Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Conspiracy Theories and Flawed Journalism
In case you haven’t been paying attention, Donald Trump has once again stirred up a hornet’s nest with one of his tweets, this time concerning the death of Lori Klausutis, an employee of then-Congressman Joe Scarborough. The story in a nutshell is that Klausutis, an otherwise fit young woman of 28, died in Scarborough’s Fort Walton Beach office from a head injury she sustained when passing out due to an undiagnosed heart condition. It has been a favorite topic among conspiracy theorists for almost 20 years.
The medical examiner’s report should have been the end of it. After all, the outcome of the autopsy was perfectly reasonable. But then several things got in the way. One, the medical examiner that made the ruling turned out to be a bit of a crackpot, arrested a decade later for illegally keeping stolen body parts in a South Florida storage facility. Secondly, Scarborough himself hasn’t helped. Here he is joking about the incident on Don Imus’ nationally syndicated radio show while pushing the launch of a show on MSNBC:
That was in 2003. Laughter is a strange reaction from someone who said it was outrageous rumors that caused him to resign his seat in Congress.
The reactions to Trump’s tweet has been predictable enough. But like so many of the other outrages of the Trump era, the anger is either misplaced or counterproductive. Like the political class that wishes to ignore their own complicity in Trump’s rise to the Oval Office, likewise the press wishes to ignore their own complicity in making the truth a rare commodity in the so-called “age of information.” If you spend three years rumor-mongering about Russia collusion theories and the backgrounds of Supreme Court nominees it’s difficult to take your objections to the President’s tweets seriously. In the end the reality of your headline is “Noted Victim of Conspiracy Theories Shares His Own Conspiracy Theories.”
Someone on Twitter framed the situation thusly: There is no difference between a “conspiracy theory” and “fake news.” That, of course, is nonsense. Conspiracy theories are partly based on the experience that the application of the law is too often double-tiered, with one set of rules for ordinary citizens and another for the well-connected. This is universal. Those on the right see privilege born of political power, those on the left see it as being the result of wealth and race.
In that regard, most conspiracy theories are organic, born of curiosity and mistrust, and perpetuated because the ordinary citizen doesn’t have the resources to disprove them. That makes “fake news” ten times worse. It’s not amateur bumbling, it’s professional malpractice. They have the resources and the skill but lack the motivation and therefore the effort to provide the most truthful reporting possible.
All good reporters and the best stories begin with theories and the simple question, “What if…” It’s the ability to follow through and the willingness to be convinced that dead ends aren’t wasted that makes a good journalist.
But there is also a basic flaw in journalism that needs to be addressed: the two source rule. In an era where elements of the Federal Government are actively trying to undermine and overturn the results of elections the standard for printing or broadcasting, an item needs to be higher than that. As the folks at Fusion GPS demonstrated, finding two or more people to tell the same lie in order to get that lie into the papers and on-air is an awfully easy thing to accomplish.
Fundamentally, a functioning press would be able to able to throttle conspiracy theories without breaking a sweat. But that takes trust from the public-at-large, something that the profession of journalism has willingly abandoned in the pursuance of political goals.
Published in Journalism
The so-called Fourth Estate abdicated its actual role in order to become the propaganda voice of the DNC. Leni Riefenstahl would be embarrassed for these traitors.
Sad.
FISA warrants, special council investigations, and impeachments have all been “performed” on far less than this.
Once upon a time, anonymous sources were unusual. Now, you rarely see a story sourced any other way. Whether it’s two sources, or the now frequent one, if you don’t know who is telling the story it can’t be reasonably evaluated.
Slimy Joe Scarborough missed class the day that this piece of wisdom was shared …
If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones.
Since Dan Rather, the motto is fake but accurate.
“Conspiracy Theory” is also such an overused term that most people, I think, don’t even have a grasp on what they mean when they use the term. Conspiracies do exist. That’s why they are illegal and often prosecuted, even if adjunctively to a more direct crime.
I’ve seen (especially in the UK press) investigations into the Loch Ness monster and into intriguing underwater man-made structures casually referred to as conspiracy theories. These don’t involve conspiracies, but are mysteries. And people are want to try to explain them, often without any evidence, according to outlandish theories– and why not, the structures and things themselves are outlandish.
On the other hand, pointing out that this CoV outbreak, and as another example this 0bamagate, involve so many coincidences of reported facts, and often contradictory facts, that their natures really can’t be explained as easily by mistakes or coincidences as by coordinated intentions. A conspiracy or intelligent coordination is often the far simplest answer.
