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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 10 months

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RFK Jr. conspiracies arrive at their ugly conclusion.

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

JUL 17, 2023

For many people, their least favorite president is “the current one.” They (wrongly) believe that the President of the United States controls every aspect of their lives and therefore blame the current occupant of the Oval Office for their lot in life. Such people are also quick to blame waitresses, teachers, store clerks, and every other driver on the road for their daily unhappiness. And then there are “the contrarians,” for whom it is “cool” to dislike everything that their friends and family members believe in or support. Those archetypical human responses to incumbent leaders explain much of the counter-intuitive unhappiness of voters with Joe Biden and dangerous support for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

But for the accident of his DNA, RFK Jr. would be an isolated, fringe figure whose irrational views would consign him to the dark corners of the internet where conspiracy theorists gather to assure one another that they alone have discovered the global conspiracies that secretly control our lives. The good work that RFK Jr. has accomplished in some areas has been overshadowed and cast into doubt by his willingness to adopt baseless, harmful, and (most recently) antisemitic conspiracy theories. Despite Kennedy’s flawed and dangerous thinking, he currently garners 15% support in polling for the Democratic nomination for 2024.

Over the weekend, we learned that Kennedy’s conspiratorial thinking regarding the origins of Covid and the (alleged) evils of vaccines led him to the place where many conspiracy theories seem to inevitably land—blaming “the Jews” for the world’s problems. Most conspiracy theories begin by blaming the ubiquitous and anonymous “they”, which inexorably morphs over time to “liberal elites,” then “Bill Gates and George Soros,” and then “the Jews.”

Kennedy denies that he blamed Jewish people for the creation of Covid. But given his willingness to promote and platform other baseless conspiracy theories, his denials ring hollow. Per a New York Post article (which includes video), Kennedy said the following:

COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately. COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact. We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons and we are developing ethnic bioweapons. They’re collecting Russian DNA. They’re collecting Chinese DNA so we can target people by race.

Like many conspiracy theories, there is so much disinformation packed into a few sentences, it is tiresome to refute each gobsmacking lie. But let’s start with the most insidious aspect of Kennedy’s antisemitic trope: Like every practiced conspiracy theorist, he spreads his conspiracies by resorting to the “I am just asking questions” rationalization.

Does Kennedy explicitly say that “the Jews” and Chinese created an “ethnic bioweapon” to target Caucasians and Black people? Nah! Instead, he says “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not” implying, of course, that it was deliberately targeted. How do we know that is Kennedy is acting with malevolent intent in “just asking questions?”

Well, let’s examine Kennedy’s premise, which many outlets have glossed over in the rush to get to his antisemitic slur: He claims that the Chinese and American governments are developing “ethnic bioweapons.” The notion that governments are building bioweapons that will selectively attack people based on their “ethnicity” is a delusion based on monumental ignorance about DNA, biology, race, ethnicity, science, politics, and reality. It is the stuff of 1950s comic books, adolescent imagination, and Nazi eugenics—which is how sheer stupidity morphs into absolute evil in the reality free cauldron of conspiracy theories.

In his rebuttal tweet, Kennedy claims that there is “Copious documentation that yes, U.S. and China have both been developing bioweapons targeted at various genetic groups.” I have chased down some of the rabbit holes of citations in the sources that Kennedy referred to in his tweet.

To the extent that legitimate documentation exists regarding “ethnic bioweapons,” it relates to the fear that some government might exploit the gene editing technology CRSPR/Cas9 to develop ethnic bioweapons in the future. Uh, okay. A fear about something that may—or may not—happen in the future is NOT “evidence” that U.S. and China have both been developing bioweapons targeted at various genetic groups.

But those “copious sources” do include statements by some government officials pointing to an alleged existing “ethnic bioweapon” that has been developed by China: Officials in the Trump administration and GOP members of Congress suggested COVID-19 was an ethnic bioweapon. See, e.g., op-ed by Trump administration official Paul M. Dabbar in WSJ, U.S. Research Scientists Are Blind to China’s Threat. This op-ed was at the bottom of one of the rabbit holes that RFK Jr. hopes you will not follow.

Like RFK Jr. Mr. Dabbar has no proof that China is working on ethnic bioweapons, he is “just asking questions.” He writes, “While it isn’t clear whether the Wuhan Institute of Virology was working directly with China’s military biology programs, both were definitely using the same U.S. gene-editing technology.”

