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/mollyjongfast/status/1586702056487796737" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">shared</a>&nbsp;an article about DePape’s promotion of conspiracy theories and commented that “violence is the result” of the right spreading such lies, Musk responded, “there is a tiny possibility there might be more to the story than meets the eye.” He&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-responds-hillary-clinton-paul-pelosi-attack-rumor-2022-10" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">provided a link</a>&nbsp;to a site with the headline, “The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And In a Dispute With a Male Prostitute Early Friday Morning.</span>"</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[musk twt]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>the website, the Santa Monica Observer, had&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/KevinMKruse/status/1586720533764362240" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">previously alleged</a>&nbsp;that Clinton died in 2016 and had been replaced by a body double for her presidential debate with Donald Trump.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">At the same time, the right-wing media generated nonsensical explanations for why the assailant’s Internet footprint is&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/cwarzel/status/1586778890659565568" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">forged</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<b>he’s actually a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/oneunderscore/status/1586523424943263745" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">leftist</a>.</b>&nbsp;They cannot accept that the assailant believed right-wing conspiracy theories without taking on responsibility, so they’ve developed an alternate explanation instead.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Roughly 72 hours after news of the assault on Paul Pelosi had broken, the conspiracy theory had been promoted by a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/w7voa/status/1586839478446047232?s=46&t=jKTXFKEEVXY_sN4nW5zc8Q" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Republican member of Congress</a>&nbsp;and by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/31/donald-trump-jr-misinformation-memes-paul-pelosi-hammer" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Donald Trump Jr.</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/oneunderscore/status/1587013632457580544" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“Pelosigaylover”</a>&nbsp;was trending nationally on Twitter.</font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The conspiracy-minded ecosystem that fuels the right</font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The right-wing information ecosystem is built to create and propagate conspiracy theories like the latest drivel about the Pelosi attack.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">On message boards and social media platforms, an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/charliewarzel/the-right-is-building-a-new-media-upside-down-to-tell-donald" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">army of right-wing would-be sleuths</a>&nbsp;looking for political advantage or simple amusement are constantly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/russias-invasion-ukraine/conspiracy-theory-about-hunter-biden-and-ukrainian-biolabs-went-qanon" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">on the hunt for raw materials</a>&nbsp;that they can spin into these alternate narratives.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hyperpartisan news sites with no journalistic standards – from local ones like the Santa Monica Observer to national players like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/10/fox-news-affiliate-forced-retract-report-pelosi-depape-found-underwear-another-pelosi-wrap-smear/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Gateway Pundit</a>&nbsp;– trawl those venues looking for stories that they can write up and<b>&nbsp;monetize</b>.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The conspiracy theories move up the right-wing media food chain, with more and more prominent influencers and outlets picking up the story and running with it, until it becomes pervasive on the right.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sprawling conspiracy theories like 2020 election denial, QAnon, Pizzagate, and Gamergate – all of which DePape had championed – worked their way through these networks.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The right-wing audience is uniquely vulnerable to these narratives.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The right-wing press spent decades spinning out these politically convenient narratives about the diabolical nature of their perceived enemies [NEWT! fox] until the audience&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/gop-extremism-demand-side-problem" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">came to demand them</a>. Few on the right – and none with any real degree of influence – are interested in debunking the rampant lies once they get going. Instead, powerful figures at Fox News and elsewhere end up&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/definitive-guide-fox-news-treatment-qanon-conspiracy-theory" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">pushing the likes</a>&nbsp;of QAnon talking points and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/how-tucker-carlson-sanitizes-gops-extremists" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">scoffing</a>&nbsp;at its extremism. And decades of right-wing attacks on the mainstream press have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumps-coup-depends-right-wing-information-bubble" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">created a bubble</a>&nbsp;in which the audience is unlikely to receive or credit contradictory information from those outlets.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The result is that we consistently see the conspiracy theories come to infest the ranks of the movement, from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/wall-street-journal/vince-foster-qanon-and-rights-culture-conspiracy-theory" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Vince Foster’s death to QAnon</a>.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I expect the Paul Pelosi fantasy to follow the same route. Republican politicians and prominent Fox hosts will either stand by as the conspiracy theory builds credence on the right or even give a knowing wink and nod to its supporters. Some will probably promote it entirely, perhaps suggesting that these are simply questions that the media refuses to answer.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Credible news outlets will divert resources from covering the rising tide of right-wing political violence or the GOP’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/abc/sunday-shows-ignore-gop-plan-provoke-catastrophic-debt-crisis-order-cut-social-security" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">disturbing policy aims</a>&nbsp;if the party gains ground in the midterm elections to pointing out that the right is peddling nonsense about Pelosi.<b>&nbsp;But thanks to the right-wing media bubble, their facts won’t make it to the people inclined to believe it. And so a sizable chunk of the GOP will come to believe an absurd lie.&nbsp;</b></font></p></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div style=""><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">aha:&nbsp; echo is isolation from Earth1, legit press info (ie ideas/info you do not want b/c does not fit your POV) and escalator= AMPLIFY/ BOOST/ PROPAGATE TO MORE PPL AND MORE INFLUENTIAL/INFECTIOUS PPL/ SOURCES</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 22 edit bd</font></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On February 15, Bloomberg&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-15/protesters-defy-trudeau-s-emergency-powers-with-border-blockades?sref=urpXDkpn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ran a story about</a>&nbsp;the “freedom convoy” that seemed to illustrate Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theory of stupidity.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran minister who was part of the German resistance to the Nazi Party and to Adolf Hitler’s rise. His book,&nbsp;<a href="https://thebonhoefferproject.com/weeklycolumn/cost-of-discipleship" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Cost of Discipleship</a>, is a meditation on “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/sermon-on-the-mount-and-moral-theology/seeking-first-the-kingdom/CE6501C0E9D3E04571BB8B6A0F4DCB6C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Sermon on the Mount</a>” in which Bonhoeffer splits the Christian concept of grace in two.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On the one hand is “cheap grace,” which is “without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On the other hand, Bonhoeffer said, is “costly grace.</b>” It “confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Indeed, resisting fascism by submitting “to the yoke of Christ” and following him cost him dearly. At age 39, the Nazis hanged him.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">His theory of stupidity is featured in a letter written to friends a few years earlier. The letter, which is now known as “After Ten Years,” argues that evil like the Nazis isn’t the worst thing. Stupidity is.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force,” he wrote. “Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bloomberg reporters Jen Skerritt and Robert Tuttle were covering protests of the Canadian government’s requirement that truck drivers delivering freight across the US-Canadian border must be vaccinated.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Protests in Alberta and Manitoba, dubbed the “freedom convoy,” took the form of blockades of bridges and trucking routes, at odds with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s declaration of emergency powers.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Skerritt and Tuttle interviewed one trucker. His name is Jake Klassen. His two campers and semi were in the blockade. He said Trudeau’s emergency powers were an attempt to “take everything from us.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Then there is this part:</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Klassen said he hasn’t been able to visit his nine-year-old daughter in months. She is receiving palliative care at St. Amant, a care residence in Winnipeg, but due to restrictions that require visitors to be fully vaccinated, Klassen and his wife can’t see her.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Yes, that's absolutely stunning and sad,” said Victoria Barnett.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Barnett was director of programs on ethics, religion and the Holocaust at the National Holocaust Museum. She’s the author of many books on interfaith history. She edited a 2017 translation of “<a href="https://www.ushmm.org/information/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/special-focus/dietrich-bonhoeffer/after-ten-years" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">After Ten Years</a>.” I asked if Jake Klassen exemplifies Bonhoeffer’s theory of stupidity.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Maybe, but as part of a bigger phenomenon. “After Ten Years” was his attempt to understand the first 10 years of National Socialism and what had happened to his compatriots, his church, his country.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He's trying to figure out why most Germans caved to Nazi ideology and why they became integral to what happened. The historian Klemens von Klemperer (himself a refugee) called the Third Reich a "consensual dictatorship" -- which is a pretty good description.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Go into that a bit more please. How was it consensual?</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"><b style="">His main point is that stupidity is a moral failure, not an intellectual one</b>. He's reflecting on the process by which people willfully become part of a larger movement or political group, etc. As they become increasingly involved, two things tend to happen:</font></p><ol class="ee-ol" style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px;"><li style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"><b>They become isolated&nbsp;</b>(or they isolate themselves) from those who disagree with them or challenge them (and I would say also from news sources that would challenge their worldview) and</font></li><li style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);"><b style="">They get a lot of reinforcement</b>. One of the things that happened in 1933 after Hitler came to power was that Nazi Party organizations were founded for every demographic group – teachers, housewives, kids, etc. Everyone suddenly had a badge, a uniform, meetings to go to, new friends to meet etc. — and that was a big factor in creating a new sense of a larger German community serving a "grander" purpose (in the Nazi mindset).</font></li></ol><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A big part of that, of course, was identifying enemies and those who needed to be excluded -- Jewish citizens, political opponents, critical journalists, etc. But that early formation of consensus made life much harder, even by the end of 1933, for people who didn't agree with it.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What you're describing is collectivism, no?</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The self-understanding of the German&nbsp;<b>Volk</b>&nbsp;was a collective concept personified by the "Fuhrer.” That's a big part of authoritarian or fascist regimes. Authoritarian leaders can do things without parliamentary approval, because they represent the "true" will of "the people."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But that also created a dynamic in Nazi Germany in which there was this mass adoration – almost a mass hysteria – for the person of Adolf Hitler. There are paintings portraying him as a messianic figure.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bonhoeffer said there is no defense against stupidity. But if it's a moral failing, wouldn't a defense be private and public morality?</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ideally, yes.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bonhoeffer's essay is an exploration of why that didn't happen. (Elsewhere, he explores the lack of civil courage) But Nazi Germany is a disturbing case study in the failure of leaders, institutions (such as the church), etc., to stand up in an effective way to National Socialism.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The best and bravest people were either arrested early on or got out. But he's pondering (and I think this is autobiographical) the failure of good decent people critical of the regime to be more effective.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That didn't happen. (Along the way, one must acknowledge that many of them became complicit). But by staying in and working from inside the regime, they also failed to offer a clearer example of resistance.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That's why by 1942 Bonhoeffer believes (as he writes here) that "only an act of liberation, not instruction, can overcome stupidity."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The trucker above says he's seeking liberation, too. Liberation from responsibility. How would Bonhoeffer persuade a man that he has agency and can visit his dying daughter by making the right choice?</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One thing DB ignores is the psychology of all this. (He describes stupidity as a sociological problem). In Nazi Germany, we're also looking at the pressures and dynamics within a fascist police state.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In other circumstances, however (eg, the truckers' protests), this gets back to the peer pressures within a group that’s getting its information only from certain sources, in which there is a lot of pressure to conform to the will of the group (and a reward for doing so).</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I've studied this in terms of the psychology of group behavior in Nazi Germany, but the literature on personality cults, mob behavior, etc., shows that the longer and more deeply a person gets involved in something like this, the less individual agency they perceive they have.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For Bonhoeffer personally -- he wrote as a theologian and person of deep faith -- that faith has the capacity to make someone see more clearly. But “After Ten Years” is a rather bleak assessment.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I'm reminded of something Michael Josephson&nbsp;<a href="https://billmoyers.com/content/michael-josephson-societys-emphasis-success/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said in 1989</a>:</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Success can be defined so many different ways but right now it is defined in a kind of how high is your position, how many people work for you, how high is your salary.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When you get into that kind of yuppie version of success,<b>&nbsp;you’re going to sacrifice things along the way.&nbsp;</b>There’s not enough commitment to the ground rules of civil virtue.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A society focused on "success" (greed, selfishness) is a society in which a man won't do the right thing to see his dying daughter and as a consequence, will make sacrifices he can’t reverse along the way.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He's making an important point about what we value publicly and how that affects the individual's ethics and sense of responsibility.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">I've been very disturbed by some of the very callous reactions during the pandemic – eg, the minimization of the deaths in nursing homes, the rush to get back to normal when thousands of people are still getting sick and dying (and when large sectors of the population -- children under the age of 6 -- can't yet be vaccinated).</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But as I saw somewhere, the scale of the callousness has been on display for some time now in how we've dealt with school shootings, the high level of violence in our society and the much higher levels of violence experienced by people of color and the poor.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>A society is measured in part by what we are willing to live with and by whether we are willing to change to make life better</b>. Bonhoeffer, in his text, addresses this when he writes about the responsibility we are willing to take upon ourselves for the sake of a different future.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-conservative-swastikas-1.6354970" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">seems to be doing</a>&nbsp;what Bonhoeffer wished more Germans had done. He called out conservatives in the Parliament for standing with the Swastika and the Confederate flag.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I interviewed a number of Germans back in the 1980s when I was working on my first book (a collection of oral histories from people who had been in the Confessing Church) and I recall Kurt Scharf (a very brave pastor, who would later became a bishop) saying that<b>&nbsp;if Germans had held mass demonstrations and marched in 1933 in solidarity with German Jews, they might have changed things.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Impossible to know in retrospect, that’s what’s important here (and for understanding Bonhoeffer as well) -- taking a public position not only draws a line for what can be tolerated, but it also serves as a model to others that it is possible to speak out. That's what he was writing about in the section on the lack of civil courage among Germans.</font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/trump-election-claims/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/trump-election-claims/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ME</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Since the 2020 presidential election, conservative news outlets have been popping up in droves to continue circulating former President Donald Trump's big lie about the election.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So how are outlets continuing to do this? According to NPR, it is more of a trick of the eye. The publication&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/trump-election-claims/Our%20goal%20is%20to%20speak%20truth%20to%20power%20in%20the%20world%20of%20fake%20news,%20and%20that's%20really%20what%20we're%20dealing%20with,%20that's%20why%20we're%20here,%22%20he%20said.%20%22That's%20why%20we%20have%20an%20audience.%22" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1011916687/how-pro-trump-local-news-sites-keep-pushing-2020-election-misinformation</a>.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While the publication appears to be just a local news outlet, NPR reports that it is actually flagship of a news syndicate, known as&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">The Star News Network, which consists of several pro-Trump sites. Like The Georgia Star News, the network has created similar sites for states like Arizona, Ohio, and Florida.</span></b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Per NPR:</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Its part of the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: bold; background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Star News Network -</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">&nbsp;an expanding network of pro-Trump sites seeking to influence local politics with conservative opinion by mimicking the look and feel of local newspaper sites.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The group operates eight state-focused news sites, including in</b>&nbsp;key Electoral College states such as Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida."</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By focusing on states where Trump is still heavily favored among voters, the network can continue to circulate misinformation since the audience is still focused on what transpired during and after the election.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During a rally in Ohio Las weekend, Trump also added more fuel to the fire with more dangerous claims of voter fraud.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The biggest tragedy of all is millions of Americans have lost confidence in their vote," Trump said." We can't let that happen. And that's why I say you have to know what took place in 2020 before you can vote in 2022 or 2024."</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To name mafter worse,&nbsp;<b>conservative publisher John Fredericks&nbsp;</b>defended defended sites and the information they share.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We work very hard to fund our operation through legitimate advertising of all kinds, people that want to reach our expanding audience," he said. "And if somebody needs to reach informed, motivated readers that want the truth, advertising is a great opportunity for them, is a great [return on investment] potential."</font></p><div class="around-the-web"><div class="from-your-siteheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</font></div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.446px; list-style: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li class="from-your-siteitem"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/ivanka-trump-2648999011/" class="from-your-sitelink" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ref</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/trump-election-claims/Our%20goal%20is%20to%20speak%20truth%20to%20power%20in%20the%20world%20of%20fake%20news,%20and%20that's%20really%20what%20we're%20dealing%20with,%20that's%20why%20we're%20here,%22%20he%20said.%20%22That's%20why%20we%20have%20an%20audience.%22" target="blank" style="opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; outline: 0px;">https://www.npr.org/2021/07/02/1011916687/how-pro-trump-local-news-sites-keep-pushing-2020-election-misinformation</a>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How Pro-Trump Local News Sites Keep Pushing 2020 Election Misinformation</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">July 2, 20215:00 AM ET</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">STEPHEN FOWLER</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FROM</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Georgia Public Broadcasting</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Georgia election workers begin their recount of ballots after the November election. Despite three recounts of the tally, former President Donald Trump and his allies falsely claim electoral fraud cost him the state.</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If you don't follow politics in Georgia closely — or even if you do — you might be forgiven for not knowing much about The Georgia Star News.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Founded just after the November election when President Biden narrowly flipped the state by about 12,000 votes, it looks like a regular news website with a lifestyle section, a widget for the weather and stories about local and national goings-on.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But the site is more than just a local news outlet. It's part of the Star News Network — an expanding network of pro-Trump sites seeking to influence local politics with conservative opinion by mimicking the look and feel of local newspaper sites. The group operates eight state-focused news sites, including in key Electoral College states such as Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Florida.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Steve Bannon, a former strategist for former President Donald Trump, described The Georgia Star News in a radio interview as content "you can't get anywhere else."</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"We're not Conservative Inc.," he said. "It's very populist, it's very nationalist, it's very MAGA, it's very American First."</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pro-Trump media ecosystem</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Star News sites are part of a larger pro-Trump media ecosystem that emerged over the course of his four years in office. Since last year's election, some of those sites have spent months churning out false content suggesting Trump won the election and claiming that massive electoral fraud will be uncovered.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many of the Star News sites have been around for a while, but the 2020 election — and an intense focus on swing states like Georgia — has helped the sites' stories reach a much a larger audience.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Georgia's fledgling website gets a boost from publisher<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">&nbsp;John Fredericks' talk radio show</span>&nbsp;that has featured numerous figures from Trump's orbit, including Bannon and former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. His show also regularly features Georgia Republican politicians who have pushed false claims of election fraud or are challenging those who did not work to overturn the election.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fredericks, who most recently hosted his talk show from Virginia, came to Georgia ahead of last January's dual Senate runoffs as part of an effort by conservatives (and conservative media) to support then-Sens.<b>&nbsp;Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue's reelection campaign.</b>&nbsp;He also<b>&nbsp;hosts a TV show on the Real America's Voice network&nbsp;</b>that also features Bannon's "War Room: Pandemic" podcast popular with many election skeptics.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>So there was a ready-made audience when the Georgia Star published a misleading story mid-June questioning the legitimacy of nearly 20,000 absentee ballots placed in Georgia drop boxes — slightly more than the margin of Biden's victory there.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The story said that Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, could not produce crucial chain of custody documentation for ballots returned in drop boxes, suggesting that the ballots may not have been legitimate.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Days later, county officials were able to find all but eight of those forms, said all the ballots were accounted for — and noted that Georgia's votes were counted three different times in November.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The most explosive thing"&nbsp;<b>ESCA ECHO</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But in the conservative alternate media sphere, the story began to pick up steam. On Fredericks' radio show, Bannon called it "the most explosive thing that I think has happened in the entire process."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">From there it ricocheted across the pro-Trump mediasphere to TV networks like One America News and conspiracy sites such as The Gateway Pundit.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But the story was not limited to the fringe of Republican politics: several pro-Trump lawmakers and primary challengers in Georgia demanded an investigation. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — himself a frequent target of misinformation, attacks and death threats because of these sites — did too. That led mainstream outlets to run with Raffensperger's response, pushing the story further into the spotlight.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Just a few days after the original Georgia Star story, Trump issued several statements linking to a One America News segment about the misleading story and praising the Georgia Star writer by name for "the incredible reporting you have done."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Georgia Star hasn't updated its original story, or several follow-up pieces, with Fulton County's release of the data.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In an interview, the story's author, Laura Baigert, blamed the county for providing incomplete documents and information.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>"Not our problem to solve" ~ CORRECTION</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"If they can't tell us how many forms they have and how many ballots they have, that's an issue for people who are administering an election," she said. "That's not our problem to solve that for them."</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the time, a Fulton County spokeswoman said that the county followed proper procedures in collecting the drop box ballots and the county was continuing to research the few remaining missing chain of custody forms. The county elections director said that staff spent more than 200 hours that week locating the "missing" forms before they were provided to Georgia Public Broadcasting.</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">But the story breathed new life into Trump's false claims, which he repeated at length during a rally last Saturday in Ohio.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"The biggest tragedy of all is millions of Americans have lost confidence in their vote," he said. "We can't let that happen. And that's why I say you have to know what took place in 2020 before you can vote in 2022 or 2024."</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After the rally, Baigert snagged an exclusive half-hour interview with the former president as he rode back to the airport. The next day, an all-caps headline appeared on The Ohio Star, Georgia Star and sister sites in battlegrounds like Michigan and Arizona, touting the conversation and its key takeaway.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"There's no more important issue than the 2020 election," Trump said.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fredericks defended the outlet's coverage in an interview and said that the Georgia Star is a credible news service for Georgians that acts as an alternative to "fake news" mainstream media.<b>&nbsp;"Our goal is to speak truth to power in the world of fake news,</b>&nbsp;and that's really what we're dealing with, that's why we're here," he said. "That's why we have an audience."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Less than seven months into existence, Fredericks said that the website was profitable, thanks to a crush of advertising from local Republican candidates and conservative groups.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"We work very hard to fund our operation through legitimate advertising of all kinds, people that want to reach our expanding audience," he said. "And if somebody needs to reach informed, motivated readers that want the truth, advertising is a great opportunity for them, is a great [return on investment] potential."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumps-coup-depends-right-wing-information-bubble">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumps-coup-depends-right-wing-information-bubble</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">matt g no graf</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald Trump and his supporters are actively working to overturn the results of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/can-trump-still-win.html?searchResultPosition=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">election he lost</a>&nbsp;to President-elect Joe Biden in order to keep him in power. Their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/despicable-dangerous-right-wing-assault-2020-election" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">despicable plot</a>&nbsp;revolves around disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of Americans, in large part voters of color, on the grounds that their ballots were fraudulent. Their claims have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-election-legal-challenges/2020/11/14/904fbd04-25e2-11eb-a688-5298ad5d580a_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_2" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">thoroughly demolished</a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1329557156400599041?s=21" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">legal proceedings</a>&nbsp;finding no evidence that widespread fraud took place, because it did not. Top federal, state, and local officials have said that there were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/us/politics/election-officials-contradict-trump.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">no election security problems</a>, and the president’s legal team at times has&nbsp;<a href="https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/trump-campaign-attorney-admits-in-court-that-there-are-no-fraud-or-eligibility-concerns-over-philadelphia-voters/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">acknowledged</a>&nbsp;in court that no fraud took place.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But the Trumpist effort to steal the election in broad daylight doesn’t rely on whether its arguments can stand up to scrutiny in court. It is a fundamentally political effort. Rudy Giuliani and other members of Trump’s legal team are propagating a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/19/fact-checking-craziest-news-conference-trump-presidency/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">shambling mass of lies and deranged conspiracy theories</a>&nbsp;about the election. They hope to create enough confusion to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-strategy/trumps-election-power-play-persuade-republican-legislators-to-do-what-u-s-voters-did-not-idUSKBN27Z30G" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">give cover</a>&nbsp;to Republican officials at the local, state, and federal level working to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-targets-vote-certification-fa1f61cc5de6352deaa588dab908128e" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">subvert the will of the electorate and use their power</a>&nbsp;to preserve the president’s. They want local and state Republican officials to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/19/wayne-county-rescind-certifying-election/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">refuse to certify election results</a>&nbsp;in key states that Trump lost, in hopes that either Republican state legislators in those states will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/us/politics/trump-election.html?referringSource=articleShare" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">overturn the results</a>&nbsp;and hand the president a victory or the election is thrown to Congress, where Republicans can grant him a second term</span>.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>T<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">his seditious conspiracy to shatter American democracy relies on the impermeability of the right-wing information bubble</span>: The facts are not on their side, and the law is not on their side, but the Trumpist media is on their side, so they are banging the table as loudly as they can. They will likely fail -- in no small part because the key players in the would-be coup are&nbsp;<a href="https://lawandcrime.com/opinion/rudy-giulianis-ludicrous-second-amendment-complaint-in-pennsylvania-was-as-bad-as-it-gets/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">incompetent</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/sidney-powell-michael-flynns-new-attorney-anti-mueller-conspiracy-theorist-and-fox-regular" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">loons</a>&nbsp;-- but the cost America pays will be high nevertheless.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">GOP leaders&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/why-conservatives-love-trumps-attacks-journalists" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">spent decades</a>&nbsp;building an elaborate disinformation network of partisan media outlets and telling their supporters not to believe reporting from mainstream news sources. It worked -- polls&nbsp;<a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/media/articles-reports/2020/06/18/trust-news-republican-democrat-poll" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">show</a>&nbsp;that Republicans&nbsp;<a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/01/republicans-and-democrats-live-in-nearly-inverse-news-media-environments-pew-finds/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">overwhelmingly trust</a>&nbsp;right-wing outlets with low or nonexistent journalistic standards and scorn more credible news outlets, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/19/stunning-extent-which-trumpism-is-centered-among-fox-news-watching-republicans/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">president’s most fervent supporters</a>&nbsp;are Republicans who trust Fox News.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">&nbsp;A vast swath of the public is now&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-fox-news-and-right-wing-media-failed-their-audience" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">firmly ensconced within an alternate reality</a>, making decisions about not only politics but their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/six-different-polls-show-how-foxs-coronavirus-coverage-endangered-its-viewers" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">personal health and safety</a>&nbsp;based on propaganda and conspiracy theories.&nbsp;</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Within that right-wing information bubble, it is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/despicable-dangerous-right-wing-assault-2020-election" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">virtually uncontested</a>&nbsp;that Trump is correct that the 2020 election was rife with voter fraud and that he actually won if you only count the “legal votes.” The result is that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/13/trumps-crazy-and-confoundingly-successful-conspiracy-theory-436404" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">polls show</a>&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2020-11-18/half-of-republicans-believe-president-trump-won-election-poll-finds" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">majority</a>&nbsp;of Republicans say that the election was stolen from Trump.