“Hillary Clinton Did It”

Most of the press will ignore this news, but the Russia-Trump narrative that Mrs. Clinton sanctioned did enormous harm to the country. It disgraced the FBI, humiliated the press, and sent the country on a three-year investigation to nowhere. Vladimir Putinnever came close to doing as much disinformation damage.

You should read the whole article. It’s short and to the point.

Impressed with the New York Times

If you’ve been reading my Nibble Ninja blog, you know I lean conservative. However, I really wanted a good home-delivered paper, and the Denver Post doesn’t fit the bill (and not because of its liberal slant).

So, I am trying out The New York Times. First issue came today, and I have to admit I am impressed. It’s too early to know if that’ll equate to me continuing to spend what it costs to have it on my doorstep, but credit where credit is due.

Having said that, being that I am more conservative than most of its writers, I suspect I am more aware of cases in it where they are providing opinion instead of factual journalism. Can you also spot it in this front page article?

Why Do We Trust the Media?

In my previous post, I linked to a Twitter thread by Bill Ackman which included these:

Bill Ackman tweet

I have always been frustrated to read an inaccurate press report about a subject I know well, yet somehow I continue to believe other articles in the same newspaper about subjects I know less well.

That does seem a pretty illogical (stupid?) thing to do: To trust that which has proven itself untrustworthy. (Especially if they do not admit their previous failures.)

There are no noble lies. “Fake news,” is evil, whether it helps your side, or not (or hurts the other side, or not). Yes, journalists can make honest mistakes, but at a minimum I suspect major media commits the sin of “too good to check,” and often is downright lying, because it fits their narrative.

If you are a good person, you should hate this that these lists from Brit Hume and Andrew Sullivan are so big, even if those hurt by them are the “bad guys”:

Your character is not really measured by how you treat your friend, but by how you treat your enemies.

Who Benefits from Division?

As you bemoan the condition of dialogue in the the modern world, ask yourself, “Who benefits from division?”

And then read this great article from Leighton Woodhouse:

There’s a perfect alignment of interests between the media, its consumers, and professional political agitators in stoking fear, animosity, and mutual recrimination among the public

The answer to, “Who benefits from division?” is:

On an episode of my favorite podcast, Red Scare, co-host Dasha Nekrasova, describing the Wi Spa protests, passingly referred to the whole affair as “the algorithm.” It’s an apt metaphor. Just as YouTube’s digital algorithm serves us up ever more extreme content to keep us glued to our screens, the human algorithm that governs the media’s new business model scours our newsfeeds for catalysts for outrage and amplifies them. Political provocateurs, from anti-maskers to Antifa LARPers, understand the algorithm and exploit it, performing their assigned roles in the streets, in front of their iPhone cameras. The rest of us consume it with glee, every bite reminding us that we stand on the right side of history, unlike the rest of those morons with whom we’re forced to share a country. It’s a perfectly functional dysfunctional system. Everybody wins while everybody loses.

Emphasis mine.

Before now, I didn’t think about how much I am part of the problem. Politicians, the media, and others may be more culpable, but my hands aren’t clean. They are giving me what I want, whether I realize it or not.

Trust me, you should read the whole article.

Truth Matters

This is quite the thread if you click through:

Glenn Greenwald’s article about the situation:

Truth matters. Noble lies are never justified no matter the cause, especially in journalism. But these employees of corporate media outlets have been taught the exact opposite model: that their primary obligation is to please and flatter the partisan agenda and political sensibilities of their audience even if it means lying or recklessly spreading unproven theories to do it. That is their profit model. And they have trained their audiences to want and expect this and that is why they never feel compelled to engage in any self-critique or accountability when they get caught doing this: their audiences want to be lied to — they are grateful for it — and would prefer that they not admit they did it so that their partisan interests will not be undermined.

 

Journalism that Deserves Contempt

As with my previous post, this article’s author is not a conservative…

Let’s express this as clearly as it can be expressed. Any journalist who treats unverified stories from the CIA or other government agencies as true, without needing any evidence or applying any skepticism, is worthless. Actually, they are worse than worthless: they are toxic influences who deserve pure contempt.

Truth Matters

I don’t care which side of the aisle you sit on politically, the truth matters.

P.S. The article’s author, Matt Taibbi, is not a conservative…so this is not “pro-Trump” piece. It is pro-truth.

Update: Explaining one of the reasons for the lies:

Congratulations Greg Gutfeld

Congratulations to Greg Gutfeld:

“You’re welcome to step away”

Did I mention that I supported Cruz in the 2016 presidential primary?