Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Rachel Maddow explains the ability of Russia to sway American public opinion using bots. Everybody needs to watch this!

Look I know you are busy people but at some point today I implore you to take the time to watch his episode.

It is extremely important for all us to be as informed as possible about what happened in 2016 in order to inoculate ourselves from ever letting it happen again.

Let me just say this for the record, and yes I know it will probably offend some of you, if you were convinced not to vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election the chances are extremely high that your opinion was shaped by the Russian government.

If you thought that the nomination was stolen from Bernie Sanders, that was an opinion shaped by the Russian hack of the DNC and the misrepresentation of that stolen data all over the internet.

If you thought Hillary Clinton was going to jail, THAT was a meme pushed by Putin's disinformation bots.

If you thought she was a warmonger, THAT was also an opinion shaped and pushed by the Russians.

Simply put if you failed to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016, you were quite likely played by the Russians and you helped them to achieve their agenda of putting Donald Trump into the White House.

I know that is a bitter pill to swallow, and that many of you will be in denial, but if you are still in doubt I suggest you watch that Rachel Maddow video again.

Because there is another election in two years and we ALL need to be aware of how easily we can be manipulated.

34 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:33 AM

    http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/none-of-this-is-rocket-science-diplomacy-expert-trashes-tillersons-terrifying-lack-of-knowledge/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous8:41 AM

    Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat. He was simply using the party for his own means and end result. If he wants to run again using the Democrats I only hope that gullible people will not fall for it. He's in the pocket of the NRA and will stay there.

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    1. Anonymous8:53 AM

      Hello, Albania!

      Delete
    2. Anon 8:41
      With respect----this does not help. If we counted on just democrats voting for our presidential candidates we'd have Trump for president for the next eight years.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:06 AM

      I never fell for Bernie and still don't. Found too many things he said that turned out not to be honest. Plus, he's never accomplished a damn thing while serving in Congress. Check out the facts about him.

      Delete
    4. 10:06 -- check THIS out:
      Here are a few examples of the amendments Sanders passed by building unusual but effective coalitions:

      Corporate Crime Accountability (February 1995): A Sanders amendment to the Victims Justice Act of 1995 required “offenders who are convicted of fraud and other white-collar crimes to give notice to victims and other persons in cases where there are multiple victims eligible to receive restitution.”

      Saving Money, for Colleges and Taxpayers (April 1998): In an amendment to H.R. 6, the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, Sanders made a change to the law that allowed the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education to make competitive grants available to colleges and universities that cooperated to reduce costs through joint purchases of goods and services.

      Holding IRS Accountable, Protecting Pensions (July 2002): Sanders' amendment to the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 2003 stopped the IRS from being able to use funds that “violate current pension age discrimination laws.” Although he faced stiff GOP opposition, his amendment still succeeded along a 308 to 121 vote.

      Etc., etc. Then...

      Using the Power of a Senator

      While Sanders was an amendment king who was able to bring bipartisan coalitions together to make serious changes to laws, he also knew how to be a thorn in the side of the establishment until it offered up something in return. Sanders was able to get the first-ever audit of funds given out by the Federal Reserve, which made transparent over $2 trillion of funds handed out by the secretive organization. This was a cause that Republican congressman Ron Paul (TX) had been pursuing for decades, but Sanders was able to get the votes to do it by forging a compromise that required an audit for the bailout period alone.

      When the Affordable Care Act was in danger of not having the votes to pass, Sanders used his leverage to win enough funding for free health treatment for 10 million Americans through Community Health Centers. This gutsy move—holding out until the funds were put into the bill—has even Republican members of Congress requesting the funds, which have helped millions of Americans who otherwise would not have access.

      Another moment came when Sanders, who was then chair of the Veterans committee, worked with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), to overhaul the Veterans Administration. McCain praised Sanders' work on the bill in an interview with National Journal. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) even went so far as to say the bill would never have passed without Sanders' ability to bring the parties to a deal.

      http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-gets-it-done-sanders-record-pushing-through-major-reforms-will-surprise-you



      Delete
  3. Anonymous8:43 AM

    I watched this last night. She has been making a very strong case for Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign and the aftermath of the election.