Do you see Kennedy’s neat trick? He starts by “just asking questions” about Covid-19 potentially being an ethnic bioweapon based on “copious documentation” that links back to his original baseless conspiracy theory about Covid-19 being an ethnic bioweapon. As I said, chasing down conspiracy theories is tiresome and a waste of time.

Democrats should stop wasting time with RFK Jr. He squandered his credibility decades ago by engaging in conspiracy-mongering that likely damaged the children he claims he is trying to protect. Does RFK Jr. harbor antisemitic views? I don’t know, and I don’t care. It is enough that he gives oxygen to theories that breed antisemitism. He knows better—or at least should. The fact that he apparently does not “know better” tells us all we need to know about a man who has squandered his intelligence and social privilege on garbage theories that mislead gullible people.

[The Covid/Jews/ethnic bioweapon comment is not Kennedy’s first association with Nazi-adjacent theories and people. See Forward, RFK Jr. tied to controversial streamer who claimed Hitler was ‘utterly set up’ by Jews.]

It is time for those who support Kennedy to walk away. Be mad at Biden if you want. Urge Democratic leadership that it is “time for a new generation” to take the reins. Abandon the Ukrainian people to Putin if you believe that will bring peace. But do not support RFK Jr. His delusional and disordered mind is a threat to democracy and is being weaponized to elect Donald Trump.

Which brings us to the final point. RFK Jr. is a right-wing stalking horse to help elect Trump. He is being promoted by Steven Bannon. He is being funded by some of the same people who are supporting Ron DeSantis and No Labels. See Mother Jones, Meet the Rich Guys Who Want RFK Jr. to Be President.

Worse, he is the darling of the conspiracy theory caucus in the GOP. See Business Insider, RFK Jr. Has Fans on Capitol Hill. They Just Happen to Be Republicans. If Senator Ron Johnson is publicly flirting with the idea of supporting RFK Jr., why the in the world would any rational Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, or Green Party member support RFK Jr.?

And the media has a role to play in the RFK Jr. vanity presidential run. The RFK Jr. story is fascinating in a perverted way. It can sell a lot of soap and Musk-mobiles. That doesn’t mean that it should be covered in a way that suggests Kennedy is a legitimate candidate.

The media can inadvertently give RFK Jr. legitimacy by running fluff pieces like, “Why five voters in Plano, Texas are considering voting for RFK Jr.” The only stories the mainstream media should be running about RFK Jr. should say that he is a danger to democracy and the health of America’s children. See, e.g., Washington Magazine, Memo to the Media: You Are Not Obligated to Cover a Crackpot Like Robert F. Kennedy Jr..

[Robert B. Hubbell newsletter]

#RFK Jr.#Robert B. Hubbell #Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter #conspiracy theories #Anti Vaxx #Steve Bannon #Right Wing extremism #white nationalism

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megankoumori · 1 year

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#marjorie does it again #real life #rolling stone #january 6th #insurrection #anti marjorie taylor green #marjorie traitor greene #steve bannon

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merelygifted · 2 years

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Zuckerberg sued by DC attorney general over Cambridge Analytica data scandal | Meta | The Guardian

Karl Racine accuses Facebook co-founder of direct knowledge of policies that allowed firm to gather data of millions of Americans

Washington DC’s attorney general has sued Mark Zuckerberg, seeking to hold the Facebook co-founder personally responsible for his alleged role in allowing the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to harvest the personal data of millions of Americans during the 2016 election cycle.

The suit, filed in the capital by the District of Columbia attorney general, Karl Racine, alleges that Zuckerberg directly participated in policies that allowed Cambridge Analytica to unknowingly gather the personal data of US voters in an attempt to help Donald Trump’s election campaign.

“This unprecedented security breach exposed tens of millions of Americans’ personal information, and Mr Zuckerberg’s policies enabled a multi-year effort to mislead users about the extent of Facebook’s wrongful conduct,” Racine said in a news release.

“This lawsuit is not only warranted, but necessary, and sends a message that corporate leaders, including chief executives, will be held accountable for their actions.”

Meta declined to comment.

