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CNN, free speech, insanitybytes22, media, opinion, propaganda, useful idiots
So of course there is a great deal of heated debate after the election. People have been blasting Trump supporters all over facebook, alleging the Trump election has now ushered in massive hate crimes. I’ve been looking at photos of sloppily scrawled swastikas on bathroom walls for a few days now, and hyperbole that insists, “this is what you’ve unleashed!”
Those things are pretty easy to debunk, to point people to the truth, but when CNN starts trying to pour fuel on the fire of excessive hysteria, it becomes far more challenging. This particular article from CNN really ticked me off, ” FBI: Hate crimes spike…” with the strategically placed byline, “Reports of racism, bigotry post-election.” If that doesn’t get you all riled up, there is “anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States rose 67%.”
That is exactly what I received, a hastily flung accusation that since Trump’s election, “anti-Muslim hate crimes in the United States rose 67%.” Nobody ever bothers to actually read the articles these days, they just pick up on the subliminal bylines and strategically placed pictures. That is exactly what this kind of propaganda is designed to do, exploit our ever declining attention spans.
If they had read the fine print hidden underneath the hyperbole, brainwashing, and rhetoric, they would have discovered that these statistics are from 2014-2015, long before the election ever occurred. Who was President in 2014? 2015?
This could not possibly have anything to do with “post-election hate crimes” on account of the fact that the election was just a week ago and these statistics are really from 2 years ago. There was a spike in hate crimes, but even that must be placed in the proper perspective. In 2001 there were 481 anti Muslim hate crimes. In 2015 there were 257.
You do the math, but I think we could call that a decline. As far as I know 481 is still greater than 257.
We have free speech in this country, but I also recall something about not yelling fire in a crowded theater. CNN should be ashamed of themselves. Don’t be a useful idiot for people trying to pull your puppet strings.
See, there's this thing called biology... 
Does anyone actually watch CNN anymore? I think that this election really exposed the media for their bias. Feeding questions to a favored candidate in advance of a debate should have everyone concerned. I’m very surprised that the Bernie supporters aren’t being more vocal about CNN’s role in throwing the primary to Hillary. The NY Times has admitted their role and has promised to go back to reporting instead of social commentary. Time will tell.
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I’m afraid people really do still watch CNN. Well, actually I don’t think they “watch,” I think many people just sit there passively and allow themselves to receive the sttategically placed trigger words of the day.
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I’ll watch the Clinton News Network again when their electoral college map finally shows Trump won Michigan. Which will be…when I…after I…in my…oh darn, it won’t even be when I’m in my grave!
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Reblogged this on I Refuse To Follow Your Blog and commented:
Hrrm…read the by-lines? strange concept, IB. Very strange indeed. — PLEASE LEAVE ALL COMMENTS ON ORIGINAL BLOG SITE. – thank you.
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Thank you irtfy, much appreciated.
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Journalism is dead. This election proved just how much so… they should be embarrassed to be so in the tank for one side, it really is frightening. And they are screaming about “fascism” whatever that may mean to them… all while putting into place censorship and calling for the nullification of a totally democratic election. Frigging frightening… 😦
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It has been frightening, hasn’t it? It gets a little scary when people start operating on an emotional level and it’s all about rhetoric and ideology, with some heavy authoritarian overtones.
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I was thinking the same thing, IB, those who yell fire in a crowded theater ought to be held responsible for any injuries that result. Shamefully and dangerously irresponsible.
And when someone throws one of those headlines or bylines at me, I’m going to require they give me at least one supporting fact from the text of the article. Gonna’ do what I can to make America smart again.
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Oh, I like that! Make America smart, again. Well said. 🙂
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I just shared your post on Facebook. Maybe we can start a movement. 🙂
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What’s sadder are the viewers that mindless take what they say as gospel. Or more likely use what they say for justification of sour emotions. Thank you for this, there need to be more voices on calming the hysteria.
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I have some very unpleasant thoughts and attitudes toward the media these days. It has turned into an untamed beast, breathing fire everywhere.