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2020/11/07/fox-news-biden-president/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">declared</a>&nbsp;Biden the president-elect on November 7. But since then, both its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-has-cast-doubt-or-pushed-conspiracy-theories-about-election-results-nearly-600" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">news and opinion sides</a>&nbsp;have pushed conspiracy theories about the election and cast doubt on its results hundreds of times</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[graf]</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;Fox hosts, contributors, and guests have</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/lou-dobbs/lou-dobbs-many-are-trying-steal-election-president-trump-there-no-doubt-about-it" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">claimed</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">that “<b>many&nbsp;</b>are trying to steal this election from President Trump”;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/jeremymbarr/status/1324186141445267456" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">asserted</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">that “many Americans will never again accept the results of a presidential election”;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/sean-hannity-theres-good-reason-here-not-have-confidence-or-not-believe-fair" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">declared</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">that “there's good reason here not to have confidence or not to believe this is fair”;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-business/lou-dobbs-war-battle-control-our-government" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">argued</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">that “this is a war, this is a battle for the control of our government and for the future of this nation”;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-attacks-georgia-gov-brian-kemp-allowing-election-results-stand" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">attacked</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Republican officials for being insufficiently committed to Trump’s scheme;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><b><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/newt-gingrich/fox-news-newt-gingrich-calls-bill-barr-arrest-election-workers" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">called</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">for the arrests of election workers;</span></b><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/lou-dobbs/judicial-watchs-tom-fitton-calls-states-appoint-clean-slate-electors-supports-president" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">suggested</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">that Republican state legislators in states Trump lost should “appoint a<b>&nbsp;clean</b>&nbsp;slate of electors” who support him; and</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://twitter.com/revrrlewis/status/1323985040968208384" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">demanded</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">lawsuits and congressional investigations. The network has</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-promo-hypes-opinion-hosts-casting-doubt-election-results" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" background-image="background-image" initial="initial" background-position="background-position" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" transition="transition" box-shadow="box-shadow" s="s" ease-in-out="ease-in-out" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none" rgba="rgba" px="px" inset="inset">aired</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;</span><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">promos that hype its prime-time line-up casting doubt on the election.&nbsp;</span></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox’s work to systemically delegitimize the election is important not only because the network remains the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-led-trump-ruin-network-will-still-control-gop" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">largest and most powerful entity</a>&nbsp;within the right-wing media machine, but because Trump himself frequently watches its programming and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/study-two-years-trumps-live-tweeting-obsession-numbers" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">amplifies</a>&nbsp;it to his Twitter followers. The president has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trump-fox-feedback-loop-powering-assault-democracy" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">cast doubt</a>&nbsp;on the election&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/58-times-trump-has-cast-doubt-election-response-fox" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">dozens of times</a>&nbsp;in response to Fox’s coverage, including by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trump-fox-feedback-loop-amplifies-deranged-conspiracy-theory-about-dominion-and-vote" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">promoting</a>&nbsp;deranged conspiracy theories the network’s stars pushed about computer systems changing votes to benefit Biden.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In spite of this barrage of attacks on the democratic process, Fox has actually been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-desperate-push-preserve-viewers-exposes-hollowness-its-news-side" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">under fire</a>&nbsp;from the president’s supporters for not going far enough. The network’s cable and digital competitors are&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1329456033534795777" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">even</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/RMac18/status/1329301996063449089" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">crazier</a>&nbsp;and more&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Mediaite/status/1329150451795759106" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">propagandistic</a>. And the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/q-fades-qanon-s-dominion-voter-fraud-conspiracy-theory-reaches-n1247780" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">social media channels</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/2020-election-misinformation-distortions#election-misinformation-often-evaded-youtubes-efforts-to-stop-it" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">bombarding</a>&nbsp;Republican users are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/infamous-hoax-artist-behind-trumpworlds-new-voter-fraud-claim" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">completely unhinged</a>.&nbsp;</span></b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Republican officials targeted by the president's scheme are likely to be either swimming in that fever swamp or dependent on those who do.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At the low end they look like William Hartmann, the Republican member of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/michigan-detroit-election-results/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">temporarily blocked certification</a>&nbsp;of the county’s election results and subsequently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wilx.com/2020/11/19/pair-of-wayne-county-board-of-canvassers-members-file-affidavits-to-rescind-certification-of-election-results/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">signed</a>&nbsp;an affidavit seeking to&nbsp;<b>rescind the certification. His social media feeds are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/18/politics/republican-michigan-certification-conspiracy-theories/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">filled</a>&nbsp;with conspiracy theories about the election from OAN and other far-right sources.&nbsp;</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Further up the food chain, Republican members of Congress are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-propagandists-and-gop-leaders-are-pushing-country-toward-abyss" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">going on Fox</a>&nbsp;to promote Trump’s election theft.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At every step in the process, at the local, state, and federal level, Republican officials can be pressured by the president’s supporters consuming this disinformation. Those are GOP primary voters who likely believe Trump actually won and can&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/JesseLehrich/status/1329527892536160256" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">threaten the jobs</a>&nbsp;of any politician who takes action to prevent him from staying in office.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This coup is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/11/no-hail-mary-plan-trump-isnt-going-work/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">likely to fail</a>; Biden’s lead is too great, Democrats hold key offices that can foil the attempt, and the plotters are too nutty. But the Republican base is being primed to treat Biden as illegitimate -</span>- and to question the results of any future elections the party loses. If this behavior is normalized, the next time the right-wing media machine pushes for an anti-democratic solution to an election defeat, the margin may be narrower, the playing field more favorable to Republicans, and the plotters more disciplined.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Our democracy is fragile, and it is under attack. If the truth of the election results can't break through the right-wing information bubble, it may not survive for long.</b></font></p></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">alt bubble reality sets up post election backlash</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/in-the-world-of-conservative-fake-news/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/in-the-world-of-conservative-fake-news/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></span></p><p><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">aha, no accident this is most pronounced on youtube? post-literate, video enflames emotiions more than print, bypass brain, plus algo amplification:</font></span></p><p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/are-fox-news-viewers-racist/" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/are-fox-news-viewers-racist/</a></p><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's no secret that U.S. politics&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-polarization-1994-2017/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">has become highly polarized</a>.</font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even so, there are probably few living Americans who ever witnessed anything that quite compares with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-virus-outbreak-donald-trump-health-aeab14ec95426d4161f1cff966a26a1f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">this fall's first presidential debate</a>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Was it really the case that the nation could do no better than a verbal food fight, with two candidates hurling fourth-grade insults and talking past each other?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>To us, the discordant debate was just one more symptom of the nation's fraying civic discourse, which, in a recent study, we were able to show extends to the words we use to talk about politics.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Earlier this year, we started constructing a data set that consists of all of the viewer comments on YouTube videos posted by four television networks — MSNBC, CNN, Fox News and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/oann-trump.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">One America News Network</a>&nbsp;— that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.journalism.org/2014/10/21/section-1-media-sources-distinct-favorites-emerge-on-the-left-and-right/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">target slices of the political spectrum</a>. Together, the data set contains over 85 million comments on over 200,000 videos from 6.5 million viewers since 2014.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">We studied whether there are distinct variants of English written in the comments sections, akin to the distinction between&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/british-english-bre-1689039" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">British English</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/American%20English" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">American English</a>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Using machine learning methods, we found these permutations do exist. Moreover, we can rank them in terms of the "left-ness" and the "right-ness." To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical demonstration of quantifiable linguistic differences in news audiences.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Our second finding, however, was even more unexpected.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Our machine learning translation system found that&nbsp;<b>words with vastly different meanings, like "KKK" and "BLM," were used in the exact same contexts depending on the YouTube channel being analyzed.</b></font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The company a word keeps</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When translating two different languages — say, Spanish and English — automated translation systems like Google Translate begin with a large training set of texts in both languages. The system then applies machine learning methods to become better at translating.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Over the years,&nbsp;<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1702.03859.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">this technology has become increasingly accurate</a>, thanks to two key insights.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The first dates back to the 1950s, when linguist&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Rupert_Firth" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">John Rupert Firth</a>&nbsp;came up with the aphorism "<b>You shall know a word by the company it keeps."</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To modern machine translation systems, the "company" a word keeps is its "context," or the words surrounding it. For example, the English word "grape" occurs in contexts such as "grape juice" and "grape vine," while the equivalent word in Spanish,&nbsp;<em>uva</em>, occurs in the same contexts —&nbsp;<em>jugo de uva</em>,&nbsp;<em>vid de uva</em>&nbsp;— in Spanish sentences.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The second important discovery came rather recently. A&nbsp;<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1309.4168.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">2013 study</a>&nbsp;found a way to identify — and thereby link — a word's context in one language to its context in another. Modern machine translation depends heavily on this process.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">What we have done is to use this type of translation&nbsp;<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2010.02339.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">in an entirely new way</a>: to translate English to English.</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When "Trumptards" become "snowflakes"</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That may sound bizarre. Why translate English to English?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Well, consider American English and British English. Many words are the same in both languages. Yet there can be subtle differences. For instance, "apartment" in American English may translate into "flat" in British English.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For the purposes of our study, we labeled the language used in each network's comment section "MSNBC-English," "CNN-English," "Fox-English" and "OneAmerica-English." After analyzing the comments, our translation algorithms uncovered two different patterns of "misaligned words" — terms that aren't identical across the comment sections but are used in the same contexts.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One type was similar to "flat" and "apartment," in the sense that both are describing ostensibly the same thing. However, the word pairs we uncovered have different intonations. For example, we found that what one community calls "Pelosi," the other one calls "Pelousy"; and "Trump" in one news-language translates into "Drumpf" in another.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A second — and deeper — kind of misalignment occurred when the two words refer to two fundamentally different things.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">For example, we found that in CNN-English, "KKK" — the abbreviation for the Ku Klux Klan — is translated by our algorithm to "BLM" — shorthand for Black Lives Matter — in Fox-English. The algorithm is basically finding that the comments made by one community about KKK are very much like the comments made by the other about BLM. While the belief systems of the KKK and BLM are about as different as can be, depending on the comment section, they seem to each represent something similarly ominous and threatening.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CNN-English and Fox-English are not the only two languages displaying these types of misalignments. The conservative end of the spectrum itself breaks into two languages.<b>&nbsp;For example, "mask" in Fox-English translates to "muzzle" in OneAmerica-English, reflecting the differing attitudes across these subcommunities.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">There seems to be a mirrorlike duality at play. "Conservatism" becomes "liberalism," "red" is translated to "blue," while "Cooper" is converted into "Hannity."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">There's also no lack of what can only be called childish name-calling.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Trumptards" in CNN-English translates to "<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/nov/28/snowflake-insult-disdain-young-people" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">snowflakes</a>" in Fox-English; "Trumpty" in CNN-English translates to "Obummer" in Fox-English; and "republicunts" in CNN-English translates to "democraps" in Fox-English.</font></p><p><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Uncharted territory</font></strong></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Linguists have long emphasized how effective communication among people with different beliefs&nbsp;<a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020867916902" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">requires common ground</a>. Our findings show that the way we talk about political issues is becoming more divergent; depending on who's writing, a common word can be imbued with an entirely different meaning.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">We wonder: How far are we from the point of no return when these linguistic differences begin to erode the common ground needed for productive communication?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-twitter-echo-chamber-confirmation-bias/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">echo chambers on social media</a>&nbsp;exacerbated political polarization to the point where these linguistic misalignments have become ingrained in political discourse?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">When will "democracy" in one language variant stop translating into "democracy" in the other?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-kamlet-1165389" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Mark Kamlet</a>, University Professor of Economics and Public Policy,&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/carnegie-mellon-university-970" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Carnegie Mellon University</a>;&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ashique-khudabukhsh-1165393" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Ashique KhudaBukhsh</a>, Project Scientist at the School of Computer Science,&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/carnegie-mellon-university-970" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Carnegie Mellon University</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tom-mitchell-1165390" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Tom Mitchell</a>, Founders University Professor of Machine Learning,&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/carnegie-mellon-university-970" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Carnegie Mellon University</a></font></p><p><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" /></p><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">aha/doh:&nbsp; --> echo bubble (and amp); US polarized for big long term structural reaons? but soc media accel/ampl, and now w/ covid we are more physically isolated from ppl who could modulate qanon BS?</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/historian-warns-america-is-already-in-its-own-slow-motion-reichstag-fire/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/historian-warns-america-is-already-in-its-own-slow-motion-reichstag-fire/</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><p><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" /></p><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx audio</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Historian warns America is already in its own 'slow-motion Reichstag Fire'</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;Chauncey DeVega and Salon October 18, 2020</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp;</div><div>Donald Trump continues to make it clear that he does not intend to leave office peacefully if he is defeated by Joe Biden and the Democrats on Election Day. Moreover, Donald Trump considers any election in which he is not the "winner" to be null and void. Trump's appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court is an obvious quid pro quo to secure his "reelection" if his attorneys and other agents can sufficiently sabotage the vote on Election Day and beyond.</div><div>
</div><div>On Thursday, Trump again followed the authoritarian's playbook when he bragged to his supporters at a rally in North Carolina that U.S. Marshalls essentially executed Michael Reinoehl, an anti-fascist activist accused of killing a right wing paramilitary member during protests in Oregon last August.</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Celebrating the extra-judicial killings of one's political "enemies" is a common feature of fascist authoritarian regimes and the types of leaders admired and imitated by Donald Trump.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Donald Trump's commitment to and use of political violence is a matter of public record. Two of the most recent examples include how Trump's followers in Michigan allegedly planned to kidnap and possibly murder Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. During his debate with Joe Biden, Trump also commanded white supremacist paramilitaries to be prepared to attack his and their "enemies" if he loses on Election Day or is otherwise removed from office.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Trump also wants Joe Biden and other leading Democrats imprisoned and perhaps even executed because he deems them to be "guilty" of "treason" and a "coup" attempt against him. Donald Trump and his Attorney General William Barr have also threatened to use the United States military against the American people if they dare to protest the outcome of the 2020 Election if Trump somehow finds some extra-legal (if not outright illegal) way to stay in office.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Because he is a political sadist and master of misery and pain, Donald Trump is using the coronavirus pandemic as a weapon to physically and emotionally abuse the American people in order to make them more compliant and subservient to his regime. Like other autocrats and authoritarians, he is also using the economic and human devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic to personally enrich himself, his family, and allies as a way of guaranteeing the latter's loyalty.</div><div>
</div><div>In all, as with his obsessive rhetoric about "law and order," like other fascist authoritarians Donald Trump and his regime define the "law" in ways that benefit themselves and disregard the law when it does not serve their interests. Through that logic democracy is a tool for the Trump regime to stay in power indefinitely if they "win" and to disregard the outcome on Election Day and beyond if they are voted out of office by the American people.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump's strategy of attacking America's democratic norms, institutions, and culture is a constant torrent where the targets are corrupted, weakened, and then finally routed through sheer exhaustion.</div><div>
</div><div><b>In a new essay at The Bulwark, senior Democratic Party strategist James Carville summarizes this existential moment of crisis for the United States as:</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Very seldom in American history have there been periods when people can nobly wage a crusade to create real and lasting change. But when these crusades do occur, when those moments arrive, what we do to vanquish the threat to freedom builds something everlasting into the framework of our society.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The American Revolution, the Civil War, World War II, Seneca Falls, Stonewall, and Selma, were all historical flashpoints where Americans displayed their patriotism against oppressive forces in a resounding way. These movements overthrew an empire, ended slavery, staved off totalitarianism, and paved the way for the establishment of fundamental civil rights and liberties for women, LGBTQ+ and black Americans.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">We find ourselves again at such a turning point. Donald Trump's authoritarian presence behind the Resolute Desk is amongst the gravest threats America has ever faced from within. And Americans have risen to meet this threat.</span></div><div>
</div><div>The Trump regime has created a defense in depth against the American people. A key part of Trump's defensive strategy consists of how those Americans and others who are expecting one dramatic and climactic assault on the country's democracy have been lulled into a type of complacency and surrender.</div><div>
</div><div><b>As wielded by Donald Trump and other fascist authoritarians, the poison they have injected into the country's body politic and democracy is actually quite slow acting, where the victim becomes used to chronic pain before finally succumbing.</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Why does America's mainstream news media continue to avoid describing Donald Trump and his regime as fascist authoritarians? What are they afraid of? How has that evasion helped to empower and normalize Trumpism?</span></div><div>
</div><div>In what ways have Donald Trump and his regime used the coronavirus — and the pain and social injustice it has revealed and made worse — as a weapon against democracy and the American people?</div><div>
</div><div>In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with&nbsp;<b>Timothy Snyder. He is a Professor of History at Yale University and the author of the bestselling books "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century" and "The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America." His new book is "Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary."</b></div><div>
</div><div>At the end of this conversation, Timothy Snyder warns that the United States is in the midst of a years-long slow-motion Reichstag Fire emergency that Election Day 2020 may not resolve.</div><div>
</div><div>You can also listen to my conversation with Timothy Snyder on my podcast "The Truth Report" or through the player embedded below.</div><div>
</div><div>Donald Trump's attacks on democracy are escalating. He continues to say that he will not respect the outcome of the election if he loses to Joe Biden and the Democrats. There are some public voices who have been warning about Trump and authoritarianism and fascism for several years. You are foremost among them. Why did more people not listen to the warnings?</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>It is structural. At present it is harder to reach people who do not already agree with you</b>. This is true even for those of us with a public platform and big audience. More contact is virtual and less in person. It is also harder to surprise people.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Ultimately, it is very hard to reach people before an algorithm does.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">&nbsp;By then a person's mind is already made up one way or another.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>The second answer is that many Americans really like authoritarianism.&nbsp;</b>Sure, the conventional wisdom says that Americans like freedom. Some of them do. Some of them do not. The Americans who do not like freedom are not going to be reached or otherwise have their minds changed. It is as simple as that....</div></div><p><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></span></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">an 1020 cdv eric alterman:</font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/why-fact-checking-may-be-futile-against-trumps-black-hole-of-lies/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2020/10/why-fact-checking-may-be-futile-against-trumps-black-hole-of-lies/</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald Trump has publicly lied&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-20000-false-or-misleading-claims/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">at least 20,000 times</a>&nbsp;since taking office, according to the Washington Post. He does this in part because he has shown himself to be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/09/11/ptsd-expert-seth-norrholm-americans-are-being-psychologically-abused-by-donald-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">mentally unwell, if not a sociopath</a>. But he also lies because he is a fascist authoritarian. For such leaders,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/10/12/donald-trumps-great-performance-nears-its-dramatic-climax-stay-tuned/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">lies are a way of assaulting reality and truth</a>&nbsp;as a means of achieving unlimited power. These explanations are not discrete. They overlap with one another.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a season of massive death, Donald Trump and his regime's lies about the coronavirus&nbsp;<a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/08/14/mueller-prosecutor-glenn-kirschner-trump-is-a-career-criminal-guilty-of-negligent-homicide/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">are a public health emergency</a>&nbsp;– one which has killed at least 216,000 people in the United States.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Donald Trump and his regime's lies have also severely damaged America's prestige, alliances and global power. The country's enemies have also been emboldened by the Trump regime's lies and overall lack of consistency in foreign policy and principles.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Most important, Trump and his regime's policy of lying (in conjunction with wanton cruelty and other evil) has undermined American democracy. A common understanding of reality is the foundation of a health democracy. The Trump regime's lies and those of its agents are rotting that foundation.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In "<b>The Death of Truth," Michiko Kakutani</b>&nbsp;explains that the damage Trump has done to the country's institutions and foreign policy will take "years to repair."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"And to the degree that his election was a reflection of larger dynamics in society—from the growing partisanship in politics, to the profusion of fake stories on social media, to our isolation in filter bubbles—his departure from the scene will not restore truth to health and well-being, at least not right away," Kakutani writes.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why is Donald Trump such a powerful and effective liar? Why has the mainstream American news media largely surrendered to his lies, and by doing so normalized them? Would more aggressive fact-checking have blunted Donald Trump and his regime's strategy of lying? What explains why the mainstream American news media as a whole refused — and for the most part, continues to refuse — to describe Donald Trump and his regime accurately as being fascist and authoritarian?</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In an effort answer these questions, I recently spoke with Eric Alterman, a columnist at The Nation and the author of more than 10 books, including the bestseller "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/2464/9780465001774" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News</a>." His latest book is "<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/2464/9781541616820" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Lying in State: Why Presidents Lie and Why Trump is Worse</a>."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why are there now so many more voices in the mainstream American news media who, several weeks from Election Day, are&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">finally using language such as "fascism</span>" and "authoritarianism" to describe Trump and his regime? This was obvious several years ago. Why the delay? What were they waiting for?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There are many disincentives to tell the truth about Donald Trump. The most obvious one is that he's the President of the United States and people consider it disrespectful to use certain words about the president, like "liar" and "racist" and "conman" and "conspiracy nut," even when they're true.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It is worse in Washington D.C. to call someone a liar than for them to actually be a liar.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Washington, that rule is part of how a person makes a living. Therefore, people in the news media have to show respect for the office of the presidency. The second reason is that the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ideology of "journalistic objectivity" does not have a framework for determining what the truth is. It has no bias for truth. "Journalistic objectivity" says&nbsp;<b>on the one hand, so-and-so said this; on the other hand, his opposition said that</b>, and you, the reader, you, the viewer, you, the listener, it is up to you to decide what's true</span>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald Trump is an idiot in many ways, but he is a genius when it comes to media manipulation.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">The Washington Post has now documented at least 25,000 or so lies by Donald Trump — and nothing has changed in his behavior. If anything, he has become more brazen.</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><b>I do not find fact-checking as done in that way to be very helpful, because Donald Trump is not being fact-checked as he says the lies. If a person reads the fact-checking article, they will learn what Trump said is not true. Trump's lie still has power because it is repeated by the president and circulated.</b>&nbsp;Again, Donald Trump has been winning this battle against the mainstream news media every day and they still have not really caught up to his strategy. The New York Times still does not really know what to do about Donald Trump in this regard and others.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Is the reluctance, if not fear, of calling Donald Trump a liar a function of the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">corporate culture of American's mainstream news media?&nbsp;</span>Are reporters and journalists afraid of being punished in terms of their careers if they tell the unpolished truth about Donald Trump?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I have a different idea of lying than most of the country's journalistic institutions do because they will almost never use the words "lie" or "liar" when it comes to the president or most politicians.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Instead most in the mainstream news media will say, "We can't know his intent. We can't know what's in his heart." They assume that a lying politician may believe the nonsense that they are saying. My position is if a politician should know what is true and he does not, then he is lying.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">I do not care what the excuse is. I don't care if Trump or some other politician thinks God is talking to him. I don't care if Trump is too disengaged from reality. I don't care if Trump is so much of a narcissist that he makes up stuff and he believes it. If it's the president's job to know something and he misinforms the country, then he's lying. Worry about his motivation some other time.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">There has never been a historical moment in this country where a president, in this case Donald Trump, could be ignored because everyone knows he's so full of lies and nonsense.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Donald Trump might get reelected and destroy our democracy because so many in the mainstream news media are treating Donald Trump's lies and delusions as though it is all somehow&nbsp;<b>normal.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why has the White House press corps been so accommodating and enabling of Trump's lies? He also uses them as props for his fascist performances. Why do the members of the White House press corps not just walk about of the briefings or stand up and turn their backs to him?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">They do not know how to do their job any other way. Their job is defined as getting whatever information is available at the White House. So even if it's lies, even if it's daily humiliation, the press corps has to go back the next day. Those reporters need to be on good terms with the people who are giving out the information — even if they're not giving out real or otherwise substantive information. It would be nice if the job of the White House press corps was to actually go out and find news, but that's not what they're there for. They're there as conduits for the White House.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There are few public voices who have been consistently warning the American people and the world about the realities of Trumpism and the threat Trump represents to the country. Why have the American people, largely, been in so much denial about the horrible reality that is the Age of Trump and what it means for the present and future of the country?</font></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">There's about a third of the country that</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;lives inside this bubble where the truth never reaches them</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">They watch Fox News,&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">they listen to conservative talk radio,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;they read Breitbart and Daily Caller and so forth, and they are lied to, and the lies that they are told make them feel good about themselves. They blame other people, mostly Black and brown people and Muslims and immigrants and so forth, sometimes Jews, for the problems in their lives, and it works for them. Such people are unreachable. You cannot get through to them.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There is a battle over the rest of the American people. Trump and his spokespeople and others who are doing all the lying on the right have a gravitational effect on the entire public discourse.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">It began initially with Ronald Reagan and then went into warp drive with Newt Gingrich. But before Ronald Reagan, and especially before Gingrich, both parties pretty much had an idea where the goalposts were on what you could get away with in terms of not telling the truth.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;There were a lot of problems. Nixon was a big problem, Lyndon Johnson was a big problem, but still people understood what was all right and what wasn't all right, and then Reagan and Gingrich just started making stuff up all the time. They did this with no consideration for the truth — and they discovered that the media wouldn't call them on it.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The American right-wing learned that the American people did not care enough. As long as the news media was attacked as having a "liberal bias" it did away with the problem of them being called on their lies.</b>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This dynamic expanded and grew until Donald Trump could run for president with his claims that Barack Obama was an illegitimate president because he was born in Kenya. There were 30 or 40% of Trump voters believing that Hillary Clinton ran a pedophile ring inside a pizza parlor in Washington. They actually believed that.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Now the country is facing QAnon nuttiness with millions of people believing such nonsense because as a country we have just completely lost track of the truth in our political discourse.&nbsp;</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">As Hannah Arendt warned, "This is how you create a dictatorship. You destroy the idea of truth."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why this obsessive narrative and all these expeditions out to Trumplandia to talk with "white working class" and other Trump followers by the mainstream American news media? What is there left to learn? The research shows that Trump's voters are driven by racism, white supremacy, misogyny and authoritarianism, if not outright fascism and in some cases Nazism.</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">They just have to be defeated. Enough is enough. We have to beat them into the ground as hard as we can and let them start over. For example, the Lincoln Project is seeking to destroy every single Republican senator because they believe that the Republican Party cannot be saved. It's been taken over by crazy people, by corrupt people, by the equivalent of a mafia gang, and they just have to be beaten. There is no sense in trying to talk sense into them anymore.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News really is sports&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">talk radio&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">for conservatives.</span>&nbsp;What are the implications of how American politics is now treated like some type of sport by the right wing?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">I recall an observation that Noam Chomsky made when I was writing my first book. He said, "What we need in this country is a politics where people care as much about sports as they do about politics, because if you listen to people on sports radio, they're very knowledgeable in a way that people did not have the same passion about the Democratic and Republican candidates."<b>&nbsp;And then there was the rise of talk radio and the internet and it brought in all this passion — but it seems to only exist on one side. The conservative side is driven like mad to care about every little thing. By comparison liberals do not feel that way. Liberals would let the people who are in charge do the right thing.