    We have a Secretary of State that received the Friends of Russia medal presented to him by Putin himself.He has gutted the State dept of employees that have worked there some since Carter and not replaced any of them . He refuses to talk to reporters . Now he is blowing off NATO to visit Russia.

    Our Attorney General collaborated with the Russians and LIED about it at his conformation hearings. Russia's fingerprints are all over tRump and his administration. It is really frightening to think how deeply involved Russia is involved in this country.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. https://patribotics.blog/2017/01/17/dear-mr-putin-lets-play-chess-louise-mensch-trump-russia/

      This article is easy to follow and fascinating reading on how Putin did this.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:53 AM

      @9:53"Before the election, only I reported, correctly, that the FBI’s Counter-Intelligence division in Connecticut had obtained a FISA warrant for ‘any US persons’ relating to the two banks involved in the Trump Tower server; Alfa Bank and SVB Bank."
      ", the Twitter account @FBIRecordsVault ceased being dormant for the first time in two years. It went on a little tweet storm. The last tweets were attacks on Hillary Clinton with a chaser of an attack on Eric Holder, the former AG. The first tweet, however, was a tweet praising Fred C. Trump. (Donald Trump has often said that his father is his only hero). It used language about Mr. Trump senior that was not only unlike any FBI descriptors ever used before, but had been lifted from Donald Trump’s commercial, company website."
      ‘Big data’ of Cambridge Analytica"

      Delete
  4. dlbvet8:50 AM

    I agree with you 1000%. Thank you for saying what you did above...about those who did NOT vote for Hillary.
    We are in a world of hurt right now, not forecast to get better any time soon.
    The quicker that people begin to realize how much this country was played, the better it MIGHT get for us.
    Thank you as always for speaking the truth.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:09 PM

      One of my 30-something year-old friends today said that she had never heard about Trump and the Russian connection. She voted in November but wasted her vote on a third-party candidate. Are the only people paying attention to this disaster of a presidency retirees like me?
      Beaglemom

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  5. Anonymous8:57 AM

    I just listened to these two segments. One pertains two investigating right wing sites like Breitbart spreading Russian disinformation. It is fascinating to learn how this is accomplished so easily to manipulate people and it is also sickening to learn people were played so easily.

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  6. Anonymous8:58 AM

    Dr. EVIL:
    http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2017/03/austin-powers-hasnt-aged-well-as-a-film-series-though-i-think

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  7. Anonymous9:07 AM

    I saw this happening in real time and it was scary. It was as if you couldn't comment on anything about Hillary without being attacked, instantaneously.

    One guy I know who spread the Hillary hate is now complaining about Trump. Makes my blood boil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @9:07 Surprised. Usually those conned won't admit it. Con men bank on this.

      Delete
  8. This is a fascinating article on how the trolls work to send those messages that even show up here.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house

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    1. Anonymous9:40 AM

      " employed unofficially and paid cash-in-hand."
      "There are posts about “Europe’s 20 most beautiful castles” and “signs that show you are dating the wrong girl”“First thing in the morning, we’d come in, turn on a proxy server to hide our real location, and then read the technical tasks we had been sent,” he said."
      "“Of course, if every day you are feeding on hate, it eats away at your soul. You start really believing in it. You have to be strong to stay clean when you spend your whole day submerged in dirt,” he said."

      Delete
  9. Anonymous9:17 AM

    http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/03/trump_s_comey_tweet_was_one_of_his_most_terrifying_lies_yet.html

    “A foreign, adversarial power intervened in an effort to weaken our democracy, and to influence the outcome for one candidate and against the other.” That intervention, Schiff argued, was hacked data, “weaponized” and disseminated through “existing third-party channels like WikiLeaks.”
    That reality is how you hold politicians accountable; it’s why the press is vital to a free and healthy democracy. But Trump sees no advantage in accountability, no reason to honor the truth or even gesture toward its existence."