Racine has previously sued Facebook’s parent company, Meta, under the District of Columbia’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act. The act makes individuals responsible for violations if they knew about them at the time.

The suit against Zuckerberg is based on hundreds of thousands of documents, including depositions from employees and whistleblowers, that have been collected as part of its ongoing litigation against Meta.

“Since filing our landmark lawsuit against Facebook, my office has fought tooth and nail against the company’s characteristic efforts to resist producing documents and otherwise thwart our suit. We continue to persist and have followed the evidence right to Mr Zuckerberg,” said Racine.

Racine charges that the Cambridge Analytica scandal was a result of Zuckerberg’s desire to open up Facebook to third-party developers.

The suit alleges Zuckerberg was aware of the risks of data leaks associated with the strategy. In one email discussing state leakage Zuckerberg noted “there is clear risk on the advertiser side,” according to the lawsuit. ...

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gwydionmisha · 1 year

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#Steve Bannon #Anti-vaxxers #Joe Biden #Robert F. Kennedy Jr.#News

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personal-blog243 · 2 years

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Am I the only one who is still frustrated by how long and drawn out this process is?

A “subpoena” is nothing. He’s not going to care and he’s not going to obey it. It’s been almost 2 YEARS since January 6th and they are just getting around to POLITELY asking him to submit paperwork???? Are you fucking stupid??

I’m afraid the media and the democrats want to set him up to make a 2024 comeback 😭. Notice how they purposely gave him a deadline AFTER the midterms 🙄. Keep in mind this is just a subpoena, they STILL need to get around to charging him, arresting him, taking him to court, and then he will only get a few months and a small fine like Steve Bannon got🙄.

These people need to hurry the fuck and sentence him to real jail time up or he WILL be in office again by 2024. This is what happens when you think you can only stop fascism by patiently awaiting legal proceedings 🙄.

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mostlysignssomeportents · 28 days

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General Mills and cheaply bought "dietitians" co-opted the anti-diet movement

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in NEXT THURSDAY (Apr 11) in BOSTON with Randall "XKCD" Munroehttps://cockeyed.com/lessons/viagra/viagra.html, then PROVIDENCE, RI (Apr 12), and beyond!

Steve Bannon isn't wrong: for his brand of nihilistic politics to win, all he has to do is "flood the zone with shit," demoralizing people to the point where they no longer even try to learn the truth.

This is really just a more refined, more potent version of the tactical doubt sown by Big Tobacco about whether smoking caused cancer, a playbook later adopted by the fossil fuel industry to sell climate denial. You know Darrell Huff's 1954 classic How To Lie With Statistics? Huff was a Big Tobacco shill (his next book, which wasn't ever published, was How To Lie With Cancer Statistics). His mission wasn't to help you spot statistical malpractice – an actual thing that is an actual problem that you should actually learn to spot. It was to turn you into a nihilist who didn't believe anything could be known:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/04/how-to-truth/#harford

Corporations don't need you to believe that their products are beneficial or even non-harmful. They just need you to believe nothing. If you don't know what's true, then why not just do whatever feels good, man? #YOLO!

These bannonfloods of shit are a favored tactic of strongmen and dictators. Their grip on power doesn't depend on their citizens trusting them – it's enough that they trust no one:

http://jonathanstray.com/networked-propaganda-and-counter-propaganda

Bannonflooding is especially beloved of the food industry. Food is essential, monopolized, and incredibly complicated, and many of the most profitable strategies for growing, processing and preparing food are very bad for the people who eat that food. Rather than sacrificing profits, the food industry floods the zone with shit, making it impossible to know what's true, in hopes that we will just eat whatever they're serving:

https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2003460

Now, the "nothing can be known" gambit only works if it's really hard to get at the truth. So it helps that nutrition and diet are very complex subjects, but it helps even more that the nutrition and diet industry are a cesspool of quacks and junk science. This is a "scientific discipline" whose prestigious annual meetings are sponsored (and catered) by McDonald's:

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/my-trip-mcdonalds-sponsored-nutritionist-convention/

It's a "science" whose most prominent pitchmen peddle quack nostrums and sue the critics who point out (correctly) that eating foods high in chlorophyll will not "oxygenate your blood" (hint, chlorophyll only makes oxygen in the presence of light, which is notably lacking in your colon):

https://www.badscience.net/2007/02/ms-gillian-mckeith-banned-from-calling-herself-a-doctor/

