2016: The great battle of our time. Fighting the Fake News Makers.

Profiteers have found new rich pickings by selling fake news to Idiots.

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, these guys are the predictable consequence of a rapidly devolving Stupidparty. They are the proof of my pudding -that about 67% of Stupidparty voters are totally disinterested in facts. Trump and Cruz have rocketed noisily to the bottom because they have both recognized the keys to the Stupidparty kingdom. Be as uncouth, seemingly ignorant, outrageous and bigoted as possible and feel the love of the haters. Cognitive bias is now so strong  that the people who eat up false vacuous narratives, often totally invented hoax news stories – they are now only interested in entertaining  information that conforms with their views — especially when it’s clearly disgusting and clearly fake. We have entered the final battle of our times, the battle to prevent America from becoming a Oligarchical international pariah – held in mocking contempt by the rest of of mankind.

Those were the days:

Fake News used to be just simple plain fun. Standing in the checkout line, needing something to do whilst the customers in front of you refuse to pack their own groceries, insist on bringing out their coupons, hunt for spare coins from every spare crevice in every article of clothing, every accessory. Bored, irritated –one seeks refuge by staring at the floor, ones watch and then into those odd tabloids with their vividly outrageous headlines. Salvation in absurdity. We surreptitiously reach  out with feigned nonchalance, read the most outrageous headline, rushing to find the “proof” before our turn with the cashier—seemingly disinterestedly placing the tabloid amongst the bags of vegetables –our body language suggestive of the notion that no, this was not being bought for me, I was just being altruistically considerate of the needs of other family members. Dash to the parking lot, shuffling through the magazine pages –looking for confirmation of exactly how Micheal Douglas discovers that his latest wife was really a mermaid.

So all clean fun. Deep down we knew it was absurd, but also deep down, we would have loved for one or two of these fantastical stories to be true – and thus we did not really want the truth. The truth might set us free, but it would only set us free from our fantastical imaginations, our impregnable world—totally unique to our own specific whims, a world where we could be superhero’s, travelling faster than the speed of light-into galaxies far far away, a world where no jerk could tell us that Santa was not real, where no one said it is time to grow up now Peter, Julia Roberts is not actually Tinkerbell. Knowing the magicians secret—that there is no magic, is far less exciting.

Though our imaginations have never been safe from exploitation, the latest nefarious strategies are now seeking to distort the realities of current affairs, the way the world works, actual science. Our imagination is under assault from powers seeking to turn ourselves against ourselves. These powers understand that if they can throw in comfort food wrapped into  flavors that salivate our specific needs or prejudices—that facts and truths can fall by the way side, replaced by false and mythical narratives, all to be sublimely absorbed into our very personal infallible alter ego’s; our heroic selves, compensating for all of our failures. We are being assaulted from all directions from multiple platforms.

New tools for Brainwashing: 

Comfort food wrapped into to flavors that salivate our specific needs or prejudices—such Stupidparty triggers being ;God, America, Patriot, USA-USA-USA, Freedom, Liberty, Heritage, Eagle. Live Free or Die.

I am John Wayne or was it Clint Eastwood – riding into town, putting things to right with a gun at my hip. I can barely provide for my family, but I see minorities all round me—working for peanuts, taking work away from me, or getting Government assistance, thus paid for by me. I pray for help, but clearly I must pray harder. I have a gun and I need something to shoot at. I do not need police protection—they would never get here in time anyway. The Government does nothing, who needs the government – when you have got me, my gun, my god and my imagination. What, guns don’t make me safer? But I am a good guy, a super hero—of course I am safer. It is easy to see who the bad guys are – it is easy to know what what to do—do not mess with my imaginary world, not when I am riding into town.

There was forty feet between them, when they stopped to make their play
And the swiftness of the Ranger is still talked about today
Texas Red had not cleared leather for a bullet fairly ripped
And the Ranger’s aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip
Big iron on his hip
(Marty Robbins – Big Iron Lyrics)

 God, America, Patriot, USA-USA-USA, Freedom, Liberty, Heritage, Eagle. Live Free or Die.

And so the final assault begins.

