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Distortions, Donald Trump, and COVID-19
At The Federalist, Mollie Hemingway reveals the disturbing results of a Harris poll regarding the Trump/Russian collusion. Many of the original reports were clear distortions or lies put out by the mainstream media, particularly CNN, and yet most of the public after all this time don’t see the “collusion” was a hoax. Hemingway makes the following observation:
CNN’s original story on the dossier was ‘Intel chiefs presented Trump with claims of Russian efforts to compromise him’ but when the dossier was definitively discredited, it downplayed or ignored the finding, instead going with ‘How the FBI attempted to verify a salacious allegation in the Steele dossier.’
So if [Jake] Tapper was upset that 32 percent of the public thought the Obama administration spied on the Trump campaign, and it did, how upset must he be that 53 percent believe what his network falsely peddled for years? A majority of Americans — and 81 percent of liberals, the group CNN caters to — believe that Trump colluded with Russia.
The majority of Americans believe the lies.
We already know how disreputable CNN is in reporting what some people call news. But after more than three years of ample information coming out to clear Trump, how is it possible that more than half of Americans still believe the story is true?
Especially disturbing is that the level of social disruption today has been intensified by the information we are getting on COVID-19 and the upcoming election. It raises a number of disturbing questions:
- Are there so many Americans that hate Donald Trump that they are willing to believe any negative news about him?
- How will rumors and lies about any topic that are put out by the Leftist media be understood by naïve Americans prior to the November election?
- If our citizens are so easily duped, how willing are they going to be to understand the impact of the shutdowns and lockdowns of the COVID-19, and realize that their own lives are at risk because of them?
- Will Americans wake up to the fact that their rights and freedoms are slowly being destroyed while they hide in fear?
- Is there any way to break through the propaganda about COVID-19 and promote an objective and sensible way to deal with it?
Or are Americans going to fall into the abyss of authoritarianism? Although they are highly critical of the mainstream media, they continue to be led by the fake news.
Can we trust our own citizens to wake up and try to save the country? If not, what would it take?
Published in Culture
So I certainly agree that this is not good and that CNN’s behavior is absolutely despicable, but I would consider that maybe a lot of non-news-junkies don’t have what the Steele dossier actually is at the front of their thoughts. That is, many may just hear it as another word associated with the Mueller investigation, which people may have a positive or nuanced view on (even if not correct).
A stretched comparison could be public opinion on Roe v. Wade. The name of the case polls very well, as non-junkies tend to have a positive view of court decisions. The content of Roe? Not so much.
Still very bad, but I don’t think this indicates, for example, that 53% literally think Trump colluded with Russia or – worse – engaged in weird pee games with Russian hookers.
George Orwell’s 1984 was supposed to be a cautionary tale, but the progressive turned it into an instruction manual.
Good points @mikeviola. Nevertheless some big decisions are coming up in the coming months, and I have little faith that people will do any but the most superficial homework to make their decisions. Especially when their own lives are involved.
Oh wow, @rodin. Well said.
:( I hate admitting it but you’re probably right.
Polls, polls, polls . . .
I got fed up with polls as news eons ago:
Ye Olde Village Tabloid Poll: Washington Approval Down to 38%, King George III at 52% And Rising
On the main issue of the Russia collusion hoax, I put a lot of blame on the NeverTrump camp. This does not apply to all of them, but it seems to me that many of them accepted and peddled this false narrative, almost as eagerly as the Left-wing media.
My suspicion is that defections of this type are very damaging, and have a fairly strong effect on the opinions of people with little political engagement. I admit that I have a hard time evaluating the thought processes of such people. I suspect that they view many scandals as mere political opportunism, and tend to find them credible only if corroborated by notable figures on the political side of the accused.
On target. When your “allies” turn on you, your enemies delight.
I should add that the politicization of accusations puts honorable people in a quandary. I do not want a mindless adherence to party loyalty, either. I think that the proper attitude is skepticism toward such allegations, until they are solidly proven.
There are examples other than the Russia collusion hoax. Think of Roy Moore in Alabama, taken down by unsubstantiated and, in my view, not very credible accusations of decades-old sexual improprieties. Moore was not well liked by many on the Right anyway, so I think that they were inclined to believe the accusations. If I recall correctly, my position was that I didn’t know whether the accusations were true or not, but we should not allow such unproven, October-surprise allegations to sway an election. If true, they can be proven later, and the accused pressured to resign in disgrace.
We see dirty tricks of this type all of the time in politics. I actually take the same view of the current accusations against Joe Biden. I have no idea if the accusation is true or not, and I’m not going to reach a conclusion on the basis of rumor and innuendo. Oh, and “corroboration” that is no real corroboration at all. The current version of “corroboration,” on the Left, seems to be that the accuser told someone else the same story, allowing that someone else to “corroborate” the story. That is not corroboration, though it can serve to rebut a claim that the accusation is a recent fabrication. It does not, in any way, demonstrate that the accusation was not a fabrication all along.
