I’m puzzled by your claim of it being the actions of authoritarian progressives when it was clearly done by a Trump controlled FBI.
2 Likes
These words have meanings. If you are concerned with the “deliberately amorphous and constantly changing” look at the people that misuse these words. AOC and Sanders are progressives. I would not consider BIden a progressive although he is more progressive than Republicans. One of the purposes of purposefully misusing terms is to destroy their meaning.
Progressivism is a left-leaning political philosophy and reform movement that seeks to advance the human condition through social reform – primarily based on purported advancements in social organization, science, and technology.[1] Adherents hold that progressivism has universal application and endeavor to spread this idea to human societies everywhere. In modern political discourse, progressivism is often associated with social liberalism,[3][4][5] a left-leaning type of liberalism, and social democracy.[6][7]
Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and counterculture of the 1960s. Neoconservatives typically advocate the unilateral promotion of democracy and interventionism in international relations together with a militaristic and realist philosophy of “peace through strength”. They are known for espousing opposition to communism and radical politics
Neoliberalism [1] is both a political philosophy and a term used to signify the late-20th-century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism.[2][3][4] The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is often used pejoratively.[5][6] In scholarly use, the term is often left undefined or used to describe a multitude of phenomena;[7][8][9] however, it is primarily employed to delineate the societal transformation resulting from market-based reforms.[10]
Neoliberalism has become increasingly prevalent term in recent decades.[16][17][18][19] It has been a significant factor in the proliferation of conservative and right-libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominantly advocated by them.[20][21] Neoliberalism is often associated with a set of economic liberalization policies, including privatization, deregulation, depoliticisation, consumer choice, globalization, free trade, monetarism, austerity, and reductions in government spending. These policies are designed to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society.
I don’t assign that level of detailed competence to anyone.
Someone in the FBI sent the notice. Could have been as few a 2-3 people involved in getting it authorized. Pretty obvious no one involved in the Trump campaign knew about this or they likely would have squashed the notice. I don’t know why it was sent. Could be totally legit. Could be they were acting on rumors spread by Biden staffers. Could be they were acting on behalf of Biden staffers. IDK and neither do you. Social media killed the story on their platforms because of the FBI warning.
We do know that former 51 intelligence officers then wrote a letter saying it bore the hallmarks of Russian disinformation without having actually seen any of the data. We know this letter was started by one of them at the request of Biden’s chief of staff because he wanted a job if Biden won.
We know most of the media jumped on the letter as a reason to not report on the laptop or report that it was likely a Russian operation, even though there was no proof of this assertion. They got played; therefore so did anyone who listened to them.
2 Likes
Yet you blamed the actions of the FBI under Trump on progressive authoritarians.
Do you have a link explaining the FBI notice regarding Russian disinformation. I know the FBI was concerned about a repeat of proven Russian disinformation campaigns such as
“Revelations about pressure on COVID stories from various government agencies and threats to important legal protections.” Can you flesh this out? What was this, a link explaining would help and how was this authoritarian?
The media has no little incentive to journalistic integrity and skepticism as that is not profitable when there is little punishment for lying. Since the FCC’s oversight Broadcast News Distortion | Federal Communications Commission seems toothless in the face of distortion and false information I expect nothing but Fox like “analysis” as far as the eye can see.
C-span did. I did not.
I simply don’t believe that there is some vast conspiracy in or out of the government that controls everything. Any conspiracy is made up of people. Maybe slightly more capable than most, but still significantly stupid, short-sighted, self-interested, and variously competent people.
Can a small number of intelligent people with good connections get nefarious things done? Absolutely. Look at the Steele dossier and the Russiagate mess for an example of a lie that served its purpose and then took on a life of its own because a LOT of people wanted to believe it. The smaller the number of people involved, the easier it is to pull off that kind of thing.
The FBI warning didn’t take a lot of people. It could have been anything from legit to knowing maleficence.
Feel free to google recent statements by Zuckerberg or the Twitter files released by the reporters Musk had go through things when he bought the company. They show pressure being brought by several agencies within the Biden administration. Then there was the proposed Disinformation Governance Board.