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Yes, it sure has, but something to keep in mind, technology, communication, has also changed, so the stranglehold that the media has over us all has begun to break. There are alternative media sources,blogs, and talking to one another, which puts us in a position of actually engaging in some critical thought. That’s always a good thing. 🙂
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I have been so despondent today because all I see are the hateful comments about Trump supporters and tying us into the hate crimes. I am so angry about that I can hardly see and yet broken hearted too. I am none of the things that are being said. I am for CONTROLLED and SAFE immigration. I am for people of all races and sexual orientation finding peace and success in the world. As someone said in another post I read that I may have voted for Trump but I will be right there with them fighting the good fight if they did try to take away anyone’s rights. Are there some troubling aspects of Trump’s choices, but I understand them too. As my husband said, he has put a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. He has promised to clean up Washington and yet he is being forced to use Washington insiders because that is all there is. The swamp is wide and deep people. And it took many years to fill it. Ultimately it is up to each one of us as individuals to change things. To reach out to each other, even the ones that hate us, as hard as it may be to fix this. We rely way too much on the government to fix what is wrong in our lives instead of taking responsibility for own failures and giving too much credit to the government when we succeed. It is not in the amount of violence that initiates true change, it is the NUMBERS who truly wish peace and work together that will initiate change and cooperation.
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I think I need to clarify until I am shown something different I think Brennan is closer to the Devil. But, he is not a Washington insider, he has a brilliant (but maybe twisted) mind. Even his detractors admit that there are aspects of Brennan that make him suitable for the position. And for those that have said “But the KKK didn’t support her this time. They supported Trump!” What better way to destroy the credibility of your opponent then link them to those you associate with. Especially if they are the KKK. Although I did find out Senator Byrd renounced his ties to the KKK. David Duke has not. But, his selection of Brennan worries me. I am willing to withhold some judgement until I see what comes of it. The rest of what I said stands. Each of us is responsible for how we raise our children, how we respond to things we don’t like and how we treat each other. And I would hope we would teach our children to be compassionate, non-judgemental and kind. Something we as adults need to remember to do ourselves.
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So glad you wrote this, IB. When I got to the hate crimes rose 67% since Donald Trump was elected, I thought, IN A WEEK? I don’t think they have a by-week statistic. Then to learn that the article reported 2-year-old data . . . Well, it’s just too much.
I do think some people are emboldened to act out because of Donald Trump’s language. One election annalist said our campaigns have been forever changed. Once there was an accepted standard of what is acceptable and what isn’t from these public figures vying for the highest office in the land. But no more. I’m not sure he’s right. When Andrew Jackson became our President, there were similar fears. This commoner, this man of the streets, becoming President? Our country would be ruined.
I think Mr. Trump is today’s man of the streets.
He’s certainly not the person I would have chosen. I still think he will be bad for democracy–but that’s because I don’t think he’ll honor the rule of law. He’ll do whatever he wants because that’s the way he’s lived his life. So if he wants to bully, manipulate, and intimidate, he doesn’t care that he’s acting as a role model for others to go and do likewise. He simply doesn’t care.
But the press doesn’t need to manufacture scary scenarios. They should have learned their lesson: their own biased approach to this election backfired. They should go about the business of providing unbiased, factual reporting. That is what a democracy needs. If they want to counter Mr. Trump’s bent toward fascism, then honest reporting is the best way to proceed!
Becky
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Reblogged this on Because I can… and commented:
A good read.
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“the Trump election has now ushered in massive hate crimes”
this is just irresponsible IBisms.
we all know that the trump election HAS ushered in massive hate crimes…against trump supporters.
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“I’ve been looking at photos of sloppily scrawled swastikas on bathroom walls for a few days now, and hyperbole that insists, “this is what you’ve unleashed!””