So this is where we are today, and today’s technology makes it easy to profit from these imaginary worlds –parallel universes totally sustainable by a suspension of disbelief, a place where Myth is revered. Rupert Murdoch was the first person to feed into this by relatively harmlessly tapping into every man’s desire by have naked girls prancing all over his main newspaper in the UK –the Sun. Other tabloids followed suit –getting more lurid, focusing on real or imagined sexy scandals. But America being more puritanical was not about the let soft pornography integrate itself into the news. No –Murdoch found another weapon – Roger Ailes. Don’t report the news, but rather pick the news,  mold the news or invent the news so that it panders to the imaginary alter ego’s of a section of society. Roger Ailes political leanings meant that he was a trickle down adherent and thus he has to divert the blame from those responsible for the increasing pressures on the so called “Middle Class.” A better term would be the struggling class.

While the wealthy get massively wealthier -the “Middle Class” has not seen a real wage increase in fifteen years, 25% of Americans get no paid vacation days, those entitled to such benefits (mandated in virtually all developed countries) often feel pressure not to use them, with 175,000,000 unclaimed vacation days each year, workers now working a 176 extra hours a year compared 1976 -in spite of massive increases in productivity. So you do the math -who are the winners and who are the losers? Yet the losers can not be allowed to be self aware. Trump makes it plain that every one is a loser except for him -yet the losers lap it up -because they are being brainwashed to slit their own throats at the alter of the Oligarchs.

That logically means that one has to  get the struggling class to attack the struggling class themselves for not working hard enough, not being able to find a good job, then blame liberals, minorities, immigrants and of course any non-Christians. Because if everything is being taken away, that only leaves either the delusion of living in a tribal hunter gatherer cave with a gun or faith – the delusional hope that a higher power will restore your good standing. So be a good Christian -yet ensure that the actions of Jesus are not allowed into the forefront of anyone’s mind.  Divert from good deeds to the Old Testament –the God of the Wild West.  God and guns to reign over peace and a hijacked Jesus.  So who is orchestrating this masterful massive mind manipulation? Who is beating the drums as the hordes of now mindless Zombies are emerge from Mordor.

The Trolls

The Ring Wraiths:

To rule them all, to find them,
The Ring wraiths to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,

The Orc Indoctrinators:

God, America, Patriot, USA-USA-USA, Freedom, Liberty, Heritage, Eagle. Live Free or Die.

 God, America, Patriot, USA-USA-USA, Freedom, Liberty, Heritage, Eagle. Live Free or Die.

God, America, Patriot, USA-USA-USA, Freedom, Liberty, Heritage, Eagle. Live Free or Die.

The newly enlivened Stupidparty steps into this wasteland.  They choose candidates who can be trusted not to question this strategy. Suddenly facts are no longer cool, no longer profitable. Trump is news, ratings soar, tune into see Carson’s latest surgical evisceration of reality, watch Ted Cruz try and bring down the government of the USA -who can bomb or shoot more Aliens, more Muslims, Mexicans, Food stamp recipients? The above illustrated armies of ignorance can only feed off an ever greater abundance of misinformation. It is certainly much more spectacular to watch gladiators chopping off heads, imagining Ted Nugent offing bad guys, vigil ante’s marching around black neighborhoods – all great for ratings.

Now imagine a  couple of candidates having an intelligent debate about Citizens united, Income discrepancy, global warming  -all issues that do not impact tomorrow. How much will GEICO pay to have their adds aired during that debate. Theses stupidparty icons, they have no substance, no integrity—and offering such would merely cause apoplexy. Just try it, try talking actual substance –all that you will get is insults. The base need ever more red meat and any one now looking to profit from this state affairs –knows what to do—give it to them.  But like any business plan, one needs constant growth to maintain the momentum.  How can we ensure that our profits grow exponentially? How can new players get in on the good times? Well we need to keep developing this model, fertilize these more delusional imaginations, get deeper down into this abyss to flog more and more nonsense- create a world where fact seekers, fact checkers and fact promoters are branded and driven out of town. Facts are boring, they force one to actually think, they make you uncomfortable, for some one who prefers to think with their gut -facts are painful. No you are not super hero, not in real life- being wrong is not heroic, saying sorry just does not resonate with the righteous alter ego. “Go on punk, make my day” or sheepish conflict avoidance or dialing 911 and letting a real person do their job—yes that is pretty dull, if you have allowed your alter ego over ride reality.