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Liberals trust scientists and want to let them be the experts. Almost every single-issue group is a conservative group. They win. 90% of the country wants stronger gun control, but we're not getting it because the 5-10% that doesn't want it has a stronger voice than the 90% because they're so dedicated. They vote only on this issue, and you can't say that about really any issue for liberals. We see this on Fox News and on right-wing talk radio.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When Trumpists say that "all politicians lie" and "Trump is no worse than Obama," and the news media is being "mean" and "unfair" to Donald Trump, how do you respond?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The New York Times tried to answer that question about Obama. Trump followers say that, "Why all the fuss about Donald Trump lying? Why don't you explain that Obama lied too?" The New York Times looked at the entire eight-year record of Obama's presidency and they found 12 false claims over eight years, none of which he repeated, all of which he then corrected when he found out that what he had said was not true. Trump can tell 12 falsehoods in 10 minutes. He does it all the time. There is no comparison between Trump and Obama. Some presidents lied a lot. Trump is in his own category. Trump lies about absolutely everything, and he gives his cabinet and his advisors permission in doing so to lie about everything as well.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Are our expectations of the American public too high or too low in terms of their understanding of politics, generally, and capacity to intervene against and reject Trump's lies, specifically?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Too many Americans have had a full meal of bullshit and now they have no way to judge good and bad, right and wrong. I'm very angry at the people who support Donald Trump because they are destroying my country. They are responsible for putting people in cages and separating families. A lot of Trump's supporters do not know any better. Some of them are just terrible people. I do not really care why people think what they think anymore, I just want to beat them. Trump's supporters are on the wrong side.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Does Donald Trump believe his lies? Or is this all some type of performance?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All that Donald Trump cares about is winning the next five minutes — and he only really cares about the next minute or so. Trump is always doing the wrong thing. Trump is a toddler and he just wants to have his belly stroked every minute or so and then he forgets that it happened.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What is your greatest hope in this moment? What is your greatest fear?</font></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">My hope is that we turn this ocean liner around in the 2020 election. I hope that the Republicans are defeated, that Trump is defeated, that the Supreme Court is made rational, and we start moving the country back in the direction of sanity and decency. My fear is that the upcoming election is the last time we actually have a chance to save the United States from an American form of fascism. I'm only 60, but I'm an American historian, and I don't think things have ever been this bad since the Civil War. I wish there was more of a sense of alarm among the institutions that really matter to this country's democracy.</font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/red-pills-and-radicalization-heres-how-conspiracism-is-overwhelming-us/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/red-pills-and-radicalization-heres-how-conspiracism-is-overwhelming-us/</a></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">america is drowning in conspiracy theories:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/7/16/1961352/-The-creep-of-the-QAnon-cult-threatens-to-consume-what-s-left-of-the-Republican-Party" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">QAnon cultists</a>&nbsp;are taking over the Republican Party, the occupant of the Oval Office praises them&nbsp;<a title="" href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/4/1974996/-Donald-Trump-praises-Qanon-from-White-House" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">in press conferences</a>, rational COVID-19 pandemic measures are&nbsp;<a title="" href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/4/21/1939036/-Anti-lockdown-protesters-are-just-the-authoritarian-footsoldiers-Trump-ordered" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">met with armed protests</a>&nbsp;and raging open defiance, and&nbsp;<a title="" href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/7/29/1964969/-Militiamen-s-reactionary-presence-at-protests-threatens-democracy-and-police-appear-on-their-side" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Proud Boys and&nbsp;militiamen</a>&nbsp;are&nbsp;<a title="" href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8/24/1972004/-Proud-Boys-again-bring-violence-to-Portland-and-police-again-stand-by-and-do-nothing" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">bringing violence to liberal cities</a>&nbsp;while armed vigilantes riled up about nonexistent “antifa arsonists” harass strangers and journalists in fire-stricken rural areas.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So I wrote a book about it. More importantly, it’s a book intended not just to document and explain the phenomenon, but to also be a guide for finding our way out of the morass. It’s titled<b>&nbsp;</b><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><b><a title="" href="https://prometheusbooks.com/books/9781633886261" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us</a>,</b><i>&nbsp;</i></span>out this week from Prometheus Books. Here’s an excerpt.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[The following excerpt is from Chapter Seven, “Chaos By Design,” which describes how and why&nbsp;people are effectively radicalized online by conspiracism and its attendant disinformation. It seemed especially appropriate for the current moment.]</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It may be the most notorious Google search in history: “black on white crime.” That was the search that sent&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Dylann Roof</span>&nbsp;down the path that led him to murder nine black parishioners inside a Charleston, South Carolina, church one evening in June 2015. h</font><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">e described this path in a post on the white supremacist website he had created.</span></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; border: none !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">The event that truly awakened me was the Trayvon Martin case. I kept hearing and seeing his name, and eventually I decided to look him up. I read the Wikipedia article and right away I was unable to understand what the big deal was.</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">&nbsp;It was obvious that Zimmerman was in the right. But more importantly this prompted me to type in the words “black on White crime” into Google, and I have never been the same since that day</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.&nbsp;</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The first website I came to was the Council of Conservative Citizens.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">There were pages upon pages of these brutal black on White murders. I was in disbelief. At this moment I realized that something was very wrong. How could the news be blowing up the Trayvon Martin case while hundreds of these black on White murders got ignored?</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From this point I researched deeper and found out what was happening in Europe. I saw that the same things were happening in England and France, and in all the other Western European countries. Again I found myself in disbelief. As an American we are taught to accept living in the melting pot, and black and other minorities have just as much right to be here as we do, since we are all immigrants. But Europe is the homeland of White people, and in many ways the situation is even worse there.<b>&nbsp;From here I found out about the Jewish problem and other issues facing our race, and I can say today that I am completely racially aware.</b></font></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Roof actually has provided a kind of map of radicalization online. As information scientist Michael Caulfield explains, this whole process is actually produced by a kind of<b>self-contained data spiral</b>&nbsp;that’s based to a large extent on&nbsp;<b>“curation”</b>—that is, the way we collect web materials into our own spaces and annotate them. &nbsp;That curation creates a data feedback for the algorithm that then directly affects what you see. Curations, he warns, can warp reality because of the resulting feedback loop: they “don’t protect us from opposing views, but often bring us to more radical views.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Caulfield observes that “black on white crime” is a data void—that is, it’s not a term used by social scientists or reputable news organizations, “which is why the white nationalist site Council of Conservative Citizens came up in those results.&nbsp;</b>That site has since gone away, but what it was was a running catalog of cases where black men had murdered (usually) white women. In other words, it’s yet another curation, even more radical and toxic than the one that got you there. And then the process begins again.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Noble explains that the framing a person brings to his or her Internet experience shapes what kinds of results they see on a search engine, or a video recommendation, or a social media news feed. “In the case of Dylann Roof’s alleged Google searches,” she writes, “his very framing of the problems of race relations in the U.S. through an inquiry such as ‘black on white crime’ reveals how search results belie any ability to intercede in the framing of a question itself. In this case, answers from conservative organizations and cloaked websites that present news from a right-wing, anti-Black, and anti-Jewish perspective are nothing more than propaganda to foment racial hatred.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The key to this process of radicalization is its incremental nature: people undergoing it don’t recognize what is happening to them, since each step feels normal initially.</b>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This is in fact precisely by design by the organizations and ideologues who are trying to recruit people into their conspiracy theories, which are ultimately about belief systems and political movements.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A onetime “red-pilled” conspiracy theorist named Matt described how he became trapped in a curated spiral like this for Kelly Weill of<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">&nbsp;The Daily Beast</em>. It began when he innocently watched a video of Bill Maher and Ben Affleck discussing Islam, and at its completion, the<b>&nbsp;algorithm recommended several much more extreme videos&nbsp;</b>attacking Islam, including some produced by Infowars conspiracy theorist Paul Joseph Watson. One video led to the next and the next.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Delve into [Watson’s] channel and start finding his anti-immigration stuff which often in turn leads people to become more sympathetic to ethno-nationalist politics,” Matt said. “This sort of indirectly sent me down a path to moving way more to the right politically as it led me to discover other people with similar far-right views.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Now twenty, Matt has since exited the ideology and built an anonymous Internet presence where he argues with his ex-brethren on the right.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">“I think YouTube certainly played a role in my shift to the right because through the recommendations I got,” he said, “it led me to discover other content that was very much right of center, and this only got progressively worse over time, leading me to discover more sinister content.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>“The thing to remember about this algorithmic–human grooming hybrid is that the gradualness of it—the step-by-step nature of it—is a feature for the groomers, not a bug,</b>” says Caulfield. “I imagine if the first page Roof had encountered on the CCC page had sported a Nazi flag and a big banner saying ‘Kill All Jews,’ he’d have hit the back button, and maybe the world might be different. (Maybe.) But the curation/search spiral brings you to that point step by step. In the center of the spiral you probably still have enough good sense to not read stuff by Nazis, at least knowingly. By the time you get to the edges, not so much.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Peter Neumann, of the&nbsp;<b>U.K.’s Centre for the Study of Radicalisation,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">&nbsp;identifies six steps on the ladder of extremist belief.</span>&nbsp;“The first two of these processes deal with the consequences of being exposed to extremist content,” he writes. “No single item of extremist propaganda is guaranteed to transform people into terrorists. Rather, in most cases, online radicalization results from individuals being immersed in extremist content for extended periods of time, the&nbsp;<b>amplified effects of graphic images and video, and the resulting emotional desensitization.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Beheading videos, photos of corpses, suicides, and mass murders, all these things are part of these first two steps in the immersion process. Neumann calls this mortality salience—<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">material intended to create an overpowering sense of one’s own vulnerability to death, as well as to heighten the viewer’s moral outrage.</span></b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The next two steps are also key to the process—namely, immersion in extremist forums, where deviant and extremist views are normalized, and online disinhibition, wherein people lose their normal inhibitions about violence because of their relative anonymity online.</b>&nbsp;“Some of the participants get so worked up that they declare themselves ready to be terrorists,” notes psychologist Marc Sageman. “Since this process takes place at home, often in the parental home, it facilitates the emergence of homegrown radicalization, worldwide.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The final stages occur when online role-playing occurs—the kind in which new recruits more or less practice their ideology in gaming situations, often in the context of&nbsp;<b>modern video games.</b>&nbsp;The participants project themselves into their gaming avatars, giving themselves traits that they usually do not possess in real life. After a while, this divide becomes noticeable and drives further radicalization: “[A]fter recognizing the gap between their avatar’s mobilization and their own physical mobilization, many online participants begin taking steps to reconcile the gap,” observe researchers Jaret Brachmann and Alex Levine. &nbsp;This is when they take the last step: using the Internet to connect directly to terrorist infrastructures that then begin to mobilize them.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Caulfield believes one of the keys to preventing this kind of radicalization lies in establishing “digital literacy” programs wherein young people new to the Internet can learn how to confront, cope with, and overcome the challenges they will be forced to navigate there. And it all begins with the curation process, how we accumulate the materials for our personal spaces.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“So, the idea here is that you might start in a relatively benign space with some kind of ideological meaning, and then someone uses this term ‘black on white crime,’” Caulfield says. “It’s probably a stretch to call the Google search results a curation, but you can think of it along the same lines.&nbsp;<b>You put in a term, and Google is going to show you the most relevant, not necessarily the best, but the most relevant results for that term.&nbsp;</b>And now you have a set of things that are in front of you. Now, on each of those pages, because you picked ‘black on white crime,’ if you click into that page that has ‘black on white crime,’ there are going to be other phrases on there.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Even people with normal levels of skepticism can find themselves drawn inside.&nbsp;</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“So you go, and you do the Google search, and you’re like, ‘You know what? I can’t trust this page. I’m going to be a good info-literacy person, and what I’m going to do is, I’m going to just check that these crimes really happened.’ OK, so what do you do?</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;You pull these crimes and what you find is that these crimes did happen, and the pages they’re going to are more white supremacists talking about how these are actually black on white hate crimes.</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">&nbsp;</span></font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And now they’re mentioning more things, and they’re mentioning more terms, and they’re mentioning changes in law that now make it easier for black people to kill white people.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“So you’re like ‘Oh, well, I’ve got to Google this change in the law.’ But who’s talking about this thing that’s broadly made up, or it’s a heavy misinterpretation of something? Well, again it’s white</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;… So you keep going deeper and deeper, and every time you’re pulling out something to investigate on that page, it’s pulling you into another site, and that other site of course is covering a bunch of other events and terms and so forth. And you end up going deeper and deeper into it.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Caulfield argues that educators need to help their students develop better informational literacy, including learning how to recognize when they are being recruited into a radical belief system or cult or are being manipulated for either financial or political motivations</b>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“My contention is that the students are practicing info-literacy as they’ve learned it,” he says. “And as a matter of fact, this approach to researching online is what they have learned from a fairly early age in terms of how to approach sources and information on the web.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I think a lot of academics and teachers would say, ‘but that’s not what we’re teaching,’” he adds. “Let’s just put that whole argument aside because it doesn’t matter. Whatever we’re teaching, these are the lessons they take away from it. So they are practicing info-literacy as learned, and through either chance or through engineering or through fate, whatever it is, these techniques plug really well into radicalization.”</font></p><p class="AlignCenter" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sometimes the people who fall down the rabbit holes and are recruited into communities organized around conspiracy theories would have ended up in a similar situation regardless. But people are also being actively recruited for a combination of political, ideological, and financial/economic motivations. And they are being actively deceived.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We are all targets of disinformation, meant to erode our trust in democracy and divide us,” warns University of Washington information scientist Kate Starbird.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">She came to this stark conclusion while conducting a study at the University of Washington involving the evolution of the discussion about the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Black Lives Matter movement on social media—and found herself walking into the unexpected realization, supported both by data and a raft of real-world evidence, that the whole discussion was being manipulated, and not for the better. The more the team examined the evidence, the clearer it became that this manipulation was intended to fuel internal social strife among the American public.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The study quickly morphed into a scientific examination of&nbsp;<b>disinformation</b>—that is, information that’s intended to confuse and distort, whether accurate or not—which exists on all sides of the political spectrum. &nbsp;One of their key studies focused on Twitter to see how bad information immediately follows major crisis-type events such as mass shootings and how those rumors “muddy the waters” around the event, even for people who were physically present, and in particular how such rumors can permanently alter the public’s perception of the event itself and its causes.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Consider exhibit A: the nearly instantaneous claims by Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists that the Las Vegas mass shooting of October 1, 2017, was a false flag event</b>&nbsp;and the ensuing swirl of confusion around it, which eventually permanently obscured the public’s understanding that the man who perpetrated it was unhinged and at least partially motivated by far-right conspiracy theories about guns. Police investigators avoided the evidence that this had been the case as well.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The chief reason we perceive stories, whether real or not, as “true” depends in large part on our unconscious cognitive biases, Starbird says—that is, when our preexisting beliefs are confirmed along the way. We’ve seen how these biases can be targeted by technology companies. Well-equipped political organizations can manipulate disinformation in much the same way.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“If it makes you feel outraged against the other side, probably someone is manipulating you,” she warns.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The main wellspring of the disinformation Starbird dealt with in her study was Russia and its “troll farms” t</b>hat introduced industrial-strength data pollution into the American discourse via social media during the 2016 election campaign and afterward. However, she says that the disinformation can be, and often is, run by anyone sophisticated enough to understand its essential principles. These include white nationalists, a number of conspiracy-oriented campaigns involving vaccines and other health-related conspiracies, and in recent years, QAnon.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">The strategy, she says, is not just consistent, but frighteningly sophisticated and nuanced. “One of these goals is to ‘sow division,’ to put pressure on the fault lines in our society,” she explained in her findings. “A divided society that turns against itself, that cannot come together and find common ground, is one that is easily manipulated. . . . Russian agents did not create political division in the United States, but they were working to encourage it.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>These outside organizational entities make full use of a preexisting media ecosystem featuring “news” outlets that claim to be “fair” and “independent,” but which are in fact only propaganda organizations, nearly all of them right-wing</b>. As Starbird explained in one of her studies:</font></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; border: none !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This alternative media ecosystem has challenged the traditional authority of journalists, both directly and indirectly. . . . Its development has been accompanied by a decreased reliance on and an increased distrust of mainstream media, with the latter partially motivated by a perception of widespread ethical violations and corruption [METOO?] within mainstream media. . . . Indeed, many view these alternative news sites as more authentic and truthful than mainstream media, and these effects are compounding—as research has found that exposure to online media correlates with distrust of mainstream media.</font></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">False information renders democratic discourse, which relies on factual accuracy, impossible, and as Starbird notes, “with the loss of commonly-held standards regarding information mediation and the<b>&nbsp;absence of easily decipherable credibility cues</b>, this ecosystem has become vulnerable to the spread of misinformation and propaganda.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Because it’s actually a fairly closed, self-contained, and narrow ecosystem, it becomes a real echo chamber, with stories being repeated among the various “independent” news sites, even if they seem not to show up on the major networks (Fox being the most common exception).</b>&nbsp;After a while, the repetition acts as a kind of confirmation for the stories—if people keep seeing different versions of the same headlines, they’ll start thinking the information has been confirmed by a “variety” of sources.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The tactics of disinformation can be used by anyone,” Starbird says. “The Internet seems to facilitate access towards targets of different kinds, and we are definitely seeing disinformation from multiple sets of actors, including from the U.S., including foreign actors and domestic actors as well. There’s a certain flavor of Russian disinformation that is perhaps different from some others, but the tactics are known and they are easily learned and portable.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unwinding the relationship between authoritarian governments like Russia—which has been promoting far-right political movements around the world, particularly in Europe—and white nationalists trying to “red-pill” vulnerable young people is complicated. “There are some movements, particularly these far-right movements, whose disinformation aligns neatly with Russian disinformation as well,” Starbird observes.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s a chicken-and-egg problem. The current manifestation of the far right or alt-right or whatever we want to call it, the information systems and some of the mechanisms for information flow all seem to have Russian disinformation integrated into them. It’s hard to know what’s cause and what’s effect, but they seem to be intertwined. In a similar way, we can see far left ecosystems around things like Syria and Venezuela are integrated with Russian disinformation as well… .&nbsp;We don’t know how causal that is versus opportunistic.”</font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
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</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/heres-what-happens-when-a-republican-leaves-the-right-wing-information-bubble/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/heres-what-happens-when-a-republican-leaves-the-right-wing-information-bubble/</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...All of this is why I was struck by what Ashley Pratte, a board member of Republican Women for Progress,&nbsp;<a title="wrote" href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/08/24/trump-ruined-republican-party-for-me-choosing-biden-2020-column/3424095001/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">wrote</a>&nbsp;in an op-ed for&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">USA Today</em>&nbsp;about her decision to vote for Biden.</font></div><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; position: relative; line-height: 1.7; overflow: hidden; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); border: none !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is&nbsp;the first year that I watched the Democratic National Convention without a Republican lens and found myself agreeing with the issues, speakers&nbsp;and most of all the positive rhetoric…</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.7;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I recognized just how many of my views of the Democratic Party were shaped by the talking points of the GOP and just how wrong that was. Over the past four years, my eyes have been opened and my views forever changed. I have come to realize that all along, I aligned more with the moderate wing of the Democratic Party.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That speaks profoundly to what happens when conservatives step out of what’s been called the&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline-color: initial; outline-width: initial; transition-duration: 0.3s; transition-property: color; cursor: pointer;">epistemic bubble</span>&nbsp;created by Republicans and their enablers in right wing media. Pratte not only learned that Biden and Harris aren’t the people that have been caricatured beyond recognition. She realized that her values align more closely with those of the Democratic Party.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I’m not suggesting that every Republican who stepped out of the epistemic bubble would reach the same conclusion. But wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a conversation with conservative friends if it was possible to base it on who liberals&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">are</em>&nbsp;rather than the distorted images developed by the right? That could lead to a discussion about real differences rather than a constant struggle over lies.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pratte’s experience isn’t unique. That is precisely what is so powerful about the videos from&nbsp;<a title="Republican Voters Against Trump" href="https://rvat.org/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Republican Voters Against Trump</a>&nbsp;and people like veteran GOP consultant&nbsp;<a title="Stuart Stevens" href="https://www.amazon.com/Was-All-Lie-Republican-Became/dp/0525658459" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Stuart Stevens</a>. They capture the testimony of Republicans discovering they’ve been lied to by their party and right-wing media. Opening the door to that kind of cognitive dissonance can be the first step in a fascinating—but sometimes terrifying—journey of changing one’s mind.</font></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ref beware orig link</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.juliansanchez.com/2010/03/26/frum-cocktail-parties-and-the-threat-of-doubt/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.juliansanchez.com/2010/03/26/frum-cocktail-parties-and-the-threat-of-doubt/</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amid the buzz over David Frum’s recent ouster from the American Enterprise Institute, some folks have&nbsp;<a href="http://www.juliansanchez.com/2008/10/14/slave-to-the-cocktail-circuit/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">linked back to this old post</a>&nbsp;on the now-hoary trope that heterodox conservatives are simply angling for invitations to the fabled Georgetown Cocktail Parties. There’s a certain irony here in that Frum himself is no stranger to attacking the motives of deviationist conservatives. Just a few years back he was&nbsp;<a href="http://old.nationalreview.com/frum/frum031903.asp" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">suggesting</a>&nbsp;that paleoconservative opponents of the war in Iraq had progressed from”hating their party and their president” to “hating their country.” And I’m not sure this quite counts as a pattern, but it’s interesting to me to note that Andrew Sullivan, similarly derided as an apostate for his increasingly harsh criticism of the current state of the conservative movement, was back then in very much the same business,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/10/20/sullivan" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">denouncing</a>&nbsp;those he regarded as insufficiently fervent about the war on terror as a “fifth column”.&nbsp;</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I doubt this is accidental. Both men, I’m inclined to suspect, may in part be directing their fiercest critiques at some echo of their own past selves. (Aren’t we always most irritated by the people who remind us of our own least favorite traits?)</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In the original post I suggested that the cocktail party attack itself might be a form of projection on the part of folks who are, at some level, acutely aware that their own careers depend on hewing pretty close to a party line. But I think there’s something else going on here too. One of the more striking features of the contemporary conservative movement is the extent to which it has been&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">moving toward epistemic closure. Reality is defined by a multimedia array of interconnected and cross promoting conservative blogs, radio programs, magazines, and of course, Fox News. Whatever conflicts with that reality can be dismissed out of hand because it comes from the liberal media, and is therefore ipso facto not to be trusted. (How do you know they’re liberal?&nbsp;</span></font><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Well, they disagree with the conservative media!)&nbsp;</span></p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">epistemic closure</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;can be a source of solidarity and energy, but it also renders the conservative media ecosystem fragile.&nbsp;</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Think of the complete panic China’s rulers feel about any breaks in their Internet firewall: The more successfully external sources of information have been excluded to date, the more unpredictable the effects of a breach become. Internal criticism is then especially problematic, because it threatens the hermetic seal. It’s not just that any particular criticism might have to be taken seriously coming from a fellow conservative. Rather, it’s that anything that breaks down the tacit equivalence between “critic of conservatives and “wicked liberal smear artist” undermines the effectiveness of the entire information filter.&nbsp; If disagreement is not in itself evidence of malign intent or moral degeneracy, people start feeling an obligation to engage it sincerely—maybe even when it comes from the New York Times. And there is nothing more potentially fatal to the momentum of an insurgency fueled by anger than a conversation. A more intellectually secure conservatism would welcome this, because it wouldn’t need to define itself primarily in terms of its rejection of an alien enemy.</span></font></p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To prevent breach, the internal dissident needs to be resituated in the enemy camp. The Cocktail Party move serves this function particularly well because it simultaneously plays on the specific kind of cultural&nbsp;<em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">ressentiment</em>&nbsp;that so much conservative rhetoric now seems designed to stoke. Because it’s usually not just a tedious charge of simple venality—of literally “selling out” to fetch better-paying speaking gigs or book deals.&nbsp; You can clearly make a damn good living as a staunch conservative, after all, and&nbsp;<a href="http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/bruce-bartlett/1601/groupthink-right-would-make-stalin-proud" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Bruce Bartlett</a>&nbsp;doesn’t exactly talk as though he’s gotten a big income boost out of his apostasy.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>No, the insinuation is always that they’re angling for&nbsp;<em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">respectability</em>, because even “one of us” might be tempted by the&nbsp;<em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">cultural</em>&nbsp;power of the enemy elites, might ultimately value their approval more than that of the conservative base.</b>&nbsp;It’s a much deeper sort of purported betrayal, because it’s a choice that would implicitly validate the status claims of the despised elite. You’re supposed to feel as though you’ve been snubbed socially—discarded for “better” company—which evokes both more indignant rejection of the quisling and&nbsp; further resentment of the liberal snobs who are visiting this indignity on you.&nbsp; In a way it’s quite elegant, and you can see why it’s become as popular as it has.&nbsp; But it’s fundamentally a symptom of insecurity—and a self-defeating one, because it corrodes the kind of serious discussion and reexamination of conservative principles and policies that might help produce a more self-assured movement.</font></p><p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Addendum:</strong>&nbsp;My friend&nbsp;<a href="http://www.heritage.org/About/Staff/G/Andrew-Grossman" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">Andrew Grossman</a>&nbsp;writes to object:</font></p><blockquote style="padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; margin: 0px 30px 1.5em; border-left: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="text_expose_id_4bad091340b21622b86dd" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Interesting, but you are much too dismissive of those who constitute “the contemporary conservative movement.” Do you really believe that Washington’s movementarian conservatives cloister themselves in conservative castles? Perhaps that’s true in the hinterlands—though I have seen it only rarely during my stint in Texas—but it is not in&nbsp;<span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Washington. If nothing else, pretty much everyone goes to the same bars and trivia nights or, for the older set, charity fundraisers and (yes, generally) cocktail parties. I like the idea of “epistemic closure” for its explanatory power, but it is not an accusation I’d throw around lightly.</span></font></div></blockquote><div style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Andrew is absolutely right about conservative elites, and it’s part of what makes this line of attack so silly. The New York– and D.C.-based conservatives who staff the movement’s think tanks, magazines, and advocacy shops don’t&nbsp;<em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">in fact</em>&nbsp;inhabit a different universe from their liberal counterparts.&nbsp; They all read the&nbsp;<em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">New York Times</em>&nbsp;and drink lattes and go to parties together. There’s some clustering, to be sure, but nobody acts like they&nbsp;<em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">really believe</em>&nbsp;the folks on the other side are insidious hellspawn. The pose is for the benefit of the base, who—not because they’re conservative, but because they aren’t urban media professionals—are likely to draw on a narrower range of trusted news and opinion sources.</font></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see&nbsp;peter schweizer 2 bak</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10/19&nbsp;</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see main also new categ hit man</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">poster boy</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;for punk prestige press, thus escalator</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">aha: trump whisperer, fox feedback loop?&nbsp; alt fact post truth there's an alternate reality made of images on Fox (videotape editied, which is a futher subset of story, which is a further subset of POV of that story, which is in turn a subset of other stories/ bigger context</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/heres-why-the-white-house-is-sending-stormtroopers-into-portland/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/heres-why-the-white-house-is-sending-stormtroopers-into-portland/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In&nbsp;&nbsp;one of the most alarming developments of Trump’s presidency, dozens of federal agents in full camouflage&nbsp;<a title="seized" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/17/portland-protests-federal-arrests/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">seized</a>&nbsp;protesters and threw them into unmarked cars, taking them to locations unknown without specifying a reason for arrest. It appears that at least some of the agents involved&nbsp;<a title="belonged" href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/border-patrol-portland-arrest/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">belonged</a>&nbsp;to the US Customs and Border Protection (colloquially known as Border Patrol), an organization that obviously has no business whatsoever conducted counterinsurgency tactics against peaceful American protesters in Portland, Oregon. Neither the mayor of Portland nor the governor of Oregon wanted them there; in fact, they specifically&nbsp;<a title="requested" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/07/17/oregon-governor-wants-federal-officers-out-portland-trump-officials-wont-listen-why/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">requested</a>&nbsp;that they leave. And now a U.S. Attorney for the State of Oregon is calling for an&nbsp;<a title="investigation" href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/us-attorney-oregon-investigation-portland-protester-arrests/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">investigation</a>&nbsp;into the arrests, even as the Acting head of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, is&nbsp;<a title="vowing" href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1284095516276592641" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">vowing</a>&nbsp;to ramp up these actions both in Portland and reportedly elsewhere.</font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Needless to say, this is a chilling step toward police state authoritarian rule in the United States, one that was presaged by Attorney General Barr’s approval of an pre-curfew assault on protesters instigated in Lafayette Square to clear the way for a presidential campaign photo op. Few took it seriously when leftist organizers were warning that the border patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were being culturally and structurally converted into stormtroopers for the Trump regime, equally ready to be deployed against politically inconvenient American citizens as against undocumented immigrants seeking a better life. Those warnings should be heeded now.