IB, through out this election, I have desperately sought ethical advice on how to vote. One of the men who I consulted is a deacon at my parish. He was born in Nazi Germany, lives with nightmares of Nazi Germany. He gave me ethical advice to consult the issues relating to foreign policy. Focus on the issues. Are we in danger of going to war? If said nation would declare war on us, would we be able to defend ourselves? Etc.
I had worried that I screwed our nation over along with my state of Arizona when I voted for Trump so I asked him who he ultimately ended up voting for on Sunday and the reasons why. He laid out the reasons and how he had reservations about both. But considering Clinton basically sold out our nation and could not provide any reason for not having had any reason of mishandling the classified data, coupled with the inner circles of experience and morality that Trump had built for himself, he decided that perhaps the man is not the most qualified but Clinton’s claiming to be qualified was so arrogant that it was at such she would not take advice from any one who criticised her whereas Trump would, he voted for Trump.
This whole notion of how people who voted for Donald Trump elected “literally Hitler” is very offensive when speaking from such a perspective that a man who has nightmares about Nazi Germany ended voting for Trump in the end.
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In journalism class they taught us about the importance of a good Headline. They explained that most people rarely read past the 1st few sentences, so those must be fertile with adverbs and adjectives that exploit the tendency to react. They call them ‘hooks’ – purposely infused with bait to create much more attention to an article than would ordinarily result.
Of course as broadcast media took over as our primary source of information, the tactics were transferred over.
Particularly with the generation deemed ‘millennials’, these tactics are more influential than ever before. Due to the average millennial’s habit of constant use of multi-media (they’ll text each other even while seated directly across from one another), perpetual contact through internet social websites and forums, roughly 65% of the information they receive isn’t even verified. [Proof of that is ANYONE can post ANYTHING – like the 65% figure I just made up].
Sadly, some people approach the Bible with the same mentality – that ANYONE could have made it up. Apart from the Holy Spirit guiding us into a proper understanding of scripture, we’re prone to succumb to the same knee-jerk reactions the media banks on. When a lie is repeated often enough, it is accepted as fact.
Almost a week has passed since the presidential election and still ALL the votes have not officially been counted. The Associated Press has not yet called the last states standing, Michigan and New Hampshire, because recounts in both are still possible. If current margins hold, Trump will officially take 306 Electoral College votes from 30 states and Clinton will take 232 Electoral College votes from 20 states + Washington, D.C. Though Trump has already well surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election, Clinton merely MAY HAVE won the popular vote. Clinton currently leads the popular vote by only a few hundred-thousand votes, far less than the margin between Bush and Gore, which was the last ‘disputted’ election..
What is happening now is a deliberate promotion of misinformation – with intent. No longer is the rule of unbiased reporting the standard. Propaganda has replaced it in most areas of media. Prudent-minded individuals can no longer accept at face-value what the six-o’clock news broadcasts. We must dedicate ourselves to deeper research and abide by the scriptural challenge to be “ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”” – 1Pt. 3:15. Wake up, America!
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You’re absolutely right, journalists should be incredibly careful about what facts they cite and how they present them. Then we as readers need to actually read. This is a serious topic. Hate crimes are serious things. The problem is that it’s too soon to have reliable and meaningful statistics, but the sheer level of anecdotal evidence I’ve personally heard is truly terrifying. Friends (born and raised US citizens though I don’t think that changes anything) being attacked by strangers for no reason other than their skin color.
Journalists have a responsibility to be truthful. They also have a responsibility to inform us of what’s going on, even when it’s unpleasant. They are trying to do both, and it’s a delicate thing right now.
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Well, IB, it is a statistical fact that 97% (plus or minus 3 percent) of all statistics are made up on the spot. Loved your blog, again!
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Even before the numbers and some of these alleged hate crime turns out to be a fraud, I’ve felt that the logic is bad with these guys crying fire against trump…its one big slippery slope fallacy of an argument to blame it all on Trump.
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Can I ask an honest question, that is going to sound rhetorical and political anyway, but I actually mean it?
How many hate crimes, encouraged by Trump’s campaign of unprecedented violence and negative portrayals of large groups of people, would be okay with you guys?
