Since “Fake News” Is All The Rage

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Yesterday I was listening to “All Things Considered” on the way to something more interesting.

The subject was “what are we doing to combat the kind of fake news that, we are told, affected the 2016 election”.

The guest – one Paul Barrett, an adjunct professor at NYU who lectures about election security for some reason or another – said that one thing that could help might be for social media companies (and, one might suppose, media companies in general) to “act more aggressively against provably false information”.

I couldn’t agree more, although I suspect that’s not the kind of cynical deception they’re thinking about.

Let’s start with sanctioning people who passed on Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom’s provably false claims about gun rights issues, especially proposals to reform self-defense laws – a trail of lies that continues today.

Professor Barrett also says individuals need to be more skeptical about what they read and see online. This is something no conservative in the Strib’s coverage area needs to be reminded about.

38 thoughts on “Since “Fake News” Is All The Rage”

  2. I would like to see a survey of NPR members and All Things Considered listeners:

    “Did you unwittingly vote for Donald Trump because of fake news?”

    I’m sure they’d all claim THEY weren’t duped by some Facebook ads and Twitter bots. Nope, no sir, they’re too wise for that. I guess they’re just looking out for the plebes.

  3. Nevermind all the massively reluctant Trump voters who have now been changed into full on supporters and probable campaign volunteers like me. That is a very large section of the population that no one on the right or left is talking about.

  4. Speaking of Fake News, I caught a few minutes of Rush just now, on the way to Subway for lunch. He mentioned the Sunday talk shows featured Jonah Goldberg and David Frum as the “conservative” commentators brought on the shows to explain the average Trump voter. What do they know, they’re both Never-Trumpers! Their opinions about Trump voters are just as slanted, just as jaded, as any Liberal’s opinion of us ignorant, red-necked, savage, back-woods, benighted, ignorant, racist, homophobic Trump voters.

    On the other hand, what Conservatives don’t remember is most Trump voters didn’t vote FOR the Bad Orange Man, they voted AGAINST the Lizard Queen to prevent her from ascending to the Rose Garden Throne wherefrom she’d institute a benevolent dictatorship that would purge society from those deplorable malcontents bitterly clinging to their guns and Bibles, ushering in an unending reign of peace and joy. Even Democrats hated Hillary, Democrat women most of all.

    One comic (can’t remember who and Google is unhelpful today) said: “Voters hated Hillary so much they voted for someone they hated even more, just to spite her” or words to that effect. His analysis was correct.

    This time around, it remains to be seen if enough Democrats and Independents hate the Democrat candidate badly enough to hold their noses to vote for The Donald. If Democrats nominate a genial grandfatherly type who’s not overtly insane, aided and abetted by billions of dollars worth of Fake News provided by the legacy media and social media, then I think the President will be in for a tough slog.

  5. Adding to this comment thread, I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, 2016 was the first time I ever voted for someone (Trump), instead of merely against someone. In my defense, I was out of the country and unable to (figure out how to) vote *for* Reagan the first time around… OK, OK, I’ll admit it. I also voted for Jesse V; I figured that anyone who could piss off the local MSM like he could might be OK.

  6. JDM, 2020 will be the second time I voted for someone. In 2004 I voted for Bush because of national security (I was also barely 18 and made the voting cutoff by 3 months and I was still gaining my political identity,among other things…). Since then all my presidental votes have been against the Democrat. Hell if McCain hadnt picked Palin in 08 I probably would have voted 3rd party.

  7. Does that imply more than half of what Trump says will be removed?

    A Guide to Trump-speak:

    “Did you know”
    (I just found this out)

    “People are saying”
    (I’m making this up)

    “We’ll see what happens”
    (I have no idea what’s happening)

    “Fake News”
    (This information makes me look bad)

    “Believe me”
    (I’m lying)

  8. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinski.

    Can you tell me with the definiton of is is?

    That is all

  9. A tweet for everything….

    “While Barack Obama is slashing the military, he is also negotiating with our sworn enemy the Taliban–who facilitated 9/11.” ~ Donald Trump 2012

    And Trump was going to host the Taliban, for a dinner party, on the 9/11 Anniversary.

  10. If Democrats nominate a genial grandfatherly type who’s not overtly insane, aided and abetted by billions of dollars worth of Fake News provided by the legacy media and social media, then I think the President will be in for a tough slog.

    I’m far more worried about vote/voter fraud defeating Trump than I am about any candidate, including Biden. Trump can take his gloves off against any candidate out there, and he’ll come fully armed to any debate. There is nothing he can do to prevent vote/voter fraud, short of as Swiftee suggested earlier, enacting an EO mandating photo ID to vote. And you know as well as I do – if he were to do that, some judge somewhere out there would declare it unconstitutional less than 24 hours after he signs the EO. It would be locked up in the courts for years.

  11. Emery can’t let it go – Trump cannot talk to the Taliban during September because of 9/11.

    Can we talk to them during May? No, that’s Eid, their holy days. June? No, Ramadan. How about October? No, that’s when Charles Martel crushed the Muslim invasion of France in 732 – meeting during that month would remind them of the humiliating defeat. April? Nope – Expulsion of Moriscos from Spain in 1609, another historical outrage. July? Seige of Jerusalem in 1099 during the First Crusade – don’t even mention The Crusades, it’s still a sore subject.

    Pretty much, Trump cannot talk to the Taliban at all, ever. I guess we’ll just have to keep killing them. Happy now?

  12. @ Bill C , I have a vague recollection of some candidate in 2016 who kept raving on and on about a “rigged system.” Right? Whatever happened to him?

