Simple chart depicts what we face
today across all media avenues
(And
of course, word of mouth, too)
Re-edited
and re-posted from previous post with legal stuff and up-to-date stuff added on the same timely subject:
What could
truly bring America and other great nations down? War, sure; famine, certainly;
terrorist attacks, yep; trade wars, maybe; disease, always; but more
importantly this item, if left unchecked or not stopped in any way. I mean the
free-wheeling Internet and the phenonomum of the so-called “social” networking.
I don’t mean a clamp on free speech, but I mean a filter on speech that is
freely given or posted, but false, fake, and purposely placed to deceive and
cause harm that appears real, but is not. Nowadays that aspect is more and more
out of control for attention seekers and revengeful posters, despite the
efforts of Twitter, Facebook, Apple, and Google otherwise to screen and block
it.
So, what’s at the heart of all this
that is behind the seemingly harmless “social networking?” Actually, pretty
simple: a lot of targeted disruption of our brand of democracy due to:
“Disinformation:” – Definition: Overtly or
covertly and knowingly spreading false or fake information to deceive on a
grand scale.
The word is
the English transliteration of the Russian word: дезинформация that is: “dezinformatsiya,” which was derived from the
title of the former KGB’s “black propaganda department”
handbook titled: Disinformation. It documented how Joseph
Stalin coined the term by giving it a French-sounding name to falsely
claim it had a Western origin. Precise Russian use of the word began with in
the old Soviet Union’s “Special Disinformation Office” in 1923.
Another
example: Operation INFEKTION (Operation: Infection) also was an
old Soviet disinformation campaign to influence opinion that said the U.S. had
“invented and spread AIDS.” Ironically, the U.S. did not actively
counter Soviet disinformation until around 1980, when a fake
document reported that the U.S. supported apartheid and moved us into
counter-action.
In the 2016
election, we saw it up front, personal, targeted, and coupled with the new Internet
phenomena called: Bots (which means: Web Robots).
They were slick and highly-expensive Russian political Ads that were all linked and posted on a wide range of social
media sites. And then Guccifer 2.0 hacked the DNC we now know by the Russians who funded DC Leaks – a domain
they tried to pass off as American owned. It was Russian, thus they aimed to blame
us by deflecting any blame and damage from themselves.
The damage as we now know
was significant.
What actual impact
and damage was on the final vote tally? Well that is very hard if not totally impossible
to assess and measure without asking each individual voter: “Did those Ads influence
your vote in any way – if so, how?”
So, yes, all that it true and it
would please George Orwell in any update of his famous novel, 1984, only this time
highlighting “Big Brother” as Vladimir Putin.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is all tied to Trump today more so than ever:
Background from CNN via MSN. The story contents is startling and damn scary vis-à-vis how Trump reacts
to FOX News stories vs. all other media outlets, which he calls “Fake News” but
never labels FOX in such a way – they are his Bible and rock-solid source for
his “news,” and he constantly reminds everyone on every speech – that is slick propaganda:
Enforce the lie – it will stick long term. Trump apparently regards FOX as the
ultimate prophet and soothsayer.
This is excellent related article (from ned.org) (Their
topic: Distinguishing disinformation from propaganda, misinformation, and “Fake
News”).
Trump as stated relies on dubious FOX News reports to
unleash attacks on former President Barack Obama and always without any real
evidence just like Trump tweeted that Obama granted citizenship to 2,500
Iranians as part of nuclear deal, saying in his tweet seen here.
(I Note: This latest Trump personal Obama
attack was false, nasty, and ugly).
“Just out that Obama Administration granted
citizenship, during the terrible Iran Deal negotiation, to 2,500 Iranians –
including to government officials. How big (and bad) is that?”
That is flat out 100% false, totally. See on this
after this reminder of the liar-in-chief.
Another excellent example of Trump’s
M.O. (via tweet to spread lies and false information):
Monday (June 25, 2018): President Trump tweeted that
Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, had encouraged liberals
to “harm” supporters of “the Make America Great Again movement” and warned her
to “be careful what you wish for.”
Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump
By Tuesday, the tweet was shared more than
40,000 times, and many users included comments critical of the president. Both
critics and supporters of Mr. Trump said the tweet contained a veiled threat
against the congresswoman, who called on people to confront Trump officials in
public as a form of registering their disapproval.
This kind of Twitter outrage
cycle has repeated itself countless times since Mr. Trump began his presidential campaign in 2015,
and it is one of his tried and true methods for injecting disinformation into
public discourse, experts said.
Iranian nuke deal lie from above by Trump:
No part of the Iranian
nuclear deal (official name is JCPOA) in any shape, form, or fashion granted
U.S. citizenship or legal resident status to any Iranians. So where is Trump getting this explosive
information, and does it hold up?