I actually mean that question. God knows I am well aware that ain’t nobody going to change anyone else’s mind, so I’m just trying to get a sense of things.
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I don’t think the violence is ok at all. But I see a lot of slippery slope fallacies being employed against Trump that can be constructed against the other primary candidate as well, using the same fallacious reasoning. I’m making an observation and that doesn’t entail that I voted from Trump; I didn’t.
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Vagabond, I’ve been reading your comments and pondering them, and I must say, it is quite encouraging to hear your compassionate heart and to know that there are many people concerned about the same things you are. We don’t want to see people targeted for violence or large groups of people alienated and silenced.
The problem is there has been so much rhetoric and deception poured over the whole mess and fueled by the media that it is difficult to sort it all out. I know many people believe Trump is the epitome of racism, and yet the first three people to serve in his pre- administration were actually a woman, a gay man, and a black man. KellyAnne Conway, Peter Thiel, and Ben Carson. That’s the truth. There is more going on here than meets the eye. We need to stop the emotional and rhetorical responses and let some calmer voices prevail.
There are enough of us in this country that actually care about the well being of people too, and we have to trust that is going to hold fast. People are acting as if our entire country is composed of nothing but rabid racists who have declared war. There has been no declaration of war and Trump hasn’t even become president yet. We’re responding based on information that has no actual basis in anything but speculation and fear.
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I’m deeply gratified by both your thoughtful responses.
Despite my dismay at the fact, I exist in a place of pretty unanimous opinion (namely the San Francisco Bay Area and my rather extensive network of international friends and colleagues, 100% of whom are deeply opposed to Trump) and I am always interested to hear what other people are saying and thinking. I was unaware that anyone was accusing Hillary of being a bigot. On what grounds?
And as for those three appointments, while they are indeed encouraging, I don’t see them as nearly as loud as his racist, misogynist, and homophobic statements have been. I hope he can reverse the scales on these and his other morally objectionable stances. I would love if they turned out to have been campaign strategies, albeit ethically indefensible ones.
How do you feel about his appointment of Steve Bannon and embrace of the “Alt-Right” white supremacist movement?
And does the rise in hate crimes, whatever its percentage, concern you? Do you have faith that Trump will somehow counter it beyond a split second “Stop it” sound bite? And beyond that, do you think he even CAN stop it, now that he’s pushed it so hard into motion?
(England is a more peaceful place than America by a long shot, and the Brexit vote was a far less radical endorsement of xenophobia than Trump’s many comments, yet hate crimes rose 41% over there after the vote. 41%! That’s deeply troubling.)
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May I ask this question, and will you seriously consider it in the deepest sense of empathy? “How many hate crimes, encouraged by Trump’s campaign of unprecedented violence and negative portrayals of large groups of people do you believe have actually been committed and PROVED to be the responsibility of Trump’s campaign? Remember, the ‘campaign’ involved mud-slinging and unfounded accusations by both parties, alleged by an unscrupulous media.
Now to answer your question – ZERO. Such activity is truly ‘deplorable’.
I believe there is an undercurrent of dissent that has as its source HATE, regardless of which party would have won.
Those dissenters originally planned to arouse the SAME current ‘protests’ labeling Trump supporters as their escape-goats, but shifted to Hillary’s base when the unexpected results occurred.
The motivation behind these dissenters, is NOT confined to support or lack thereof of either party – but the destruction of both. For a glimpse into what I’m referring to, visit this website @ realnewsposts.com. The bias of each contributor is quite obvious, and the intent is clearly to replace our government, apparently through anarchy – which is what we are seeing displayed by most ‘protests’.
NOTICE – I do NOT support, endorse or agree with the website I cited, nor the violent ‘protests’ related to the election, individuals, or political parties accused of impropriety. But those of us that desire real peace must accept that it is available only through the Prince of Peace who said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” – Jn. 16:33.