    “Four states (NV, AZ, SC, and KS) are poised to cancel their 2020 GOP presidential primaries and caucuses.”

    Republicans to scrap primaries and caucuses as Trump challengers cry foul
    https://t.co/lJaHLFVd5X?amp=1

    Embarrassing. The GOP isn’t even pretending to be a place for dissent or debate.

  13. @JD, Most Americans want an end to the war in Afghanistan, now 18 years and counting (the longest in US history).

    That requires negotiations with the Taliban.

    It doesn’t require Trump inviting them to Camp David.

  14. Talking to a group of people who still use their left hand as toilet paper is probably a fruitless proposition.

  15. Talking to a group of people who still use their left hand as toilet paper is probably a fruitless proposition.

    Right now, Dunning_Kruger holding one hand up after the other, muttering “lefty loosey, righty tighty”, with a very concerned look on his face.

  16. Embarrassing. The GOP isn’t even pretending to be a place for dissent or debate.

    When your President has a 90%+ approval rating in the party doing a primary is utterly pointless and would only appeal to the #NeverTrumpers who are in the process of being kicked out of the party before 2020.

  17. Liberals must not want to end the Afghan war very badly, if they’re more concerned about WHERE the talks take place than THAT the talks take place. What next, spend a year negotiating the shape of the conference table?

    If Camp David is out, how about the new Trump development on the Golan Heights in Israel? Nice place for a quiet meeting. Or how about WTC 1, built on the site of the former World Trade Center – keep everyone focused on the stakes. Ooo, oooh, I know . . . one of the resorts in the Bahamas that wasn’t hit by the hurricane, bring in some badly needed tourist dollars. Everyone knows Afghanis love the Caribbean sun; mix the rum drinks strong, dress the girls in string bikinis, we’ll have a deal in no time.

  19. “Everyone knows Afghanis love the Caribbean sun; mix the rum drinks strong, dress the girls in string bikinis, we’ll have a deal in no time.”

    Just make sure there’s plenty of fermented yak milk and that the eunuchs shampoo the goats.

  20. It is most unfortunate that we are burdened with a leader who has not any diplomatic skills, not any concept of the difficulty facing the nation nor does he give the appearance of being deeply concerned. His termination of the Camp David meeting is the Trump show of ‘strength’, a school-boy-take-my-marbles and quit the game tactic placing all players in a state of limbo. His final act in this American Tragedy is his unforgivable elitist absence at the traditional ceremony for the arrival of a fallen American soldier.

  21. Using dead soldiers as a propaganda piece? Won’t work, Emery, because we know Liberals don’t actually care about honoring dead soldiers. Liberals are simply trying to apply Rule 4, hoping Conservatives will demand that Trump surrender. We no longer play by those rules. We learned new rules, taught to us by Liberals. We now play to win.

    Still not tired of the winning.

  22. “After the break, the Real Facts News Network will present the latest scientific evidence supporting global warming. But first, a report on a pregnant man’s battle with ovarian cancer.”

  23. Emery and his brain addled brother, are both racist, misogynistic morons.

    They can’t stand the fact that unemployment is the lowest in history for blacks, hispanics, Asians and women. Strong women upset them, so they wet themselves.

    They also hate that those same groups have seen their wages rise and personal savings increase. Sacrilege to the liberals! It takes away from their base.

    6.5 million people are off of food stamps, but again, the economically illiterate Emeries, think that’s a bad thing, because Trump!

  25. Emery the irony of you posting a NYT link in a thread about fake news is probably lost on you.

  27. Het genius, that happened like 10 days ago. In todays world a newsa cycle lasts 1-3 days tops.The fact that you are still focusing on something 3-4 news cycle old proves how bad your TDS is.

  28. Embarrassing. The GOP isn’t even pretending to be a place for dissent or debate.

    In 2016, the DNC couldn’t be bothered to staff all the counties for their caucuses in Iowa. And didn’t Hillary “win” with the aid of superdelegates against Sanders?

  30. Brilliant. Great writing. Good points. You seem just the sort of smart lawyer who would be interested in my high return investment scheme. Drop me a line

  31. … yes a had a few fucking typos, big deal. At least I dont jack off to the Economist.

  33. Many people don’t realize these are unrepentant terrorists. Many people.

    Once Trump learned that the Taliban sometimes kill people (!!!), he cut off negotiations

    I’d have thought that the only sensible move for the US is to halt its idiotic quarrel with Iran, and to arrange with them to keep a check on the Taliban — as they did, by arrangement with the US, prior to the ‘axis of evil’ nonsense. The Iranians have a strong interest in the Taliban being kept in check, and have — as distinct from the US — the advantage of actually being in the region on a permanent basis.

    But unfortunately Trump and his subordinates knows little about geography and even less about history.

  34. But unfortunately Trump and his subordinates knows little about geography and even less about history.

    Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. JFC after your statements over the last 2 years on this site you have no fucking leg to stand on in any way, shape or form.

  35. “What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position?”. ~ Donald Trump

    I am surprised, Trump didn’t know what kind of people his administration was dealing with.

    Apparently Trump was unaware of all the killings over the past year and a half (while negotiations were taking place) that the Taliban were responsible for. 🤔

  36. Many people don’t realize these are unrepentant terrorists. Many people.

    Once Trump learned that the Taliban sometimes kill people (!!!), he cut off negotiations

    Interesting. The other Emery started out a comment with the exact same quote but then asserted a different conclusion:

    This was a good call by Trump,

    I’m not sure what to believe now when the two Emerys are in disagreement.

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