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">We should not allow ourselves to become numb to this. It is helpful psychologically–even if tired and stale as a rhetorical device–to remind ourselves what the reactions would be if a Democrat were acting similarly. Imagine if President Obama had sent in in military-garbed federal stormtroopers to round up Tea Party protesters into unmarked cars, over the top of the objections of local governors and mayors. It’s unthinkable. It’s the sort of thing that drove bizarre right-wing conspiracy theories like&nbsp;<a title="Jade Helm" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Helm_15_conspiracy_theories" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Jade Helm</a>, but that if any shred of them were true would instantly have embroiled the country in a civil war.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So why is Trump doing it?</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">many theories abound—none of them entirely convincing on their own, but all of them deeply disturbing. One explanation is that it’s a&nbsp;</span><a title="trial run" href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a33347230/portland-oregon-protesters-detained/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" outline="outline" none="none" margin="margin" px="px" padding="padding" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" transition="transition" color="color" s="s" ease="ease" cursor="cursor" pointer="pointer">trial run</a><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">&nbsp;for future police state actions, partly to push the window of the possible, partly to desensitize the public to further abuses, and partly to see precisely what they can get away with and what Americans will tolerate.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is no doubt true to a certain extent, but the challenge is that it also carries enormous downside risk. If Trump doesn’t win re-election he has less than six months left in his presidency–hardly time enough for a deeply unpopular and divisive president to engineer a police state coup. And just as with the outrage in Lafayette Square, the mere action itself will likely make Trump even more unpopular with the few undecided voters who remain.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Another convergent explanation is that making a show of supposed toughness in conducting military counterinsurgency in Democratic-controlled cities that want no part of it will thrill Trump’s base.</b>&nbsp;This is reasonable to assume, since Trump’s base&nbsp;<a title="takes" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/the-cruelty-is-the-point/572104/" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">takes</a>&nbsp;no greater joy than in seeing authoritarian cruelty exercised against their political enemies. And it’s likely true, since Trump is obsessed with his base to the exclusion of all else beyond his own personal profit. But the problem is that almost everyone in the Trump campaign’s immediate orbit beyond the president himself knows that Trump must expand beyond his shrinking base to have any chance of winning re-election. The more Trump gives aging bigots dopamine hits, the more the rest of the country falls away from him. Camouflaged stormtroopers used against American citizens will almost certainly lose him more votes than he gains.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>But there is a third explanation, simultaneously dumber and yet more convincing: the Fox News effect.</b>&nbsp;Trump spends endless hours watching garbage cable television, specifically One America News (OAN) and Fox News. Judging from Trump’s tweets, his entire political universe revolves around Fox News–and, more recently, the even more bizarrely propagandistic OAN when even Fox News fails to adequately toe the line.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ever since the beginning of the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd, Fox News has been portraying liberal American cities as hellscapes of violence in which the police and the Trump Administration played the role of hero against rampaging hordes. Most Americans, of course, didn’t see it that way. But if you live entirely in the Fox News bubble, then this narrative is as self-evident a truth as the rising of the sun in the east.&nbsp;Most recently, Fox News has been describing Portland in particular,&nbsp;<a title="in the words" href="https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1284136083127701504?s=20" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">in the words</a>&nbsp;of former Media Matters for America contributor Oliver Willis, as if it were Baghdad circa 2003. This is not the case, of course.&nbsp;<b>Crime rates in Portland have been on a steady decline for decades, with the last month being no significant exception. In fact, the worst Acting HHS Secretary Wolf could point to was literally&nbsp;<a title="a few instances" href="https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1284095525122453504?s=20" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">a few instances</a>&nbsp;of graffiti. No kidding.</b></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But if Fox News were the sum of your reality, you would believe that emergency action needed to be taken before the residents started to erect a Thunderdome and the services of&nbsp;<a title="Snake Plissken " href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_Plissken" target="blank" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Snake Plissken&nbsp;</a>would be required. You would send in the troops despite the potential cost out of a belief that relieved Americans would be desperately grateful for your embrace of “<b>law and order” (even if it were heavy on the “order” and light on the “law.</b>”) You would do whatever it took to bring the situation to heel, and figure the public approval would follow from the new Pax Trumpiana. After all, Fox News declared it must be so.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This last scenario is admittedly ridiculous. But it’s also likely closest to the truth. While figures like Stephen Miller no doubt have a laser focus on instituting an authoritarian apartheid regime to save white supremacist Republican rule the demographic tsunami preparing to overwhelm them, they are not the president.</b>Donald Trump is. Trump is a man of impulse, not of plans. His head is not set on the next 20 years of power, but on tomorrow’s cable news ratings. The constructed reality of Fox News&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">is</em>&nbsp;his reality. The rest of the authoritarian project follows from there.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that more than anything else likely explains why the president is precipitating a constitutional crisis by sending stormtroopers into Portland.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/bill-gates-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-spread-social-media-and-then-fox-news" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/bill-gates-coronavirus-conspiracy-theory-spread-social-media-and-then-fox-news</font></a></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><header class="editorial-fullheader" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p class="subtitle" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; font-weight: bold; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, white nationalists, and QAnon supporters spread the false claim online</font></p><p class="byline" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.3rem; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="bylinelabel" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0.5rem;">WRITTEN BY</span>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/author/alex-kaplan" hreflang="en" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">ALEX KAPLAN</a></font></p><div class="dateline--group" style="box-sizing: border-box; align-items: center; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap;"><p class="dateline" style="margin: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="datelinelabel" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0.5rem;">PUBLISHED</span><b>&nbsp;<time datetime="2020-04-08T12:13:40-0400" style="box-sizing: border-box;">04/08/20&nbsp;</time></b></font></p></div></header><div class="editorial-fullarticle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 2.25rem;"><div class="field field--name-field-stories-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A conspiracy theory about Microsoft founder Bill Gates and a potential vaccine for the novel coronavirus has been circulating for weeks on social media platforms, getting high engagement numbers, and has since been pushed by both Fox News host Laura Ingraham and a Newsmax correspondent.</b></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As the coronavirus pandemic has spread throughout the United States, Gates, who runs an organization that focuses on public health worldwide and has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31956344" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">warned of the threat of epidemics for years</a>, has been leading efforts to and spoken out about finding a vaccine. That has included&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-factories-7-different-vaccines-to-fight-coronavirus-2020-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">spending</a>&nbsp;billions of dollars to find a cure via his foundation and doing interviews on shows including&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-gates-says-were-facing-nightmare-scenario-but-expresses-hope-death-toll-can-be-well-short-of-projections/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Fox News Sunday</a></em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-news/bill-gates-coronavirus-pandemic-ted-talk-daily-show-trevor-noah-977869/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Daily Show</a></em>&nbsp;about the need for a vaccine.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Gates on March 18 also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/bill-gates-calls-us-coronavirus-testing-disorganized-in-reddit-ama/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">participated in</a>&nbsp;a Reddit “AMA” (“Ask me anything”) Q&A, where he encouraged a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattperez/2020/03/18/bill-gates-calls-for-national-tracking-system-for-coronavirus-during-reddit-ama/#402c2ba6a72f" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“national tracking system”</a>&nbsp;for the coronavirus&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/fksnbf/im_bill_gates_cochair_of_the_bill_melinda_gates/fkupg49/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">and</a>&nbsp;“some digital certificates to show who has recovered or been tested recently or when we have a vaccine who has received it.</b>”<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Scientific American&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/invisible-ink-could-reveal-whether-kids-have-been-vaccinated/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">reported</a>&nbsp;in December that Gates had been funding efforts to create an invisible ink that could go into people’s skin to see who has been vaccinated</span>.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A Massachusetts Institute of Technology bioengineer said the ink could provide data that is useful in fighting disease around the world, noting, “If we don’t have good data, it’s really difficult to eradicate disease” (t</span>hough the outlet also quoted a bioengineering professor admitting it could raise privacy concerns).</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During this time, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, white nationalists, and supporters of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/fbi-calls-qanon-domestic-terror-threat-trump-has-amplified-qanon-supporters-twitter-more-20" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">QAnon conspiracy theory</a>&nbsp;have spread a baseless conspiracy theory on multiple social media platforms, far-right sites, and message boards claiming that Gates’ effort to help develop a vaccine is some kind of nefarious attempt to control, follow, or even&nbsp;<b>depopulate the world’s population via a “microchip” of some sort&nbsp;</b>(the “<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">depopulation” claim is based on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/may/03/blog-posting/no-bill-gates-did-not-outline-2018-plan-depopulate/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">major misreading of</a>&nbsp;Gates’ past remarks).</span></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A review by Media Matters found that the conspiracy theory first seemed to gain traction around<b>&nbsp;March 17, when a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863331" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">YouTube video</a>&nbsp;</b>about the virus mischaracterized Gates’ work to develop trackable vaccine data as “implanting everybody with a global ID” and compared it to tattoos on Holocaust victims</span>. The video received more than&nbsp;<b>120,000 views</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">. On that same day, conspiracy theory outlet Infowars&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200407190712/https://www.infowars.com/covid-19-tracking-bracelets-invisible-tattoos-to-monitor-americans/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">published</a>&nbsp;a piece and video of an Infowars host suggesting Gates was using the situation to “reduce the world’s population,” citing the invisible ink, and tied it to claiming the government would give out a “color-coded wristband that will be used for traveling Americans during an impending COVID-19 lockdown.” The Infowars article subsequently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/294759880597706/permalink/3794753137265012" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">spread in</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/188295541208911/permalink/2948636005174837" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Facebook groups</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;showed&nbsp;up as a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863361" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">meme on Instagram</a>..</span>..[pix]</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...Following Gates’ AMA and his “<b>digital certificates”</b>&nbsp;comment, the conspiracy theory spread on&nbsp;<b>March 18, moving to message boards including&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/248903553/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">4chan’s “/pol/”</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/fkzyui/bill_gates_lets_slip_the_real_reason_for_the/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">conspiracy subreddit</a>&nbsp;on Reddit</b>, where a user called Gates’<b>&nbsp;Reddit posts “pretext for introduction of certificate of movement” and a plan to be&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“fully enslaved by the Deep State.”</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">On&nbsp;<b>Telegram</b>&nbsp;that evening,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/white-nationalism/steve-king-says-hes-repeatedly-talked-white-nationalist-commentator-faith-goldy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">white nationalist</a>&nbsp;Faith Goldy wrote that Gates’ posts were “underreported” and that a “microchip implant ID” would be harmful to “nationalists.”</span>[fiath g twt?]</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The following day, as the conspiracy theory continued to circulate on&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/248998405/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">4chan</a>, it was&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200403234354/https://newspunch.com/bill-gates-coronavirus-means-need-digital-certificates-prove-who-received-vaccine/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">picked up by</a>&nbsp;NewsPunch, a disinformation site&nbsp;<a href="https://mashable.com/article/yournewswire-news-punch-domain-facebook-fake-news/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">formerly known as</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/fact-checkers-have-debunked-this-fake-news-site-80-times-its-still-publishing-on-facebook/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">YourNewsWire</a>,</b>&nbsp;which accused Gates of pushing for technology that will be “adopted for its ‘convenience and safety’ and then overnight will become mandatory for you and your family – or else.” That piece, too,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/277201189587719/permalink/557910038183498" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">circulated</a>&nbsp;on social media and as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863376" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">a meme</a>, along with other memes accusing Gates of using a vaccine to work with “globalists” for a “new world order.”</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[pix]</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On March 21, another&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863386" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">YouTube video</a>&nbsp;was uploaded saying Gates wants to implant microchips in people and calling them a “mark of Satan” that could be used for “identifying us to the&nbsp;<b>United Nations.</b>”</span>&nbsp;<b>The video has received nearly 1.8 million views and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863391" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">at least 1.2 million Facebook engagements</a></b>, according to the tracking tool BuzzSumo. That includes shares in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/346378325942318/permalink/628567417723406" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">QAnon Facebook groups</a>&nbsp;and on a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/drowned-out-algorithm-pro-vaccination-advocates-struggle-be-heard-online-n976321" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">major anti-vaxx Facebook page</a>.[pix w/ pyr eye]</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;" /><div class="l--gutter-pull paragraph paragraph--type--stories-image paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: -58.625px; margin-right: -58.625px;"><div class="field field--name-field-stories-image field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><figure class="media media--image" role="group" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;" /></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>throughout the rest of March, more videos popped up on YouTube (</b>despite the platform’s&nbsp;<a href="https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2020/03/coronavirus-update-on-creator-support.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background: transparent; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">pledge to crack down on</a>&nbsp;coronavirus misinformation<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">) accusing Gates of wanting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863406" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">“eugenics” and “population control”</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863411" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">claiming he is</a>&nbsp;the antichrist and that he essentially supports genocide; they racked up another 1.6 million views combined. The videos included a clip from&nbsp;<b><a href="https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/youtube-permanently-bans-channel-that-called-trump-s-impeachment-jew-coup-1.8569322" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">anti-Semitic</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AlKapDC/status/953019673775353863" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">conspiracy</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/AlKapDC/status/1138513233629843457" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">theory</a>&nbsp;outlet TruNews</b>&nbsp;and a video whose title&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863416" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">called the virus</a>&nbsp;a “hoax” (those videos received&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863436" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">hundreds of thousands</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863441" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Facebook engagements</a>&nbsp;combined)..</span>..[rw talk?]</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Videos on social media platform&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">TikTok p</span>ushing the conspiracy theory in late March and early April</b>&nbsp;also racked up many views (despite the platform’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-denying-conspiracy-theory-hashtag-spreading-tiktok-infowars-host" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">anti-misinformation policy</a>). One&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863451" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">video</a>&nbsp;that received more than 230,000 views included in the caption “<b>#fvaccines</b>” and<b>&nbsp;accused Gates of pushing for everyone on the planet to have a “digital ID … by combining mandatory vaccines with implantable microchips</b>.” (Media Matters removes identifying information from videos created by or featuring minors to protect their identity.) Another video that received tens of thousands of views claimed Gates was “evil” and connected him to a plan to “get everybody microchipped” via vaccines.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...[pix]</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The conspiracy theory continued to spread following news in early April of Gates’ spending for a coronavirus cure. Another major&nbsp;<a href="https://angrywhitemen.org/2020/03/24/the-owner-of-a-white-nationalist-telegram-channel-revealed-his-jewish-heritage-now-some-allies-are-abandoning-him/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">white nationalist Telegram account</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863481" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">shared</a>&nbsp;a post saying Gates wants the population “extinguished,” and multiple accounts on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/1468136673415899/posts/2677335485829339" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Facebook</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B-lj5YsApEk/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Instagram</a>, including QAnon and anti-vaxx accounts, shared a meme urging people to take “no vaccine from some shady ass nerd that wants to depopulate the planet.</span>”&nbsp;<b>Ben Garrison, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/here-are-extremist-figures-going-white-house-social-media-summit" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">far-right and pro-Trump cartoonist</a></b>, drew a cartoon pushing the conspiracy theory that portrays<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Gates as a Nazi, which was also&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200408124550/https://thedonald.win/p/FMSsg9Mm/ben-garrison-bill-gates-vaccine/c/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">posted on</a>&nbsp;the backup site of the pro-Trump subreddit “r/The_Donald.”</span>[pix meme blk kid]</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...<b>By April 6, bigger&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/Education4Libs/status/1247317002189975553" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">QAnon</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/QBlueSkyQ/status/1246905905301663747" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">accounts</a>&nbsp;on social media had spread the conspiracy theory, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/shortly-talking-about-jewish-question-qanon-supporter-says-turning-point" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Dylan Wheeler</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,&nbsp;</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3863501" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">accused</a>&nbsp;Gates of using “microchip[s]” in order to be “the face of the&nbsp;<b>New World Order.”</b>&nbsp;</span></font></p><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That afternoon,&nbsp;<b>Emerald Robinson, Newsmax’s White House correspondent, tweeted a thread accusing Gates of “control[ling] global health policy” and saying that his “plan” was to use “vaccines to track people.”</b></font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">On the morning of April 7,<b>&nbsp;Fox host Laura Ingraham,</b>&nbsp;while<b>&nbsp;quote-tweeting an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.irishpost.com/news/jim-corr-corrs-comes-support-anti-vaxx-movement-168537" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">anti-vaxx musician's</a>&nbsp;post about Gates’ AMA,&nbsp;</b>said “globalists” see the pandemic as a “perfect vehicle” for their “dream” of “digitally tracking Americans’ every move.</span>”</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The spread of the conspiracy theory comes as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/guide-right-wing-media-coronavirus-reactions-and-conspiracy-theories" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">multiple other conspiracy theories</a>&nbsp;about the coronavirus have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/right-wing-media-figures-spread-empty-hospitals-theory-downplay-threat" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">circulated</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/qanon-conspiracy-theory-post-about-coronavirus-spreading-social-media" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">social</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/tech/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">media</a>, including others about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/qanon-supporters-and-anti-vaxxers-are-spreading-a-hoax-that" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Gates and the virus</a>.</font></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/07/plandemic-video-judy-mikovits/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://techcrunch.com/2020/05/07/plandemic-video-judy-mikovits/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twt</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>a video about the coronavirus featuring a well-known vaccine conspiracist is spreading like wildfire on social media this week, even as platforms talk tough about misinformation in the midst of the pandemic.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the professionally-produced video, a solemn interviewer named Mikki Willis interviews Judy Mikovits, a figure best known for her anti-vaccine activism in recent years. The video touches on a number of topics favored among online conspiracists at the moment, filtering most of them through the lens that vaccines are a money-making enterprise that causes medical harm....</font></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;">=</span></font></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/pro-trump-media-claim-cdc-overhyping-coronavirus-because-nancy-messonnier"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/pro-trump-media-claim-cdc-overhyping-coronavirus-because-nancy-messonnier</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dr.&nbsp;&nbsp;Nancy Messonnier is the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her impressive&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/about/leadership/leaders/ncird.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">bio</a>&nbsp;lists a number of top positions that she has held in the CDC, and it also notes that she has received multiple awards.</font></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;" /><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In recent days, Messonnier has taken a leading role in warning the public about the threat that the novel coronavirus strain known as COVID-19 poses to the United States. The Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-warns-it-expects-coronavirus-to-spread-in-u-s-11582653829" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">noted that</a>&nbsp;Messonnier said it was just a question of when coronavirus will circulate in the U.S.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Daily Beast&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/cdc-coronavirus-boss-nancy-messonnier-calls-spread-unprecedented-as-cases-surge-in-us-and-abroad" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">quoted her</a>&nbsp;as saying, “We expect to see more cases of person-to-person spread among close contacts. ... The goal here is to slow entry of this virus into the United States.” CNBC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/25/cdc-outlines-what-closing-schools-businesses-would-look-like-in-us-pandemic.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">quoted her</a>&nbsp;calling for schools to divide students into smaller groups or to close entirely and conduct courses online. Many&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/02/21/coronavirus-who-contain-outbreak-iran-deaths-south-korea-cases/4829278002/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">other outlets</a>&nbsp;have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/02/25/us-coronavirus-outbreak-inevitable-cdc-117389" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">quoted</a>&nbsp;her&nbsp;<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Nancy+Messonnier%22&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjAntKKgvDnAhX_hHIEHS2jCtgQ_AUoAXoECAwQAw&biw=2048&bih=1042" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">as well</a>.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But right-wing media have begun to coalesce around a conspiracy theory that Messonnier’s warning should be disregarded because she is the sister of former Trump appointee Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein was a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/amid-reports-trump-may-fire-rosenstein-over-mueller-inquiry-fox-news-drumbeat-urges" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">frequent</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/trumprussia/what-trumps-fox-news-cabinet-wants-him-do-about-rod-rosenstein" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">target</a>&nbsp;of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/effort-impeach-rod-rosenstein-brought-you-sean-hannity-jeanine-pirro-and-lou-dobbs" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">pro-Trump propagandists</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/us/politics/robert-mueller-special-counsel-russia-investigation.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">appointing</a>&nbsp;Robert Mueller as a special counsel in the Russia investigation.</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 1rem;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From a QAnon Twitter account to Rush Limbaugh's show</font></h2></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The conspiracy theory about Messonnier and Rosenstein goes back at least to a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%22qanon%22%20from%3AHambrickRo&src=typed_query" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">QAnon Twitter account</a>&nbsp;noting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3854876" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">their connection</a>&nbsp;in early January.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It really started to pick up speed this week.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On February 25, Rush Limbaugh&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/02/25/drive-bys-hope-the-coronavirus-will-get-trump/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">ranted</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/02/25/crazy-bernie-panic-becomes-media-pandemic/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">about</a>&nbsp;Messonnier, suggesting an anti-Trump conspiracy after he learned she’s related to Rosenstein</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;It was also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3854881" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">picked up</a>&nbsp;by a poster on white nationalist message board 8kun. Soon thereafter, it jumped&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/245312227/#q245314667" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">to 4chan's “/pol/</a>,” a slightly less extreme white nationalist message board. The Conservative Treehouse, a right-wing blog featured on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3854931" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Lou Dobbs' Fox Business show</a>&nbsp;before,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1232446134863269889" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">also posted</a>&nbsp;about&nbsp;<a href="https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/02/25/odd-coincidence-rogue-cdc-official-pushing-coronavirus-panic-button-is-rod-rosensteins-sister/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">the conspiracy theory</a>.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Others followed suit:</font></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;" /><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On the morning of the February 26, Joe Hoft (the brother of Jim Hoft, proprietor of the Gateway Pundit)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/02/just-like-her-corrupt-brother-rod-rosenstein-the-cdcs-dr-nancy-messonnier-drops-a-bomb-on-president-trump-while-on-international-trip/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">posted about it</a></b>.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hoft wrote that Messonnier’s remarks while President Donald Trump was in India were “a startling rebuke” and that it was “eerily similar to past Presidential trips when former and corrupt DAG Rod Rosenstein and the corrupt and criminal Mueller gang would drop shocking news as the President was overseas.”</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Later on the 26th, Rush Limbaugh returned to the conspiracy theory, with the transcript of his show&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2020/02/26/bernie-sanders-and-the-democrat-party-pose-a-bigger-threat-than-the-coronavirus/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">hyperlinking</a>&nbsp;to Hoft’s post.</b>&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After suggesting that Messonnier was not to be trusted, Limbaugh quickly changed the subject to suggest that the virus may just disappear once the weather warms up. Scientists&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus-spread-summer-seasonal-penn-state-20200226.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">have cast doubt</a>&nbsp;on that theory as well.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, Trump is reportedly furious at Messonnier:</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: currentcolor none medium; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/mollie-hemingway/federalist-trump-one-day-tale-how-quickly-baseless-allegation-reaches-president"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/mollie-hemingway/federalist-trump-one-day-tale-how-quickly-baseless-allegation-reaches-president</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">mma 220</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
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</font></font></font></div><div>Melissa Joskow / Media Matters</div><div>
</div><div>F<b>rom The Federalist to Trump in one day: A tale of how quickly a baseless allegation reaches the president</b></div><div>Trump accused Sen. Chris Murphy of potentially violating the Logan Act after right-wing media created and spread the allegation</div><div>
</div><div>WRITTEN BY KAYLA GOGARTY</div><div>
</div><div>RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BOBBY LEWIS</div><div>
</div><div>PUBLISHED 02/20/20 2:22 PM EST</div><div>
</div><div>A<b>fter The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway reported that Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, right-wing media seized on the opportunity to call Democrats hypocrites and baselessly allege that the meeting was a violation of the Logan Act. President Donald Trump repeated the same allegation to the press a day later.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Trump has a history of promoting conspiracy theories and baseless allegations after he sees them amplified by right-wing media outlets. In this instance, right-wing media figures and the president are accusing Murphy of violating the Logan Act, “a 1799 law that prohibits ordinary citizens from negotiating with foreign powers.” According to University of Texas School of Law professor Steve Vladeck,&nbsp;<b>the law, which has never been used to successfully prosecute any American citizen, “only applies to conduct that is designed to ‘defeat the measures of the United States’ or influence the conduct of foreign governments.”</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Although there is no evidence that Murphy did either of those things in his meeting with Zarif,&nbsp;</b>Trump accused the senator of violating U.S. law (an allegation he also previously made against former Secretary of State John Kerry). Trump’s allegation against Murphy came after right-wing outlets and social media accounts quickly&nbsp;<b>amplified the report that The Federalist had originally published,</b>&nbsp;using it to call Democrats hypocritical and to inaccurately compare Murphy to former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. (Flynn pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.) Claiming that Democrats are hypocrites is a bad-faith argument that right-wing media personalities are using to create faux outrage, a common tactic of theirs.</div><div>
</div><div>Here is how the allegation against Murphy spread across right-wing media and was repeated by Trump on February 18:</div><div>
</div><div>Mollie Hemingway reports that Democratic senators met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif</div><div>On February 17, Hemingway, the Federalist’s senior editor, published an article that claimed a “source briefed by the French delegation” to the Munich Security Conference said that Murphy and other Democratic senators met with Zarif during the conference last week. The article went on to baselessly allege that “such a meeting would mean Murphy had done the type of secret coordination with foreign leaders to potentially undermine the U.S. government.”</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hemingway also alleged that the State Department “was not aware of any side meetings with Iranian officials that Murphy was engaged in.” CNN and a Politico reporter debunked this allegation, saying that Murphy’s office actually did notify the State Department before the meeting with Zarif.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Right-wing media outlets and social media accounts amplify Hemingway’s report and start making egregious claims</div><div>
</div><div>P<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ro-Trump social media spread Hemingway’s article, including Facebook pages Patriot Movement AZ, Nashville Tea Party, and Make America Great Again, and Twitter accounts of Hudson Institute’s Rebeccah Heinrichs and The Federalist’s Sean Davis. Some right-wing media outlets, such as the The Daily Wire, CNS News, The Gateway Pundit, and Southern Patriot News, also reported on it.</span></div><div>
</div><div>On Twitter, right-wing accounts started making egregious claims:&nbsp;</div><div>
</div><div>T<b>urning Point USA President Charlie Kirk</b></div><div>Hudson Institute senior fellow Michael Doran</div><div>Iranian opposition group Mojahedin-e-Khalq’s propaganda persona Heshmat Alvi</div><div>Conservative radio talker and Fox News host Mark Levin</div><div>Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter</div><div><b>Pompeo</b>: “If they met, I don’t know what they said. I hope they were reinforcing America’s foreign policy, not their own.”</div><div>
</div><div>During a press availability on February 18, Voice of America’s Cindy Spang asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo if he could confirm that a group of Democratic senators met with Zarif. Pompeo said that he has “seen that piece” and that “if they met, I don’t know what they said. I hope they were reinforcing America’s foreign policy, not their own.”</div><div>
</div><div>F<b>ollowing Pompeo’s response, right-wing media outlets, including Townhall, The Washington Free Beacon, and The Federalist, reported on his comments, spurring additional reactions from right-wing social media accounts.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Murphy confirms that he met with Zarif</div><div>
</div><div>As is his general practice, Murphy discussed his overseas trip in a “behind the scenes” Medium post on February 18, part of which he turned into a Twitter thread as well. According to Murphy, he and Republican Sens. Ron Johnson (WI) and John Barrasso (WY) met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine, and they then met up with the rest of the bipartisan congressional delegation at the Munich Security Conference, which included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), other House members, and over a dozen senators. Murphy wrote that he met with Zarif during the conference to discuss Yemen, “to gauge whether he thinks the reprisals for the Soleimani assassination are over,” and to “raise the issue of American prisoners held in Iran.”</div><div>
</div><div>Right-wing Twitter personalities inaccurately call the meeting a violation of the Logan Act</div><div>In response to Murphy’s comments, right-wing outlets accused him of “stonewalling,” “secretly meeting” with Iran, and being “a massive hypocrite.” TheBlaze even claimed, “None of this would be a problem had Murphy been more forthright about the meeting and his motivations for holding it before it took place.”</div><div>
</div><div>On social media, right-wing figures accused Murphy of violating the Logan Act, with&nbsp;<b>Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton suggesting he committed treason</b>. The phrase was even trending on Twitter at one point. Here are some examples:</div><div>