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I’m trying to stay calm here. Because yesterday a personal friend of mine was walking down the street, having a conversation on her cell phone. Apparently she mentioned the gay community (she’s a blond white woman) because a guy came up, grabbed the phone out of her hand, grabbed her by the shirt, shoved her backward and said “When Trump is president you people are going to die.”
Now if you want to tell me that has nothing to do with Trump…well. I’m trying to remain calm. Not sink to that level of violence. Because that level of denial makes me want to get my Trump on and punch such a person right in their homophobic jackass face. People who claimed to love Trump because he “said it like it really is”? Well fucking step up and admit it. He’s a racist asshole.
I respect other’s opinions. It’s a fundamental part of who I am. Just as I respect other cultures. Around the world lots of people believe the universe was created by a supreme being who’s really worried about what kind of hat they wear. I find that silly but that doesn’t matter, I respect their belief and will fight to defend it. But something like Female Genital Mutilation is just objectively beyond the line of what I can accept.
The same goes for this kind of homophobia, racism, misogyny etc that TRUMP HAS ABSOLUTELY VALIDATED IN OUR CULTURE. You assertion that somehow the same would be happening under Hillary is, to be completely honest and as respectful as I can be, completely ridiculous. Show me a speck of such bigotry in Hillary’s campaign. Show me how that woman could possibly have condoned violence against…women. Not every Trump voter is a bigot. Sure. But they voted to support a man who clearly is. And there is no god damned denying that. See: Steve Bannon.
Was there already hate in America? Absolutely. These people didn’t show up when Trump began his campaign, they’ve been there like dog shit on the sole of our culture for a long time. But when we reward a man for saying awful things, when we elect him on a platform that’s fundamentally based on bigotry, we encourage this element among us. And that is not the America I believe in.
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Sigh. I don’t know how to communicate when people are caught up in the heat of the moment and living in an area where emotions are running so high.
I don’t wish to be impolite here, but I have two friends that have now claimed to have been victims of “Trump inspired bigotry.” Nether one will name the perpetrator or report the incident to the police.
I dislike sounding so skeptical, but if a man grabs you, throws you against a wall, and threatens to kill people, that’s assault and he’s probably going to jail. So, was a report filed? Is the man in jail?
I’m not trying to victim blame here, I’m just saying that when rhetoric gets intense, people start exaggerating and seeing hostility everywhere.
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Sigh? And by “living in an area where emotions are running high” do you mean…America? Or just places where not everyone’s a straight white Christian? But I should clarify something first? Are you saying my friend lied? Cuz that’s sure what it sounds like.
And how many of your personal friends are going to have to be attacked before you listen to them?
The idea that it’s as easy as calling the police, having them show up, having the guy still there, having them take him into custody and press charges is…well… How do you feel about the term “privilege”? The police don’t just show up, attackers don’t just wait around, people have appointments to get to and lives to live, and those incidents are traumatic, the first urge is not usually to get involved with the police.
(In case you think I’m making it up, a couple months ago I was at a friend’s house and there were three gunshots on the street outside. We called the cops and no one even showed up. Life ain’t TV.)
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So she didn’t call the police? When a woman is assaulted by a stranger on the street who grabs her phone, throws her against the wall,and threatens to kill people, the vast majority of women do not say,”oh well, I’ve got appointments to keep and a life to lead.” And if it were a public street, people are vehemently opposed to “white women” being manhandled in public. That’s actually called “privilege.” If she didn’t call the cops herself, half a dozen other people would have, that is, if a crowd didn’t form and beat the crap out of the guy first. So her story is simply full of holes.
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You leave me speechless. Sweet Jesus.
The only silver lining is that for humans to live in such oblivious states as you, we must have created a world where at least some of the people got to live in safety for a long time. Too bad we couldn’t extend that to everyone for awhile.
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We could create a world where people live in safety and opportunity. The first step however,is for people to set down their offense, allow calmer heads to prevail, and to start listing to what the millions of Americans who voted for Trump have to say. It’s neither productive nor useful to simply accuse everyone of bigotry and hatred.
