My Thoughts Close Of The Election (Part 1)

 The Media


The phrase that starts with “I read this on Facebook….” is one of the most toxic words that one can hear. On one hand, there is a general frustration with traditional media. However, people's frustrated with traditional sources caused them to gravitate towards one of, if not, worst places to get news from: social media. Several complain about the bias of American news. Yet, when several took to social media, many went straight to sources that were far more biased and partisan than anything on TV and cable (Brietbart, TheBlaze, WND, and OAN just to name a few. I've already crapped on CNN and MSNBC enough in previous articles). People were not really looking for objective news as simply mouthpieces that echoed there thoughts. Several get there news from the likes of Ben Shapiro despite the fact that he's not a news source, but a commentator.

Many will blindly believe anything that has the words "Freedom",  "Liberty", "America", or "Christian" in its news title. Those operating such sites know how gullible and naïve there audience is. They will make up the most absurd and outrageous crap knowing that there audience are mindless saps that will by anything they publish blindly. From there, many will post such content on there Facebook timelines on impulse simply because it "looks true", and nothing else. 

Social media is a toxic minefield populated with conspiracy theories, violent rhetoric, and hyper-partisan propaganda that passes itself off as news. Political discussion is dominated by those who have charged opinion, but yet, are horribly misinformed. One who consumes tribal politics thinks that there party can't do no wrong while the other can do no right. Things become black-and-white. Only if things were that simple. Some will claim middle ground, but then give the Republicans a pass while demonizing Democrats, or vice-versa. Tribal politics becomes a addictive, toxic drug that one can’t get enough of.

We're entitled to our opinions. However, were not entitled to our own facts. How much of our opinions are formed around memes and click-bait? How many opinions are formed around fallacies, stereotypes, prejudices, and stereotypes?

On one hand, the frustration is understandable. Here in America, news is a business instead of a public service. As such, controversy sells. News sources are not going to report the peaceful protest that have largely defined the demonstrations, but those occasional outburst. Violence attracts views, which generates revenue. No convoluted plan, but simple Capitalism at play. One doesn't need to look like uninformed fool by embracing outlandish conspiracy theories. Also, pointing out failures and shortcoming in leadership is not making fun of them.

Lastly, I'm against the suppression of opinions, but the suppression of Conservative opinions isn't a real thing. One can't state that Conservative opinions are being suppressed while Fox News has the highest ratings. If suppression of Conservative opinion was a real thing, I wouldn't be getting obnoxious ads from TheBlaze, Breitbart, PragerU, Epoch Times, or the Trump Campaign on YouTube all the time. Sometimes, I regretted turning off my ad-blocker. It's not that I'm against political ads as long as they incorporate valid information. This rarely is the case though. They argument is based on charged emotions and nothing else (This applies to both Democrats and Republicans alike).

The claims that the social media platforms themselves are biased is baseless. As one who occasionally programmed in the past, source code does not have a political bias. Now the AI could be affected. However, that's determined by those who use the platform, and not the platform itself. However, the major social media platforms (Facebook in particular) were the reason why Trump got elected in 2016. If these platforms were biased against him, then this wouldn't have happened. They are used as a vehicle for various think-tank groups to push very hyper-partisan articles. Meme mills have contributed as well, along with fake accounts to promote these post on social media. Several of the very partisan sites along with there fake accounts have been created by Russian operatives. 

In order for Facebook to avoid the claims of being  "anti-Conservative", they tweaked there algorithms that led to left-oriented sites removed from its search. As a result, actually censorship of left-oriented sites occurred because the social media giant was avoid perceived suppression of Conservative sites. Where is all the quote "free-speech warriors" now! I hear crickets chirping. Do people only care about freedom of speech when its about things that they want, and the rights of everybody else be damned.

Conspiracy Theories

I'm not going to tell you how to vote. However, if anyone votes against a candidate because their paranoid of invisible boogeymen or that they believe that the candidate is part of some sinister secret society that are out to get them, then that voter basically murdered Democracy in cold blood. Democracy becomes invalidated when uninformed people base there votes from sensationalist click-bait and conspiracy theories. When one clings onto outlandish conspiracy theories, that voter becomes there own worst enemy. Rational interpretation of party politics flies out the window. There are real-world consequences when embracing toxic rhetoric and paranoid delusions fed by idiots who super-glued tin-foil hats to there heads. Politicians scoop to the lowest common denominator when resorting to conspiracy theories. 