</div><div>Turning Point USA President Charlie Kirk</div><div>Far-right Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich</div><div>Radio host Sebastian Gorka</div><div>Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton</div><div>Right-wing personality Kambree Kawahine Koa</div><div>Donald Trump Jr.</div><div>Fox News contributor Dan Bongino</div><div>The Federalist’s Sean Davis</div><div>Trump: “Sounds like to me a violation of the Logan Act”</div><div>As the story spread on social media, Trump quickly weighed in while speaking with the press on February 18.</div><div>
</div><div>His comments further fueled the baseless allegations against Murphy and even sparked a response from Zarif.</div><div>
</div><div>Even Fox News admits that “it would be a bit of a stretch to say he violated the Logan Act” before changing its tune</div><div>Right-wing media outlets such as Hot Air, The Washington Times, and Fox News covered Trump’s comments. Fox News aired Trump speaking with the press on January 18 and, in response,<b>&nbsp;Fox News chief White House correspondent John Roberts said, “It would be a bit of a stretch to say that he violated the Logan Act.”</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>However, Fox changed its tune later:</b></div><div>
</div><div>Fox Business host Lou Dobbs said Murphy is “an abject fool,” “nothing more than a self-important hack,” and “knows how to be played.”</div><div>On Fox News @ Night, Hemingway said, “While it's true that [the Logan Act] is rarely used, it was famously used against Trump affiliates to really gin up that entire Russia collusion hoax. But now Chris Murphy seems to have a different view when it comes to his own coordination with the Iranian foreign minister.</div><div>Fox also hosted Hemingway on Fox & Friends the next morning, when she said, “Just a few years ago, when Mike Flynn, as an incoming member of the Trump administration, had a conversation with his Russian counterpart, Chris Murphy thought that this was treasonous, illegal. … But now, when Chris Murphy is having secret meetings in the hotel rooms of Iranian leaders, … now he thinks that’s perfectly fine.”</div><div>Trump amplified the allegation on Twitter</div><div>Trump continued to attack Murphy on February 19, repeating the false allegation in a post on Twitter that also raised his old accusations against Kerry and retweeting Sean Davis’ tweet about it.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump retweet of Sean Davis' February 18, 2020 tweet about the Logan Act</div><div>Trump attacked both Kerry and Murphy again on February 20 on Twitter, claiming that they “grossly violated the Logan Act.”</div><div>
</div><div>T<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">he short timeline between The Federalist’s publication of its report and Trump's amplification of the baseless allegation is emblematic of how quickly disinformation spreads across the right-wing media ecosystem, gets amplified by Fox, and influences the president. It's a tactic that has successfully exploited the Fox-Trump feedback loop and led to the president issuing pardons and making policy decisions.</span></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/humans-are-hardwired-to-dismiss-facts-that-dont-fit-their-worldview/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/humans-are-hardwired-to-dismiss-facts-that-dont-fit-their-worldview/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">get lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.npr.org/tags/399145964/anti-vaccination-movement">https://www.npr.org/tags/399145964/anti-vaccination-movement</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/food/the-plate/2016/05/17/scientists-say-gmo-foods-are-safe-public-skepticism-remains/</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/why-portland-is-wrong-about-water-fluoridation/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/why-portland-is-wrong-about-water-fluoridation/</font></a></div><div><a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/but-not-simpler/why-portland-is-wrong-about-water-fluoridation/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">...</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Humans are hardwired to dismiss facts that don’t fit their worldview</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Adrian Bardon, The Conversation January 31, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Something is rotten in the state of American political life. The U.S. (among other nations) is increasingly characterized by highly polarized, informationally insulated ideological communities occupying their own factual universes.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/16/20964281/impeachment-hearings-trump-america-epistemic-crisis">https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/16/20964281/impeachment-hearings-trump-america-epistemic-crisis</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Within the conservative political blogosphere, global warming is either a hoax or so uncertain as to be unworthy of response. Within other geographic or online communities, vaccines, fluoridated water and genetically modified foods are known to be dangerous. Right-wing media outlets paint a detailed picture of how Donald Trump is the victim of a fabricated conspiracy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">None of that is correct, though. The reality of human-caused global warming is settled science. The alleged link between vaccines and autism has been debunked as conclusively as anything in the history of epidemiology. It’s easy to find authoritative refutations of Donald Trump’s self-exculpatory claims regarding Ukraine and many other issues.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Yet many well-educated people sincerely deny evidence-based conclusions on these matters.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I<b>n theory, resolving factual disputes should be relatively easy: Just present evidence of a strong expert consensus. This approach succeeds most of the time, when the issue is, say, the atomic weight of hydrogen.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">B<b>ut things don’t work that way when the scientific consensus presents a picture that threatens someone’s ideological worldview. In practice, it turns out that one’s political, religious or ethnic identity quite effectively predicts one’s willingness to accept expertise on any given politicized issue.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“M<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">otivated reasoning” is what social scientists call the process of deciding what evidence to accept based on the conclusion one prefers. As I explain in my book, “The Truth About Denial,” this very human tendency applies to all kinds of facts about the physical world, economic history and current events.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Denial doesn’t stem from ignorance</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The interdisciplinary study of this phenomenon has exploded over just the last six or seven years. One thing has become clear: The failure of various groups to acknowledge the truth about, say, climate change, is not explained by a lack of information about the scientific consensus on the subject.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Instead, what strongly predicts denial of expertise on many controversial topics is simply one’s political persuasion.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A 2015 metastudy showed that ideological polarization over the reality of<b>&nbsp;climate change&nbsp;</b>actually increases with respondents’ knowledge of politics, science and/or energy policy.<b>&nbsp;The chances that a conservative is a climate change denier is significantly higher if he or she is college-educated. Conservatives scoring highest on tests for cognitive sophistication or quantitative reasoning skills are most susceptible to motivated reasoning about climate science.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This is not just a problem for conservatives. As researcher Dan Kahan has demonstrated, liberals are less likely to accept expert consensus on the possibility of safe storage of nuclear waste, or on the effects of concealed-carry gun laws.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Denial is natural</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Our ancestors evolved in small groups, where cooperation and persuasion had at least as much to do with reproductive success as holding accurate factual beliefs about the world. Assimilation into one’s tribe required assimilation into the group’s ideological belief system. An instinctive bias in favor of one’s “in-group” and its worldview is deeply ingrained in human psychology.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A human being’s very sense of self is intimately tied up with his or her identity group’s status and beliefs. Unsurprisingly, then, people respond automatically and defensively to information that threatens their ideological worldview. We respond with rationalization and selective assessment of evidence – that is, we engage in “confirmation bias,” giving credit to expert testimony we like and find reasons to reject the rest.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Political scientists Charles Taber and Milton Lodge experimentally confirmed the existence of this automatic response. They found that partisan subjects, when presented with photos of politicians, produce an affective “like/dislike” response that precedes any sort of conscious, factual assessment as to who is pictured.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In ideologically charged situations, one’s prejudices end up affecting one’s factual beliefs. Insofar as you define yourself in terms of your cultural affiliations, information that threatens your belief system – say, information about the negative effects of industrial production on the environment – can threaten your sense of identity itself. If it’s part of your ideological community’s worldview that unnatural things are unhealthful, factual information about a scientific consensus on vaccine or GM food safety feels like a personal attack.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Unwelcome information can also threaten in other ways. “System justification” theorists like psychologist John Jost have shown how situations that represent a threat to established systems trigger inflexible thinking and a desire for closure. For example, as Jost and colleagues extensively review, populations experiencing economic distress or external threat have often turned to authoritarian, hierarchicalist leaders promising security and stability.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Denial is everywhere</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This kind of affect-laden, motivated thinking explains a wide range of examples of an extreme, evidence-resistant rejection of historical fact and scientific consensus.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">H<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ave tax cuts been shown to pay for themselves in terms of economic growth? Do communities with high numbers of immigrants have higher rates of violent crime? Did Russia interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election? Predictably, expert opinion regarding such matters is treated by partisan media as though evidence is itself inherently partisan.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Denialist phenomena are many and varied, but the story behind them is, ultimately, quite simple. Human cognition is inseparable from the unconscious emotional responses that go with it. Under the right conditions, universal human traits like in-group favoritism, existential anxiety and a desire for stability and control combine into a toxic, system-justifying identity politics.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When group interests, creeds, or dogmas are threatened by unwelcome factual information, biased thinking becomes denial. And unfortunately these facts about human nature can be manipulated for political ends.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This picture is a bit grim, because it suggests that facts alone have limited power to resolve politicized issues like climate change or immigration policy. But properly understanding the phenomenon of denial is surely a crucial first step to addressing it.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><div><div><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Finally:&nbsp;A pro-Trump subreddit is&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=d8d72424bd29b605e3cf503f75df6076bedc13909ae892924ecae109d5a34332b469061bde3000e9599c893aef90df0d2274715d674af66d" title="full of calls for violence">full of calls for violence</a>&nbsp;in response to proposed Virginia gun safety laws.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fake-news/white-nationalist-created-hoax-about-gun-confiscation-leading-calls-violence"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/fake-news/white-nationalist-created-hoax-about-gun-confiscation-leading-calls-violence</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">semiotic?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx graf twt</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A<b>&nbsp;white nationalist created a hoax about gun confiscation that is leading to calls for violence on social media and message boards</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Special PROGRAMS</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GUNS & PUBLIC SAFETY</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PUBLISHED 12/18/19 10:17 AM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A noted white nationalist fabricated a claim about guns and Virginia’s governor that has spread in the past week throughout social media and on far-right message boards. The hoax has drawn tens of thousands of engagements and views, and some have issued calls to violence in response.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Following the Democratic takeover of the Virginia state legislature in November’s elections, the state’s Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, said he would reintroduce multiple gun safety bills. In response, multiple counties in the state declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries,” adopting largely symbolic resolutions that say they will not enforce what they deem to be unconstitutional gun laws.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On December 13, Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA) suggested that Northam use the state’s National Guard to enforce the bills if they become law. That same day, the Twitter account for the Virginia National Guard tweeted that it had “not received any requests from the Governor, or anyone on his staff, about serving in a law enforcement role related to any proposed legislation” and encouraging residents to “be patient while we allow our elected officials to work through the legislative process.” Northam himself a day earlier had said that there would be “consequences” if localities did not enforce the law, but he said only that he would “cross that bridge if and when we get to it.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Also on December 13, Hal Turner, a white nationalist radio host who has a history of spreading false claims and hoaxes, posted on his website that Northam had “allegedly ordered a small cadre of staffers to begin the process for determining how to cut off electricity, telephones/ FAXES, Cellular phones AND DATA, as well as the Internet, in areas where he plans to send Virginia National Guard Troops to forcibly seize guns when the Democrat legislature convenes in January.” Turner further claimed that the order “was allegedly given to a very small and trusted group of staffers, some of whom it turns out, do not agree (at all) with this idea.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hal Turner Virginia hoax</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over the next few days, the hoax spread on multiple Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, Instagram accounts, and multiple YouTube channels, some of which are proponents of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Users claimed Northam’s supposed response was “why the founding fathers put in the 2nd amendment,” calling for “patriots around the country” to “go after [these] anti-gunners with extreme prejudice,” and calling for “troops [to] remove this traitor from his position.” According to the tracking tool BuzzSumo, posts linking to the hoax article received more than 25,000 engagements on Facebook and Twitter combined.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter Virginia hoax1</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook Virginia hoax1</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook Virginia hoax4</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">YouTube Virginia hoax2</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Additionally, the hoax circulated throughout multiple message boards, including pro-gun forum AR15.com, where a user asked if there was “any truth” to the hoax and users said it could cause a “civil war.” Another message board that saw traffic on the hoax was the backup site for the subreddit “r/The_Donald,” where users called the “new rumor” a reason to “plan, act, purchase, train appropriately” and an “absolute necessary step to guarantee full scale revolution in the state ending in executions for all government officials.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Donald subreddit backup site Virginia hoax</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The hoax was also repeatedly mentioned on 4chan’s “/pol/” message board, where multiple users posted images of the headline or the text of Turner’s article and responded by writing that they were “glad to be fighting age” and urging others to “take care of this faggot” because “americans killed a president for much less.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4chan Virginia hoax1</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By December 17, multiple white nationalist channels on Telegram were also posting the hoax, via text from Turner’s site or from another radio host and QAnon supporter, John B. Wells, who had cited Turner and posted the same text on his site on December 15. One of those Telegram channels was that of Paul Nehlen, a former congressional candidate who ran against former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and who has openly expressed white nationalist views and issued calls to violence.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Telegram Virginia hoax2</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Don't let right wing lies set the agenda. Donate now!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">THE LATEST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 15 most ridiculous things media said about climate change in 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12/29/19 9:16 AM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Seven of the worst Fox News freakouts about abortion this year</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12/28/19 9:48 AM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox “news” anchors lie about how Trump got cut from Home Alone 2 in Canada</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12/27/19 2:08 PM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2019’s worst anti-LGBTQ meltdowns</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12/27/19 8:30 AM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Morning Joe, Angelo Carusone announces John Solomon as Misinformer of the Year</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">12/26/19 10:46 AM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IN THIS ARTICLE</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fake News</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fake news</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook-MMFA-Tag.png</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4chan</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4chan-MMFA-Tag.pngMORE</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">50 COMMENTS</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Related</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">How a total fabrication connecting George Soros' son to the whistleblower went from the underbelly of the internet to Rep. Steve King</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">11/15/19 11:57 AM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">A new baseless conspiracy theory about Rep. Ilhan Omar can be traced back to far-right message boards</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">09/09/19 2:26 PM EDT</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">How bots and far-right figures spread a lie about Beto O'Rourke and the Odessa shooting</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">09/04/19 1:52 PM EDT</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Media Matters for America</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/how-total-fabrication-connecting-george-soros-son-whistleblower-went-underbelly-internet">https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/how-total-fabrication-connecting-george-soros-son-whistleblower-went-underbelly-internet</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx pix twt many&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">semiotic?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">escalaor</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>How a total fabrication connecting George Soros' son to the whistleblower went from the underbelly of the internet to Rep. Steve King</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PUBLISHED&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">11/15/19&nbsp;</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rep.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Steve King (R-IA) falsely suggested in a tweet that Alexander Soros, the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, is the alleged whistleblower whose complaint sparked the current House impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. The tweet -- which was also shared by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) -- came after the falsity had spread on social media and on a&nbsp;<b>prominent far-right message board.</b></span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">November 14, King -- who has a history of embracing far-right and white nationalist figures and rhetoric -- tweeted a collage of four images of Alexander Soros with 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), current Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), writing above the images, “Adam Schiff said, ‘I do not know the identity of the whistleblower.’ @RepAdamSchiff here are four strong clues.” (The collage had been previously used as part of the ongoing right-wing attacks on George Soros, who has been the target of anti-Semitic smears for years.) King has since deleted the tweet, and both George Soros’ Open Society Foundations and Alexander Soros criticized King for the false accusation.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steve King falsity</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gosar soon after shared King’s tweet, adding, “Is it the dude on the bottom left?”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paul Gosar falsity</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Before King sent the tweet, the same false claim with the same images had been circulating on Twitter -- particularly by those supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory -- as well as on Facebook and on 4chan.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How the lie spread</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Early on November 7, QAnon-supporting Twitter account Eyes on Q tweeted the images of Soros with Schumer, Pelosi, Clinton, and Warren, writing, “What's this all about then?” While the account did not claim that the person in the photos was the whistleblower, many users inferred that from the tweet (including a contributor for the conservative website The Houston Courant), and it received thousands of retweets. Hours later, the account noted it was Alexander Soros in the photos.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Eyes On Q falsity</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A little over an hour after Eyes on Q’s first tweet went out, the same images were shared in a pro-Trump Facebook group, with the poster writing, “Here is the identity of the whistleblower. He's a Deranged Trump-Hating DNC operative.</b>” That afternoon, another Facebook page shared the false claim and images in a meme, getting more than a thousand shares.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook post Soros1]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ar<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ound the same time, another QAnon-supporting&nbsp;<b>Twitter&nbsp;</b>account, @TrumpsWolfX, tweeted the images along with the photo of another person, a former Obama administration official who has received death threats after being falsely accused of being the whistleblower. The account wrote, “What is this guys name? ... Asking for a Nation.”</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@TrumpsWolfX falsity]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Later that afternoon, account @LJC36 tweeted some of the images she claimed showed the whistleblower, naming a different person than Soros, and sarcastically encouraged people to “please, PLEASE under no circumstances … retweet this picture.” (Media Matters has removed the alleged whistleblower’s name from the screenshots below.)&nbsp;<b>The tweet received more than 5,000 retweets, including one from conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi,&nbsp;</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">who, as Mother Jones noted, a few days later tweeted an article from an obscure right-wing site that had also pushed the photo collage and false whistleblower claim on November 8.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@LJC36 falsity]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shortly thereafter, another QAnon account posted the images, asking, “Are these pics of the #Whistleblower?” The account invoked the QAnon slogan, “Where we go one, we go all,” or “WWG1WGA.”&nbsp;<b>It later acknowledged that the person was not the whistleblower</b>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Patriot</b>&nbsp;Morehead falsity]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That evening, another right-wing Facebook page pointed to Soros as the whistleblower; that post currently has more than 7,000 shares.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook post Soros3]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">O<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ver the next few days, the images and false claim continued to circulate around Twitter and Facebook (on both pages and groups with the latter).<b>&nbsp;It also spread to 4chan’s “politically incorrect” message board known as “/pol/,”&nbsp;</b>where users -- some citing the previous social media posts -- posted the images and continued asking if Soros was involved or accusing him of being the whistleblower.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4chan post Soros3]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On November 10, The<b>&nbsp;Buffalo Chronicle</b>, a site that previously posted multiple articles and Facebook advertisements pushing viral disinformation about Canadian politics, posted the images and falsely wrote it showed the “<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">CIA employee and Democratic Party political operative who filed a 'whistleblower' complaint.”</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Buffalo Chronicle falsity]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A few days later, King and Gosar posted the images and the false claim from their own Twitter accounts, helping to further spread it on social media.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IN THIS ARTICLE</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter-MMFA-Tag.png</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">George Soros</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">George Soros</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Facebook-MMFA-Tag.pngMORE</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">65 COMMENTS</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Related</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A new baseless conspiracy theory about Rep. Ilhan Omar can be traced back to far-right message boards</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">09/09/19 2:26 PM EDT</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How bots and far-right figures spread a lie about Beto O'Rourke and the Odessa shooting</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">09/04/19 1:52 PM EDT</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A QAnon-linked conspiracy theory about Tom Hanks reached Twitter's and Google's search suggestions</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">05/17/19 3:00 PM EDT</font></div></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">also ref 2</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/maga-trolls/far-right-message-boards-push-murder-conspiracy-theory-regarding-rep-ilhan-omar"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/maga-trolls/far-right-message-boards-push-murder-conspiracy-theory-regarding-rep-ilhan-omar</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twt pix many</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A&nbsp; new baseless conspiracy theory about Rep. Ilhan Omar can be traced back to far-right message boards</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PUBLISHED<b>&nbsp;09/09/19&nbsp;</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">UPDATED 12/06/19 12:15 PM EST</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Update (12/6/19): On October 7, Danielle Stella, a Republican congressional candidate running against Omar and a supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theory, pushed the conspiracy theory about Omar on Telegram. She posted an image of a tweet that claimed that an “apparent hit man” for Omar “fails to kill [her] target, and kills look alike” and accused the mainstream media of trying to “desperately … label the targeted murder as ‘random.’</span>”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Far-right message boards created and helped spread a baseless conspiracy theory suggesting that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) ordered a Washington, D.C., woman’s killing. The conspiracy theory has spread onto multiple social media platforms, where some content promoting it has gone&nbsp;<b>viral.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On August 27, a young woman was reportedly stabbed to death while walking dogs in Washington, D.C. Despite reports that local police consider it to be a random attack by a suspect whose “adulthood has been marked by periods of&nbsp;<b>homelessness and hospitalizations for mental illness</b>,” far-right message boards have without any evidence connected the woman’s killing to Omar. The baseless claim has since spread onto social media platforms including YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>How the baseless claim spread</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On August 29, an anonymous user on 4chan’s “/pol/,” a message board known for spreading white nationalism and conspiracy theories, claimed that the D.C. stabbing victim looked “very similar” to a woman who has alleged that her husband had an affair with Omar (which her husband has denied). The 4chan user claimed that the slain dog walker “could easily have been mistaken for” the other woman, calling it a “possible Omaracide.” The post received more than 300 replies, with many users agreeing that the conspiracy theory “seems likely” and lauding the original poster.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4chan Omar conspiracy theory</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Later that evening, a user on<b>&nbsp;pro-gun forum AR15.com&nbsp;</b>cited “/pol/” in asking, “Was the murder of a random redhead actually a political assassination plot to benefit Ilhan Omar?”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gun forum Omar conspiracy1]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>During the morning of August 30, the baseless claim spread to subreddits “r/The_Donald” and “r/conspiracy</b>,”&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">both of which are also known for spreading conspiracy theories. The “r/The_Donald” user posted largely the same language as the 4chan post, and “r/conspiracy” posted an image of the 4chan post. The post on “r/The_Donald” received thousands of “upvotes,” ranking it higher on the subreddit and helping it to spread.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Donald Omar conspiracy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conspiracy subreddit Omar conspiracy]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That afternoon, a&nbsp;<b>far-right YouTube channel posted a video</b>&nbsp;pushing the conspiracy theory titled “Did Ilhan Omar Order a Hit Job On Her Boyfriend's Wife?!”&nbsp;<b>The video directly cited the post from “r/The_Donald” and has nearly 90,000 views.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">YouTube Omar conspiracy theory image]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That evening, Twitter account @newanddangerous tweeted much of the same language as the 4chan post, and the tweet has received nearly&nbsp;<b>10,000 retweets</b>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@newanddangerous Omar conspiracy]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Among those who have shared @newanddangerous’ tweet include&nbsp;<b>conspiracy theorist Devon Stack; a Pizzagate conspiracy theorist who was previously thrown out of a Joe Biden event; and a former adult film star turned far-right conspiracy theorist. The tweet was also shared over Telegram</b>&nbsp;by a far-right channel.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Devon Stack conspiracy theory</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PG Howie Omar conspiracy theory</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jenna Jameson Omar conspiracy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the morning of August 31, a&nbsp;<b>verified YouTube channel supporting the</b>&nbsp;<b>QAnon conspiracy theory posted a video sharing the conspiracy theory and directly cited the 4chan post. The video has nearly 100,000 views.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">YouTube QAnon channel Omar conspiracy theory image]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Meanwhile, the conspiracy theory continued to spread on&nbsp;<b>Twitter,&nbsp;</b>including from multiple accounts promoting QAnon and its slogan, “Where we go one, we go all,” or “WWG1WGA.” Some of their tweets were also shared on Facebook, along with the 4chan thread and the conspiracy theory itself.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@PROUDPATRIOT45 Omar conspiracy theory]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Also on August 31, another QAnon account on a site called poal also shared the 4chan thread, saying “/pol/” had “nailed it.”<b>&nbsp;Before It’s News</b>, a conspiracy theory site known for pushing falsities, including Pizzagate, cross-posted an article the following day questioning if Omar had “tried to murder her new lover’s wife.” It also cited 4chan.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Before It's News Omar conspiracy theory]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The conspiracy theory also continued to circulate on 4chan -- one user even cited @newanddangerous’ tweet with language based on the original 4chan post -- and on “r/The_Donald,” where a user posted an image of the August 29 gun forum post. In total, there have been more than&nbsp;<b>400 posts on 4chan about the conspiracy theory.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/the-problem-of-living-inside-echo-chambers/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/the-problem-of-living-inside-echo-chambers/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The problem of living inside echo chambers</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Bubble or cult?</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>My research focuses on “epistemic bubbles” and “echo chambers.” These are two distinct ideas, that people often blur together.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">An epistemic bubble is what happens when insiders aren’t exposed to people from the opposite side.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">An echo chamber is what happens when insiders come to distrust everybody on the outside.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">An epistemic bubble, for example, might form on one’s social media feed. When a person gets all their news and political arguments from Facebook and all their Facebook friends share their political views, they’re in an epistemic bubble. They hear arguments and evidence only from their side of the political spectrum. They’re never exposed to the other side’s views.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>An echo chamber leads its members to distrust everybody on the outside of that chamber. And that means that an insider’s trust for other insiders can grow unchecked.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two communications scholars, Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph Cappella, offered a careful analysis of the right-wing media echo chamber in their 2008 book, “The Echo Chamber.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rush Limbaugh and the Fox News team, they said, systematically manipulated whom their followers trusted. Limbaugh presented the world as a simple binary – as a struggle only between good and evil. People were trustworthy if they were on Limbaugh’s side. Anybody on the outside was malicious and untrustworthy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In that way,&nbsp;<b>an echo chamber is a lot like a cult</b>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Echo chambers isolate their members, not by cutting off their lines of communication to the world, but by changing whom they trust. And echo chambers aren’t just on the right. I’ve seen echo chambers on the left, but also on parenting forums, nutritional forums and even around exercise methods.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In an epistemic bubble, outside voices aren’t heard. In an echo chamber, outside voices are discredited.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Is it all just a bubble?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many experts believe that the problem of today’s polarization can be explained through epistemic bubbles.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Do social media feeds limit people’s ability of being exposed to a wider variety of views?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ccording to legal scholar and behavioral economist Cass Sunstein, the main cause of polarization is that internet technologies have made the world such that people don’t really run into the other side anymore</span>.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many people get their news from social media feeds. Their feeds get filled up with people like them – who usually share their political views. Eli Pariser, online activist and chief executive of Upworthy, spotlights how the invisible algorithms behind people’s internet experience limit what they see.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, says Pariser, Google keeps track of its user’s choices and preferences, and changes its search results to suit them. It tries to give individuals what they want – so liberal users, for example, tend to get search results that point them toward liberal news sites.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;the problem is bubbles, then the solution would be exposure. For Sunstein, the solution is to build more public forums, where people will run into the other side more often.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The<b>&nbsp;real problem is trust</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In my view, however, echo chambers are the real problem.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">New research suggests there probably aren’t any real epistemic bubbles. As a matter of fact, most people are regularly exposed to the other side.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Moreover, bubbles should be easy to pop: Just expose insiders to the arguments they’ve missed.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But this doesn’t actually seem to work, in so many real-world cases. Take, for example, climate change deniers. They are fully aware of all the arguments on the other side. Often, they rattle off all the standard arguments for climate change, before dismissing them. Many of the standard climate change denial arguments involve claims that scientific institutions and mainstream media have been corrupted by malicious forces.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">W<b>hat’s going on, in my view, isn’t just a bubble. It’s not that people’s social media feeds are arranged so they don’t run across any scientific arguments; it’s that they’ve come to systematically distrust the institutions of science.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This is an echo chamber. Echo chambers are far more entrenched and far more resistant to outside voices than epistemic bubbles. Echo chamber members have been prepared to face contrary evidence. Their echo-chambered worldview has been arranged to dismiss that evidence at its source.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">They’re not totally irrational, either. In the era of scientific specialization, people must trust doctors, statisticians, biologists, chemists, physicists, nuclear engineers and aeronautical engineers, just to go about their day. And they can’t always check with perfect accuracy whether they have put their trust in the right place.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A<b>n echo chamber member, however, distrusts the standard sources. Their trust has been redirected and concentrated inside the echo chamber.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>To break somebody out of an echo chamber, you’d need to repair that broken trust. And that is a much harder task than simply bursting a bubble.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">C. Thi Nguyen, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Utah Valley University.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">nb how desperate they are to deflect mirror mass shooter</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">beto now official&nbsp;<span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">target?</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">suspended campaign to go home to take care of shooter [ post- el paso] Odessa? ppl:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div><b>How bots and far-right figures spread a lie about Beto O'Rourke and the Odessa shooting</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A likely bot network, QAnon accounts, a TPUSA advisory council member, the Proud Boys, Sebastian Gorka, and a member of Trump's 2020 advisory board helped push the false claim</span></div><div>
