📹 ‘Coalition Of Reality’ Needed To Combat Conspiracy Theories, Says Writer | Morning Joe | MSNBC
Professor and writer Brian Klaas discusses the difficulty in deprogramming Trumpian conspiracy theorists. Aired on 01/26/2021.
📹 Mike Flynn Admits Lies, Eviscerating Trump Conspiracy Theory | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC
A Federal Judge demolished the Trump-Fox News conspiracy theories surrounding the Michael Flynn guilty plea, getting Flynn to …
Who was it that said you can pick your own opinions but you can’t pick your own facts? There used to be consequences when you tried to live in an alternate reality, now they have so many media sources reinforcing their world view that they may never see reason. How can they not care how foolish they look?
its very important, key even, to realize that sometimes, when faced with conspiratorial elements, adopting a ” jujitsu” motion of using the afflicted ‘s own energy to turn things, in this case, to movr FURTHER into the theories in order to reveal their absurdities. This is an incredibly potent tool, and will prove to be of broad use in a varity of situations, from the personal to the global.
I now know the “bottom-bottom” line… If our goal is to get back to a “Team USA” mode, it will take a lot of love and patience… And to begin any dialog, we must focus on what we have in common. (Music, hunting, fishing, gardening, whatever, but it will help to make you seem human and normal to them. And a conversation can begin.)
This could be an expedient, calming way to refocus of our divisions – both the Democrat and Republican Parties shall form co-run teams of equally numbered staff that will travel America offering FREE, bipartisan workshops – “Politics – Making A Difference By Joining”. Teaching “civics” ground up, from effective canvasing to running for a political position. The workshops will bring a manifestation of genuine participation. Folks don’t destroy the things they’ve invested in AND “…a house divided will not stand.”
Coalition of reality? If religion, after thousands of years of false claims, still has not been dismantled, what makes anyone think conspiracy theorists and other assorted crack pots are going to go away? Wishful thinking is a problem of the human condition, and as long as people are comfortable with their delusions, tempered by invincible ignorance, we’ll never be rid of this stupidity. The proverbial horse to water applies to education as well: You believe whatever you want, and no one can change your mind about it, no matter how much contrary evidence is presented. Critical thinkers are a small minority, and their methods have been impotent when facing human dumbassitude.
I’ve got better ideas : if someone acts like a kid who hasn’t gone to school, remove all the privileges from adulthood : no more right to drink, no driver’s license, no degree, you have to go back to school and retake all the exams until society is satisfied you’re not one of those uneducated that trump loves so much. Oh and of course you don’t get the right to bear arms. And no internet for you.
Actually what needs to happen is you need a new definition in the slander laws. One that includes prison time for criminal intent. QAnon is infamous for saying the most outlandish accusations. Accusations so damaging that even once they are debunked the damage had already been done and cost the person their political career. If they were held criminally accountable for these actions the cult would lose power. Accountability is the key.
What I find to be commonplace among those that I know who have bought into this thinking is that even before trump, they had a bit of a martyr complex. It was pretty much a hidden personality quirk that I paid no attention to, but now looking back I can see it was there and only grew over the past 10 years or so aided by social media manipulation. Of course the first to jump in were the very religious as most religions either worship martyrs or have become corrupted by that thinking.
This is my generation’s fault. Back in the 1990s we knew that we could put anything on the web and get people to believe it. It started as a joke. Just messing with people’s heads. Never thought it would get so serious. It’s sad. Chris left 4 chan because, I believe, he saw something like this coming. Now we can’t convince our puppet cult that we made it all up. I’m stunned, saddened, and feel helpless to fix it.
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities, Voltaire. This applies very well to this situation, but if you think at the context in which it was written and the current social reality of America,it actually applies to any religious beliefs. People that can believe theirs, among the 10000 plus varieties of Christianity, is the only true one, those who can believe a religion founded by a convicted crook John Smith that translated a new Bible from an non existing language or can believe in an extra terrestrial goddess or can believe that Angels from Africa (Paula White) will come to save Trump, those who invoke God’s help in their duty (Trump included, remember his oath of office ?) are predisposed to believe any absurdities pumped up by the propaganda. Not all will fall for all the absurdities, but a deeply religious education makes for a very shaky platform on which reality supported by the pillars of facts stand.
The “coalition of reality” also need to find ways to be heard inside the echo chamber bubbles of conspiracy believers. I presume this means having a lot of good people spend a lot of time online in the believers’ “safe space” social media. For a long time, we’ve been taught the Constitutional antidote to bad speech that’s protected by the 1st Amendment is a lot of good speech. To that maxim, I’ll add that the good speakers need to be people who are respected by their audiences.
Oh oh oh oh!!! The Rich White men Looovveee Patriotic Soldiers who go shed blood to protect their Investments and Companies !!! Hannity Loves the Military so much!!! And Trumpy too!!! Funny how they didn’t love the military enough to enlist and serve !! But be our sacrificial lamb patriot!!!!! Coward’s!!!
FACT CHECK: Sean Hannity claims @2:16 that “Nobody in the FBI thought this man (Flynn) lied.” In actuality, from the court document: The interviewing agents “did not observe indicia of deception” and “had the impression at that time that the defendant was not lying or did not think he was lying”, and “Those misimpressions do not change the fact – as the defendant has admitted in sworn testimony to this District Court – that he was indeed lying”. (From “Government’s Reply to Defendant’s Memorandum in Aid of Sentencing”, Case 1:17-cr-00232-EGS Document 56 Filed 12/14/18 .)
Making false statements (18 U.S.C. § 1001) is the common name for the United States federal crime laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or concealing information, in “any matter within the jurisdiction” of the federal government of the United States, even by merely denying guilt when asked by a federal agent. A number of notable people have been convicted under the section, including Martha Stewart, Rod Blagojevich, Michael T. Flynn, Rick Gates, Scooter Libby, Bernard Madoff, and Jeffrey Skilling. The jurisdictional element of the crime is defined as the “right to say and the power to act”. It applies to criminal investigations, such as false statements made in response to an inquiry by an FBI or other Federal agent, or made voluntarily to an agent. . ====================
Yeah, now for Sean InSanity military service matters… Great, what about the Officers and Soldiers who don’t accept Trump’s policy? What about Admirals and Generals who served for years and in the end didn’t sell their own country to Turkey or Russia? What about Admiral McRaven, or the Marine Hero Robert Mueller?