Why is the Press so one sided and fallacious? Look up a half-dozen CIA programs that are documented on a site as blandly accepted as Wikipedia. When these CIA “conspiracies” are openly acknowledged to exist, and when they explain so much so easily, the chaotic rationales for them seem too much of a stretch. What causes this chaos?, one wonders. Human fallibility? An evolutionary bent in humans to “control” of everything? The dark side of human psyche causing people to walk in parallel down the same road unaware of their fellow dark travelers, or finding unexpected common cause and traveling together?
Why does the word now, or at least the Western World, emphasize and legitimize No Borders, trans-sexuality, libertinism, abortion, no home schooling, societal or governmental ownership of children, denigration of the Christian Church while exalting and allowing lawlessness in mohammedan enclaves? Why does AGW get settled-science status, while solar activity is ignored? Why is the WHO promoting teaching children under age four about masturbation? Why are families being denigrated as unwholesome and dangerous? All at the same time. And apart from any organic cultural movement toward that point of view. Why is safety now a buzzword world-wide?
Conspiracy theories make collective sense out of seemingly disjointed mysteries and unexplainable coincidences.
Then you are relying on the trust you have in the fairness and judgement of the journalist.
Absolutely! We are in epistemological chaos, and it’s not Trump’s fault. It’s entirely their
“The President” is supposed to be impeccably honest and factual while the press can use any innuendo, or a false allegation based on the flimsiest of evidence, or an outright lie. And while the press lies brazenly and strategically themselves they become outraged when their target turns the tables.
Our default assumptions are that the politician lies , misleads , obfuscates and conflates, and the press is expected to sort out the truth, or something like it.
But now, the press have decided to rely on their reputation for truth-seeking and use their brand to pedal falsehoods and innuendo to service their agenda.
At this point, Trump knows they know they are deliberately disingenuous. They are knowingly reporting falsehoods. They know they are lying. It’s no longer a coincidence or something that can be explained in any other way. So this is a streetfight and the other side has pulled knives and zip-guns.
The globalist media, beholden to deep state forces (not a ‘theory’ but an evidenced-based conspiracy charge) are actively trying to damage Trump’s reputation and confound him on a daily basis.
It does damage his credibility, even with his most ardent fans, but I really can’t blame him for retaliating. And it could be carpet-bombing. He can drop dozens of bombs, some will land others will miss. It might not be 3D chess after all.
Now, I chalk-up most ‘retirements’ or strange behaviors of certain politicians to blackmail and comprimat.
What idiot doesn’t know that they will find some dirt on whoever can help them or hurt them, and use it.
Everyone has something he/she wants to hide. Everyone. I know I do. How ‘bout you? And if you don’t they will make something up, Brett Kavanaugh, Mitt Romney…. it really doesn’t matter. They have the meta-power.
Now that we know there are nefarious networks in an intel/politico/media world, the Intel to Media pipeline works 24/7/365 to game the political landscape.
The left love the idea of karma. It’s not a bad model. Scarborough deserves it,even if it’s fiction.
Live by fiction, die by fiction.
It was dialed up to 24/7/366 this year.
Remember “Truthiness”?
What kind of twisted, repressed, sick mind does it take to think that you *need* to teach kids about masturbation? That’s a conspiracy theory that should be investigated.
Without instruction they may masturbate in a natural way and not a woke, socially acceptable, method.
The WHO’s idea, though, is that parents instructing potty training toddlers not to touch their privates (in public view of other members of the family or friends) is making a legitimate thing taboo and dirty.
When all the parent is trying to do is instruct their kid not to touch themselves around other people, the WHO, then thinks parents should teach the toddler the “right way” to masturbate, rather than simply telling a toddler in public view “don’t do that.”
But really, it’s none of the WHO’s business and my kid eventually learns that, in the privacy of his own room, no one is telling him “don’t do that” and it is granted the privacy it deserves. But openly telling your kid he can do it in his room grants it an openness that I think we’d all be better off if we’d left it private all along.
Not shameful, but private. A lot has been lost by making private things so public.
It was a garbage tweet from the President of the United States. He demeaned himself. No need to construct elaborate analyses to try to rationalize it.
You’re right E.J. Where there is a flagrantly mendacious media and two-tiered system of justice; when deplatforming dissenters becomes routine, conspiracies theories will flourish.
And honestly, at this post-Chappaquidick, post-Jeffrey-Epestein-“suicide” point in time, why does anyone expect anyone to trust the official line on the death of young person associated with a powerful politician? Isn’t it fishy on its face? Like Seth Rich’s? And instead of a thorough, transparent investigation, we get apparent rush-and-hush-up jobs, and then public shaming and shunning of anyone who raises a doubt about it.
