As we told you earlier Tuesday, even actor Ron Perlman is claiming that Twitchy has got to be “Russian funded” — which is odd, since our bosses in the Kremlin haven’t said anything about our posts making fun of Russia’s attempts to meddle in our affairs (the coloring pages of Bernie Sanders in various muscle poses were great).
If you’re a conservative and post on Twitter, you’ve probably had someone dismiss you as a “Russian bot.” CNN recently ran a story claiming that pro-gun rights tweets in the aftermath of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting are the work of Russian bots. Oh, and don’t forget Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Adam Schiff demanding to know if Russian bots were pushing the #ReleaseTheMemo campaign.
As Twitchy noted, CNN relied on “monitoring groups” for its reporting and noted that it did not verify their findings independently — nope, they heard Russian bots and ran with it.
So, just who are these monitoring groups? Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept on Monday looked into Hamilton 68 — the tool used by the Alliance for Securing Democracy to track “Russian propaganda and disinformation efforts online.” Yes, that’s the group CNN relied on almost exclusively for its report on pro-gun posts.
Less than a year ago, Bill Kristol joined with ex-CIA officials, Marco Rubio's top aide & a few Dem hawks, and created a new group purporting to track Russian Twitter activity based on secret designations. It now dominates every headline, every pronouncement uncritically accepted https://t.co/Lo3Nrt5y1b
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 19, 2018
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Secret designations? CNN even admitted, “The group does not disclose which accounts it tracks.”
Yesterday I pointed out the astounding, overnight propaganda success of "Hamilton68," the secretive group created last year by Bill Kristol, Marco Rubio's guru, CIA officials & Dem hawks that the US media, almost daily, uncritically uses to shape headlines. Today's NYT front page pic.twitter.com/b3uJqMtLss
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 20, 2018
“Russian Bots Moved Quickly to Exploit the Florida Shooting,” reads the headline on The New York Times’ front page. But who says? The Alliance for Securing Democracy, that’s who.
In 12 years of closely watching the US media, I don't think I've ever seen a propaganda effort succeed as quickly and spectacularly – and be as uncritically venerated by journalists as Gospel – as Bill Kristol, Mike Chertoff, & Mike Morell's "Hamilton68." It's impressive & scary.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 20, 2018
It is scary … and yet CNN gripes about being called fake news when it just runs claims without verifying them. Russian bots are pushing for gun rights on Twitter? Sure. The scariest part is people believe it and just block any “Russian bot” that disagrees with them.
When the Hillary 2016 campaign eagerly courted once-discredited Iraq War-peddling neocons, some of us warned that this would result in their widespread rehabilitation and increased influence. Is there even a smidgeon of doubt about that anymore? https://t.co/knsToYas9R
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 20, 2018
It's not new. I watched the same surreal shitshow unfolding in 2002-3. When America's neocon elite see an opportunity, they grab it with both hands. https://t.co/QXOmmfk3Oe
— John Hardy (@jhlagado) February 20, 2018
It's getting scary. Everytime I checked the NYT website in the last few days, 4 or 5 of the top stories are bizarrely russophobic like these. We're gonna need some luck to revert this. Tks for your courage and happy anniversary to you and @davidmirandario
— Paraupaba Johnson (@paraupaba) February 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/saintare/status/965961351008063488
It is pretty remarkable how quickly the NeoMcCarthyism Brain Rot has taken hold. https://t.co/uEEREtl4zl
— ??A Russian Asset Of Color (@WamsuttaLives) February 20, 2018
No. It’s incredibly disturbing. One might forgive this of some duped by a trustworthy source. But these are chronically, pathologically consistent fabricators, manipulators. THEY HAVE ZERO credibility, at this stage. These are dung heaps that perjure themselves on live TV, ffs. https://t.co/nYhMJLIibe
— US Puppet Dictator— End US Fascism, War Crimes (@avtramontano) February 20, 2018
As tools of influence, Russian bots have got nothing on “Russian bots” https://t.co/JVyytD33rs
— Druthers Haventer (@dhaventer) February 20, 2018
Would it be too much to ask that, before yet another high-profile media outlet runs a story on Russian bots, it perhaps verifies some of the claims before spouting out more headlines?
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