5 ms·

This is a good summary of some of the recent revelations into how far the USG has been pushing into strong-arming online and traditional media outlets alike int

by zaroth 4y ago

This is a good summary of some of the recent revelations into how far the USG has been pushing into strong-arming online and traditional media outlets alike into suppressing critical speech. I think it’s interesting how the author tip-toed into tying in the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, where the FBI lied to Facebook to get it suppressed. It’s a hot potato, but it’s exactly where these efforts lead, from ostensibly “well-meaning and necessary” public health efforts into brazen political coverups.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
isx726552 4y ago
> the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, where the FBI lied to Facebook to get it suppressed According to this, the FBI didn’t even mention the laptop story when they talked to Facebook: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62688532.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62688532.amp
- pstuart 4y ago
  The Hunter Biden laptop story is as meta as it gets. The whole point of the story is that it's a story, and that bad people aren't letting the story be told. Every freaking complaint about the story is about the story itself. It is Buttery Males v2. Same thing -- they didn't care about the emails, they cared about the story.
  - yeahwhatever10 4y ago
    Yes it turns out people care about being lied to.
    - pstuart 4y ago
      No they don't. They only care when people they don't like lie to them (at least when we're talking about an audience that ostensibly includes you). Selective outrage can only be sincere via ignorance. Tribal/partisan politics such as this is an betrayal of allegiance to one's country.
  - teddyh 4y ago
    Parallels to President Clinton; it didn’t really matter what he actually did, but it turned out to matter very much that he lied about what he did.
    - hedora 4y ago
      OK, if Democrats collectively admit the Biden administration covered up the laptop whatever scandal from 2019 to 2020 can we stop hearing about it? If not, is there an individual opt out browser setting or something?
      - pstuart 4y ago
        These people are zombies! "hunter's laptop..... hunter's laptop....." They're literally beyond reason - it's so sad and frustrating.
    - pstuart 4y ago
      Bill Clinton was a sexual predator -- there's a reason why he is not the public statesman he could have been. But for some reason his sexual proclivities were fair game when his predecessor's were not (it was an open secret he had a mistress for decades). But it apparently didn't matter that the other president liked about paying of the porn star he screwed while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to his son. You know, the case where he broke the law but his attorney went to jail for being the bag man? It's crazy-making how selective the "morality" of the right is.
- fallingknife 4y ago
  > "The background here is that the FBI came to us - some folks on our team - and was like 'hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election, we have it on notice that basically there's about to be some kind of dump that's similar to that'." "There's about to be some kind of dump that's similar to that" gives a pretty clear hint. The mob boss never says to his hitman "I think Fat Tony is a snitch, please kill him for me" but he still ordered the hit.
  - pstuart 4y ago
    Seriously? Now the FBI is engaging in mob tactics? Is this the branch that operates out of the basement at Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria? You wanna know this one weird trick about this story? It only matters that it exists and can be further weaponized by crying foul over its suppression. You don't care about what the story is about, just the story itself (and the story about the story).
    - fallingknife 4y ago
      > Now the FBI is engaging in mob tactics? Not now. For a long time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_lette...
      - pstuart 4y ago
        But they weren't when they investigated Clinton? There's plenty of sordid history there but your claims are still ludicrous. I dare you to discuss the Hunter Biden case in the context of what it ostensibly represents: government corruption. Your circular logic goes nowhere: the Biden laptop story is about the Biden laptop story not being told. Again: tell me why this story should be told? What is the real substance of your concern?
        fallingknife 4y ago
        What does Clinton have to do with this? And you just don't seem to get it. The garden variety corruption of Hunter Biden isn't the important story. The FBI trying to suppress the spread of news is.

by zaroth 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

isx726552 4y ago

> the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, where the FBI lied to Facebook to get it suppressed According to this, the FBI didn’t even mention the laptop story when they talked to Facebook: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62688532.amp https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62688532.amp

pstuart 4y ago
The Hunter Biden laptop story is as meta as it gets. The whole point of the story is that it's a story, and that bad people aren't letting the story be told. Every freaking complaint about the story is about the story itself. It is Buttery Males v2. Same thing -- they didn't care about the emails, they cared about the story.
- yeahwhatever10 4y ago
  Yes it turns out people care about being lied to.
  - pstuart 4y ago
    No they don't. They only care when people they don't like lie to them (at least when we're talking about an audience that ostensibly includes you). Selective outrage can only be sincere via ignorance. Tribal/partisan politics such as this is an betrayal of allegiance to one's country.
- teddyh 4y ago
  Parallels to President Clinton; it didn’t really matter what he actually did, but it turned out to matter very much that he lied about what he did.
  - hedora 4y ago
    OK, if Democrats collectively admit the Biden administration covered up the laptop whatever scandal from 2019 to 2020 can we stop hearing about it? If not, is there an individual opt out browser setting or something?
    - pstuart 4y ago
      These people are zombies! "hunter's laptop..... hunter's laptop....." They're literally beyond reason - it's so sad and frustrating.
  - pstuart 4y ago
    Bill Clinton was a sexual predator -- there's a reason why he is not the public statesman he could have been. But for some reason his sexual proclivities were fair game when his predecessor's were not (it was an open secret he had a mistress for decades). But it apparently didn't matter that the other president liked about paying of the porn star he screwed while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to his son. You know, the case where he broke the law but his attorney went to jail for being the bag man? It's crazy-making how selective the "morality" of the right is.
fallingknife 4y ago
> "The background here is that the FBI came to us - some folks on our team - and was like 'hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election, we have it on notice that basically there's about to be some kind of dump that's similar to that'." "There's about to be some kind of dump that's similar to that" gives a pretty clear hint. The mob boss never says to his hitman "I think Fat Tony is a snitch, please kill him for me" but he still ordered the hit.
- pstuart 4y ago
  Seriously? Now the FBI is engaging in mob tactics? Is this the branch that operates out of the basement at Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria? You wanna know this one weird trick about this story? It only matters that it exists and can be further weaponized by crying foul over its suppression. You don't care about what the story is about, just the story itself (and the story about the story).
  - fallingknife 4y ago
    > Now the FBI is engaging in mob tactics? Not now. For a long time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_lette...
    - pstuart 4y ago
      But they weren't when they investigated Clinton? There's plenty of sordid history there but your claims are still ludicrous. I dare you to discuss the Hunter Biden case in the context of what it ostensibly represents: government corruption. Your circular logic goes nowhere: the Biden laptop story is about the Biden laptop story not being told. Again: tell me why this story should be told? What is the real substance of your concern?
      - fallingknife 4y ago
        What does Clinton have to do with this? And you just don't seem to get it. The garden variety corruption of Hunter Biden isn't the important story. The FBI trying to suppress the spread of news is.