There are many Conservatives who don't like George Soros for various reasons. However, when people critique him, it's not based on facts, but on absurd claims that aren't based in reality. To make matters worse, the "reasons" presented are simply a smoke screen to demonize his Jewish background. Old anti-Semantic tropes have been re-hashed and updated for modern time. George Soros, along with the Rothschild family, are boogeymen to those who see there presence as an confirmation of Jewish control of society. Anti-Semites have re-branded anti-Jewish rhetoric by using dog whistle terms like "main-stream media" and "globalist" as substitutes for phrases such as "Jewish control of the media". Using such words provide plausibly deniability. Alex Jones has fed the sharks. While I personally believe that Alex Jones isn't anti-Semantic, he knows that many in his audience are. As such, he will hand-feed the latest re-branded conspiracy to promote this line-of-thought.

Montage of anti-Soros memes that are typically found on Facebook.

Conclusion : General Frustration
I've mentioned this when referencing the 2018 Texas Midterm, but that election was basically 2020 on the small scale. Most who voted for Beto didn't do so because they supported him, but because people were tired of Ted Cruz (Ted Cruz failed the state that he was representing). Sure, several were enthusiastic about Beto. However, many more, myself included, wanted the opportunity to vote against Ted Cruz, and nothing more. 2020 is going to be the same. Sure some are enthusiastic about Biden. However, Biden is the best of a lousy situation. I don't even think that Biden would be a good leader. I've crapped on him enough on this blog. However, the only thing I'm certain of is that Trump has to go.

In my personal opinion, both parties failed again. Regardless of who wins, we lose. Sure, several who consume tribal politics and hyper-partisan click-bait like a additive narcotic will beg to differ. However, this doesn't change anything. If Trump and Biden were the best that either party could do, then the system failed. The parties want to keep there toxic status quo. The Democrats won't reform as long as they consume Clinton-brand politics of big talk, but yet big money and billion-dollar corporate interest. Pelosi is no different from the rest who consume the status quo. The Republican Party will never grow as long as it's enslaved by Mitch McConnell and the Gingrich holdouts, along with  tin-foil crack-pots and there absurd conspiracy theories.

I was watching this video about BLM. I've made the point that if equality was truly taken seriously, then BLM wouldn't have existed at all. So the fact that the organization exist at all demonstrated how society failed to meet the civic needs of black people. Something else was brought up in that conversation. Many people talk about how great Obama was. Sure, there was a surge of Obama-love after Trump became President. However, one thing that is never brought up is that Obama is the reason why Trump was elected. Obama was so consumed by preserving the status quo of big money and special interest that he failed to represent the very people that voted him into office. If Obama was much more responsive to the people and not busy being a career politician, than that empty demagogue wouldn't have ever became President. The reason why Trump won was because of Obama's failures and shortcomings.

I don't like Biden. However, when one questions his mental heath, remember this. Trump promotes conspiracy theories on a regular basis. I question the mental health of those who embrace conspiracy theories. Some say that views are based on life's experiences. If that the case, if one believes in conspiracy theories, does that mean that person was abducted by aliens at one point in there life?

Articles of Interest - YouTube Videos
CBS Sunday Morning - News Consumers In The Heartland : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQwInC_gsZ4
CBS Sunday Morning - QAnon And The Spread Of Conspiracy Theories : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhYRHif-U8I

Articles of Interest - The Media
RationalWiki - TheBlaze : https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TheBlaze
RationalWiki - WND : https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/WND
RationalWiki - Breitbart : https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Breitbart.com
Media Bias Fact Check - WND : https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/world-net-daily-wnd/
Media Bias Fact Check - TheBlaze : https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-blaze/
Media Bias Fact Check - Breitbart : https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/breitbart/ 
Media Bias Fact Check - OAN : https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/one-america-news-network/  
Media Bias Fact Check - The Epoch Times : https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-epoch-times/
Media Bias Fact Check -  Pro-America News : https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/pro-america-news/
EYERYS - Google Is Not A "Truth Engine," But People Think It Is : https://www.eyerys.com/articles/people/1367632976/opinions/google-not-truth-engine-yet-people-think-...
PolitiFact - No, 96% of Google news stories on Trump aren't from left-wing outlets : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/aug/29/donald-trump/no-96-google-news-stories-trump-arent...
PolitiFact - Radio host: Only conservatives get banned on Facebook : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/apr/22/todd-starnes/radio-host-only-conservatives-get-ban...
NYTimes - Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match : https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/21/world/asia/facebook-sri-lanka-riots.html
BBC - Burned to death because of a rumour on WhatsApp : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46145986
BBC - Nationalism a driving force behind fake news in India, research shows : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46146877
Frontline - THE FACEBOOK DILEMMA  : https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/facebook-dilemma/
Frontline - As Facebook Addresses Role in Myanmar Violence, Look Back at Early Warnings : https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/as-facebook-addresses-role-in-myanmar-violence-look-back-...
Techdirt - Facebook Is So 'Biased Against Conservatives' That Mark Zuckerberg Personally Agreed To Diminish The Reach Of 'Left-Leaning' Sites : https://gizmodo.com/with-zucks-blessing-facebook-quietly-stymied-traffic-t-1845403484