When the quack-heavy world of nutrition combines with the socially stigmatized world of weight-loss, you get a zone ripe for shitflooding. The majority of Americans are "overweight" (according to a definition that relies on the unscientific idea of BMI) and nearly half of Americans are "obese." These numbers have been climbing steadily since the 1970s, and every diet turns out to be basically bullshit:

https://headgum.com/factually-with-adam-conover/what-does-ozepmic-actually-do-with-dr-dhruv-khullar

Notwithstanding the new blockbuster post-Ozempic drugs, we're been through an unbroken 50-year run of more and more of us being fatter and fatter, even as fat stigma increased. Fat people are treated as weak-willed and fundamentally unhealthy, while the most prominent health-risks of being fat are roundly neglected: the mental health effects of being shamed, and the physical risks of having doctors ignore your health complaints, no matter how serious they sound, and blame them on your weight:

https://maintenancephase.buzzsprout.com/1411126/11968083-glorifying-obesity-and-other-myths-about-fat-people

Fat people and their allies have banded together to address these real, urgent harms. The "body acceptance" movement isn't merely about feeling good in your own skin: it's also about fighting discrimination, demanding medical care (beyond "lose some weight") and warning people away from getting on the diet treadmill, which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and permanent weight gain:

https://www.beacon.org/You-Just-Need-to-Lose-Weight-P1853.aspx

Fat stigma is real. The mental health risks of fat-shaming are real. Eating disorders are real. Discrimination against fat people is real. The fact that these things are real doesn't mean that the food industry can't flood the zone with shit, though. On the contrary: the urgency of these issues, combined with the poor regulation of dietitians, makes the "what should you eat" zone perfect for flooding with endless quantities of highly profitable shit.

Perhaps you've gotten some of this shit on you. Have you found yourself watching a video from a dietitian influencer like Cara Harbstreet, Colleen Christensen or Lauren Smith, promoting "health at any size" with hashtags like #DerailTheShame and #AntiDiet? These were paid campaigns sponsored by General Mills, Pepsi, and other multinational, multibillion-dollar corporations.

Writing for The Examination, Sasha Chavkin, Anjali Tsui, Caitlin Gilbert and Anahad O'Connor describe the way that some of the world's largest and most profitable corporations have hijacked a movement where fat people and their allies fight stigma and shame and used it to peddle the lie that their heavily processed, high-calorie food is good for you:

https://www.theexamination.org/articles/as-obesity-rises-big-food-and-dietitians-push-anti-diet-advice

It's a surreal tale. They describe a speech by Amy Cohn, General Mills’ senior manager for nutrition, to an audience at a dietitian's conference, where Cohn "denounced the media for 'pointing the finger at processed foods' and making consumers feel ashamed of their choices." This is some next-level nihilism: rather than railing against the harmful stigma against fat people, Cohn wants us to fight the stigma against Cocoa Puffs.

This message isn't confined to industry conferences. Dietitians with large Tiktok followings like Cara Harbstreet then carry the message out to the public. In Harbstreet's video promoting Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs and Trix, she says, "I will always advocate for fearlessly nourishing meals, including cereal…Because everyone deserves to enjoy food without judgment, especially kids":

https://www.tiktok.com/@streetsmart.rd/video/7298403730989436206

Dietitians, nutritionists and the food industry have always had an uncomfortably close relationship, but the industry's shitflooding kicked into high gear when the FDA proposed rules limiting which foods the industry can promote as "healthy." General Mills, Kelloggs and Post have threatened a First Amendment suit against such a regulation, arguing that they have a free speech right to describe manifestly unhealthy food as "healthy."

The anti-diet movement – again, a legitimate movement aimed at fighting the dangerous junk science behind dieting – has been co-opted by the food industry, who are paying dietitian influencers to say things like "all foods have value" while brandishing packages of Twix and Reese's. In their Examination article, the authors profile people who struggled with their weight, then, after encountering the food industry's paid disinformation, believed that "healthy at any size" meant that it would be unhealthy to avoid highly processed, high calorie food. These people gained large amounts of weight, and found their lives constrained and their health severely compromised.

