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There’s quite a bit of pearl clutching and slippery slope going on in this article, but I’m not buying it. Let’s be incredibly clear what the disinformation we

There’s quite a bit of pearl clutching and slippery slope going on in this article, but I’m not buying it. Let’s be incredibly clear what the disinformation we’re talking about here. It’s Qanon, “COVID is fake”, “COVID is a Chinese bioweapon”, “Biden stole the election”, and most recently Jewish space lasers. Human Events is a famous very conservative publication, and the Republican Party had embraced conspiracy theories as a way to motivate their base since Bill Clinton’s “Arkansas Flu” death squads. Even this article tries to hold up discredited misinformation as stuff “they” don’t want you to know, while conveniently leaving out all context to fabricate a “gotcha” moment. These are discredited conspiracy theories spouted by prominent figures in the party, and spread widely, and unquestioningly, in conservative media. It’s the mainstream thought in an increasingly extreme party. So of course, Human Events sees the real problem as a calling bullshit on bullshit, not the actual bullshit being spread.

jjcon 6y ago
I think you may be misunderstanding the worry here - those people are most definitely crazy but the reason they are being given a platform by so many is simply so people can draw false equivocations.
- jonathankoren 6y ago
  The thrust of the article is that you have “misinformation” Is simply a cudgel, and so these right wing conspiracy theories must be allowed to spread because “The public’s distrust is well-merited.” Honestly? No. It is not well merited at all. It is deliberately stoked and manufactured for political purposes. It came from a decades old idea of discouraging and confusing science for economic snd politics purposes. These covid conspiracies come from the same genesis as climate change denial and smoking is not cancerous nor addictive. The article blames health experts and the CDC for antimaskers, when it was right wing politicians and media personalities promoting the ideas of “herd exposure”, and that it’s not so bad, and we “shouldn’t be afraid”, and the man’s is a “muzzle”. None of this passes the smell test. This article is simply motivated and insulting, and promptly falls apart when examined by anyone with a memory of American politics the last 10 years, let alone 30.
  - jjcon 6y ago
    > when it was right wing politicians and media personalities promoting the ideas of “herd exposure” If only the extreme right country of Sweden hadn’t acted so rashly by promoting herd immunity /s
the_only_law 6y ago
> Jewish space lasers. Wait this was real? I saw something about this the other day and didn't look into it. I figured it was some sort of meme based on hyperbole.
- Craighead 6y ago
  The thought also explains why the north pole of Saturn is a hexagon.
- tsimionescu 6y ago
  Unfortunately it is a real story believed by a real US Congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene: https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/marjorie-taylor-greene-penned-conspiracy-theory-laser-beam-space-started-deadly-2018 https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/marjorie-taylor-greene...
- jonathankoren 6y ago
  Every one of my examples comes from prominent government officials, or media personalities. Congressman Dan Burton implying Vince Foster was murdered. See also: Commerce Secretary Ron Brown’s death, and most recently Seth Rich’s. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/hillary-clinton-conspiracy-theories/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/hillary-clinton... Senator Tom Cotton said Covid was Chinese bioweapon. (I’m sorry, “just asking questions”) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/11/republican-tom-cotton-coronavirus-china https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/11/republican-t... Over a hundred elected congressional representatives saying Biden stole the election https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lawmakers-special-report-idUSKBN2A41CP https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lawmakers-speci... Qanon we’ve got multiple media officials, but let’s just stick with former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and the embracement of the conspiracy theory by both the Arizona GOP, and the Texas GOP https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/02/04/vote-verifies-arizona-gops-quartet-qanon-quacks/4400258001/ https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/202... https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-gop-denies-new-slogan-inspired-by-far-right-qanon-2020-8 https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-gop-denies-new-slogan-... The space lasers, have already been linked.

jjcon 6y ago

I think you may be misunderstanding the worry here - those people are most definitely crazy but the reason they are being given a platform by so many is simply so people can draw false equivocations.

jonathankoren 6y ago
The thrust of the article is that you have “misinformation” Is simply a cudgel, and so these right wing conspiracy theories must be allowed to spread because “The public’s distrust is well-merited.” Honestly? No. It is not well merited at all. It is deliberately stoked and manufactured for political purposes. It came from a decades old idea of discouraging and confusing science for economic snd politics purposes. These covid conspiracies come from the same genesis as climate change denial and smoking is not cancerous nor addictive. The article blames health experts and the CDC for antimaskers, when it was right wing politicians and media personalities promoting the ideas of “herd exposure”, and that it’s not so bad, and we “shouldn’t be afraid”, and the man’s is a “muzzle”. None of this passes the smell test. This article is simply motivated and insulting, and promptly falls apart when examined by anyone with a memory of American politics the last 10 years, let alone 30.
- jjcon 6y ago
  > when it was right wing politicians and media personalities promoting the ideas of “herd exposure” If only the extreme right country of Sweden hadn’t acted so rashly by promoting herd immunity /s

the_only_law 6y ago

> Jewish space lasers. Wait this was real? I saw something about this the other day and didn't look into it. I figured it was some sort of meme based on hyperbole.

Craighead 6y ago
The thought also explains why the north pole of Saturn is a hexagon.
tsimionescu 6y ago
Unfortunately it is a real story believed by a real US Congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene: https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/marjorie-taylor-greene-penned-conspiracy-theory-laser-beam-space-started-deadly-2018 https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/marjorie-taylor-greene...
jonathankoren 6y ago
Every one of my examples comes from prominent government officials, or media personalities. Congressman Dan Burton implying Vince Foster was murdered. See also: Commerce Secretary Ron Brown’s death, and most recently Seth Rich’s. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/hillary-clinton-conspiracy-theories/ https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/hillary-clinton... Senator Tom Cotton said Covid was Chinese bioweapon. (I’m sorry, “just asking questions”) https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/11/republican-tom-cotton-coronavirus-china https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/11/republican-t... Over a hundred elected congressional representatives saying Biden stole the election https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lawmakers-special-report-idUSKBN2A41CP https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lawmakers-speci... Qanon we’ve got multiple media officials, but let’s just stick with former national security advisor Michael Flynn, and the embracement of the conspiracy theory by both the Arizona GOP, and the Texas GOP https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/02/04/vote-verifies-arizona-gops-quartet-qanon-quacks/4400258001/ https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/202... https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-gop-denies-new-slogan-inspired-by-far-right-qanon-2020-8 https://www.businessinsider.com/texas-gop-denies-new-slogan-... The space lasers, have already been linked.