Background:
This unsubstantiated claim first gained attention on Monday (July 2) with story
on FOX News website that relied solely on the word of an Iranian cleric who is
also a member of the country's parliament. The FOX article was written by Chris Irvine, FOX News senior editor.
Irvine cited an Iranian news agency that cited an Iranian newspaper that quoted
the single Iranian cleric. That
single cleric said the Obama
administration provided citizenship to 2,500 unidentified Iranians during
nuclear deal negotiations.
The article
itself quoted, toward the end of the story, the network's own commentator, former Obama State Department spokeswoman
Marie Harf, who said: “This sounds like totally made up BS.” The story also
said that DHS and State both declined to comment, and that a representative for former Obama DHS Secretary, Jeh Johnson,
could not be reached.
(I add: Then the FOX-Trump “Spin” Machine Kicked into
High Gear).
Prior to the
FOX News article, the claim had not received any noticeable attention from any
U.S. media. However, soon after FOX News published its story, other outlets,
primarily in the conservative media space, published similar stories like
on: The Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit,
and Town Hall. Those claims were further shared on Twitter by FOX’s Sean Hannity and frequent FOX guests David Clarke and Charlie Kirk.
Then just
hours before Trump's tweet, the story hit on “FOX & Friends First” the
network's early morning show who then from there it was aired on FOX’s “America's
Newsroom” – their late-morning news program.
(I note: FOX and Friends is Trump’s early morning go-to news
source).
Jeff Prescott, the former senior
director on Obama's NSC called Trump's allegation “Absurd and entirely false.” Prescott then
shared with CNN immigration data from DHS which showed that the number of
Iranians naturalized in the United States over the course of both the Obama and
Bush administrations was relatively consistent and he added: “There was no connection between the Iran nuclear deal and
immigration policy” and concluded: “It shouldn't be lost on anyone that this is
a case of Trump parroting FOX News, which is peddling the claims of an Iranian
hardliner.”
Jake Sullivan, a former Obama
official and on
CNN’s “Situation Room,” who was involved at the start of the Iran nuclear
negotiations, also skewered Trump for relying on Fox News' thin report to make
what he called a “completely false” claim,” and added: “What is interesting
about this is that what happened is a hard line crank in Iran just randomly made
this comment, FOX News writes a story on it, and then Trump tweets it. Trump
had every opportunity to call people in his own DHS and State Department and
ask whether or not this was true. And they would have told him it wasn't.
Instead, he relies on FOX News. And the scary thing is that he's increasingly
relying on sources like FOX News to get his intelligence rather than the
professionals in his own government.”
FOX News or the White House did not
respond with any comment that subject.
======================================================
(a) Whoever
imparts or conveys or causes to be imparted or conveyed false information, knowing the
information to be false, concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or
to be made, to do any act which would be a crime prohibited by this chapter or chapter 97
or chapter 111 of
this title shall be subject to a civil penalty of
not more than $1,000 which shall be recoverable in a civil action brought in
the name of the United States.
(b)
Whoever
willfully and maliciously, or with reckless disregard for the safety of human life, imparts or
conveys or causes to be imparted or conveyed false information, knowing the
information to be false, concerning an attempt or alleged attempt being made or
to be made, to do any act which would be a crime
prohibited by this chapter or chapter 97 or chapter 111 of
this title — shall be fined under this title, or
imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(Added July 14, 1956, ch. 595, § 1, 70 Stat. 540;
amended Pub. L. 87–338, Oct. 3, 1961, 75 Stat. 751; Pub. L. 89–64, July 7, 1965, 79 Stat. 210; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII,
§ 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147).
======================================================
My 2 cents: The B/L is simple: This is not be the first time Trump
has tweeted false or questionable claims that have originated in right-wing
media – mostly via FOX, too.
Trump has a long history of stoking conspiracy
theories that target his political rivals convincing this followers to believe
his every word and claim, and I admit fully that Trump is skilled at that –
very much so.
Trump has to be held to account for his blatant lies
like this story present … not to do so, set a very dangerous precedent for the
country.
Like this quote
from the Nixon era: “If the president does it, it’s not illegal.”
Or now today with
the Trump era: “When the President says it that means it’s true.”
Right now the GOP
and Trump supporters somehow don’t give a damn whether Trump has a string of
over 3,000 or not. That is also very dangerous to our very structure.
This
story concludes and I totally agree, and I suspect the vast majority of
Americans do, too: That Trump increasingly relies on sources like FOX News to
get his news and intelligence report rather than his our own professional
government agencies. That, too, is very damn scary. Does Trump also consult
Alex Jones or some crystal ball gazer along with FOX and Hannity?
This is
surely an American first for the history books.
Thanks for stopping by.
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