2016 Presidential Election

[Dwight Schr-Ute]

I'm sure glad we have true patriots who are willing to stand up to bad stuff happening in our nation, like this Clinton backed child-sex ring:

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...idents/509567/

(This bit of fake news made legitimate by incoming National Security Advisor Mike Flynn's son, who says "until it's proven wrong, it's true".)

A serious question is how do we as a nation deal with the problem of fake news? Our president-to-be seems to thrive on it: "Hillary Clinton started the Birther Movement, and today, I'm ending it".

I used to work with this crazy old Russian guy who was really struggling to adapt to life in America. His daughter eloped with her boyfriend, disappeared for a week, then called home to tell them she was safe, and in Baltimore. My co-worker drove down to the SLC airport, hopped on a flight to Baltimore that day, and took a taxi to where his daughter said she was staying, and THEN he was relieved that she was OK.

I thought this was really, acutely weird. He said it was because of "Russian materialism", which he explained as you can't believe anything unless it is there in front of you, and you can see it with your eyes.

Very oddly... 25 years later, I'm starting to understand where he was coming from, and I think some significant part of our population is already there. The fringes are growing bigger.

If Trump imitates Putin, expect to see a lot more outright lies, which are later waved off as sincere belief.

Rush Limbaugh was explaining part of this last week, when he said he marvels at how Trump connects with the big crowds that, to this day keep chanting "Lock her up! Lock her up!"

Limbaugh: "The media reports on what Trump says, but they completely misunderstand how people don't really care about the details - they are ONE with Trump, this is a bonding that liberals and the media will never understand".

Like George Costanza used to say: "It's not a lie, if you believe it".

Or... "I could go out onto to 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and not lose a single voter!"

Wow. I guess it's not too surprising when you combine people with an affinity for guns, conspiracy theories and internet gullibility. My mother in law's husband spends half his day sharing these fake news stories on Facebook. He's an otherwise genuinely nice, good-hearted man but he has absolutely zero interest in being corrected on this stuff. It doesn't matter how you try and engage him about the facts, he doesn't care one iota. It's impossible to say whether he doesn't believe the facts or doesn't care what the facts are because he refuses to have a discussion about it. I wish he would because I'd love to try and understand it better.

[pangloss]

Wow. I guess it's not too surprising when you combine people with an affinity for guns, conspiracy theories and internet gullibility. My mother in law's husband spends half his day sharing these fake news stories on Facebook. He's an otherwise genuinely nice, good-hearted man but he has absolutely zero interest in being corrected on this stuff. It doesn't matter how you try and engage him about the facts, he doesn't care one iota. It's impossible to say whether he doesn't believe the facts or doesn't care what the facts are because he refuses to have a discussion about it. I wish he would because I'd love to try and understand it better.

I remember a decade and a half ago some folks, maybe some folks on this board, made fun of the asinine rumors that spread like wildfire in the 'Arab street'. There were all sorts of goofy rumors back then about wild conspiracies involving 9-11, Bush, Chaney, Israel, Saudi Arabia, bin Laden - silly crap.

Now, Facebook, Twitter, and fake news generators (KGB?) have inadvertently collaborated to dumb down the US with crap that rivals the Arab Street nonsense. There have been crackpots spreading nonsense forever (John Birch Society, Socialist Workers Party, etc.). But social media and memes in the hands of crackpots has advanced and spread the outrageous rumor art-form like kudzu.

And now we have a president who plays innuendo and lies on social media with remarkable expertise. The guy apparently chooses to forego the Presidential Daily Briefing to browse Twitter - at least that's the rumor I've heard.

Now I'm a skeptic about everything I read and half of what I see. I'm not even sure I spell 'Tяump' correctly.

[Ma'ake]

Here is what we selected as president - can't really claim most of the voters selected, but I digress..

Here's how investors can capitalize on Trump's phone call with Taiwan: http://www.barrons.com/articles/the-...fit-1480966261

Aaaand... in this corner, the Chinese media are beginning to mock Trump for running the US on Twitter: https://origin-nyi.thehill.com/blogs...y-with-twitter

I guess we hope that Trump and the Chinese Communist Party disconnect from their respective military commands as the piss fest escalates, so as to avoid a "miscalculation".

[Ma'ake]

Good news on the Pizza fake news shooting - nobody killed, the shooter surrendered - after he found out the pizzeria wasn't really a child sex slave operation, after all.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/...-court-n692321

Apparently the fake story got started based on some of John Podesta's hacked emails, which included some correspondence between Podesta and the owner of the Pizzaria.

Let's see... information in hacked emails ends up in "4Chan", a whirlpool of conspiracy thinkers and dis-information, and somehow ends up as an allegation of a child sex slave operation, backed by the Clintons.

This seems inline with this article about the Russian propaganda efforts: http://bangordailynews.com/2016/11/2...ay/?ref=latest

Sen Ron Wyden of Oregon is pressing for rapid declassification of US intelligence which determined Russian interference in our election: http://pamplinmedia.com/pt/9-news/33...chool-students

While most Americans appear to have moved on / don't care / are happy with the results, Germany seems to have taken notice: https://www.ft.com/content/96d598da-...3-bb8207902122

Or... maybe it's really all due to the 400 pound fat guy sitting on a bed that Trump talked about, because the Russians really are our valuable allies.