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  10. Anonymous9:31 AM

    drumpf"news-something has happened"shush"

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/03/22/trump-reacts-to-apparent-london-attack.html?via=mobile&source=copyurl

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  11. This is the point I was trying to make yesterday.
    It's the judgment of the American people, or lack of judgment that lost the election for Hillary, not some direct fraudulent vote count manipulation by the Russians.
    If Americans want to sucker for the false babble of politicians whose job it is to sway your vote, that's the fault of ill informed Americans. One must expect false representations of politicians to get your vote.
    More sales resistance! Don't be the sucker these liars count on. Don't attack the laws in the Constitution that have worked well for over 200 years.
    I would certainly agree that elected representation is unbalanced, yet, our laws give remedy for that, but it takes citizen involvement to trigger that process.
    If people want to eliminate the Electoral College the Constitution gives remedy for that also. It takes two thirds of States approval, the House, Senate, and the presidents signature. That's not easy, get busy.
    Don't blame our laws that have worked well for centuries, because of some crooked, lying politicians swayed American votes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous9:40 AM

    Because there is another election in two years
    ===================
    You are spreading misinformation!!! There is another election NEXT year. Who is elected to Congress and Governorships is just as important as the presidential election, maybe even more since Congress is the lawmaker.

    There is nothing that says putin won't mess with Congress also.

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  13. Anonymous9:49 AM

    G -

    I watched this last night - and you are so right. It was amazing.

    Pat Padrnos

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:03 AM

    Thank you, Rachel Maddow, for daily (her show is on MSNBC in the evenings Monday through Friday) educating us!

    I try never to miss her show and always find myself walking away knowing something new.

    She's sharp (has her doctorate) and could use the title "Dr." but never does. Plus, she has a terrific sense of humor.

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  15. Anonymous10:53 AM

    There was a terrorist attack in London outside Parliament today. The first thing I thought on seeing the headline pop up was, "Oh shit, Trump is going to take advantage of this." I find it disturbing that my first thoughts were wondering how my government was going to use this to justify more discrimination against immigrants.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I thought the same thing....

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    2. Anonymous4:06 PM

      If he can use made-up terror events, then he is very likely to use a real one. Of course, Trump seems to be very quiet today. I wonder why?
      Beaglemom

      Delete
  16. Anonymous11:29 AM

    The Russia Noose Tightens Around Trump’s Neck As Congressman Demands Paul Manafort Testify

    A Democratic lawmaker threw down the gauntlet Wednesday, saying that former Chairman of the Trump campaign Paul Manafort needs to be subpoenaed, "Our investigation will not be complete if he (Manafort) does not testify, so he should be subpoenaed."

    Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) told MSNBC, “The dots continue to connect around Paul Manafort and his ties to Russia, and we see that it’s not the just the deep personal, political, and financial ties that Donald Trump and his team has with Russia. We want to now know did these ties extend to helping Russia during the interference campaign, and are we now seeing dramatic changes in foreign policy towards Russia because we owe Russia something?”

    Swalwell said about Manafort testifying before Congress, “Our investigation will not be complete if he does not testify, so he should be subpoenaed.”

    Manafort left the Trump campaign in August of 2016 due to Russian smoke surrounding undisclosed cash payments from a pro-Russian political party. The New York Times reported at the time, “Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.”

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/03/22/russia-noose-tightens-trumps-neck-congress-paul-manafort-testify.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous11:29 AM

    That was absolutely one of the most long winded and worst pieces of programing I've seen in a long long time. She repeats everything 2 or 4 times just to eat up time and build up to the big nothing- again.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:43 PM

      Nothing? did you actually watch it, Albania?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous1:07 PM

      The View
      http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/maddow-trolls-trump-jr-if-your-dads-2005-taxes-make-him-look-great-release-them-all/

      Delete
    3. Anonymous6:33 PM

      You are so full of it 11:29. You are truly an idiot.

      Delete
  18. What a weird time we live in. It doesn't feel like anything since Nov 8th has been real. And the Russian ties to ...it so feel like a conspiracy theory, but it's REAL. I just....I'm so not sure how to take this. So glad there's Maddow, Hayes, O'Donnell, Reid to explain all this.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous12:45 PM

      Yes, we have them, for now...cornered animals are the most dangerous. I am glad there are so many journalists now pursuing this.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous3:31 PM

    Lately I have noticed the vast majority of pro trump comments on news stories are from Canadians, according to their profiles I figured they were bought somehow.

    ReplyDelete

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