I do not object to those who argue that, by the Left’s own ludicrous standards of “credibly accused” and “believe all women” — which Biden appears to have supported himself — he is a hypocrite for denying the accusation. This does not demonstrate the truth of the accusation. It demonstrates the irrationality and incoherence of the Left generally, and the #MeToo movement in particular.
You may very well be right, @arizonapatriot. I hadn’t thought about the NeverTrump folks, but when people who were supposedly strong conservatives dismiss the rest of the Right, we’re getting hit on all sides. They are as complicit at taking down the country as the Leftist media. It’s discouraging. Thanks for your comment.
But when Mollie cites a poll, it’s hard to discount.
We need indictments of those DOJ, FBI and CIA creeps already. Those General Flynn notes that were finally released yesterday are indicative of how this entire process has been allowed to fester too long.
This is where I come down, too, Jerry. Skepticism, rather than falling in lockstep is necessary for objectivity and fairness. But then, why should I expect either?
QOTT (Quote of the Thread):
That would be Jonathan Swift, and I like it better than the one about a lie going halfway around the world because this one employs a semicolon.
My thought is that the concept of Russian collusion, as expounded daily for a considerable period of time, is a relatively simple one that can be remembered (implanted) by a large segment of people. However, the debunking came in pieces and required a connecting of the dots as it unfolded. A lot of people won’t make the effort, and don’t want to, so they just tune out.
If you’re not a political junkie, all of the information that’s come out over the past three or so weeks on the FBI’s actions and the efforts of others to push the false Russian collusion narrative are background noise to the COVID stories, mainly because at this point they’re allegations without indictments.
That will change if and when Durham does hand down indictments, in part because the media outlets who were pushing the Russia hoax will freak out, and will rush to try and protect the indicted parties, which in turn will force them to go into full attack mode on John Durham (while other outlets like Fox will be defending him during their prime-time telecasts). That’s when the casual voters will have their chance to look at the new information and decide for themselves if their opinions on Trump-Russia need to be re-evaluated.
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. – Joseph Goebbels
So true. I got tired of conservative pundits who parroted the MSM headlines without digging to see if maybe – just maybe – the MSM was lying . . .
I so hope you’re right, @jon1979.
The good news is you can only defect once.
It has become clear to me that these people have a special relationship with Intel agencies. If someone doesn’t think the deep state doesn’t have operatives and allies all over the media, he/she doesn’t know what intel agencies actually do.
In general, I agree with your take on this; however, given Biden’s long history of mendacity and despicable conduct, I’m inclined to not believe any of his denials (and I would note that he hasn’t denied this woman’s accusation; only his paid mouthpieces have).
If you’re CNN, the Times or the WaPo, if Comey, Brennan, Clapper, Strozk, etc., get indicted, the best play would probably be to bury the story. But Trump and his Twitter feed won’t let them unless the suddenly have massive control over their reflexive Trump Derangement Syndrome habit of having to angrily respond to anything he says or does. So instead of burying the indictments amid a glut of COVID-19 reports, they’re going to have a Palovian response to try and prove Trump wrong and demonize Durham in the process.
Hard-core Democrats will be OK with that, but swing voters may start wondering what’s the reasoning behind the indictments, and might find the holes in the original Trump-Russia claims.
I completely agree, @franco. People in Intel can’t act with such impunity without knowing they are protected. At least they thought they were. I’m hoping we know sooner rather than later what the information is behind the despicable behavior of those people in the FBI and maybe the CIA.
I think there are more of these people than we may think! Swing voters, independents, anyone who is at least scratching his or head, wondering what the heck is going on will be asking questions, finally. Especially if the media gets hysterical enough!
If this was The Wizard of Oz, we are in the part of the movie where the media ( playing the part of the great Oz) says, “pay no attention the man behind the curtain!”
@franco, a perfect metaphor. Thanks.
It’s awful that half of Americans believe that the allegations were true, but it’s better than the 99% of everyone else who believe anything negative about any Republican, with President Trump at about 1000%. Good thing only Americans get to vote.
Would that it were so.
I put a lot of the blame for this fiasco on Mitch McConnell who blocked any chance of funding for the Congressman who should have been elected Senator. Congressman Mo Brooks, who is a member of the conservative coalition in the House, wanted to run for that seat but was blocked by McConnell in favor of the appointed Senator who has been Attorney General investigating the sitting Governor, The Governor appointed the AG to the Senate and the investigation went away. Corrupt all the way down.
https://brooks.house.gov/
Moore won the primary as a protest against the corrupt appointment.
Susan, Susan, Susan….I know people who still believe the Rosenbergs were innocent…