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That’s a very nice sentiment, and in principle I agree. It’s not useful to simply accuse anyone of bigotry and hatred, not when it’s slanderous or meant to belittle or invalidate anyone. But when it’s just an accurate recognition of the views a party holds, then it’s absolutely essential to call it what it is. Pretending Trump and his new cabinet of insiders and the morally defunct are other than what they are is a disservice to America, hell it’s a disservice to them.
And the idea that everyone should just get over what’s going on and look to the future shows a fundamental lack of what their lives are actually like right now. It’s not a matter of “offense.” It’s fear that your group has been chosen to be a scapegoat and punching bag for utterly unjust reasons, that your nation has turned against you, that the federal government which exists precisely to protect your life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness are doing exactly the opposite of those things.
To claim to want a safe future without advocating for a safe present is just painting smiley faces on the bullets.
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Now, as fun as this has been, I am going to return to the awareness I reached previously and somehow forgot, that attempting to engage in “discussion” like this is not advancing an interchange of ideas, it’s just giving the already decided a ground on which to agree with themselves, so is counterproductive.
I wish you all the best of luck, and may you never have real life cause to understand the fear and violence that you’re so readily dismissing.
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That’s a bummer, because I really believe the only way we can make genuine change in the world is by discussing things and attempting to understand the other side of things. When people are unwilling to do that there is no communication and therefore no unity that actually gets us all working together. The more we are having a good dialog, the more we are able to serve the least of these who really need us..
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True statements, and I apparently just can’t help myself, not when I keep seeing things that I want to ask y’all about.
Like whether it’s the media’s fault, or our own for sharing and believing things without fact checking them. Hopefully this link for an example works https://www.facebook.com/viralgranskaren/videos/903344656432437/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
And the facebook-driven “news” John Oliver was talking about. You can skip to 10:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rSDUsMwakI
So is the problem the media? Or at least, is it entirely the media? Or echo chambers (like facebook or…blogs…) where we just find others who agree with us and sit around complementing ourselves instead of fact checking or doing due diligence?
I wish I could link to the book about how moderates who only talk to other moderates with the same opinions will drive themselves to become hardliners and extremists. But does that surprise any of us?
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Gold mine, for all of us?
http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/11/heres-a-browser-extension-that-will-flag-fake-news-sites.html?mid=wired&mbid=social_fb
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The term “journalism is dead’ is appropriate. The problem is those pretending to be journalists are still alive. The answer is how do we revive journalism and make the propagandists disappear? Someone said start a movement- great idea. Deluge the media offenders with so much objection communications (not hate mail) by net and phone they relent. Sharp shoot the worst individual offenders and concentrate on getting them off the public airways media (Can’t do much about cable). HIT LOCAL AFFILIATES AND ASK FOR THEIR FCC LICENSES TO BE REVOKED (The very act will panic them) – Make them of subject of internet rebuttal showing how they have discredited their positions as “journalists.”
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Out of curiosity, which journalists have inspired your hate? Are you talking about Fox News?
For eight years now I’ve been getting my news from the daily United Nations newsletter, the BBC, NPR, PBS, and only after them, from the major 24-hour news networks, and I have to say, it’s not as bad as you say when you listen to them. They present facts, from around the world, and don’t talk about Kardashians.
Just my recommendation.
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You have some substance to what you say – however, I don’t “hate” them I simply don’t believe them. I leave hate speech and judgement to others.
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I was thinking of doing a post on this so thank you for taking care of it. 😉 “Journalism” right now is in such a sorry state and the jet fuel of social media is making things worse at a rapid pace. The amount of misinformation and ignorance out there is just too much to even combat and play heavily in to why the country is so divided and will remain so for quite some time.
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Vagabondurges – I’m sincerely sorry that your personal realm of influence has apparently been so limited. Obviously, there is tremendous unwarranted bias within your inner-circles. As much as you have shared about your convictions, I appeal to your sense of fairness and reason.
