After media pressure, Facebook closed down a fake news site in North Carolina. As reported in The Charlotte Observer in an article called “Facebook takes down NC Facebook page with fake news” by Zachary Eanes, after a few months of publishing fake news and garnering 50,000 followers, the site was closed. A person contacted by the reporter said the following in response:
“‘Truth is not the goal’ behind the stories shared. ‘Getting Trump reelected is the ultimate goal.'”
That line is worth rereading. In essence, the truth does not matter. I have been echoing the premise the Republican party can no longer claim to be the “law and order” party as too many of its leaders have aided and abetted the corrupt and deceitful actions of the president. And, it can no longer claim to be a party of truth, the decline in truthfulness having started long ago, but made worse by the deceitful actions and words of the president.
It should be noted the site included a number of articles pushed by Russian disinformation sources. This is on top of a radio station in Iowa, which appears legitimate, but is using the Russian sputnik radio feeds for sources of disinformation. There is a reason Trump and Russia want you to believe Ukraine did all the election meddling. Trump wants Russia’s help again.
Let me be brutally frank. The biggest purveyor of fake news is the guy who says those words the most. His name is Donald Trump. Taking the president at his word is a fool’s errand.
musingsofanoldfart 
And now we find out that Trump offered Assange a pardon if he’d deny Russian hacking. When will enough be enough?
Beyond shocking and yet we’ve come to expect this disturbing behavior by Trump and many approve of the presidents action “ to get him re-elected “.
Holly, it is not a surprise that Trump lies, it is the volume. It is also amazing the lengths his followers go to rationalize and even condone his lying. What they fail to realize is a lying president is harmful to our nation. Keith
Are they morons. Our Dens are attacking one another rather than Trump. Despair.
Holly, it is a circular firing squad. Keith
So despairing!
Holly, I hope Dems will coalesce around their standard bearer. Keith
I’m giving up on these ridiculous confrontations it seems to me they are not concerned with our democracy but with back biting to get ahead.
Holly, I have long been disillusioned by how we elect people here. Too much money, too much time. Debates should be by subject matter – healthcare, global relations, environment, etc. The primary system has become an anachronism. Keith
It would be interesting to know who organized the topics in last nights debate. Not once was there a reference to what’s happening to our justice department.
Holly, that is a needed topic. Keith
Janis, it would not surprise me if the Assange story is true. Trump wants to NOT blame the Russians because he wants their help again. McCain was correct to call Trump’s actions in Helsinki to cozy up to Putin as traiterous. Keith
Hello Keith. Interesting post, I had not known about the fake news site but I assume there are a lot of them. I bet they were ready to pop back up under another name like the cut off head of the Hydra. I would add one more thing that Republicans can never again lay claim too, and that is being the party of “family values”. Every policy they fight for is anti-family and destructive unless you are in the top incomes. Hugs
Scottie, your Hydra example is sadly apt. This women’s conference mentioned by Jill that would take women’s rights backwards, notes out of wedlock births, but a demostratively successful approach is family planning, sex education and birth control. Even the righteous are going to give into temptation, so family planning is a great solution. Yet, it is wrapped up with the abortion fight which is a small subset, so funding is thwarted. Keith
‘Fake news’ is the latest title. Humanity has been at this for as long as….who knows when.
Any professional historian worth their calling will tell you nothing can be taken at face value and a great deal of sifting needs to go on, (and even then someone will argue they did not read the evidence correctly.).
Within our own last thousand years it was by word of mouth, then by pamphlet or wood-cut, followed by what we call newspapers. And now we have websites.
Of course there are the fanatics who are only concerned with getting Trump back in, they are not new by any means. The trick is in this frenetic atmosphere is not readily believing anyone and everyone who is against Trump lest you get dragged down some equally unpleasant place.
Judgement. Your own Judgement at the end of the day. Not what the headline’s commentary tells you.
Roger, true on the history. As for the US president, what will be his legacy – impaling American democracy, brutalizing American global relationships and reputation, or something as simple as fake news. He has envied and learned from autocrats, but he has taught them as well. Now, autocrats just cite “fake news” thanks to the deceiful US president. Keith
Quite so Keith the incompetent and worthless occupant of the Whitehouse.
Roger, sadly, his followers see the world as safer because of Trump, when the exact opposite is the case. It is hard to influence when so few people trust him. Keith
Note to Readers: Call me crazy, but if I watched a news source that is not being truthful or is blurring the lines between opinion and news, I would eliminate that source of information. It is a key reason I don’t get news from Donald Trump, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, etc. I do not mind people being more conservative or liberal than my views, but telling me lies or obfuscating the facts is not kosher. We have poverty, career training, debt, climate change, healthcare, water, security, civil rights concerns in our country. What have we done to make these things better and what do candidates plan to do.
Note to Readers II: While Donald Trump vehemently denied doing this yesterday, Yahoo! News reported the following today.
“Former California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher confirmed in a new interview that during a three-hour meeting at the Ecuadorian Embassy in August 2017, he told Julian Assange he would get President Trump to give him a pardon if he turned over information proving the Russians had not been the source of internal Democratic National Committee emails published by WikiLeaks.”
I guess when Trump “vehemently” denies something, it means you caught me doing something really bad. Rohrabacher went onto say he reported back to John Kelly on the offer meeting.
As I read your post, I couldn’t help but thinking … just as the republicans’ main goal is to get Trump re-elected at all costs, even lying, the democrats’ main goal is to get Trump out. Whatever happened to … finding the person who can do the best job? No, today it’s about the rise to power, about finding the most popular candidate, the one who can bring the voters out in droves. While I, too, am on the bandwagon to get Trump out at all costs, for I do believe another four years under him, now that he’s been told he can do whatever he wishes and there will be no consequences, it sickens me that now the democrats are so willing to consider another misogynistic, racist rich man who is unfit to be president, just because they think that maybe he can beat Trump. I have not heard a single person say that they think Mike Bloomberg is qualified to be president, but only that with his money, perhaps he can win the election. I guess sometimes it is necessary to ‘fight fire with fire’, and yes, I want Trump out enough that I will vote for Bloomberg if he is the nominee, but it is a dangerous place we are in, where the presidency is a popularity contest rather than one of competency.
Jill, while he has some skeletons and did a poor job in preparing and executing in the debate, unlike Trump, Bloomberg is qualified. He has led over 750 global mayors on taking action on climate change, has taken on gun advocates, and led a complex city.
I agree his money gives him an unfair advantage, but it is hard to buy an election – you have to have the goods. Trump did not buy the election – he was given free air time by Fox and his beligerrance attracted other networks. One thing noted about Trump is he prefers to spend others money. He got mad at Chris Christie for raising money for the transition as he viewed it as his money.
I would vote for Bloomberg or Sanders or any of the other Dem candidates. They are far more ethical and empathetic than the incumbent. Keith
You make good points. This is, I believe, going to be the most chaotic election season in my lifetime … ulcer-inducing. It boils down, sadly, to the lesser of two evils. Have a great weekend … do something fun and forget about all this for a bit, if you can.
Jill, it will be. I saw where Trump is none to happy with acting DNI director MacGuire’s testimony to the House Intelligence Committee that the Russians are helping Trump in 2020. Keith