The authoritarian urge to stifle dissent is not a left/right thing. It is an extremist thing. Whether political, ideological, or religious, intolerance for any ideas other than one’s own is a dangerous and sometimes seductive thing.
2 Likes
I don’t think this is true. Might need to look back. Pretty sure the large majority of the media dismissed the laptop because:
- it was shared on the eve of a major election
- by well known bullshitter rudy giuliani
- to well known garbage tabloid NY Post
- with a thin and sketchy story of its origins
- and the real press wasn’t given immediate access to verify its authenticity or even read its contents.
Basically 5? red flags against it. Any of one of which would normally cause you to dismiss it out of hand. I don’t work for the FBI, but I assume they came to the exact same conclusion that you and I and everyone in the world did which is it sure smells like poop.
They also covered the story, they just concluded that it smells like poop. Then the FBI letter came out like a day later.
1 Like
Wasn’t the ultimate finding that some of the files were placed on the machine after it left Hunter’s posession?
The Washington Post found that some files were moved around, but also that some of the emails were probably real.
Later, CBS received a copy of the original laptop’s hard drive-- ie before it was shared with Giuliani, and confirmed that it appeared real.
Whaaat? No one here would do that!!
Internally the FBI already had a copy of the laptop hard drive and had verified it. They didn’t want to verify the story due to the ongoing investigation. But the organization should not have cast any doubt on it either.
IDK if the people who issued the warning knew of this or not. They should have checked. I’m willing to admit that in an organization as big as the FBI this could have been a mistake. If they knew about the veracity of the hard drive then they should be fired for cause.
2 Likes
With hindsight, this turns out to be a mistake.
To your point, it’s not at all clear to me that it was the wrong call given the information available at the time.
On the other hand, Fox News lied intentionally and repeatedly that the election was stolen, to the degree that it agreed to pay $750M to avoid going to trial. Then didn’t report on that at all.
But I am supposed to worry about the Hunter Biden incident?
2 Likes
This is why no one takes liberals seriously. This question isn’t relevant to government employees, including ex-employees, and Joe Biden himself working to discredit an obviously legitimate Hunter Biden laptop.
Joe Biden debated Trump in 2020 and called the laptop “garbage” and a “Russian plant.” Just days before that debate 50 or so libsters and neocons signed onto a letter essentially calling emails on the laptop a “Russian disinformation operation.”
Separately, the FBI was warning tech companies that the story was coming and to censor it. Apparently the FBI was doing this while the NY Post painstakingly verified the authenticity of the laptop.
Trump doesn’t hire all the FBI agents and Trump certainly wasn’t aware that FBI employees were coordinating lies to mislead tech companies into censoring a genuine disparaging story about liberal candidate Biden’s crackhead son. Obviously Trump didn’t hire the former intelligence officials like John Brennan (Obama did that). Moreover, actual Trump appointees like John Ratcliffe pushed back on the lies once they were exposed via the letter.
Also, just take a moment to appreciate what dirtbags these fucking people are:
If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this.
They wrote a misleading letter attempting to influence how Americans vote in the election, while accusing Russia WITHOUT EVIDENCE of doing the same thing.
1 Like
Did AI help you write this?
I agree. He only hires and coordinates the lies of Trump Organization CFOs.
JFC, 20 new posts in this thread? No new information, just rehashing the same old bullshit.
I really can’t give a fck about any of this any more. Trump is back in office, maybe go celebrate all the amazing executive orders and pardons of traitors he he kicked things off with.
3 Likes
Wake up, babe! New Hunter Biden Investigation posts just dropped!
Insanity is all I see here.
1 Like
Isn’t American politics, by definition, insanity?
1 Like
Please elaborate. Are these like Q drops?
Whatever happened with the mountains of evidence of smoking guns of massive corruption in the Biden Crime Syndicate from the Hunter Biden investigation?
Trump’s been President for 5 years and has full and direct control of the FBI.