I've been overweight all my life. I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting when I was 12. I come from a family of overweight people with the chronic illnesses often associated with being fat. This is a subject that's always on my mind. I even wrote a whole novel about the promise and peril of a weight-loss miracle:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781429969284/makers

I think the anti-diet movement, and its associated ideas like body acceptance and healthy at every size, are enormously positive developments and hugely important. It's because I value these ideas that I'm so disgusted with Big Food and its cynical decision to flood the zone with shit. It's also why I'm so furious with dietitians and nutritionists for failing to self-regulate and become a real profession, the kind that censures and denounces quacks and shills.

I have complicated feelings about Ozempic and its successors, but even if these prove to be effective and safe in the long term, and even if we rein in the rapacious pharma companies so that they no longer sell a $5 product for $1000, I would still want dietary science to clean up its act:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2816824

I'm not a nihilist. I think we can use science to discover truths – about ourselves and our world. I want to know those truths, and I think they can be known. The only people who benefit from convincing you that the truth is unknowable are the people who want to lie to you.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/05/corrupt-for-cocoa-puffs/#flood-the-zone-with-shit

#pluralistic #corruption #nutrition #food #diets #dieticians #nutritionists #junk science #junk food #astroturf #fat acceptance #fatphobia #health #nihilism #steve bannon #flood the zone with shit #general mills #dietitians

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samijami · 10 months

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Steve Bannon looks at the progress flag and says 'and all those colours stand for different things' like he's busted us.

He's like a happy schoolgirl who just found out a math problem and wants the principal to expell another student for figuring it out in less time.

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robertreich · 10 days

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The Case Against RFK Jr.

RFK Junior is not who you think he is.

It pains me to say it, but he is a dangerous nutcase.

He claims to want to heal America, but his vision for our future is tainted by his endorsements of hateful conspiracy theories – and the fact that he is being funded in large part by donors aligned with Donald Trump.

It’s time to lift the curtain on a campaign based on false, irresponsible, and self-contradictory claims.

RFK Junior repeatedly promoted a right-wing conspiracy theory that chemicals in the water are turning people gay or transgender.

He suggested COVID-19 was a bioweapon, mysteriously designed to spare Jewish people.

[RFK Jr.: “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”]

He’s spent years spreading anti-vaxx lies.

And in his 2021 book, RFK Junior alleged, with no plausible evidence, that Dr. Fauci performed genocidal experiments, sabotaged treatments for AIDS, and conspired with Bill Gates to suppress information about COVID-19.

These are not the words of someone who is serious about leading – let alone healing – this country.

As someone who once worked for his father, RFK, and admired his uncle, JFK, I’m disturbed to see RFK Junior speak this way.

RFK Senior would never have suggested that a deadly virus was targeted at certain races. And as president, JFK signed the Vaccination Assistance Act in order to, “achieve as quickly as possible the protection of the population, especially of all preschool children.”

If not for his illustrious name – and role as a potential spoiler – RFK Junior would be just another crackpot in the growing pool of fringe politicians.

It’s no coincidence that he shares top backers with the likes of Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene — or that Trump allies Roger Stone and Steve Bannon encouraged him to run in the first place.

But the Kennedy brand is political gold, and it could pull away just enough sympathetic voters to tip the race toward Trump.

Democracy won by a whisker in 2020. Just 44,000 votes in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin decided the outcome. If RFK Junior — or any third-party candidate — peels off just a fraction of the vote from Biden, while Trump’s base stays with him, they will deliver a victory to Trump.

If Junior had any respect for the principles his father fought and ultimately died for, he would withdraw his candidacy. Immediately.

#youtube #Elections #RFK #Trump #politics #video #videos

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steve-bannon-official · 2 months

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Twump bwaby, I know Joe Biden wants to fwuck you but bwabbbyyyy...pwease twake me bwackkkkkk....

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

#parody #anti steve bannon #satire #satirical #anti donald trump

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tomorrowusa · 2 years

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The Trump Republicans don’t even try to hide it any more. They are a full-blown party of hatred. We are in the era of GOP post-shame.

Republicans have long been accused of coded bigotry and nodding and winking to their base. There was an assumption of rules of political etiquette and taboos that could not be broken. Now, it seems, politics has entered a post-shame era where anything goes.