I like to think of myself as level-headed. But in times like this, not suspecting conspiracies can look an awful lot like sticking your head in the sand.
Anyway, normally I’d be with Jonathan Turley here. It’s repugnant for a President to tweet about a debunked theory of a cold case, stoking ill will all over the place. It’s horrendous that he publicly suggest Joe Scarborough may be involved with a murder without offering any evidence.
On the other hand, I’m hearing now that John McCain will be even more implicated than we thought in the Obamagate revelations now beginning to pour out. I’m remembering how disgusted I was when then-candidate Trump insulted McCain’s POW record. Now I realize he knew more about McCain’s perfidy than he was then letting on.
It seems to be Trump’s MO. First gather lots of facts and evidence, then hint. Seem to be way out over your skies, and let your opponents get hysterical over how irresponsible you are. Only then begin to show your evidence. Show it slowly, little by little. As it dawns on the public, you look prescient, while their bad-faith is exposed.
So, I’m keeping an open mind.
This is exactly the attitude that will eventually kill the conservative cause: self-righteousness in lieu of self-reflection. You see it in politicians and pundits alike – the idea that everything that happens does so in a vacuum – that whatever relates to Trump is 100% independent of political events and that all analysis that reflects poorly on anyone else’s actions can be dismissed as “rationalization.” Well, the world doesn’t operate that way.
Past performance by the GOP led to Trump’s rise. The “resistance” movement in the government and the media contributes to his behavior in office.
Still waiting for the evidence Ted Cruz’s dad knocked off JFK.
One of the things I’ve disliked about Trump since well before he became President is how gullible he is and prone to believing conspiracy theories. Of course, then the Democrats, bureaucrats, and media created a real conspiracy and have spent four years tormenting him with it.
No, what you are doing is ridiculous, believing you have to jump to rationalize everything Trump does. I’m voting for the President and trying to persuade others to do so, but trying to do so by defending the stupid things he does just makes you sound silly. No one who is not already on the Trump train is going to be persuaded by this nonsense.
Fair point.
And I share your dislike of that part of Trump’s mode. I still think he’s proven right more often than not. And his enemies are far worse in substance than he is bad in manners.
Right on the big things and wrong on trivia. I wish he tweeted less.
Went right from here over to Powerline, where I found John Hinderaker making a great point, as usual:
This, too, is a unique feature of the Trump Era. A good 90% of the original post is devoted to the nature of conspiracy theories and why the failures of modern journalism renders them impotent to combating them and all you see is an apologist. Again, these are blinders that people willingly put on, that all analysis or opinion must somehow be defined through the prism of Trump’s actions instead of being able to use them merely as jumping off point for larger discussions.
We bifurcate here irreconcilably.
40 years of poor GOP performance! What could possibly motivate people to give up at times when they have the House, the Sentate and the White house and can actually do what they ran on? Bribery? Or blackmail? Or is is a spineless more drip drip drip of gaming their campaign donor’s positions and desires.
Trump was for most his life a Kennedy liberal Democrat. He is only a Republican because the Democrats have evolved to progressives. A place his financial background will not let him to go. So why are people surprised that he acts like a Democrat and is successful at it like a Democrat is?
That was wrong. And it stands out as wrong. That makes 1.
President Trump only counter-punches. Except when he is playing Rope-a-Dope.
Da Tech Guy has a good piece on this topic. Here’s a pull quote:
Exactly. And Ed Driscoll linked this at Instapundit, so:
Sounds interesting.
Democrats evolved into progressives and Republicans evolved into feckless globalists.
Democrats are only underhanded because their media allies allow them to be. To do that as a ‘Republican’ takes something called courage. Another thing most Republicans lack(ed).
Trump is a inclined conservative. Whether he (or anyone) is an R or a D is akin to what gang you choose to join in prison.
Maybe you should think about this.
https://sdb.dotclue.org/cd_log_entries/2002/08/Jacksonianforeignpolicy.shtml
Worth reading and the essence of the message is:
Basically, Jacksonians believe that others will play fair, but some of them will only do so as long as they know they’re being watched.
Jacksonians don’t have any interest in spreading their philosophy around the world. It isn’t evangelistic; indeed, the entire concept of trying to actively spread that or any other philosophy around the world is deeply repugnant to pure Jacksonians. Jacksonians are anti-imperialistic.
The whole point of Jacksonianism is “You leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone. You play fair with me and I’ll play fair with you. But if you f**k with me, I’ll kill you.”
We all know that Trump is Jacksonian. If dueling was still in style, he would be at about #5 by now.
Heavy TDS there, big fella.