Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just want to say one more thing about the subject of propaganda.
I think the only solution to that part of our messed up system is for every voter to be aware that propaganda is very real. It is not confined to one party or another. It is also being used by forces that are outside the realm of existing American political parties.
It is our responsibility as Americans to be smart consumers of information.
This includes:
-- Understanding that just because a source of information confirms what you already believe doesn't make it a trustworthy source of information. "Fake news" comes from both sides of the aisle. If you only see "fake news" on the OTHER side of the aisle, you likely have fallen prey to the propaganda from your own side.
-- Read widely. Sometimes you may have to hold your nose to do it, but reviewing and thinking about information coming from different sources with conflicting views will help you identify and sort out at least some of the propaganda. And, again, propaganda comes from both political parties, extremes on either end, and even, sometimes, from the center. It also comes from sources outside of America.
--Give more credence to factual information than opinions and internet memes. Dig deeper.
-- Learn as much as you can about the political agendas of the sources of information you encounter.
-- Avoid falling into simplistic thinking and name calling. Eliminate these words from your own internet posts: liberal, leftist, progressive, conservative, alt right, Trumpite, fascist, MSM, etc. If your first reaction to anyone who posts something you don't like is to resort to name calling, you yourself are likely only contributing to propaganda.
-- Neither of the two major parties OR any politician currently alive should be trusted to tell you the full truth. Understand the agendas behind what politicians and political parties say in their statements, tweets, and interviews. Vet every politician as much as possible to try to understand their personal agendas so that you can attempt to filter out the propaganda from the truth.
==Respectful discourse is rare on internet forums. This is for a reason: propaganda's goal is to keep people arguing with each other so that they don't figure out the truth. Try your hardest to be respectful of the opinions of others in internet forums. The more people (I'm talking REAL people not bots or trolls) who feel comfortable expressing their opinions and respectfully consider the opinions of others, the weaker propaganda gets.
-- Bots and trolls are real. They love it when you let their memes rile you up. Learn to recognize bots and trolls and ignore them. Every post you make in response to a bot or troll keeps giving them a voice.
--Do your own thinking, even when it makes you uncomfortable. Propaganda seeks to keep you stupid. The way to fight against that is to educate yourself, do your own fact finding, and think for yourself.
-- Understand that you can do all of this and still fall prey to propaganda. It's a bit like AA. The first step to getting better is to admit that you have a problem.
Thanks for this thoughtful and lucid post. I can't rep you anymore right now, but am happy to repost it here in my response.
I want you to be honest. Do you not want a complete investigation to remove all doubt that we did not have any cooperation between any US official and a hostile foreign government during our election? Even if you don't believe there is anything there do you not believe all Americans have the right to know for sure?
Of course we have the right to know. But even this Papadopolous thing is being blown out of proportion. Every bit of evidence shows that he was a freelancer trying to be important and who never once succeeded. He quite literally was an unpaid volunteer....a "coffee boy" as he has been referred. If he was a big fish of any kind, he wouldn't get a plea deal for lying...he'd be headed to the big house for conspiracy to use foreign nationals to influence our election. He was not charged with that or anything close to it. He's irrelevant. The only value he brings is the perception that Mueller might be able to implicate others. My view is that Papa's only role is symbolic and a last gasp effort to shake loose evidence of collusion that Mueller's investigators were unable to find otherwise.
Russian money to influence people. More names bubbling to the top..both D and R.
And those big elite law firms used by the DC crowd are surfacing.
Heck, even Fusion, the smear campaign company that produced the dossier, did business with Russia and got paid for it.
Yes, in the context that our government is corrupt to the core, you are absolutely correct. But there is ZERO evidence that Donald Trump colluded with Putin to take down Hillary Clinton.
It was coined by Laura Ingraham yesterday. The Trump sheep quickly picked it up.
The term, "nothingburger," was not coined by Laura Ingraham, and it has been around a long while. Even Hillary Clinton has been using it for some time.
Of course we have the right to know. But even this Papadopolous thing is being blown out of proportion. Every bit of evidence shows that he was a freelancer trying to be important and who never once succeeded. He quite literally was an unpaid volunteer....a "coffee boy" as he has been referred. If he was a big fish of any kind, he wouldn't get a plea deal for lying...he'd be headed to the big house for conspiracy to use foreign nationals to influence our election. He was not charged with that or anything close to it. He's irrelevant. The only value he brings is the perception that Mueller might be able to implicate others. My view is that Papa's only role is symbolic and a last gasp effort to shake loose evidence of collusion that Mueller's investigators were unable to find otherwise.
Every bit of evidence from Trump himself says that Papadoupoulos was part of his team, including naming him in interviews, and in tweets as part of his national security team. Generally the "coffee boy" doesn't get to sit in at the big table for national security meetings.
Was Trump not telling the truth then or is he not telling the truth now?
Every bit of evidence from Trump himself says that Papadoupoulos was part of his team, including naming him in interviews, and in tweets as part of his national security team.
yep:
TRUMP: "Well, I hadn’t thought of doing it, but if you want I can give you some of the names… Walid Phares, who you probably know, PhD, adviser to the House of Representatives caucus, and counter-terrorism expert; Carter Page, PhD; George Papadopoulos, he’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy;..."
Every bit of evidence from Trump himself says that Papadoupoulos was part of his team, including naming him in interviews, and in tweets as part of his national security team. Generally the "coffee boy" doesn't get to sit in at the big table for national security meetings.
Was Trump not telling the truth then or is he not telling the truth now?
Irrelevant. He was part of a national security team. That doesn't mean he had any actual influence, or that his efforts to solidify a Russia relationship ever occurred.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