</div><div>WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN</div><div>
</div><div>PUBLISHED 09/04/19 1:52 PM EDT</div><div>
</div><div>UPDATED 09/05/19 9:08 AM EDT</div><div>
</div><div><b>Multiple far-right figures helped a likely network of bot accounts spread a false claim on social media connecting former Texas congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke with an alleged mass shooter in Texas.</b></div><div>
</div><div>On August 31, a gunman in Odessa and Midland, TX, killed seven people. While the alleged shooter’s motive is still unknown,<b>&nbsp;a false claim appeared afterward on social media that the alleged shooter had an O’Rourke sticker on his car</b>&nbsp;(authorities said there is no evidence for this) and reportedly spread with the help of likely bot accounts. Other crucial players that spread the falsity included multiple accounts supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory, a member of Turning Point USA’s advisory council, far-right gang the Proud Boys, former Trump White House adviser and current&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sinclair contributor Sebastian Gorka, and current Trump campaign adviser Tony Shaffer.</span></div><div>
</div><div>How the lie spread</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On the afternoon of September 1, Twitter account @suemo54 tweeted that the shooter was “a Democrat Socialist who has a Beto sticker on his truck.” As a data analyst noted on Twitter, even though the @suemo54 account had few followers, the tweet containing the false claim received hundreds and eventually thousands of retweets. A misinformation-tracking firm told The Washington Post that “the post appears to have been amplified mainly by bot accounts.”&nbsp;<b>The account was later suspended but has since been reinstated.</b></span></div><div>
</div><div>@suemo54 image</div><div>The @suemo54 account’s Facebook page has previously shared material from JoeM, a major QAnon account.</div><div>
</div><div>Also that afternoon, a Facebook user called Lupe Fuentes posted almost identical language to @suemo54’s tweet in a&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">meme, along with “BINGO!</span>” The account had also previously posted<b>&nbsp;QAnon</b>&nbsp;material from JoeM. The meme was subsequently shared tens of thousands of times, and Fuentes bragged about the post’s virality.</div><div>
</div><div>Fuentes Facebook Beto false claim</div><div>
</div><div>Following these posts, other Twitter accounts began tweeting similar language, with some, according to the data analyst, getting “traction on their shooter/Beto tweet above and beyond what one might expect from their follower count.” Some of the accounts spreading the false claim that received&nbsp;<b>thousands of retweets</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;included @paphotog, an account that used to support QAnon; @nightingalern, a QAnon account that has the QAnon slogan “Where we go one, we go all,” or “WWG1WGA” in its profile; and @bbusa617, which also supports QAnon.</span></div><div>
</div><div>@paphotog</div><div>@nightingalern</div><div>@bbusa617</div><div>
</div><div><b>Joel Fischer, an advisory council member for Turning Point USA,</b>&nbsp;also tweeted the false claim by the evening, receiving thousands of retweets. Fischer has a history of pushing social media falsities, including those from the QAnon community.</div><div>
</div><div>Joel Fischer Beto false claim</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fischer’s tweet was spread by other right-wing figures and outlets, including the Telegram channel for the far-right group the Proud Boys, a Daily Wire writer whose tweet has since been deleted, and former White House official and current Sinclair contributor Sebastian Gorka, who has previously amplified false content spread by QAnon supporters.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Gorka Beto false claim</div><div>
</div><div>Telegram Proud Boys Beto false claim</div><div>
</div><div><b>Meanwhile, the false claim also continued to spread on Facebook, where some directly cited Fischer and Gorka</b>&nbsp;and, as noted by The Associated Press, some “posted a picture of a white truck with a ‘Beto 2020’ sticker on the back window, saying it belonged to Ator”; on Twitter, including from Dustin Nemos, a co-author of a bestselling QAnon book who pushed @suemo54’s tweet; and on&nbsp;<b>white nationalist hotspot 4chan,&nbsp;</b>where a user shared Fuentes’ meme.</div><div>
</div><div>Dustin Nemos</div><div>Facebook Beto false claim Gorka Fischer</div><div>4chan Beto false claim</div><div>4chan Beto false claim2</div><div>
</div><div><b>Tony Shaffer, a former intelligence officer and member of President Donald Trump’s 2020 advisory board,&nbsp;</b>shared @suemo54’s tweet on the morning of September 2, adding that it showed the alleged shooter “was a @BetoORourke supporter.”</div><div>
</div><div>Tony Shaffer Beto false claim</div><div>When The Washington Post told Shaffer in a brief interview that the claim in his tweet is false, Shaffer doubled down, saying, “That’s not what I’ve seen from people.”</div><div>
</div><div>The baseless claim tying the shooter to a Democratic presidential candidate -- and to the left more broadly -- appears to have jumped from social media to right-wing talk radio; on September 4, host Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed the alleged shooter “was an out-of-control Democrat.”</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A Facebook spokesperson, in response to criticism from O'Rourke's campaign about the falsity's spread on social media, told the Post that it was looking into whether “inauthentic behavior amplified content promoting the false story on its platform.” Neither Google nor Twitter responded to the paper's inquiries about the false claim.</span></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/how-youtube-radicalized-brazil/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/how-youtube-radicalized-brazil/</font></a></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>How YouTube radicalized Brazil</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Nancy LeTourneau / Washington Monthly<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>August 14, 2019</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Max Fisher and Amanda Taub have spent two years researching and reporting on the internet’s role as a force for radicalization. But as Fisher said on Twitter, nothing has disturbed him more than their recent story about how YouTube radicalized Brazil.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Most of us have been exposed to the fact that individuals like the El Paso shooter were engaged with white supremacists in online forums. We’ve heard about how people like Steve Bannon used Cambridge Analytica to psychographically target young white men with racial messages. But Fisher and Taub decided to ask a different question.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wherever we looked, the rate and consequences of online radicalization seemed far beyond what we’d anticipated, and were growing fast. So, in January, we decided to ask the question in a different way: Could the consequences of online radicalization go beyond a few extremists and, in ways that might be less obvious but perhaps just as consequential, radicalize large swaths of an entire society?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That is what led them to travel to Brazil.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Brazil’s politics have experienced a sudden, world-shaking shift, with Jair Bolsonaro, the once-fringe, far-right politician, becoming president this year. Years of political corruption crises had undoubtedly played a role. But something else was clearly happening there.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And Brazil is the second-largest market for YouTube, after the United States. YouTube has not received as much scrutiny as, say, Facebook. But experts say the platform has the power to radicalize people and communities in ways we are only beginning to understand.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here is what they found that was so disturbing.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Members of the nation’s newly empowered far right — from grass-roots organizers to federal lawmakers — say their movement would not have risen so far, so fast, without YouTube’s recommendation engine.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">New research has found they may be correct. YouTube’s search and recommendation system appears to have systematically diverted users to far-right and conspiracy channels in Brazil.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A New York Times investigation in Brazil found that, time and again, videos promoted by the site have upended central elements of daily life.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Teachers describe classrooms made unruly by&nbsp;<b>students</b>&nbsp;who quote from YouTube conspiracy videos or who, encouraged by right-wing YouTube stars, secretly record their instructors.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Some parents look to “Dr. YouTube” for health advice but get dangerous misinformation instead, hampering the nation’s efforts to fight diseases like Zika. Viral videos have incited death threats against public health advocates.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>And in politics, a wave of right-wing YouTube stars ran for office alongside Mr. Bolsonaro, some winning by historic margins. Most still use the platform, governing the world’s fourth-largest democracy through internet-honed trolling and provocation.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Renan Santos, the national coordinator of a group that used YouTube videos to agitate for the 2016 impeachment of the left-wing President Dilma Rousseff, made a chilling statement: “Reality is shaped by whatever message goes most viral.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Monday I wrote about how&nbsp;<b>tyranny takes hold via a process of malignant normalcy</b>. Here is how Dr. John Gartner explained the process.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Malignant normality is when a malignantly narcissistic leader takes control of society and gradually changes reality for everyone else. So their crazy internal reality becomes enacted in the lived true external reality of that society. This is how a leader can come in and change the mores of their society.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">What Fisher and Taub found in Brazil is that social media platforms like YouTube can advance malignant normalcy in their quest to maximize watchtime (i.e. make money).</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the wake of the El Paso shooting, Beto O’Rourke wrote an opinion column for CNN titled, “It’s America’s Moment of Truth.” This is the portion that caught my eye.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When President Donald Trump describes Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and “bringing crime,” or refers to undocumented immigrants as individuals who “infest our country” — he speaks not as America’s President but as an emissary of hate. And his vilification and fear-mongering connect with those who are open to receiving it.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The seeds of terror we saw that August day are transmitted day and night on Fox News, the most watched cable news channel in the country. They are amplified by right-wing websites like Breitbart, and in messages forced onto local news broadcasts by Sinclair Media.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>They metastasize on Facebook. And they filter up from grotesque online havens for white supremacists who preach intolerance and worship violence.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What O’Rourke just described are the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;forces that have aligned to make a profit off of hate—gaining either political power or money, perhaps even both.&nbsp;</span>As O’Rourke said, our moment of truth has arrived. Silence is complicity.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/07/30/youtube-video-suggestion-algorithm-climate-science-denial-study"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/07/30/youtube-video-suggestion-algorithm-climate-science-denial-study</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx vid</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Back in 2015, if you’d searched YouTube for information about climate change, the videos offered up might have left you with a warped sense of the state of climate science and the degree of scientific certainty that people are heating the world’s climate, a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Communication suggests.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That year was, at the time, the worst year on record for U.S. wildfires, including California’s Butte fire, which burned 900 buildings. It was the year when Pope Francis issued an encyclical urging rich countries to ward off climate change. And, for the first time in over 800,000 years, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere crossed 400 parts per million on average in 2015.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>It was also a year when YouTube’s video recommendation algorithm —</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;which has become central to controversies over the rise of white supremacism and far-right extremism online — served up an unusually high number of videos in response to climate-related keywords that fell outside of the scientific consensus on climate, the new study concludes.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Searching YouTube for climate-science and climate-engineering-related terms finds fewer than half of the videos represent mainstream scientific views,”</b>&nbsp;study author Dr. Joachim Allgaier, senior researcher at the RWTH Aachen University in Germany said in a statement about his findings.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It’s alarming to find that the majority of videos propagate conspiracy theories about climate science and technology,” he added.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Misinformation researcher John Cook developed the Fact-Myth-Fallacy framework for battling myths about climate science and other topics.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Letting Nonsense Flourish</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That pattern developed as YouTube rose to new heights of popularity, both in the U.S. and worldwide. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults, and 94 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds, report watching YouTube — and&nbsp;<b>one-fifth of Americans described YouTube as “very important” for “understanding things happening in the world,” according to a November 2018 Pew Research Center study.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">YouTube, where videos are generally less than 15 minutes long, relies heavily on keeping viewers watching longer with its “Up Next” sidebar — a feature responsible for over 70 percent of the time people spend on the site. That makes the selection of recommended videos, chosen by a proprietary algorithm, both important and — when it comes to factual information — very politically charged.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The massive ‘library,’ generated by users with little editorial oversight, is bound to have untrue nonsense,” Bloomberg’s Mark Bergen explained in an April investigation into YouTube’s internal decision-making. “Instead, YouTube’s problem is that it&nbsp;<b>allows the nonsense to flourish. And, in some cases, through its powerful artificial intelligence system, it even provides the fuel that lets it spread.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">YouTube’s recommendations, created by that algorithm, have had profound cultural impacts and have been cited as factors in the rise of the anti-vax movement opposing childhood vaccination, the spreading of white supremacist ideology, and<b>&nbsp;even a surge in the number of flat Earthers.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When it comes to climate change, YouTube has also amplified views that fall outside of the scientific consensus, the new research shows.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">'Straightforward Conspiracy Theories'</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The study examined a group of 200 YouTube videos and compared them against the scientific consensus on climate change, using the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) stance as a benchmark.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The 200 videos reflected the results of searching for 10 different keywords related to climate change, using the online anonymization service Tor to prevent prior views from influencing the search results. Most of the searches were conducted in 2015.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Unexpectedly, the majority of the videos in the sample (107 videos) supports worldviews that are opposing scientific consensus views: 16 videos deny anthropogenic climate change and 91 videos in the sample propagate straightforward conspiracy theories about climate engineering and climate change,” the study concluded.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Those outside-of-the-mainstream videos attracted virtually the same number of views as the videos presenting information that was scientifically grounded, the study adds, noting that out of the roughly 34 million views attributed to those 200 videos, those supporting mainstream climate science positions racked up just 2,294 more views than those opposed.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[Screen shots of climate science denial videos on YouTube.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“The way YouTube search algorithms work is not very transparent,” Allgaier continued. “We should be aware this powerful artificial intelligence is already making decisions for us, for example, if you choose to use ‘auto-play.'”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The search terms used in the study included not only “climate,” “climate change,” and “global warming,” but also “chemtrails” and “climate hacking,” which the study described as “terms that are often used by opponents of mainstream science.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In some cases, conspiracy theorists advised their followers to adopt scientific language to make it harder for listeners to identify them as representing fringe views, the study said.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“From their point of view this strategy also has the advantage that ‘chemtrailers’ can now jump on the bandwagon when there are actual scientific discussions and events addressing technical options of artificial climate modification or manipulation,” Allgaier wrote.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DeSmog has previously covered the ways that YouTube and its algorithm have&nbsp;<b>benefitted</b>&nbsp;climate science denial.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Despite the clear errors, the video has gathered&nbsp;<b>more views than any other climate science denial clip on YouTube,</b>” Graham Readfearn reported in February, describing a&nbsp;<b>PragerU video by Canadian lobbyist and fossil fuels advocate Patrick Moore t</b>hat claims there has been “no significant warming trend” in this century. “A search on YouTube for the most viewed “climate change” videos has Moore’s effort ranked 13th — searching for “global warming” has it ranked 19th. But where the problems really start, are when YouTube’s 'up next' algorithm takes a guess at what you might want to watch next after seeing Moore’s video.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Noted climate science denier Steven Goddard (a pseudonym for Tony Heller) was not pleased with YouTube's changes to fight misinformation on climate change.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">YouTube has defended itself in numerous controversies surrounding its video recommendations by citing the principle of freedom of speech. It also recently said that it will also make some effort to promote more credible videos.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Over the last year we’ve worked to better surface credible news sources across our site for people searching for news-related topics,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Guardian, “begun reducing recommendations of borderline content and videos that could misinform users in harmful ways, and introduced information panels to help give users more sources where they can fact-check information for themselves.”</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">some lnx</font></div><div><p open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Back in 2015, if you’d searched YouTube for information about climate change, the videos offered up might have left you with a warped sense of the state of climate science and the degree of scientific certainty that people are heating the world’s climate,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2019.00036/full" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a new study published</a>&nbsp;in the journal Frontiers in Communication&nbsp;suggests.</font></p><p open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That year was, at the time,&nbsp;<a href="https://earthsky.org/earth/2015-worst-us-wildfire-year-on-record" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">the worst year</a>&nbsp;on record for&nbsp;<span class="caps">U.S.</span>&nbsp;wildfires, including California’s Butte fire, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article74496267.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">burned 900 buildings</a>. It was the year when Pope Francis&nbsp;<a href="https://unfccc.int/news/pope-francis-releases-encyclical-on-climate-and-environment" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">issued</a>&nbsp;an encyclical urging rich countries to ward off climate change. And, for the first time in over 800,000 years, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/11/november-11-2015-the-last-day-of/417378/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">crossed</a>&nbsp;400 parts per million on average in&nbsp;2015.</font></p><p open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was also a year when YouTube’s video recommendation algorithm — which has become central to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-04-02/youtube-executives-ignored-warnings-letting-toxic-videos-run-rampant" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">controversies</a>&nbsp;over the rise of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/business/youtube-remove-extremist-videos.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">white supremacism</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-youtube-pulled-these-men-down-a-vortex-of-far-right-hate" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">far-right extremism</a>&nbsp;online — served up an unusually high number of videos in response to climate-related keywords that fell outside of the scientific consensus on climate, the new study&nbsp;concludes.</font></p><p open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>Searching YouTube for climate-science and climate-engineering-related terms finds fewer than half of the videos represent mainstream scientific views,” study author&nbsp;Dr. Joachim Allgaier, senior researcher at the&nbsp;<span class="caps">RWTH</span>&nbsp;Aachen University in Germany said in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/climate-deniers-dominate-youtube-climate-modification-videos" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a statement</a>&nbsp;about his&nbsp;findings.</font></p><p open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>It’s alarming to find that the majority of videos propagate conspiracy theories about climate science and technology,” he&nbsp;added.</font></p></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></b></p></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AN 719</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div><b>Marco Rubio gets pilloried for spreading a vicious and bogus smear about Ilhan Omar</b></div><div>
</div><div>Written by Cody Fenwick<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>July 25, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>Once again, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has become the focus of a vicious right-wing smear, this time based on a deceptively edited video.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The video comes from a February 2018 interview Omar gave to Al Jazeera. In its new form, it was resurfaced by Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), which found its way to the Daily Caller report Molly Prince’s twitter feed, as Vox reported. From there, other right-wing figures picked it up, including, most prominently, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).</span></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Omar’s comments went viral because, in the video, she seemed to be saying people should be afraid of “white men” and said the government should be “profiling, monitoring” them. Rubio indicated that the statement was “racist,” and suggested that the media should “hound ever Democrat to denounce” it, apparently expressing frustration that Republicans were pressed to respond to Trump’s recent racist attacks.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>But the video Rubio shared was highly deceptive, and it seems clear it was intentionally edited to mislead viewers about what Omar was saying.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When Prince shared the video, in a tweet picked up by Rubio, she included the caption: “Ilhan Omar contends that Americans ‘should be more fearful of white men.'” While the quoted words are accurate, they’re missing essential context. Omar was having a discussion with reporter Mehdi Hasan about Islamophobia, and Hasan had asked the then-candidate to respond to the idea that Americans might “legitimately” be afraid of Muslims because of “Jihadist terrorism.” So when Omar said Americans should be “more fearful of white men,” she wasn’t speaking in the absolute sense of trying to encourage prejudice against white men. She was correctly pointing out that white men have been more likely to be the perpetrators of terrorism in the United States in recent years.</span></div><div>
</div><div>I am sure the media will now hound every Democrat to denounce this statement as racist. Right? https://t.co/UewkblF8Oo</div><div>
</div><div>— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 25, 2019</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And indeed, as Hasan said on Twitter, none other than current FBI Director Christopher Wray made a similar point recently when he said: “A majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we’ve investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call ‘white supremacist violence.'”</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The second part of Omar’s comments was even more gratuitously distorted. Here’s the full exchange in question:</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">HASAN: A lot of conservatives in particular would say that the rise in Islamophobia is the result not of hate, but of fear. And legitimate fear, they say, of quote-unquote “jihadist terrorism” — whether it’s Fort Hood, or San Bernardino, or the recent truck attack in New York. What do you say to them?</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">OMAR: I would say — our country should be more fearful of white men across our country, because they are actually causing most of the deaths within this country. And so if fear was the driving force of policies to keep America safe, Americans safe inside of this country, we should be profiling, monitoring, and creating policies to fight the radicalization of white men.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The CBN video cut out the phrase “And so if fear was the driving force of policies to keep America safe, Americans safe inside of this country,” making it seem as though she was seriously suggesting that the U.S. should be “profiling” and “monitoring” white men.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Of course, that’s not what she meant. She meant to illustrate the absurdity of trying to use “fear” to justify policy and how it often leads to discriminatory actions against minorities.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And in fact, the uproar over the deceptively edited video actually proves her point. She was using the example of targeting white men as an example of why these policies would be treated with outrage when the subjects are a majority group, even though the policies are often embraced by the right wing when Muslims face scrutiny.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And that’s exactly what happened with the conservative outrage over the video. Conservatives perceived a threatening position coming from a Muslim woman based on a misinterpretation of the facts — and they overreacted. And yet when Trump makes obviously racist attacks, most of the right bends over backward to give him the benefit of the doubt. Omar is continually facing this racist double standard that makes her a perpetual target of suspicion.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hasan demanded that Rubio apologize for spreading the smear:</span></div><div>
</div><div>Senator @marcorubio will you delete this tweet and apologize? You’re sharing a selectively-edited video from my show @AJUpFront to make @IlhanMN look bad and increase the number of death threats she already gets. Shame on you. Here’s the un-edited clip:https://t.co/1xX5KMns8N https://t.co/9lOAr67iCX</div><div>
</div><div>— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 25, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>Parker Malloy of Media Matters for America noted that the smear against Omar was a case of history repeating.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This happened with the outrage over Omar saying that American Muslims shouldn’t lose their rights just because some people who share their religion carried out 9/11,” she said. “It was clear what she was saying, but a&nbsp;<b>bad-faith reading got amplified into the public consciousness.</b>”</span></div><div>
</div><div>In a reply to Rubio, she wrote:</div><div>
</div><div>Hey, genius, this clip has been selectively edited.</div><div>
</div><div>— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) July 25, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>Others echoed the sentiment:</div><div>
</div><div>I am sure you will apologize for falling for a deceptively edited video. Right? https://t.co/Xc8RrbOJva</div><div>
</div><div>— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 25, 2019</div><div>
</div><div>A good idea would be for the media to hound every Republican senator who’s circulating a deceptively edited video tweet and ask why they are doing that? https://t.co/GblWB5TAmg</div><div>
</div><div>— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) July 25, 2019</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/04/right-wing-groups-are-training-young-conservatives-to-win-the-next-meme-war/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/04/right-wing-groups-are-training-young-conservatives-to-win-the-next-meme-war/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">april 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twit</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">POLITICS</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">APRIL 2, 2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“The Left Can’t Meme”: How Right-Wing Groups Are Training the Next Generation of Social Media Warriors</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Memes helped elect Donald Trump. Now well-funded conservative groups are using them to proselytize.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">STORY BY STEPHANIE MENCIMER, VIDEO BY MARK HELENOWSKI</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Benny Johnson took to the stage at the convention center in Palm Beach, Florida, before an audience of cheering young Trump supporters in December to lead a session titled “How to Own the Libs.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I ask myself every day: How do we own the libs?” said Johnson, at the time a reporter for the right-wing Daily Caller. “How do we do it in a way that makes a difference? Because these people deserved to be wrecked.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Johnson, the answer to that question is memes. These bits of humor or political propaganda—generally images overlaid with a caption designed to go viral—are best known for littering social media, but some experts think they might have helped elect Donald Trump. Or as notorious internet troll Chuck Johnson has said, “We memed the president into existence.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Following that unexpected meme-driven success, well-funded conservative groups are making a more organized push to train young internet-savvy right-wingers in the art of meme-making</b>,<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;enlisting a growing army in what they see as the coming meme war of 2020.<b>&nbsp;Turning Point USA</b>, the conservative campus group that organized the conference, is merely one of these organizations seeking to sway hearts, minds, and elections via meme trainings. And it’s clear that when it comes to political memes, the left—which has never taken them very seriously—is trailing the right badly, and falling even further behind.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>“Right-wing speaker training has been around for decades,”</b>&nbsp;says Angelo Carusone, president of the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters, which did a study of Facebook memes last summer. “Memes are a new front in the asymmetry. What you’re looking at here with memes is storytelling around the bend, and what you’re seeing is the future.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Memes are best known for littering social media, but some experts think they might have helped elect Donald Trump president.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Trump’s presidential campaign keyed into the power of memes early on, monitoring obscure meme sites and boosting pro-Trump images and videos onto mainstream platforms like Facebook</span>. Facebook’s algorithms favor images and videos over more nuanced text posts or links to news articles, so pro-Trump memes quickly went viral. During the campaign, memes also helped spread misinformation about Hillary Clinton’s health and the Pizzagate conspiracy theory that prompted an armed North Carolina man to show up at a<b>&nbsp;DC pizza parlor</b>&nbsp;to break up a nonexistent child sex ring supposedly led by Democratic Party operatives.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Perhaps no one understood the effectiveness of memes better than former Trump campaign strategist Steve Bannon, who had served as executive chairman of the far-right publication Breitbart News. In 2016, only 5 percent of Breitbart‘s posts were of images, but those images accounted for half of the site’s most-shared posts on Facebook.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Jeff Giesea, a consultant who has worked with venture capitalist Peter Thiel and the Koch brothers, is a self-described “memetics” expert.</b>&nbsp;During the 2016 campaign, he joined with men’s rights agitator<b>&nbsp;Mike Cernovich&nbsp;</b>to organize MAGA3X, a grassroots army of online trolls who worked to meme Trump to the White House. The effort produced tens of thousands of social media accounts, all working in concert to promote Trump, with a heavy emphasis on iconography. They even created a flash-mob meme generator to make it easy for Trump supporters to hook up in real life.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Giesea has long argued that memes are such a powerful tool they should be used as cyberwarfare to combat propaganda from ISIS and other foreign threats. In 2015, he wrote in a NATO journal on information warfare that “it seems obvious that more aggressive communication tactics and broader warfare through trolling and memes is a necessary, inexpensive, and easy way to help destroy the appeal and morale of our common enemies…Memetic warfare is about taking control of the dialogue, narrative, and psychological space. It’s about denigrating, disrupting, and subverting the enemy’s effort to do the same.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The same could be said of memes in politics. Cheap, subversive, and designed to provoke an emotional response, memes are a disruptive form of information guerrilla warfare. Republicans have gotten Giesea’s message, while Democrats have all but ignored it.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Right-wing speaker training has been around for decades,” says Media Matters president Angelo Carusone. “Memes are a new front in the asymmetry.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Johnson’s skill in this area launched him to Washington media fame for a while, until he was ousted from BuzzFeed and then the Independent Journal Review after being accused of plagiarism. He seems to have found his calling with Turning Point USA, the conservative campus activist group that sponsored the student convention in Palm Beach and is itself something of a meme factory.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Founded in 2012, TPUSA got its startup funding from Foster Friess, a wealthy Republican donor,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;and it has since raked in donations from the oil and gas industry and organizations affiliated with the Koch brothers. With a budget of more than $8 million last year, TPUSA amplifies its campus presence by churning out endless “Big Government Sucks” memes on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Turning Point USA</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Like most memes, a few of TPUSA’s are clever and spread far, and many more have been trashed by internet trolls, who have created a whole meme subgenre they call “Toilet Paper USA.” Johnson was on hand in Florida to help TPUSA members up their game.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Johnson started his tutorial with “based Lindsey Graham,” a video montage of the South Carolina senator’s angry performance during the contentious confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in high school. “That is a special moment,” he explained, noting that Kavanaugh was confirmed in spite of the allegations.<b>&nbsp;“In your lifetime, there has never been a culture war that conservatives have won except for this.”</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He proceeded to walk the audience through the evolution of Graham memes that went viral during the hearing and may have helped change public opinion on Kavanaugh. On the big screen, Johnson showed photos and a video he had taken of Graham coming out of the Capitol after a day of hearings. In the video, Graham is coolly adjusting his tie and smiling, while in the background, a police officer restrains a hysterical-looking woman who’s screaming at him about Kavanaugh. Johnson tweeted that he had just taken “the most thug life @LindseyGrahamSC photos of the entire Kavanaugh saga.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View image on TwitterView image on Twitter</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Benny</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@bennyjohnson</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;I hate to brag.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I just took the most thug life @LindseyGrahamSC photos of the entire Kavanaugh saga.&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[Story soon]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From there, the internet took care of the rest. “Did this sucker meme?” Johnson asked, laughing. The answer was yes. Creative internet users tweaked and photoshopped the image, both still and video, as it spread. Johnson showed one meme of the tie-adjusting Graham superimposed on the burning Twin Towers. Then one featuring Joe Biden planting a kiss on the screaming woman. And finally, one that turned Graham into a “thug life” rap video star.&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Embedded video</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Benny</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@bennyjohnson</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;???? MUST WATCH: SOUND ON ????</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">???? MUST WATCH: SOUND ON ????</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">???? MUST WATCH: SOUND ON ????</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">???? MUST WATCH: SOUND ON ????</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">???? MUST WATCH: SOUND ON ????</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">???? MUST WATCH: SOUND ON ????#kavanaugh</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2,539</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">8:16 PM - Oct 7, 2018</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">818 people are talking about this</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Twitter Ads info and privacy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This is how you know you’ve made it in this profession,” Johnson told his audience. “When memes take life.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In February, TPUSA hired Johnson to do this sort of thing full time as its chief creative officer, a sign of just how seriously well-funded pro-Trump organizations are taking the business of memes.&nbsp;</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The TPUSA conference also included a second, more interactive session on memes, hosted by two minor Instagram stars, Rogan O’Handley (Instagram handle DC_Draino) and Grant Godwin (the_typical-liberal), who got into the nuts and bolts of the art form—or, as Godwin explained, how to get your Pepe the Frog memes to go viral.