You stated – “I was unaware that anyone was accusing Hillary of being a bigot. On what grounds?” Check out this report – merely one of so many >>> http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/08/25/hillary-clinton-is-a-bigot/.
As for Bannon, what version of reality you subscribe to will greatly influence your beliefs. The raw facts (NOT mere opinions) are that he is a former Goldman Sachs banker, who holds an MBA from Harvard. He’s also a documentary producer with eight films — some label them ‘right-wing propaganda movies’ — including one about Ronald Reagan confronting communism, “In the Face of Evil,” that highlights the markers of totalitarian states, chiefly the repression of free speech and religion. Another was produced in partnership with its subject, Sarah Palin, to re-brand her, following her tragic experience in the national spotlight. The intent of his films promote the exact opposite of his critic’s claims against him.
Bannon, is a Catholic and ardent about religious liberty. He operates a website – “Breitbart”, which invites all sorts of expression. Like any site that allows comments posted to it by others not in direct affiliation or agreement with it (such as THIS one) not all opinions on it are his.
One recent headline – “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” reports a much different view than critics claim. They should probably have read the story, which was a cheeky dissertation by British journalist Milo Yiannopoulos, a self-proclaimed “dangerous faggot,” who, among other things, is never to be taken seriously.
How frequently people tend to accept as truth, things that are merely parroted by others, without researching the source. One interview by the media of a protestor proves that some merely follow the crowds with NO personal conviction about the cause. When asked why the protest, the only reply was, “I just wanted to run with the pack”.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel runs a regular feature called “Lie Witness News” where unsuspecting random civilians are asked to comment on so-called ‘breaking news’ that is completely fabricated by Kimmel’s staff. Thinking the stories are true, they comment, and the results are hilarious – kind of like that of the one who rightly comprehends that the “Emperor’s New Clothes” are merely a clever hoax. May gullibility become a thing of your distant past. Peace!
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Wow. Breitbart. The most flagrant arm of racist propaganda since Goebbels. (Interesting side note, google Goebbels and guess who’s picture is on the top of the list? But don’t worry, it’s probably just a liberal conspiracy.) The version of reality I subscribe to is the one where I listen to what people say and do. Others call it simply “reality.” Or as you say, researching the source, for example: the very words of the man you defend. http://www.npr.org/2016/11/17/502476139/were-not-going-away-alt-right-leader-on-voice-in-trump-administration
Though I’m guessing you’ll just say NPR makes stuff up? Or misrepresents his words by printing them verbatim?
I’ve read about people like you, but indeed, I don’t know any firsthand.
It’s interesting to encounter you. Feel how the sanctimony of your hypocrisy makes my blood boil. “I’m sincerely sorry that your personal realm of influence has apparently been so limited. Obviously, there is tremendous unwarranted bias within your inner-circles.” Sweet Jesus.
This is probably the last gasp of what used to be my belief in the human intellect, as I know none of this will reach you in the slightest, appearing as deluded and useless to you as your insanity appears to me. God help us all.
Peace would be nice. Instead we’ve got the rejection of political discourse in favor of an age of totalitarianism. Humanity has to keep learning what that leads to.
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I realize I never asked the obvious question. Do you consider Breitbart to be the platform of the Alt-Right, aka America’s white supremacist movement?
You know, the group that “advocates for an Aryan homeland for the supposedly dispossessed white race and calls for ‘peaceful ethnic cleansing’ to halt the ‘deconstruction’ of European culture.” The one named by Richard Spencer, the guy who smiles when he quotes Nazi propaganda to a group of white males who give the Nazi salute and shout “Heil the people! Heil victory!”
Just wanted to double check what your impression of Breitbart was.
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I’ll address that question as best as I can in a blog post today,Vagabond.
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Love your post and couldn’t agree more. I’ve seen nothing more than mass hysteria in the last week and a half. The increasing shift towards partisan politics the media has taken is really doing the institution of journalism a dis-service. That coupled with the money that has taken hold on the media, like it has with politicians, is a bad recipe for the future. Who suffers as a result? Us, the people, per usual.
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