dagblog - Comments for "Russian Meddling Was a Drop in an Ocean of American-made Discord"

CNN legal analyst disagrees -

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 08:19:00 +0000

In reply to Russian Meddling Was a Drop in an Ocean of American-made Discord

CNN legal analyst disagrees - thinks Putin handed election to Trump.

Of course since there's so many twist and turns and sub-plots in all this, we forget basic things to be discussed at the same time, such as the disinfo campaigns were combined with the Russians stealing Hillary's and the DNC's emails & campaign strategy, including drip-drip-drip via Wikileaks to the media, that we still don't know the exact purpose of the 2-3 computer servers communicating with Alfa Bank, that we've only scratched the surface of amounts of money spent in this effort (the indictments are intended to be a first very solid grounding, not an all-inclusive final summary). We don't know the full story of the internal rogue FBI unit that pushed Comey to make his disastrous announcement a week before the election (though Giuliani has oddly disappeared). Even now, we got the first hint of Russian tampering with the GOP & Dem primaries - up to now, all the focus has been on the general elections. Then there's info that keeps getting shunted into did he/didn't he, like the Kremlin saying they met with the Trump campaign, the Trump campaign denying it, or earlier saying they get along great with the Russians, and then denying they know any Russians at all.

It's still early days, he says exhausted.

That's nice, but Jerry

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 08:05:30 +0000

In reply to 1990, NYT, When Republican

That's nice, but Jerry Falwell preceded Newt by a good dozen years - the modern politicizing and coopting of religion and turn from message of "love" to hate and anger.

1990, NYT, When Republican

NCD — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 07:22:00 +0000

In reply to Russian Meddling Was a Drop in an Ocean of American-made Discord

1990, NYT, When Republican democracy destruction got into high gear:

The Politics of Slash and Burn

Published: September 20, 1990

'Sick.'' ''Traitors.'' ''Bizarre.'' ''Self-serving.'' ''Shallow.'' ''Corrupt.'' ''Pathetic.'' ''Shame.'' The group that urged political candidates to use these epithets has since regretted suggesting the word ''traitors,'' in response to inquiries from the press. But the others were allowed to stand; they appear in a glossary that a conservative Republican group recently mailed to Republican state legislative candidates.

The group is Gopac, the G.O.P. Political Action Committee. Its general chairman is Representative Newt Gingrich. With the pamphlet, ''Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,'' comes a letter from Mr. Gingrich himself. Its message to candidates: Step up invective. Use words like these to describe opponents. These words work.

Mr. Gingrich's injunction represents the worst of American political discourse..

The Beginning

Yes there are bigger problems

ocean-kat — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 06:52:55 +0000

In reply to Russian Meddling Was a Drop in an Ocean of American-made Discord

Yes there are bigger problems in America than Russian interference in our election. And yes, Russia didn't create the problems they just took advantage of a flawed system. I think it's good that we look at the system set up by youtube, google, facebook, twitter et. al. and what part they played in not just Russian interference but in the propagation of fake news and sensationalistic news that leaves vast numbers of Americans under informed or incorrectly informed. Long before the 2016 election I was reading and worrying about social media spreading false, trivial, and sensationalistic stories. There's always been an attraction to weird, sensationalistic, and extreme partisan news. The social media companies pushed the worse of the "news" by prioritizing clicks with no editorial checking at all of the truth of value of the stories pushed.

But that doesn't mean the Russian effort had no effect. It annoys me when articles keep making this claim. I don't believe that conclusion is justified. A drop in a bucket can be the drop that causes the bucket to overflow. These stories didn't just target the most partisan. They had ripple effects that reached even those we'd like to think of as rational folks.

A striking example, which Prier documents in detail, came during the November 2015 protests at the University of Missouri. A dispute over benefits for graduate teaching assistants had escalated into broad allegations of racism on campus. Spotting the trending hashtag #PrayforMizzou, a Russia-linked Twitter account, @Fanfan1911, tweeted a photo of a bruised African American youth that was lifted from an unrelated story. “The cops are marching with the KKK!” the tweet declared. “They beat up my little brother! Watch out!” This untrue message, signed “Jermaine,” was retweeted hundreds of times by Russian bots — enough to unleash it as a viral contagion among duped Americans, including Missouri’s student body president.

As other accounts in the orbit of @Fanfan1911 added fake details, Jermaine demanded the news media cover the nonexistent Klan rampage. Twitter-obsessed reporters ran in search of a story. Though the facts eventually came limping onto the scene, lasting damage was done. Morale and enrollment sagged at the university. Trust in media and police took another hit. The reputation and economy of Missouri absorbed a blow.

I don't like to blame any one thing for Trump's electoral college win. But with an election this close any one thing, even the smallest of influences, could be to blame. So I don't discount anything either. Could be the Russian effort is one of the smallest of influences but even so it needs to be confronted and dealt with. Better yet if we start there and it leads to confronting social media's focus on clickbait over truth and quality in the news they promote.

The points they elaborate on,

artappraiser — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 01:27:47 +0000

In reply to Russian Meddling Was a Drop in an Ocean of American-made Discord

The points they elaborate on, with explanations of how it was already there:

How Polarization Shapes Reality
An Especially Toxic Form of Partisanship
Fracturing by Race and Party
Weakened Guardrails and Guardians
Turning Against Institutions