&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Two weeks earlier, meme training got top billing at the American Priority Conference, which billed itself as an “America First,” pro-Trump political gathering</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Speakers included&nbsp;<b>Roger Stone,</b>&nbsp;the longtime Trump associate who was indicted the next month for obstruction and false statements in the special counsel investigation, and Anthony<b>&nbsp;Scaramucci,</b>&nbsp;who lasted less than a week as White House communications director. The conference featured a session on memetics by Tom Shadilay, a producer for Mike&nbsp;<b>Cernovich.</b>&nbsp;(Shadilay’s name may itself be a meme: It’s a popular hashtag on Gab, the social media site favored by the far right, and a code word for trolls on 4chan. Shadilay is the name of a 1986 Italian disco song by a band called P.E.P.E., whose album art featured a cartoon frog that resembles Pepe the Frog. Tom Shadilay does not appear to have any internet presence before his Twitter account was created in May 2017. He stopped responding to my emails after I asked whether that’s really his last name.)</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In January, Liberty Con, a national convention of libertarian students, offered advice from David Gay, a libertarian activist who runs the Facebook group Liberty Memes, which has nearly a half-million followers spreading his political message through memes. (Until late 2016, Giesea, the meme expert, was on the board of Students for Liberty, which sponsored the conference.) Johnson has four events scheduled this month on college campuses on “winning the meme wars.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Boston University professor Gianluca Stringhini studies memes for a living. When I told him that well-funded right-wing organizations were specifically training activists for the next great meme war, he was surprised. Typically, he says, memes are seen as organic, emerging from the dark corners of the internet, not propaganda directed by people in politics. “Memes are tools for information warfare,” he says. “Probably this is a new way of doing politics. A new weapon that campaigns can use.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s not clear exactly whether memes do, in fact, change public opinion, but conservative groups working to train grassroots troops seem to think so. So do the Russians. In the 2018 report commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that meddled in the 2016 presidential election, researchers discovered that the IRA was especially fond of memes put out by TPUSA. Using accounts that it created to look like ordinary Americans and spread misinformation and propaganda, the IRA gave TPUSA memes a boost across multiple social media platforms. But the researchers couldn’t determine exactly what the impact of all those memes was.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Last year, Stringhini and six colleagues published a study on the origins of memes, analyzing more than 2 billion social media posts on Twitter, 4chan, Reddit, and Gab, to<b>figure out where the most popular memes get their start. Stringhini says the most trafficked memes start on right-wing internet forums, places like 4chan’s politically incorrect /pol/ channel and Reddit’s /r/the_Donald/ subreddit. From there, the far right has been extremely successful in getting its stuff to take off on mainstream platforms.&nbsp;</b>Stringhini notes that after the 2016 presidential election, Trump’s campaign spokeswoman, Katrina Pierson, tweeted her thanks to 4chan and Reddit users for making it all happen, putting a sharp point on how much people on the right believe that memes are influencing public opinio</span>n.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a result, conservative groups seem to be incorporating memes into their training arsenal for grassroots activists in a way that has no parallel on the left. In fact, “the left can’t meme” is itself a subgenre of memes, reflecting an idea accepted on both ends of the political spectrum that progressive activists are really bad at this form of political warfare.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One potential exception is long-shot Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who has recently catapulted to fame thanks to memes. But those memes are coming from the same sources, on Reddit and 4chan, that promoted Trump, not from liberal groups, creating a bizarre movement of Yang fans among white nationalists.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Media Matters’ Carusone says people on the left are more concerned with nuanced facts and gray areas that can’t always be boiled down accurately into a photo with a caption.</b>&nbsp;On the left, he says, “every meme has to have a million qualifiers, so that it’s no longer a meme. It’s a Medium post.” Conservatives, on the other hand, tend to communicate their ideas “in ways that are very reductionist. They’re also much more comfortable lying, and their audiences are much more likely to accept it.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Benny Johnson has his own take on what makes a good political meme. The first step for successful lib ownership, he told the students assembled in Palm Beach, is to “challenge the culture,” as Graham did during the Kavanaugh hearings. Second, “join the conversation” by creating an interaction, but be sure it will “demonstrate the superiority of conservative ideas.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As an example, he played a goofy video he made with<b>&nbsp;Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai.</b>&nbsp;In the video, Pai is dressed like Santa Claus, wielding a light saber, and he defends his plan for “internet freedom” in response to criticism of the Trump administration’s move to end net neutrality. “We were trolling the internet,” Johnson said. And it worked.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He flashed through a host of viral memes that took off after the video was posted. In the video, there’s a shot of Pai in front of a screen eating popcorn and watching a movie. Meme-makers have swapped in clips to make it look like Pai is watching Hitler rallies or the burning Twin Towers. Even Luke Skywalker weighed in:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View image on Twitter</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View image on Twitter</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mark Hamill</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@HamillHimself</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Cute video Ajit "Aren't I Precious?" Pai ??-but you are profoundly unworthy 2 wield a lightsaber-A Jedi acts selflessly for the common man-NOT lie 2 enrich giant corporations. Btw-did you pay John Williams his royalty? @AjitPaiFCCorpShill #AJediYouAreNOT</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The third step in successful lib ownership, Johnson instructed the crowd, was critical: “Have more fun than the left.” He played a video he had made in 2015 of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz cooking bacon on a machine gun. “Can you think of three thing libs hate more?” he exclaimed with a laugh. “Ted Cruz, bacon, guns.” All the ingredients for a good meme.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finally, Johnson concluded: “Smile. You’re on the winning side.”</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">nice case study:</font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref no lnx twit</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2018/10/31/george-soros-and-migrant-caravan-how-lie-multiplied-online/1824633002/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2018/10/31/george-soros-and-migrant-caravan-how-lie-multiplied-online/1824633002/</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How a lie about George Soros and the migrant caravan multiplied online</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">USA TODAY followed the rapid spread of a social media conspiracy theory about George Soros and migrants that grew from obscurity to the political mainstream.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Brad Heath, Matt Wynn and Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Updated 12:27 p.m. PDT Oct. 31, 2018</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How a George Soros conspiracy theory spread from online to cable news</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">USA TODAY followed the spread of a social media conspiracy theory about George Soros and migrants that grew from obscurity to the political mainstream.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is the life of a lie.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Three weeks ago, a caravan of Hondurans began walking nearly 2,000 miles to the United States. Their ranks grew as they inched north and, along with them, falsehoods grew, too. But one stands out: a<b>&nbsp;conspiracy theory that liberal billionaire George Soros, a Jewish immigrant, is paying the migrants to make the journey – or even orchestrating it.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Members of Congress and the president’s son both repeated it. Conservative celebrities, too.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It also may have resonated in darker places.&nbsp;<b>Cesar Sayoc, the man charged with mailing pipe bombs to Soros and other prominent critics of President Donald Trump</b>, dwelled at length online about conspiracy theories involving the Hungarian-American philanthropist.&nbsp;</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Robert Bowers, charged with killing 11 people worshiping in a Pittsburgh synagogue</b>&nbsp;on Saturday, used his social media accounts to post extensively about the caravan, including circulating an image of refugees in Guatemala purportedly climbing into a truck with a Star of David on the side.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But it began with a handful of posts in the caravan’s early days.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">One of the first was from a North Carolina writer who goes by the screen name “lorettatheprole.” Loretta Malakie has more than&nbsp;<b>6,000 followers on Twitter,&nbsp;</b>to whom she directs frequent posts about “white genocide,” Jews and the “invading force” approaching the border.&nbsp;</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Oct. 14, Malakie posted a link to an article about the caravan, with a&nbsp;<b>single word of commentary: “Soros.”</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>That same day, identical posts appeared over the course of 20 minutes in six pro-Trump Facebook groups. Combined, those six groups had 165,000 members.</b>&nbsp;A user who gave the name Philip Balzano, a Trump supporter from Chicago, wrote to the Trump Train group: “Here Comes ANOTHER Group of Paid for New Demoncratic Voters Just in Time for the Primaries... The Financier aka ‘Win at All Costs’ ‘Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste’ the Evil George Soros and His 140+ Orgs, Should Be Classified as Terrorist and Terrorist Orgs.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Malakie declined to comment, though on Twitter she&nbsp;<b>panned the USA TODAY reporter who called her as “evil</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);">.” Balzano did not respond to an interview request sent through Facebook.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Soros theory was not new – it had made the rounds during previous caravans in the spring and again in August. In fact, one Facebook user posting in October provided as evidence a&nbsp;<b>video of Glenn Beck discussing the spring caravan’s alleged connections to Soros.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GEORGE SOROS WEBSITE</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This time, though, the theory snowballed, gaining political purchase as the caravan became a flashpoint in the final weeks of a contentious midterm campaign.&nbsp;</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It’s really significant how these memes can go from feverswamp-ish places to be amplified by lawmakers, even the president," said David Carroll, associate professor at The New School's Parsons School of Design in New York. “From there, the impact on world events can’t be underestimated.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lies, of course, are not new either. But social media can turn a breeze into a hurricane. It carried this falsehood to millions with a few taps on a screen. It also left a distinct trail that makes it possible to follow how lies spread and who told them, a map of their trajectory from the darker corners of the internet to the political mainstream.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">USA TODAY followed that path by examining tens of thousands of social media posts on three major mainstream social media sites: Twitter, Facebook and Reddit.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Over the next three days, a few louder social media voices weighed in. By Oct. 16 – four days after the caravan departed – the combined following of accounts mentioning both Soros and the caravan had reached&nbsp;<b>2 million, still a pebble in the flood tide of social media.&nbsp;</b>(The total includes some duplicates because people follow more than one account.)</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Twitter, someone with the username “LibertyBell1000” warned about 42,000 followers that Soros had “manufactured yet another immigrant caravan ‘crisis.’ ” Another, using the name “WhoWolfe,” asked “Anybody else think Soros and the Dirty Dems are behind this?”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);">More posts spread across Facebook</b><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);">. Trump supporter Randy Penrod posted in a group called&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The Deplorable's,” with about 186,000 members, “Our stable leader just called out the Soros conspired invasion of new Democrat voters in a tweet just moments ago.”</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tap, tap, tap.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It took just one more day for the theory to reach critical mass, breaking through into widespread public consciousness.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The evening of Oct. 17,<b>&nbsp;a Republican member of Congress posted a video on Twitter of what he said was people in Honduras handing out small sums of money to migrants.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Soros? US-backed NGOs? Time to investigate the source!” he wrote.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rep. Matt Gaetz would later concede that he was mistaken about where the video was shot (it was Guatemala). But by then his message had metastasized, spreading far beyond the 153,000 people who follow the north Florida congressman’s tweets.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Conservative commentator Ann Coulter retweeted it to her 2 million followers. So did Sarah Carter, a journalist who’s a frequent guest on Fox News.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Jack Posobiec – a correspondent for conservative cable news television channel One America News Network – got more specific, implying Soros was renting RVs for the migrants.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posobiec was among the early proponents of “Pizzagate,” a social-media conspiracy that falsely claimed then-candidate Hillary Clinton and other Democrats were running a pedophile sex trafficking ring from the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria. It drew a man with a gun to Comet Pizza, where he intended to rescue the children.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The next day, even more influential voices repeated it.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>One was the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who retweeted Gaetz’s post to his 3.1 million followers</b>. The younger Trump has been actively campaigning for Republicans on television and the campaign trail in the lead up to the midterm elections. A spokesman for Donald Trump Jr. declined to comment.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>On Twitter alone, at least 43,000 accounts with a combined 127 million followers</b>&nbsp;carried some message linking Soros to the caravan over those two days; most fanning the conspiracy, a few seeking to knock it down.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>On Reddit</b>, where users share and comment on news and memes, the lie exploded. Five posts in The_Donald subreddit tied Soros to the caravan. Within a week, there would be 10 times more. The_Donald has 675,000 members.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ten days after the caravan began in Honduras, police started intercepting what appeared to be pipe bombs</b>&nbsp;– PVC tubes packed with what the FBI later called “energetic material,” wrapped with tape and attached to a clock – that had been sent to Soros and other prominent critics of President Trump.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By the time police found the first of those bombs in Soros’ mailbox in Westchester County, New York, the lie about his involvement with the caravan had been posted by 20,000 more users on Twitter – to a combined audience of 117 million – and more weighed in on Facebook, Reddit and other sites.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was like a runaway train. Unstoppable.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Another member of Congress, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, said in a Fox News interview that he couldn't “help but think that Democrats, perhaps Soros and others, may be funding this thinking it will help them.”</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>By then, the lie also was at an inflection point. Online, the biggest voices were those debunking it.&nbsp;</b>The day before the bomb was found at Soros’ house, the most prominent people mentioning the theory on Twitter had no longer been conservative commentators but instead New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Chelsea Clinton.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>But researchers say repetition is repetition. Even exposing a lie plays a central role in mutating fantasy into fact, or at least a matter of debate. Here, news coverage – including this story – play a significant role.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The choices reporters and editors make about what to cover and how to cover it play a key part in regulating the amount of oxygen supplied to the falsehoods, antagonisms, and manipulations that threaten to overrun the contemporary media ecosystem,” Syracuse University professor Whitney Phillips wrote in a paper this year on disinformation.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Attention alone can lend credence to the very information critics mean to undermine.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">By Oct. 22, posts debunking the theory also emerged. One from&nbsp;<b>Arizona Christian conservative Joshua Feuerstein was among Facebook’s most-viewed videos</b>pushing the Soros-caravan connection. Feuerstein is best known for characterizing Starbucks’ shift to generic red holiday cups as a war on Christmas.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">His video purported to show Honduran migrants on a truck. Accompanying text popularized a direct connection not just to Soros, but to the midterms: “They are not coming on foot as CNN #FakeNews says! George Soros is paying for them to show up at the border by mid term elections!”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The video and text drew 137,000 views.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Exactly how far the lie linking Soros to the migrant caravan has traveled is impossible to measure in full. Messages on 4chan and other sites where conspiracies germinate disappear quickly. Gab – a social media site that attracted right-wing figures banished from more mainstream platforms – itself was on the verge of disappearing this week. Even on mainstream sites like Facebook and Instagram, many messages are private.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Still, by the morning of Oct. 27, it had spread to hundreds of millions of users on<b>&nbsp;mainstream social media, and found its way to many more on cable news.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That morning, federal prosecutors allege that trucker Robert Bowers stormed into the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and shot 11 worshipers to death. The authorities have offered few details about what might have motivated him to attack, but online Bowers left his own trail of grievance and conspiracy.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Using the handle OneDingo on Twitter, Bowers shared anti-Jewish content and criticized President Trump. Since January, he was a regular on Gab, too, where his bio read: “Jews are the children of Satan.” The image on his Gab account referred to a white supremacist meme. His last message read: “Screw your optics, I'm going in.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And by the next day, he did.&nbsp;</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the aftermath, as the&nbsp;<b>news media rushed to cover the killings and to explain the internet conspiracies that might have precipitated such a massacre – the lie spread anew.</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Originally Published 6:54 a.m. PDT Oct. 31, 2018</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Updated 12:27 p.m. PDT Oct. 31, 2018</font></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">3/19</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma</font></div><div><p helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">new Navigator Research&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=aee3354f21e2d89893d7ce4c809f9ccc04ee9e6eeca8ea66b2884f08d73ca4a980da9d4e9bad6c6b4ae2156f17d4b032dc6478855e8e37b5" title="new Navigator Research poll ">poll</a>&nbsp;reports that "the Fox News<b>&nbsp;echo-chamber"</b>&nbsp;has created "an alternative reality in American politics," with Republicans who watch Fox News a few times a month or more showing&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=aee3354f21e2d8981d59f218a6a59d1bdbb6ce52b2ae69a709ae8e2da9fd844719f3c26dec60c0888084854454e1d492b967fbaec68c5df4" title="significantly more radical views">significantly more radical views</a>&nbsp;than those who don't watch the network.</font></p><p helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">79% of GOP Fox viewers say that "people within the FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies are trying to sabotage President Trump." That's compared to 49% of Republicans who don't watch Fox, 24% of non-Republicans who watch Fox, and 8% of non-Republicans who don't watch Fox.</font></p><p helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That's an astonishing divide between Republicans who watch Fox and the rest of the public on the question of whether or not Trump is the victim of a massive "deep state" conspiracy to remove him from office.</font></p><p helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox has been feeding this conspiracy to its audience for years.&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=aee3354f21e2d8980719cb8fde7c01dffd41e98e718502129af1628ef8decd95b80a55cfded9eaae6b30c3fb28c17fbc0b06dab2bdb2e904" title="Sean Hannity has led the charge">Sean Hannity has led the charge</a>, but&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=aee3354f21e2d8980dc1c110a627ad50c95586a7b815344969df7f75dd34b334f5d08cb1f25b1593e2d3b2bf798e28c1bcf1531f7acd8bfb" title="many of his colleagues have adopted the same rhetoric.">many of his colleagues have adopted the same rhetoric</a>.</font></p><p helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the Mueller investigation moves toward its conclusion, the overwhelming support among Fox viewers for the idea that the president is being sabotaged by the FBI and intelligence agencies is seriously concerning. The Fox-GOP infrastructure is already&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=aee3354f21e2d898834a1ecaa1470c939f34f3d5bfc7e76387b32af4cbadd18fdd22e5ed7e5272d2db020a4c43df27f00153d9b27df4b09c" title="priming the pump">priming the pump</a>&nbsp;for another investigation into the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton's email server.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">sandmann:</font></div><div><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ESCALATOR: ]A response to the viral video first launched in a part of right-wing internet that could be aptly likened to a landfill and ascended into the stratosphere. The pushback campaign first took off with fame-hungry media personalities like YouTube hoaxer Joey Salads, climbed through a mill of pro-Trump propagandists, thrust itself into “respectable” conservative outlets, and eventually reached its cruising altitude at Fox News—an elevation where President Donald Trump encountered the narrative and tweeted out its message to the nation</font></span></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/how-mainstream-media-helps-weaponize-far-right-conspiracy-theories">https://www.alternet.org/how-mainstream-media-helps-weaponize-far-right-conspiracy-theories</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Once an anti-Semitic rumor moved from fringe to the mainstream, it took less than two weeks for violence to erupt. The false allegation that liberal philanthropist George Soros was funding or supporting a caravan of Honduran refugees heading to the U.S. spread wildly from a single tweet posted on Oct. 14.</font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/robert-bowers-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Along with</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://slate.com/technology/2018/10/cesar-sayoc-suspected-bomber-van-right-wing-trump-memes.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">far-right memes</a>, that allegation helped motivate both an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/a-conspiracy-theory-about-george-soros-and-a-migrant-caravan-inspired-horror/2018/10/28/52df587e-dae6-11e8-b732-3c72cbf131f2_story.html?utm_term=.5958ee23bae2" style="text-decoration-line: none;">alleged</a><a href="https://www.cjr.org/tow_center/the-rumor-caravan-from-twitter-reply-to-disaster.php" style="text-decoration-line: none;">mail-bomber</a>&nbsp;and a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/11/2/15946556/antisemitism-enlightenment-george-soros-conspiracy-theory-globalist" style="text-decoration-line: none;">mass</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/2018/10/29/18037580/pittsburgh-shooter-anti-semitism-racist-jewish-caravan" style="text-decoration-line: none;">shooter</a>&nbsp;at a Pittsburgh synagogue. The way these messages traveled across the internet in this short time span is just one example of how extremist messages and memes circulate with incredible speed across mainstream social media platforms.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">From our vantage point as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.baylor.edu/communication/index.php?id=68158" style="text-decoration-line: none;">researchers of visual</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZBgs73QAAAAJ&hl=en" style="text-decoration-line: none;">digital communication</a>,&nbsp;<b>memes&nbsp;</b>– short, often image-based forms of communication – are powerful engines of persuasion, even though they can appear innocuous or even humorous. Perhaps the best known examples are&nbsp;<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lolcats" style="text-decoration-line: none;">LOLCats</a>&nbsp;memes, pairing funny pictures of cats with customizable phrases or sentences.<b>&nbsp;Memes can disseminate information quickly because they invite people to share or remix content with little effort required, making widespread dispersal more likely.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Memes need not be humorous or factual to be functional. All they need to do is attract attention online, which often translates into mainstream media coverage. That makes memes potent tools for distributing disinformation. Moreover, the online and mainstream platforms that amplify memes’ circulation can weaponize false claims and encourage conspiracy theorists – sometimes toward violence.</b></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><interaction data-token="5b96855f8198b4e625350260" data-context="true" data-tags="" data-fallback="true"><b>Memes move conspiracies</b></interaction></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Understanding how these messages embolden anti-Semitism and other forms of terrorism involves grappling with how white supremacists use digital media. As we detail in our forthcoming book “<a href="https://www.peterlang.com/abstract/title/68980" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Make America Meme Again</a>,” messages and memes weaponized in far-right networks are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/04/technology/jobs-not-mobs.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">deft political tools</a>&nbsp;that move swiftly across social and traditional media<b>. Because memes are stealthy political messages that usually offer rebellious or irreverent humor, they can be easily retweeted, shared or even pasted to the side of a van.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Before the dawn of today’s social media network, right-wing extremists were more difficult to find, often gathering in local communities and later discreetly in online forums unknown to the vast majority of internet users. Paranoid, rabid discourses of this ilk still boil around those darker corners of the internet. Today, memes help right-wing extremists communicate with one another and with mainstream audiences.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Soros has been demonized</b>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/12/soros-philanthropy/547247/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">right-wing activists for years, if not decades</a>. Long before the Pittsburgh attack and the mail bombings, conspiracy theories about him were common on all sorts of right-wing discussion areas – including on Infowars, 4chan, Reddit and Gab. Starting in March 2018, the terms&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@d1gi/rumores-sin-fronteras-e181aadf7743" style="text-decoration-line: none;">“caravan,” “immigrants” and “Soros”</a>&nbsp;were frequently posted together on Twitter and Facebook.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Memes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-46073979" style="text-decoration-line: none;">depicting Soros as an evil fascist</a>&nbsp;facilitating an invasion were commonplace.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The alleged mail bomber covered his van with “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/nyregion/cnn-cory-booker-pipe-bombs-sent.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">images and slogans</a>&nbsp;often found on fringe right-wing social media accounts.” But the suspect didn’t find them on radical sites where white supremacists hide. Instead,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/cesar-sayoc-twitter-facebook-soros/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">based on his social media activity</a>, he likely was radicalized in the same place most people look at cute photos of friends’ kids and check up on Aunt Beatrice –&nbsp;<b>Facebook.</b></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From fringe to network</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Social media platforms have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/us/gab-robert-bowers-pittsburgh-synagogue-shootings.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">tried to push hate speech and uninformed conspiracy theories</a>&nbsp;off their sites, but that’s a&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/fear-more-than-hate-feeds-online-bigotry-and-real-world-violence-106988" style="text-decoration-line: none;">difficult task both technologically and ethically</a>. Often, conspiracy promoters find ways to get their ideas into&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/cesar-sayoc-twitter-facebook-soros/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">well-trafficked social media</a>, where&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/misinformation-and-biases-infect-social-media-both-intentionally-and-accidentally-97148" style="text-decoration-line: none;">algorithms promote posts</a>&nbsp;that garner lots of responses – whether appreciative or outraged.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Despite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2018/10/31/george-soros-and-migrant-caravan-how-lie-multiplied-online/1824633002/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">repeated</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-fact-check-president-trumps-rhetoric-and-the-truth-about-migrant-caravans" style="text-decoration-line: none;">fact</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2018/10/no-evidence-soros-is-funding-immigrant-caravan/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">checking</a>, the conspiracy grew. Bots and other&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/11/twitters-bot-problem-still-seems-as-bad-as-ever" style="text-decoration-line: none;">automated accounts drove roughly 60 percent</a>&nbsp;of online talk about the caravan – but people were part of it too, often&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/06/16/six-in-10-of-you-will-share-this-link-without-reading-it-according-to-a-new-and-depressing-study/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">sharing posts without doing any sort of verification</a>. Ultimately, these messages and memes may have inspired terrorism.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">By October, discussions of the “caravan of immigrants” had grown beyond social media. Within a week of that Oct. 14 tweet alleging Soros was funding&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2018/10/31/george-soros-and-migrant-caravan-how-lie-multiplied-online/1824633002/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">a group of refugees seeking asylum</a>, far-right commentator Alex Jones broadcast the conspiracy on Infowars, to his audience of over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.statesman.com/business/20180813/bans-dont-seem-to-be-lessening-reach-of-alex-jones-infowars" style="text-decoration-line: none;">1 million daily visitors</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The conspiracy grew from there, with the video or related images popping up on nearly every platform. Eventually the conspiracy reached&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2018/10/31/george-soros-and-migrant-caravan-how-lie-multiplied-online/1824633002/https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2018/10/31/george-soros-and-migrant-caravan-how-lie-multiplied-online/1824633002/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">hundreds of thousands of potential viewers</a>&nbsp;– including the men who would allegedly become the mail bomber and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-gab-tree-of-life/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">synagogue</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://archive.is/1gI5n" style="text-decoration-line: none;">shooter</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The two men may never have known of each other or the other’s plans. But their actions intertwined with a viciously networked conspiracy theory.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Connecting to mainstream media</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Once there is enough social media attention on a topic or claim, it may be&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/profit-not-free-speech-governs-media-companies-decisions-on-controversy-101292" style="text-decoration-line: none;">covered in more traditional news outlets</a>. That can spread the idea even more widely, and lend credence to inaccuracies and lies. Politicians may also notice online discussion and join in, as U.S. Sen.&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1058363039047733249" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Ted Cruz</a>&nbsp;and a clerk for Texas’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/harris-county-clerk-scrubs-soros-conspiracies-from-site-will-other-gop-leaders-follow-suit/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Harris County</a>&nbsp;did with the purported Soros connection to the migrant caravan.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Conspiratorial ideas often become an&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@MediaManipulation/unite-the-right-how-youtubes-recommendation-algorithm-connects-the-u-s-far-right-9f1387ccfabd" style="text-decoration-line: none;">echo chamber</a>, in which each post draws more attention than the last, generating stronger outrage and escalating the conspiracy</b>. The average user who looks at a conspiratorial meme may not believe its message, but many users may.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Even people who don’t believe it initially might&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/unbelievable-news-read-it-again-and-you-might-think-its-true-69602" style="text-decoration-line: none;">come to assume it’s true</a>&nbsp;after seeing an idea several times from different sources. Still others might spread the conspiracy just for amusement in the distress of others.</span></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Demonize, divide, conquer</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Memes, tweets and other forms of propaganda are designed to rile up constituents. Scaring voters with purported invasions was one way to infuriate voters as they headed to vote in the midterm elections.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">President Donald Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/living-conspiracy-theory-trump-america-181029120503612.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">has historically</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-conspiracy-theories-2016-5" style="text-decoration-line: none;">spread</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/04/politics/donald-trump-star-of-david-tweet-explained/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">far-right</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://time.com/5356443/trump-conspiracy-theories-qanon/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">conspiracy</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/13/politics/donald-trump-conspiracy-theories/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">theories</a>&nbsp;with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/statements/byruling/pants-fire/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">little regard</a>&nbsp;for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-telling-worse-lies-serial-liar-fact-checking-journalist-alleges-1200769" style="text-decoration-line: none;">the truth</a>. Just before the election – after the mail bomb attempts and the tragedy in Pittsburgh&nbsp;<b>– Trump himself&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-wouldnt-be-surprised-if-democratic-megadonor-george-soros-is-funding-the-migrant-caravan/2018/11/01/9ea196a0-ddcf-11e8-85df-7a6b4d25cfbb_story.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">explicitly repeated</a>&nbsp;the conspiracy about Soros.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic ideas spread through social media networks, they can infect a host of mainstream information sources – and make&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/fear-more-than-hate-feeds-online-bigotry-and-real-world-violence-106988" style="text-decoration-line: none;">fear and violence more likely</a>. That broadens the picture of a dangerous world from which people need protection. Fear appeals of this sort can influence voting, and even push people to take matters into their own violent hands. Until social media platforms or federal agencies find ways to diminish extremism, the proliferation of far-right memes, videos and texts will continue to imperil the citizenry.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/heather-woods-448246" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Heather Woods</a>, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Technology,&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/kansas-state-university-1150" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Kansas State University</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/leslie-hahner-586382" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Leslie Hahner</a>, Associate Professor of Communication,&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/baylor-university-1084" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Baylor University</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article is republished from&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">The Conversation</a>&nbsp;under a Creative Commons license. Read the&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mainstream-media-helps-weaponize-far-right-conspiracy-theories-106223" style="text-decoration-line: none;">original article</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">AHA OMG the tiniest and most powerful echo/escalator!</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/fox-news-sean-hannity-and-donald-trumps-bromance-extends-them-chatting-bed-night-report">https://www.alternet.org/fox-news-sean-hannity-and-donald-trumps-bromance-extends-them-chatting-bed-night-report</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Every night the phone rings for Fox News host Sean Hannity from the White House. While the first lady is in her own bedroom down the hall of the executive residence, the bromance between the two men is glowing through the phone as they gush over the president’s latest coverage on the network.</font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A shocking expose in&nbsp;<em>New York Magazine</em>&nbsp;revealed Sunday the many sources that are intimately aware of the relationship the two men share and how it has crafted the communications strategy for the White House.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"White House staff are aware that the calls happen, thanks to the president entering a room and announcing, 'I just hung up with Hannity,' or referring to what Hannity said during their conversations, or even ringing Hannity up from his desk in their presence," the report outlined.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="text-align: center;">E</span><span style="text-align: center;">arly on in the Trump presidency, the morning was spent flipping from cable news shows like MSNBC's</span><span style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><em style="text-align: center;">Morning Joe</em><span style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-align: center;">to CNN's</span><span style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><em style="text-align: center;">New Day</em><span style="text-align: center;">, which ultimately lead to rage tweeting and an entire day's plans thrown out onto the White House lawn.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“It got to the point that they were just like, ‘We need to get him off these channels and onto&nbsp;<em>Fox & Friends</em>&nbsp;or else we’re going to be chasing down this crazy-train bullshit from MSNBC and CNN all day,</b>’” one former White House official told&nbsp;<em>New York Magazine</em>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thanks to former chief of staff Reince Priebus and press secretary Sean Spicer, however, the team was able to move the president to Fox News. The result has been a happier and more blissfully benighted Trump less likely to ignite World War III after a Chris Cuomo quip. That's not to say that there aren't other problems.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Sometimes on Fox, a lot of stories are embellished, and they don’t necessarily cover the big news stories of the day," explained the current White House official. "When they cover the smaller stories, if that gets the president riled up, then that becomes an issue. Whenever he tweets, all of us do a mad dash or mad scramble to find out as much information about that random topic as possible. We’re used to it in a lot of ways, so it’s part of our morning routine.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To make matters worse, Trump doesn't trust anyone willing to work for him. Instead he flocks to his phone, begging for outsiders to confirm he's right. At the center of those on speed dial, however, is Hannity....</font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;dumb lie of "Spygate," and how right-wing media create bullshit</font><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald Trump lied. This time, the lie is that the FBI inserted a spy into his campaign. No such thing happened, but Trump called it Spygate and made a big deal of it, even asking the Justice Department to investigate whether any actions were done for political purposes. As per this&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gq.com%2Fstory%2Fspygate-conspiracy-theory-explained&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=527weekly&n=40&v=1391" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">helpful food chain analysis</a>, the lie originated in the&nbsp;<em>Wall Street Journal</em>&nbsp;opinion page, jumped to social media and to&nbsp;<em>Hannity</em>&nbsp;and from there to the rest of right-wing media.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F05%2F18%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Ftrump-fbi-informant-russia-investigation.html&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=527weekly&n=41&v=1391" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">really happened</a>&nbsp;is that an FBI informant asked people in Trump's campaign after the FBI learned of dubious contacts with Russia. The facts are straight forward. A counter intelligence investigation into former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page began in 2014. A counter intelligence and criminal investigation into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort began in 2014. As&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.emptywheel.net%2F2018%2F05%2F22%2Fa-thinking-persons-guide-to-the-stefan-halper-conspiracy-theory%2F&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=527weekly&n=42&v=1391" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Marcy Wheeler notes</a>, of course law enforcement should look into why George Papadopoulos knew about stolen emails before the DNC did. No one forced Trump to&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F05%2F23%2Ffox-friends-scandalizing-counterintelligence-investigations-people-trump-chose-hire%2F220294&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=527weekly&n=43&v=1391" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">hire these people</a>.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In all, this is just another episode of right-wing media spinning lies about the Russia investigation. As&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://mediamatters.nationbuilder.com/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediamatters.org%2Fblog%2F2018%2F05%2F23%2FA-short-history-of-phony-anti-Trump-conspiracy-theories%2F220293&e=2fd18ded548fce9ef66e074aaf01da3d5df1923b&utm_source=mediamatters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=527weekly&n=44&v=1391" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">Simon Maloy notes</a>, this is just another part in an endless series of debunked conspiracy theories that ends up consuming the media. Previous instances include wiretapping, unmasking, a "secret society," Obama texts, and the Nunes memo.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.gq.com/story/spygate-conspiracy-theory-explained" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.gq.com/story/spygate-conspiracy-theory-explained</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div><b>Spygate: How Right-Wing Media Creates a Conspiracy Theory Out of Thin Air</b></div><div>
