JHan
JHan's JournalThe new Kellyanne Conway Selfie Stick
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRll7-6htQk/Seriously tho, KellyAnne's stunt was a textbook example of agnotology. She played a huge jedi mind trick on Trump voters by changing the conversation from what is actually verifiable to what is unverifiable. The point isn't the ridiculousness of KellyAnne's claim that Microwaves can spy on you, but the idea that since unknown methods of surveillance exists, anything is possible, including Obama spying on Trump.
Since anything is possible, and the claim being made is that we have no real way of knowing for sure, Facts and Reason count for nothing. investigations are also pointless. The side helping she's offering your average Trump voter is the demonization of Obama - of course..
The Pathetic Lives of Putin's American Dupes.
Todays Russia dupes are a smaller, more pathetic lot. Above all they are just plain weirder, because they lack a clear ideological motive for their stoogery. Soviet Russia not only commanded a vast propaganda network, but embodied a doctrine with international appeal (and which had originated outside of Russia). Vladimir Putins Russia follows no model except Russian nationalism. To the extent it employs a non-nationalist philosophy, its main idea is that gays have weakened Europe. And yet the dupes still come.
The most prominent intellectual apologist for Putin is Stephen F. Cohen, Princeton professor, Russologist for the left-wing Nation. Cohen is a septuagenarian, old-school leftist who has carried on the mental habits of decades of anti-anti-communism seamlessly into a new career of anti-anti-Putinism. The Cohen method is to pick away at every indictment of the Russian regime without directly associating himself with its various atrocities. Is Putin persecuting gays? Well, Cohen wants us to know that various Ukrainians nationalists dislike gays, too. And also Barack Obamas claim to snub Sochi because of gay rights is probably not on the level. Is Putin bullying and killing journalists? Eh, says Cohen, Every time a journalist breaks a leg, they say the Kremlin did it. Accidents happen.
The primary hub of Russian propaganda in the West is Russia Today, an English-language Kremlin-funded propaganda outlet. Joe Pompeo reported last fall how RT has actually acquired a devoted following in the West, in part through relentless viral YouTube sharing of its reports. Cohen, of course, appears regularly on RT. (Is RT biased? Well, he says, so is CNN: Im highly suspicious about the narrative Im getting on CNN. It seems to be the flip side of RT.)
*SNIP*
The demise of communism has left a void in the place where socialist fervor once animated the Soviet dupes. In the absence of any positive motivating force, Putins Russia, which has positioned itself as Americas main rival, has sponged up whatever motley collection of outsiders it can find. Russia is not the vessel for their ideological fantasies, but merely a placeholder for their accumulated discontent.
Article from 2014 that's still relevant since Cohen is still at it...
The truth about the wikileaks CIA cache..
What had gone wrong? There were two culprits: an honest (if careless) misunderstanding about technology on the part of the press; and yet another shrewd misinformation campaign orchestrated by WikiLeaks.
Which brings us to WikiLeaks misinformation campaign. An accurate tweet accompanying the cache would have said something like, If the C.I.A. goes after your specific phone and hacks it, the agency can look at its content. But that, of course, wouldnt have caused alarm and defeatism about the prospects of secure conversations.
Weve seen WikiLeaks do this before. Last July, right after the attempted coup in Turkey, WikiLeaks promised, with much fanfare, to release emails belonging to Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party. What WikiLeaks ultimately released, however, was nothing but mundane mailing lists of tens of thousands of ordinary people who discussed politics online. Back then, too, the ruse worked: Many Western journalists had hyped these non-leaks.
The Confederacy was a con job on whites. And still is.
by Frank HymanThanks to the profitability of this no-wage/low-wage combination, a majority of American one-per-centers were southerners. Slavery made southern states the richest in the country. The South was richer than any other country except England. But that vast wealth was invisible outside the plantation ballrooms. With low wages and few schools, southern whites suffered a much lower land ownership rate and a far lower literacy rate than northern whites."
*SNIP*
He goes on to say that this con job survives today through propaganda and controlling the narrative through media. ..The modern day version of this is Rush Limbaugh and most RW Talk Radio, Fox News etc. - all propaganda that works in getting people to vote against measures that would improve their lives, because those measures also improve the lives of others.
Tomi Lehren /Tabby Lexus/Toni Lobotomy blocked me on twitter - Akilah
This vid is so worth it ...
And I love Akilah
"Tabby Lexus represents the paradox that is rampant in the anti-sjw , meninist, alt-right segment of the universe where every opinion is reactionary, and while they rail against people who actively want to make the world better ( regardless of how they are sometimes misguided ) they contribute nothing but their own hurt feelings at actions that really do not affect them"
Jimmy Carter and Trump. Compare and Contrast.
President Carter, April 25, 1980:"Our rescue team knew and I knew that the operation was certain to be difficult and it was certain to be dangerous. We were all convinced that if and when the rescue operation had been commenced that it had an excellent chance of success. They were all volunteers; they were all highly trained. I met with their leaders before they went on this operation. They knew then what hopes of mine and of all Americans they carried with them.
To the families of those who died and who were wounded, I want to express the admiration I feel for the courage of their loved ones and the sorrow that I feel personally for their sacrifice.
The mission on which they were embarked was a humanitarian mission. It was not directed against Iran; it was not directed against the people of Iran. It was not undertaken with any feeling of hostility toward Iran or its people. It has caused no Iranian casualties."
Tropicana Jong Ill:
February 28th, 2017
"This was something that was, you know, just - they wanted to do...... And they came to see me and they explained what they wanted to do, the generals, who are very respected....
"And they lost Ryan..."
Keith Ellison:
"We don't have the luxury to walk out of this room divided."
A good result with Perez heading and Ellison as deputy.
Now we move forward.
Remember the amazing question that BBC reporter asked Pence at the NATO press conference?
"Who should European Leaders listen to?"
"Can they be certain that what you say, the assurances you give, won't be contradicted in a tweet or a statement at a press conference tomorrow?"
One of the assurances Pence gave was that press freedoms are not under attack.
Our allies now know his answer to that question is a lie.
Good luck with damage control in the future Mike.
The Shallow State
"The shallow state is in many respects the antithesis of the deep state. The power of the deep state comes from experience, knowledge, relationships, insight, craft, special skills, traditions, and shared values. Together, these purported attributes make nameless bureaucrats into a supergovernment that is accountable to no one. That is a scary prospect. But the nature of bureaucracies, human nature, inertia, checks and balances, and respect for the chain of command makes it seem a bit far-fetched to me. (The bureaucracy will drive Trump, like many presidents, mad, and some within it will challenge him, but thats not the same thing.)The shallow state, on the other hand, is unsettling because not only are the signs of it ever more visible but because its influence is clearly growing. It is made scarier still because it not only actively eschews experience, knowledge, relationships, insight, craft, special skills, tradition, and shared values but because it celebrates its ignorance of and disdain for those things. Donald Trump, champion and avatar of the shallow state, has won power because his supporters are threatened by what they dont understand, and what they dont understand is almost everything. Indeed, from evolution to data about our economy to the science of vaccines to the threats we face in the world, they reject vast subjects rooted in fact in order to have reality conform to their worldviews. They dont dig for truth; they skim the media for anything that makes them feel better about themselves. To many of them, knowledge is not a useful tool but a cunning barrier elites have created to keep power from the average man and woman. The same is true for experience, skills, and know-how. These things require time and work and study and often challenge our systems of belief. Truth is hard; shallowness is easy."
- David Rothkopf, The Shallow State
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleMember since: Sun Sep 11, 2016, 01:18 AM
Number of posts: 10,173