Pravda is dishing out conspiracy theory. And I'm talking about sub-Birchian right-wing conspiracy theory of the lowest order. I'm talking about deep-dish birtherism, replete with denunciations of the liberal news media and references to the all-powerful, all-pervasive Marxist scheme to take over the world.
This, in freakin' Pravda.
The Pravda story derives from the nonsensical theories promulgated by Joe Arpaio. I suspect, but cannot prove, that those theories were actually hatched in the mind of Arpaio's notorious crony, prosecutor Andrew Thomas. Thomas is in serious, serious trouble for his history of tyrannical behavior.
And now, let's take a look at what the American audience feeds upon:
I'm showing you a partial screen capture from my "Stats" page, displaying the three most popular Cannonfire pages of the past 24 hours. These three pages receive a lot of hits on most other days, as well. For the most part, the visitors come from right-wing sites which take these allegations ultra-seriously.Please note the key factor that all three posts have in common.
I won't show the actual number of visitors, but the figures are distressingly high, especially in comparison to the site's overall traffic. On any given day, a large proportion of this site's readership wants those three stories.
Elsewhere, in the "real" media...
...we find that conservatives still want to buy anything that the notorious faker James O'Keefe decides to sell. National Review (a rag which called me a "conspiracy theorist" during the Weiner affair) says that O'Keefe is like unto Mike Wallace.
When I first read about his latest attempt to prove that voter fraud is a serious issue (even though, as we know, the whole thing is really just a propaganda meme designed to criminalize Voting While Black), I knew that there would soon be a follow-up story demonstrating, once again, that O'Keefe is a liar. That kind of day-after story follows O'Keefe wherever he goes, trailing him like an unwanted puppy.
And here we are. Also here. The right is trying to prove that there is a massive Democratic conspiracy to skew elections, when no such problem exists.
Irony: In his attempt to prove that voter fraud is real, O'Keefe appears to have committed -- wait for it! -- voter fraud. He thus will be investigated by the people who investigate such things. Wouldn't it be lovely if he shared a cell with Andrew Thomas?
Alas, O'Keefe probably won't sit in a jail cell any time soon. No doubt, "Mike Wallace II" will keep finding new wool to pull over new eyes.
All of these stories illustrate a larger point: People prefer a diet of crap to more nutritious fare.
How can America -- or Russia, or any other country -- survive if the average person has such a voracious appetite for sensationalistic, fact-free paranoid absurdity?
Update (written April 15, 2012): If you want to know why the April 1, 2006 story is still up, read the last ten paragraphs of this post. Bottom line: I have been conducting an experiment to see if anyone would react responsibly. In all these years, no-one has.
There are a lot of lazy loons who have published and republished that story without taking the simple step of writing to me for verification. I would have answered honestly. That kind of inquiry comes under the heading of Journalism 101, doesn't it? Yet no-one made the effort.
Why didn't anyone write to me about that story? I think because the people who want to believe in such foolishness secretly feared that I would tell them something they did not want to hear.
There are a lot of conspira-creeps out there who are psychologically incapable of admitting that they prefer paranoid sensationalism over verifiable research. As AC himself once said: "I get fairly frantic when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts."
8 comments:
"How can America -- or Russia, or any other country -- survive if the average person has such a voracious appetite for sensationalistic, fact-free paranoid absurdity?"
Good question, Joseph.
The answer is...well, they won't survive--or it will be IDIOCRACY come to life.
Project Veritas has scheduled a "Voter ID Roundtable on 17 April in Columbia SC. The SC Attorney General Alan Wilson (he is Joe "You Lie!" Wilson's spawn) is said to attend, as well as other supporters of the SC Voter ID law that was written by ALEC.
Tickets are $50, and they want us to fill out an on-line RSVP http://macegroupllc.com/rsvp/
in order to get tickets.
And it is all tax-deductible, too!
"The Project Veritas is a 501(c)(3), founded by James O’Keefe. The mission of The Project Veritas is to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society. Project Veritas is a registered 501(c)(3) and as such contributions are tax deductible."
I was just thinking about idiocracy today, and how inevitable it is. The trigger was the three Maryland public school teachers/workers who revealed they won a share of that huge lottery, as opposed to the fake claim of one sad, crazed, greedy McDonald's worker with seven kids who "recognized some of the numbers" and thought she won, and was trying to scheme her way out of sharing her imaginary winnings with her coworkers who chipped in for tickets. I kept thinking, seven kids. And yes, the rest of us, for whom this story was a "news" lead.