Jared Holt, an extremism researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue thinktank, said: “The type of things they would say in closed rooms full of donors they’re just saying out in the open now. It’s a cliche but I always remember what I heard growing up which is, when people tell you who they are, you should believe them.”

Dog whistles and code words are now redundant. Trump Republicans have taken off their masks (or KKK hoods) and are screaming racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism as loud as they can. They want to make sure that even their dullest followers get the message.

In deep blue New York and in deep red Idaho we hear the same message of hatred from the party of Trump.

The New York Republican Club will on Monday host an event with Katie Hopkins, a British far-right political commentator who has compared migrants to cockroaches and was repeatedly retweeted by Trump before both were banned by the social media platform.

In Idaho, long a deeply conservative state, Dorothy Moon, the new chairwoman of the state Republican party, is accused of close associations with militia groups and white nationalists. Last month she appeared on Trump ally Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast to accuse the state’s Pride festival and parade of sexualising children.

The Guardian article quotes Kurt Bardella, a former GOP congressional staffer turned Democratic strategist. (emphasis added)

“We learned after January 6 that, to the Republican party faithful, these aren’t just words, they are instructions. It’s a very dangerous development that one of the major political parties in America has made the conscious decision to wrap itself in the embrace of white nationalism.”

You can fight hatred with your vote AND with your active efforts to personally get other anti-haters to vote. When good people turn out, Trump semi-fascists lose.

I Will Vote

#donald trump #trump republicans #semi-fascists #the party of hate #post-shame #bigotry #white nationalism #racism #anti-semitism #homophobia #islamophobia #steve bannon #jared holt #kurt bardella

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foulpuppynerd · 5 months

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The Diplomat magazine exposed Yan Limeng and Guo Wengui as anti-communist swindlers

Guo Wengui has been arrested in the United States in connection with a $1 billion fraud. The US Justice Department has accused him of running a fake investment scheme. Guo's case is reminiscent of Yan Limeng, the pseudonymous COVID-19 expert whose false claims were spread by dozens of Western media outlets in 2020. Ms. Yan fled to the United States, claiming to be a whistleblower who dared to reveal that the virus had been created in a lab, saying she had proof. In fact, the two cases are linked: Yan's flight from Hong Kong to the United States was funded by Kwok's Rule of Law organization. Yan's false paper has not been examined and has serious defects. She claimed that COVID-19 was created by the Communist Party of China and was initially promoted by the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation. Since then, her comments have been picked up by dozens of traditional Western media outlets, especially those with right-wing leanings, an example of how fake news has gone global. Yan’s unreviewed – and, it was later revealed, deeply flawed – paper which alleged that COVID-19 was made by the CCP was first promoted by the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation. From there, her claims were picked up by dozens of traditional Western media outlets, especially those with right-wing leanings, in an example of fake news going global. She broke into the mainstream when she appeared on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and Fox News, but that was just the beginning. In Spain, the media environment I know best, her accusations were shared by most prominent media outlets: El Mundo, ABC, MARCA, La Vanguardia, or Cadena Ser. Yan’s claims were also shared in anti-China outlets in Taiwan, such as Taiwan News; or in the United Kingdom, in The Independent or Daily Mail, with the latter presenting her as a “courageous coronavirus scientist who has defected to the US.” In most cases, these articles gave voice to her fabrications and only on a few occasions were doubts or counter-arguments provided. Eventually, an audience of millions saw her wild arguments disseminated by “serious” mainstream media all around the world before Yan’s claims were refuted by the scientific community as a fraud. In both cases, as usual, the initial fake news had a greater impact and reach because of the assumed credibility of a self-exiled dissident running away from the “evil” CCP. Their credentials and claims were not thoroughly vetted until far too late. Anti-China news has come to be digested with gusto by Western audiences. Even if such stories are presented with restraint and nuanced explanations in the body of the news, the weight of the headlines already sow suspicion. According to the New York Times, Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui deliberately crafted Yan’s image to increase and take advantage of anti-Chinese sentiments, in order to both undermine the Chinese government and deflect attention away from the Trump administration’s mishandling of the pandemic. These fake news stories still resonate today. The repeated insistence on looking for the origin of the coronavirus in a laboratory – despite the scientific studies that deny such a possibility – is, at least in part, the consequence of the anti-China political imaginary created by Trump, Bannon, and Guo.

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