GIZMODO - With Zuck's Blessing, Facebook Quietly Stymied Traffic to Left-Leaning News Outlets: Report - https://gizmodo.com/with-zucks-blessing-facebook-quietly-stymied-traffic-t-1845403484

Snopes - Twitter CEO Says It Was Wrong to Block Links to Biden Story : https://www.snopes.com/ap/2020/10/16/twitter-ceo-says-it-was-wrong-to-block-links-to-biden-story/



Articles of Interest - Conspiracy Theories
 PolitiFact -  What is QAnon, the baseless conspiracy spilling into US politics? : https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/aug/27/what-qanon-baseless-conspiracy-spilling-us-politic/
PolitiFact - No, receiving multiple ballot applications doesn’t let you vote more than once: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/aug/13/facebook-posts/no-receiving-multiple-ballot-applic...
PolitiFact - Donald Trump says Joe Biden can only win by a 'rigged election.' That's wrong in several ways : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/aug/24/donald-trump/donald-trump-says-joe-biden-can-only-...
PolitiFact - The CDC “adjusted the US Covid deaths from 153,504 to 9,210.”  : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/aug/31/facebook-posts/no-cdc-did-not-quietly-adjust-us-co...
Snopes - ‘He Spent Their Blood Like Currency’: Trump Promotes Falconer’s Bizarre Anti-Biden Conspiracy Theory : https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/10/16/biden-trump-seal-team-six/
BBC News - US election 2020: 'QAnon might affect how my friends vote' : https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-54440973
BBC News - Trump stokes 'birther' conspiracy theory about Kamala Harris : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53774289
BBC News - RNC 2020: Trump warns Republican convention of ‘rigged election’ - https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-53898142
FactCheck -Trump Campaign Exaggerates Potential for Mail-In Voting Fraud After Election : https://www.factcheck.org/2020/08/trump-campaign-exaggerates-potential-for-mail-in-voting-fraud-afte...
FactCheck -Video Manipulated to Show Biden Asleep : https://www.factcheck.org/2020/09/video-manipulated-to-show-biden-asleep/
Politico - Biden: QAnon is ‘bizarre’ and ‘embarrassing,’ supporters should seek mental health treatment : https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/04/biden-qanon-bizarre-embarrassing-409090
HuffPost - Lindsey Graham Smears Democratic Congresswomen As ‘Anti-America’ Communists : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lindsey-graham-democratic-congresswomen-anti-america-communists_n_5d2...

Wikipedia - George Soros : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros
Wikipedia - Geroge Soros (Conspiracy theories and threats) : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Soros#Conspiracy_theories_and_threats
Wikipedia - Open Society Foundations : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Society_Foundations
FORBES WORLD’S BILLIONAIRES LIST (George Soros was #162 as of 2020): https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/#2ad7bd40251c
Snopes - 

Did George Soros Pay Refugees in Honduras to Join a Caravan and Storm the US Border? : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/soros-caravan-refugees/

Snopes - Did the FBI Confirm George Soros Was Funding the Migrant Caravan? : https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/george-soros-migrant-caravan/

PolitiFact - Says Christine Blasey Ford and her lawyer were photographed with George Soros, Hillary Clinton. : https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/sep/26/blog-posting/christine-blasey-ford-hillary-clinton...

FactCheck - No Evidence Soros Is Funding Immigrant ‘Caravan’ : https://www.factcheck.org/2018/10/no-evidence-soros-is-funding-immigrant-caravan/
FactCheck - Viral Meme Misidentifies Nazi Guard as Soros : https://www.factcheck.org/2018/10/viral-meme-misidentifies-nazi-guard-as-soros/

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