Ehrm, excuse me but have you actually looked at the certifikate yourself?
It is totally fraudulent, but you have to look at it.
Chicken or egg?
News consumers that look at it as entertainment or media organizations playing to the lowest common denominator because sensationalism is cheaper than researching a news item.
Is Nancy Grace still on?
She's a symptom of the disease.
Cable TV for is for watching cartoons and anime. Too bad they don't sell a package that cuts out CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and the broadcast stations. I'm considering dumping cable and just going with Netflix on my DSL connection.
The U.S.A has become nothing more than an Reichwing psywar experiment in how to get an entire country to enjoy being shit on. This can't go on much longer. Eventually something has to give. Take the jobs, send them to China and India? American Response? Cheers from the Lunatic Right, silence from the de-balled left. Start a dozen wars no one wants? Frothing at the mouth excitement from the lunatic right, more silence from the limp left. Allow a group of mostly Saudi hijackers into the country to take town the trade towers with planes? American Response? Attack Iraq. Stalk and then shoot a guy who looks "suspicious" because he isn't in bed at 2am? Hoorays from the lunatic right. Befuddlement from the left. An Unhinged Lunatic Right and a Cowering Impotent Left is the new norm in the USA. We all can read the writing on the wall. We know how this story will end if nothing is done. A M E R I C A N F A S C I S M. Can the American left and the world tolerate an unhinged and Fascist United States? Absolutely not. So what does that mean? The frothing at the mouth lunatic right is in it to win it. Rightwing Lunatics dictate the terms to the Republican party. That is why this year, the GOP ran nothing but the mentally retarded (no offense to the mentally handicapped) candidates against Obama (Romney seems less looney but he is Mormon, so he believes the Mormons were here before the Native Americans correct?). So the current Republican party is at its "End of Line" moment. It is a like a rabid, insane dog backed into a corner that knows its time has come. Each generation of Republican politicians becomes more and more strange to the American eye. These are not what Americans are supposed to be about and not even what Conservatives are supposed to be. This is an entirely different Beast. These are ANTI-AMERICAN LUNATICS. Sarah Palin's husband was a secessionist. Mitt Romney is from a religion that waged war against the U.S. government in the 1800s and disallowed blacks from being members up until the 70s. Gingrich and Santorum are Catholic. Another religion that "waged war" against American style democracy in the 1800s(The Papal States hated the USA). In the next 10 years or so we are going to witness the spectacular end of extremist right wing American politics or the spectacular end of American democracy. One of them has to go. They obviously can no longer co-exist.
End-of-Line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHGvaQMClEo&
Anon, the Papal states did not "wage war" against the U.S. That's just wacky.
And please don't go quoting Chiniquy to me -- as I suspect you now want to do. I know more about that guy than you EVER will. Trust me. Used to have a whole CD filled with copies of his papers. The guy was a total toon.
No the Papal States did not wage a literal war with an army against the USA. Yes, Pope Pius IX favored the Confederacy over Lincoln and the union. Yes, the Vatican hated the USA and its democracy spreading influence. The Papal States would come crashing down in 1870, 5 years after Lincoln's death, and Italy unified into a country. That there was a unity of purpose between an anti-democracy Confederacy and an anti-democracy Vatican is not surprising. Yes, Chiniquy was a flaky Catholic priest(was he also an agent?). And yes there was some type of Catholic element to the Lincoln assassination. John Wilkes Booth was a Catholic convert. Mary Surrat's boarding house was home base for the conspirators. She was Catholic. The conspirators coming in and out of her house were Catholic. The U.S. fed hanged her and some of the conspirators for their part in the conspiracy. Her son John Surrat was a Roman Catholic and confederate spy. After the assassination he fled to the Papal States and became a Papal Zouhave. After Lincoln's death from 1867 to 1984 the United States barred diplomatic relations with the Vatican. Am I say the pope ordered a hit on Lincoln? No. Was there collusion between the Confederates and Vatican? Hmmm. Maybe? But yes, there was definitely Catholic relationship to the Confederate agents that killed Lincoln. How far up the Catholic hierarchy that went I don't know. Is it possible that the Confederates themselves were using Catholicism as cover so the assassination would be linked to the Vatican instead of the Confederates? That is is an entirely different subject which is also relevant to what happened in the JFK assassination and 9/11. (Covert agents using religious cover to commit crimes for a hidden sponsoring party...think Jihad Jane or wandering bishop David Ferrie)
Post a Comment