</div><div>BY JAY WILLIS</div><div>
</div><div><b>This is how conservative media transformed a small news item into a full-blown conspiracy theory that the president (apparently) believes to be true.</b></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The plot goes like this:</b>&nbsp;During the summer of 2016, on the clandestine orders of then-president Barack Obama, the FBI and CIA hatched an ambitious plan to topple the Trump campaign from the inside. In a scandal of unprecedented scope, Democratic politicians commandeered American counterintelligence resources to spy on their primary political opponent and boost Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the election. The Russia investigation that has dominated headlines for nearly two years is, in fact, a desperate smokescreen conjured up by terrified Deep State actors to conceal evidence of their own wrongdoing, and to frame the president for heinous crimes he didn't commit.</span></div><div>
</div><div>On May 8, The Washington Post reported on the White House's decision to back the Justice Department's withholding of information from House Intelligence Committee&nbsp;<b>chairman Devin Nunes,</b>&nbsp;on the grounds that disclosure would expose the identity of "a U.S. citizen who has provided information to the FBI and CIA." The authors added, though, that the individual had been a source of information used by the special counsel's office—and that it was unclear whether Trump knew this "key fact" when his administration chose to side with law enforcement.</div><div>
</div><div>It didn't take long for him to find out. Almost immediately, the right-wing-media ecosystem began laundering and repackaging this news item, weaving its constituent elements together with Trumpian talking points until a full-blown conspiracy theory worthy of the president's tweets emerged on the other side. This metamorphosis is what would happen if a word cloud sourced from a Trump rally were used in a giant game of telephone—but one in which the gibberish end result were then broadcast as news to hundreds of millions of recipients.</div><div>
</div><div>How did this happen?</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">May 10</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Two days after the initial report, citing "the Washington Post's unnamed law-enforcement leakers," The Wall Street Journal publishes an analysis by conservative commentator Kim Strassel</span>. "[W]e might take this to mean that the FBI secretly had a person on the payroll who used his or her non-FBI credentials to interact in some capacity with the Trump campaign." Such a development, she writes, "would amount to spying, and it is hugely disconcerting." Strassel continues (all emphasis mine):</div><div>
</div><div>[W]hen precisely was this human source operating? Because if it was prior to that infamous Papadopoulos tip, then the FBI isn’t being straight. It would mean the bureau was spying on the Trump campaign prior to that moment. And that in turn would mean that the FBI had been spurred to act on the basis of something other than a junior campaign aide’s loose lips.</div><div>
</div><div>This is at once cautious and bold, introducing the salacious vocabulary of espionage to a detail about an intelligence source—but only, she clarifies, if the allegations are true. Strassel does not offer a reason for entertaining her hypothetical, other than her characterization of the players' accounts of the investigation as "suspiciously vague."<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">She is, in the classic style of&nbsp;<b>well-compensated public intellectuals</b>&nbsp;filling up column inches, just asking question</span>s.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That night, other journalists are happy to offer answers. On&nbsp;<b>Sean Hannity's Fox News show, journalist Sara Carter, citing Strassel,&nbsp;</b>tells listeners of “concern that the FBI actually had a spy within the Trump campaign.” Hannity is dumbfounded: “What? What?” he splutters.&nbsp;</span>"Yes," replies Carter. Blogs like Gateway Pundit kick off the breathless hyperbole category. "Now we know why the Deep State has been working so hard to take down President Trump and the republic," said the post, linking to and block-quoting Strassel. "OBAMA DEEP STATE HAD A SPY INSIDE THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN!"</div><div>
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</div><div>May 11</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The baton is passed to Fox News, which syndicates Strassel's article and changes the headline from “About that FBI ‘source’” to “Did the FBI place a mole inside the 2016 Trump campaign?” On Fox & Friends, the president's morning program of choice, Pete Hegseth weighs in, hesitantly at first.&nbsp;</span>"Did the FBI have a spy in the Trump campaign? Just asking the question. There’s an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal about it." Ainsley Earhardt quotes at length from the column before positing that it means the FBI and DOJ had someone "paid to go and spy on President Trump."</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh picks up the thread,</b>&nbsp;encouraging the conflation of the FBI and President Obama. Strassel's article mentions Obama only once, and only in passing. But this is Rush Limbaugh, not a major newspaper; he can say things like this without fear of repercussions.</span></div><div>
</div><div>When I say “the FBI,” I mean the Obama administration. They infiltrated the Trump campaign with a spy, and while they had that spy implanted, they were unmasking and leaking and obtaining FISA spying warrants and conducting criminal investigations of Trump advisers. This is a big deal...For our purposes, folks, the important thing is that the Obama administration infiltrated the Trump campaign with a spy.</div><div>
</div><div>The buzz grows louder online. "Did the FBI have a spy in the Trump campaign?"<b>&nbsp;asks Andrew McCarthy, praising Strassel's column as "essential reporting," in a National Review article t</b>hat published early the next morning.<b>&nbsp;Right-wing blog ZeroHedge makes an affirmative statement</b>—“WSJ: The FBI Hid a Mole in the Trump Campaign”—out of his question.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Also citing Strassel, Tucker Carlson refers to a "government spy" and a "mole" sent by "the Obama administration." His guest, NRATV personality Dan Bongino, reveals that he believes there to have been more than one spy, referring to "reporting." He does not elaborate on-air.</span></div><div>
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</div><div>May 14</div><div><b>The week begins with lawmakers joining the fray. On Fox & Friends, GOP congressman Ron DeSantis calls for a follow-up investigation into the matter.</b>&nbsp;"I know that we’re actively trying to get the underlying documents that would tell us: Did they spy on the Trump campaign or not?” he asks, implicitly treating the premises of that query as if they were beyond dispute.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;To Lou Dobbs on Fox Business Network, Matt Gaetz expresses unease with "reports" he'd heard "about potential human intelligence being collected on a rival presidential campaign."</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>These men are egged on by, among others, Rush Limbaugh,&nbsp;</b>who asserts he knows the identity of the spy that the FBI "put in the Trump campaign," and Hannity, whose radio guest David Limbaugh—Rush's younger brother—opines that "an official policy inserting a confidential source into a presidential campaign" would be "unprecedented" and "worse than Watergate." Like DeSantis, he includes a soft qualifier, though: "If it happened! We have to get to the bottom of it."</span></div><div>
</div><div>May 15</div><div><b>Nunes appears on the Fox & Friends set, hinting that the campaign might have been "set up" by the FBI.</b>&nbsp;“I believe they never should have opened a counterintelligence investigation into a political party,” he explains. And although he at first avoids using the word "spy," his hosts are happy to put it in his mouth. Steve Doocy suggests that Nunes's narrative implies that Trump was "framed," while Earhardt adds that "it makes it sound like there was a spy."</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Some 12 hours later, Hannity is again agape at the "possibility of an FBI mole that was inside the Trump campaign." He runs snippets of the "stunning" Nunes interview, scarcely able to believe his ears. "The powerful tools of intelligence used to spy on an opposition party candidate, and those powerful tools used against Americans?" he muses. "No, that can't happen here.</span>"</div><div>
</div><div>May 16</div><div><b>On Laura Ingraham's show, Rudy Giuliani at once broaches the subject of the FBI "possibly placing a spy in the Trump campaign"</b>&nbsp;while admitting that he doesn't know if the gossip is true. The next morning, on Fox & Friends, he’ll again dip his toes in the water before retreating to solid ground. "That would be the biggest scandal in the history of this town—at least, involving law enforcement," Giuliani warns.</div><div>
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</div><div>He's intrigued by the possibility, though. "Maybe two spies!" he wonders aloud.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Meanwhile, outside the MAGAsphere, a New York Times article helps breathe new life into the conspiracy theory.</b>&nbsp;The authors of that report—an account of the 2016 law-enforcement inquiry into the Trump campaign—note that “at least one government informant met several times with Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos.” Referring to the preceding week of innuendo, they characterize this detail as a “politically contentious point, with Mr. Trump’s allies questioning whether the F.B.I. was spying on the Trump campaign or trying to entrap campaign officials.”</span></div><div>
</div><div>As noted by USA Today's Brad Heath, FBI guidelines allow agents to use informants, among many other methods of information-gathering, when assessing whether a matter warrants a full criminal investigation. The Bureau's partial reliance on a "source" here isn't especially remarkable.</div><div>
</div><div>Furthermore, given their knowledge of the Kremlin's election-meddling efforts, it isn't difficult to understand why the intelligence community might have an interest in a campaign's ties to Russia, regardless of the candidate's political affiliation.&nbsp;<b>Marco Rubio—</b>a man not known for being fond of Hillary Clinton—said as much after reviewing the underlying evidence along with the rest of the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which found no secret political motivation for opening the inquiry. “There was a growing body of evidence that a foreign government was attempting to interfere in both the process and the debate surrounding our elections, and their job is to investigate counterintelligence,” he reasoned in comments cited by the Times. “That’s what they did.”</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It doesn't matter. One little opening is all it takes.&nbsp;<b>Breitbart</b>, mentioning the May 8 Post story and Strassel's follow-up, proclaims that the Times report "confirmed" that the FBI ran a "spy operation on the Trump campaign that involved government informants, secret subpoenas, and possible wiretaps." (The article itself mentions only the FISA warrant on Page, but the headline's<b>&nbsp;plural form—"wiretaps"</b>—does its job of making things sound especially ominous.)</span></div><div>
</div><div>May 17</div><div><b>Other right-wing outlets aggregating the Times&nbsp;</b>report draw the same conclusions Breitbart did. “FBI officials admit they spied on the Trump campaign,” blares The Federalist, which justifies its assertion with a helpful explanatory aside.</div><div>
</div><div>This paragraph [in the Times report] is noteworthy for the way it describes spying on the campaign—“at least one government informant met several times with Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos”—before suggesting that might not be spying. The definition of spying is to secretly collect information, so it’s not really in dispute whether a government informant fits the bill.”</div><div>
</div><div>Note that the write-up does not actually suggest that the FBI "planted" anyone in the campaign. But by setting out an expansive definition of "spying," articles like this one allow other publications—ones that might not so carefully define their terms—to use the word in that more specific (and more nefarious) context.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>It is the National Review's coverage—assisted by cable news—that finally allows this story to reach the hallways of the Executive Residence.&nbsp;</b>"With the blessing of the Obama White House," writes Andrew McCarthy, again attributing the actions of law-enforcement officials to affirmative decisions of the then-president, the FBI "took the powers that enable our government to spy on foreign adversaries and used them to spy on Americans—Americans who just happened to be their political adversaries."</span>He continues:</div><div>
</div><div>Obviously, Russia was trying to meddle in the election, mainly through cyber-espionage—hacking. There would, then, have been nothing inappropriate about the FBI’s opening up a counterintelligence investigation against Russia. Indeed, it would have been irresponsible not to do so. That’s what counterintelligence powers are for.</div><div>
</div><div>But opening up a counterintelligence investigation against Russia is not the same thing as opening up a counterintelligence investigation against the Trump campaign.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This is the thrust of his argument, and it is nonsensical. McCarthy seems to assume that counterintelligence investigations "against Russia" and counterintelligence investigations "against the Trump campaign" must be mutually exclusive propositions,</span>&nbsp;and that under no circumstances could a Russia-related intelligence probe look at the activities of Russia-related Trump officials. (His analysis is aided by a gross oversimplification of a key provision of FISA.) It would be "irresponsible," he urges, not to investigate what Russia may have been doing. But by virtue of their affiliation with a politician, everyone on the campaign should be insulated from any attendant scrutiny.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Before his column publishes, McCarthy hops on Fox & Friends to promote it.</b>&nbsp;“There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign,” he says in a strange moment of confidence and timidity. (In a fun, incestuous right-wing-media aside, while listing McCarthy's credentials, F&F co-host Brian Kilmeade adds, "Hopefully a Fox News contributor soon.") Not long afterward, Trump takes to Twitter to express his outrage, shouting out McCarthy by name for a job well done.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Donald J. Trump</div><div>?</div><div>@realDonaldTrump</div><div>&nbsp;Wow, word seems to be coming out that the Obama FBI “SPIED ON THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN WITH AN EMBEDDED INFORMANT.” Andrew McCarthy says, “There’s probably no doubt that they had at least one confidential informant in the campaign.” If so, this is bigger than Watergate!</div><div>
</div><div>...</div><div>
</div><div><b>Law-enforcement pushback begins in earnest.&nbsp;</b>Sources tell CNN that, no, the source was not placed within the Trump campaign. The Times provides even more details about the timeline, affirming that the informant spoke to campaign members only after the FBI learned of their dubious contacts with Russia. "No evidence has emerged," it reiterates, "that the informant acted improperly when the F.B.I. asked for help in gathering information on the former campaign advisers, or that agents veered from the F.B.I.’s investigative guidelines and began a politically motivated inquiry, which would be illegal."</div><div>
</div><div><b>It's too late.</b>&nbsp;Because Donald Trump is president of the United States, the content of his tweets becomes breaking news regardless of its accuracy. "Trump: Justice Department planted spy in 2016 campaign," declares an AP headline that runs, among other places, in The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report. The body text notes that Trump's "own lawyer" has said that the allegation "might not be true."<b>&nbsp;But for readers inclined to believe what Donald Trump says, or for those who only saw the headline as they scrolled through their social feeds, it might as well have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Epilogue: May 18–20</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The next day, the president tweets again, and again, with grateful acknowledgements for the hard work put in by Fox News personalities Lou Dobbs, David Asman, and Gregg Jarrett.</span></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">this is age of trump</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">layers/scales:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1) CEC Conservative Entertainment Complex: fox news of course but also reality TV, wrestling, even moving pict inst "documentaries" eg duck dynasty guy; give the lie to Liberal Media (tho they just claim puny counter-wt).</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2) Echo chamber; this refers to earlier and now seemingly quaint constellation of WSJ, Forbes, Fox maybe Drudge.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3) &nbsp;Escalator Effect: refers to low level no filter areas of vulnerability that allow BS to work its way up the food chain to mainstream legit media. &nbsp;Thus "punked"</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see Breitbart, fake news, bots, conspiracy theory
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/right-wing-media-explodes-over-new-fbi-texts-misrepresents-facts">https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/right-wing-media-explodes-over-new-fbi-texts-misrepresents-facts</a></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">guard uk sez<b>&nbsp;clinton cash</b>&nbsp;early and critical moment that set up narrative crooked hillary?</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">injected escalator into mainstreaM PRESS</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/11/8/billionaire_gop_backer_robert_mercer_used" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.democracynow.org/2017/11/8/billionaire_gop_backer_robert_mercer_used</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/09/08/right-wing-medias-new-voter-fraud-proof-even-more-asinine-usual/217887" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.mediamatters.org/research/2017/09/08/right-wing-medias-new-voter-fraud-proof-even-more-asinine-usual/217887</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing media's new voter fraud "proof" is even more asinine than usual</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Research ››› September 8, 2017 3:34 PM EDT ››› ZACHARY PLEAT</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Right-wing and fringe media outlets and figures, including Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the Trump administration’s election integrity commission, are citing a Washington Times article about several thousand New Hampshire voters using out-of-state driver’s licenses to register to vote to bolster conservative claims of fraud and say that Republicans may have actually won the state.&nbsp;</b>But journalists and election experts shot down these claims of voter fraud and explained that New Hampshire’s voter ID law permits out-of-state driver’s licenses to be used as proof of identity when voting, an option that college students often exercise.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sarah Wasko / Media Matters</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conservative and fringe media figures: Out-of-state driver’s licenses used to vote in New Hampshire prove voter fraud against Republicans</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Wash. Times&nbsp;</b>used data of voters registering with out-of-state driver’s licenses in New Hampshire to promote conservative claims of voter fraud. A September 7 Washington Times article published information released by a New Hampshire Republican showing that “more than 6,500 people registered to vote in New Hampshire on Nov. 8 using out-of-state driver’s licenses” to bolster conservative claims of voter fraud. While admitting that these statistics “don’t prove those accusations,” the Times wrote that “they do corroborate them,” citing further data that more than 5,000 of those voters haven’t yet obtained a New Hampshire license or vehicle registration:</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than 6,500 people registered to vote in New Hampshire on Nov. 8 using out-of-state driver’s licenses, and since then the vast majority have neither obtained an in-state license nor registered a motor vehicle.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conservatives say the state’s same-day registration is an invitation for fraud because of loose proof-of-residence rules.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">New Hampshire House Speaker Shawn Jasper, a Republican, issued the numbers Thursday based on inquiries he made to the Department of State, which oversees elections, and the Department of Safety.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since Election Day, Republicans have charged that a significant number of nonresident Democrats, principally from Massachusetts, flowed into New Hampshire to vote illegally, tilting a close race to their party.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Having worked before on a campaign in New Hampshire, I can tell you that this issue of busing voters into New Hampshire is widely known by anyone who’s worked in New Hampshire politics. It’s very real. It’s very serious. This morning, on this show, is not the venue for me to lay out all the evidence,” White House policy adviser Stephen Miller told ABC News in February.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Though Mr. Jasper’s findings don’t prove those accusations, they do corroborate them.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[...]</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">New Hampshire law gives drivers 60 days upon establishing residence to obtain a state license.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But more than 80 percent of voters who registered on Nov. 8 using out-of-state driver’s licenses, or 5,313 of them, neither had a state license nor registered a motor vehicle almost 10 months later. [The Washington Times, 9/7/17]</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Breitbart.com’s Kris Kobach cited the data in the Wash. Times article as “proof” of “fraudulent votes” in New Hampshire and claimed Hillary Clinton and Sen. Maggie Hassan may have fraudulently won the state. Kris Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state, vice chairman of President Donald Trump’s election integrity commission, and a paid Breitbart.com columnist, cited the Washington Times article as “proof” of voter fraud in New Hampshire in his September 7 column:</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It has long been reported, anecdotally, that out-of-staters take advantage of New Hampshire’s same-day registration and head to the Granite State to cast fraudulent votes. Now there’s proof.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to statistics released by the Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, on the date of the general election in November 2016, there were 6,540 same-day registrants who registered to vote in New Hampshire using an out-of-state driver’s license to prove their identity. In and of itself, that doesn’t prove that any fraud occurred – theoretically, each of those individuals could have been someone who recently moved to the State and had not yet had time to get a New Hampshire driver’s license. According to New Hampshire law, a new resident has 60 days to obtain a New Hampshire driver’s license.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So if those 6,540 voters were bona fide New Hampshire residents, they would get their driver’s license no later than January 7, 2017. However, the numbers tell a very different story. It turns out that, as of August 30, 2017 – nearly ten months after the election – only 1,014 of the 6,540 same-day registrants who registered with an out-of-state license had obtained a New Hampshire driver’s license. The other 5,526 individuals never obtained a New Hampshire driver’s license. And, of those 5,526, only 213 registered a vehicle in New Hampshire.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So 5,313 of those voters neither obtained a New Hampshire driver’s license nor registered a vehicle in New Hampshire. They have not followed the legal requirements for residents regarding driver’s licenses, and it appears that they are not actually residing in New Hampshire. It seems that they never were bona fide residents of the State.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5,513 is a big number – more than enough to swing two very important elections. The closest major election was the contest between incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte and challenger Maggie Hassan (D). Hassan won the election by a razor-thin margin of 1,017 votes. Those 5,313 fraudulent votes were more than enough to swing the election. If 59.2 percent or more of them went for Hassan, then the election was stolen through voter fraud. That’s likely, since the surrounding states are Democrat strongholds.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s also possible that New Hampshire’s four electoral college votes were swung to Hillary Clinton through illegal voting by nonresidents. Clinton won New Hampshire by only 2,732 votes. If 74.8 percent of the 5,513 fraudulent votes were cast for Clinton, then the presidential election in New Hampshire was tipped as well. [Breitbart.com, 9/7/17]</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>FoxNews.com:</b>&nbsp;“Out-of-staters may have won New Hampshire for Clinton.” A September 8 FoxNews.com article cited the Washington Times report, saying the data it included “could potentially call into question the validity of the New Hampshire results for Nov. 8, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton outpolled Republican nominee Donald Trump by a mere 2,736 votes.” [FoxNews.com, 9/8/17]</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Gateway Pundit:</b>&nbsp;“VOTE FRAUD: More Than 5,000 Out-of-State Hillary Voters May have Tipped New Hampshire Against Trump.” Right-wing fringe website Gateway Pundit cited the Washington Times story to scream “VOTE FRAUD” in the headline of a September 7 post, which claimed: “It is well known that people are bussed in to vote in New Hampshire. This is why the Democrats are fiercely working to stop any investigation into vote fraud and are working to prevent any type of voter I.D. laws. Strict laws would have tipped New Hampshire in Donald Trump’s favor.” [The Gateway Pundit, 9/7/17]</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>WND</b>: “New Evidence Backs Trump Vote-Fraud Claim.” Conspiracy theory website WorldNetDaily cited the Washington Times story in a September 7 post to claim, “The discovery that more than 6,000 people used out-of-state driver’s licenses to vote in New Hampshire last November bolsters Donald Trump’s claim he lost the state because thousands of Massachusetts residents came in to vote.” [WorldNetDaily, 9/7/17]</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Drudge Report:&nbsp;</b>“PAPER: 5,000 out-of-state voters may have tipped NH…”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Follow</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DRUDGE REPORT @DRUDGE_REPORT</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">attacked reality winner and comey</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/04/05/susan-rice-unmasking-story-perfect-case-study-new-pro-trump-propaganda-ecosystem/215914">https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2017/04/05/susan-rice-unmasking-story-perfect-case-study-new-pro-trump-propaganda-ecosystem/215914</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Susan Rice Unmasking Story Is A Perfect Case Study Of The New Pro-Trump Propaganda Ecosystem</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Blog ››› April 5, 2017 9:13 AM EDT ››› ALEX KAPLAN</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For most of the last decade, the flow of misinformation was often easy to track in media, with right-wing media often forcing mainstream outlets to follow the stories and tone they favored. Now, a couple of months into President Donald Trump’s administration, this pattern has changed and new players have entered the ecosystem. Groups that used to be contained to their own bubble have been able to insert themselves into the food chain and been able to spread not just misleading, but patently false information to right-wing outlets and sometimes even in turn to mainstream media. A new dubious allegation regarding Susan Rice, former national security adviser to President Barack Obama, illustrates how this new pattern can spread pro-Trump misinformation and propaganda from fringe sources into mainstream media outlets.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Recently, fake news and the white nationalist “alt-right” movement have become two of the country’s biggest problems in terms of fighting misinformation.</b>&nbsp;Both government officials and websites like Facebook and Google are trying to lessen the harmful impact as websites that share fake news continue to mislead news consumers. And the “alt-right” is growing in prominence thanks in part to President Donald Trump’s choice of Stephen Bannon, the former chairman of “alt-right” website Breitbart News, as his chief strategist. Fringe “alt-right” forums, on sites like Reddit, 4chan, and 8chan, exercise influence by pushing conspiracy theories and leading harassment campaigns.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These different groups do not operate in a vacuum. Repeatedly, they have come together to spread and amplify their misinformation and claims. Often, a claim will start on a fringe outlet or forum, and other such sites will amplify the misinformation, then fake news purveyors will push it, and then the claim will jump into more traditional right-wing media before sometimes spreading into mainstream media. Trump aides and other people connected to Trump have even promoted some of those stories, crucially helping them break through at times.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And that brings us to Rice.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On April 2, Mike Cernovich, a self-described member of the “alt-right,”&nbsp;</b>claimed in a post on Medium that the “White House Counsel’s office identified Rice as the person responsible for the unmasking” of Trump officials caught in surveillance of foreign officials “after examining Rice’s document log requests.” The claim then spread among fringe outlets such as The Gateway Pundit -- which said the unmasking “was purely for political purposes” -- and Infowars, and spread via posts on 4chan and Reddit.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As the claim started getting pickup on Twitter, Kellyanne Conway,&nbsp;</b>counselor to the president, promoted Cernovich with a tweet linking to the main page of his Medium blog (the next day, Donald Trump. Jr praised Cernovich for “breaking the #SusanRice story”).</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The claim was then echoed by Bloomberg’s Eli Lake, who added a layer of credibility to the attempted smear,</b>&nbsp;writing that Rice “requested the identities of U.S. persons in raw intelligence reports on dozens of occasions that connect to the Donald Trump transition and campaign.” Meanwhile, multiple fake news purveyors hyped the allegations, dubiously claiming that Rice “could be headed to jail” for “absolute treason.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lake conceded in his piece, however, that Rice’s requests “were likely within the law.”&nbsp;</span>Legal and national security experts echoed that conclusion, saying Rice’s actions weren’t “odd or wrong,” did not indicate “anything improper whatsoever,” and were “within the scope of the job of a national security advisor like Rice.” Lake's caveats did not prevent him from going on both Sean Hannity's radio and Fox News show, where the right-wing host described the story as "worse than Watergate."</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As the claim spread into the mainstream, some in right-wing media criticized mainstream outlets for not giving the story enough attention or for not presenting it the way they would.</b>&nbsp;Although some mainstream figures have echoed the consensus of experts, others have also suggested that Rice could be guilty of some kind of wrongdoing. Fox News in particular insisted that something must be improper if not illegal about Rice's actions, and in their scramble to claim they may have had the story before Cernovich, likely outed themselves as another outlet that the White House used as a puppet for the Rice leak.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Right-wing criticism of mainstream media’s coverage will likely ramp up, spurring some mainstream outlets to defend their coverage or possibly tweak some of their framing under pressure.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This is the new media ecosystem in the Trump era. No longer are these false claims all originating in traditional right-wing media before mainstream outlets give in to pressure to cover them. Now they can start from these fringe pro-Trump propaganda outlets, with right-wing media picking them up. Meanwhile, members of the “alt-right” continue to gain more prominence and acceptance in traditional conservative and conservative media circles. Indeed, radio host Rush Limbaugh, while hyping the Rice story, bragged that mainstream media outlets are “not the arbiters anymore”; whitewashed the original source of the story, Cernovich, as simply a “pro-Trump blogger,” and said CBS’ 60 Minutes “tried to destroy him”; and criticized mainstream outlets for dismissing the story because it was pushed by right-wing media.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>This is not the first example of misinformation following such a trajectory.&nbsp;</b>In March, after a federal judge in Hawaii placed a hold on Trump’s revised Muslim ban, fringe “alt-right” outlets such as Infowars and Gateway Pundit pushed a conspiracy theory that appeared to have started on Reddit alleging that Obama conspired with the judge.</span>&nbsp;The claim then spread among fake news purveyors and was pushed by Donald Trump Jr. before breaking through to more traditional conservative media figures and outlets like Hannity and the Independent Journal Review. Later that month, in order to back up Trump’s false claim that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, Infowars dubiously claimed it had National Security Agency documents that provided proof. The claim made its way around other “alt-right” outlets and fake news purveyors and wound up being pushed at the top of the Drudge Report.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is the danger that the new media environment presents. The fringe is no longer being siloed; it has actively been raised into the mainstream by pro-Trump forces both known and unknown, and has been repeatedly validated by both mainstream reporters and especially an administration that has no hesitation about lying to the world. It’s crucial that mainstream media outlets understand this new environment and the kind of claims and conspiracy theories it puts forth. It is one thing to share the mainstream with extremist cranks, propagandists, and liars. It's another thing to succumb and do their pro-Trump misinforming for them.</font></div></div><div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">map rwi</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://medium.com/@d1gi/the-election2016-micro-propaganda-machine-383449cc1fba">https://medium.com/@d1gi/the-election2016-micro-propaganda-machine-383449cc1fba</a></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article125143304.html">http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article125143304.html</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 10px; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Albright came to Elon in 2012 to help launch its media analytics major, an unusual focus that allows students to focus on audience analysis, measuring the impact of media messages and using that data to tell stories about how media works.</font></p></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">http://www.alternet.org/right-wing/susan-rice-and-pro-trump-propaganda-machine</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">danger and play lil ecosystem conway</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>=</b></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>