So that is how this all started. The Stupidparty born out of this livid soup, it needs to be properly nurtured.  It soon transcends from the Grand Old Party, now  a beast that can no longer be controlled. The GOP got high on stupid and it is now dependent on stupid. Hence the Stupidparty, it was not long before Stupidparty simply reflected the views of their own media masters. Why bother with facts. This question really grew up into an adult version of itself during the 2012 election.

I will let Michael Steele, chairman of the RNC explain.

It turned out by 2012 – this trend was well established—so much so that by this point in time, that Stupidparty lies are about 1000% more voluminous than Democratic lies. But tragically in 2012, instead of exposing itself by coming out into the open, it became obvious that large swathes of the country no longer had any interest in facts –in fact the reverse was the case.  The Orc indoctrinators, the Trolls, the Wraiths—they had hit pay dirt. As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have figured out –the more outrageously one lies, the more outrageously one  acts, the more popular you become with that segment of society that really believes  all of the problems can be solved by their alter ego’s dream of putting a bullet into the forehead of whoever is today’s apparent villain. Yes I was right all the time, my imaginary answer is the solution to all and I do not even have to get off the couch to see it realized. And it is not exactly tough to mislead, in fact it gets easier to deceive the ever more gullible audience. Imagine for example that you are a Gundermentalist and want to promote the idea than Guns make you safer, that America does not have gun Culture problem, far from it, there are numerous Countries with worse problems. So let us look at two graphics: 1) designed for Zombies and 2) designed for critical thinkers.

The Graph that paints the lie –and people are losing their ability to understand why:

The Graph that paints the Truth:

But  Fox is now just but a tip of the iceberg. They see a story that fits their narrative and having lost any semblance of Journalistic integrity, they run with it without any fact checking—like this one:

Saadiq Long, a Muslim-American Air Force veteran they accused of joining ISIS. Reported by Fox. Now bear in mind a couple of things –first of all if you are receiving a pay check from Roger Ailes, you are not a journalist –because if you are paid by Roger Ailes there are narratives that that you are expected to explore, others that you must ignore. The other thing to bear in mind is that Fox is actually relatively rational compared to their spawn. For example the above mentioned hoax story was echoed by the following Fox spawn:

 RealClearPolitics, Erick Erickson RedState, Erick Erickson JihadWatch, Robert Spencer FrontPage, Robert Spencer Mediate, Alex Griswold The Daily Caller, Chuck Ross,  Pamela Geller president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative considered a hate group by the Southern poverty law center and barred from entering the UK for similar reasons.  Ann Coulter

But simply telling lies is not enough. Like a drug addict (I guess) seeking new lows, it becomes its own mission – hence one does not simply need more lies –one needs more outlets promoting them. In this day an age that is all too easy.

 More fake News Websites:

Here is new technique, the creation of numerous fake news websites. The National Republican Congressional Committee (the NRCC ) has created  websites, which put on the guise of local news sites with names such as “North County Update” and “Southern Illinois Update.” This is not the first time the NRCC has been accused of conjuring false news in the form of websites. Earlier this year, the committee had come under fire for its creation of numerous fake sites designed to look like official Democratic congressional candidates. After much public outcry, the sites were re-designed in such a way as to clarify the websites’ purpose. Now, the NRCC has turned its attention to the creation of fake news websites disguised as “local news sources.” The websites’ articles present themselves in the neutral voice of political fact-checkers before delving into language designed to negatively portray Democratic politicians. The NRCC claims that these sites are not “fake news sites” as everyone else sees them to be, but rather actual attack sites, indicated by the tag at the bottom of every one of these websites, reading “Paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. NRCC communications director Andrea Bozek tried to reconcile with accusers by saying, “This is a new and effective way to disseminate information to voters who are interested in learning the truth about these Democratic candidates.” She continues to say, “We believe this is the most effective way to present information to leave a lasting impact on voters.”

But why stop there. In this day and age anyone can profit from fake news. In the past satire was fun, easily recognizable and usually harmless and often enlightening. But no we are entering our alternate universe where the opposite rules apply.

More Hoax Sites find a brand new Audience

As The Washington Post reported:

There’s a simple, economic explanation for this shift: If you’re a hoaxer, it’s more profitable. Since early 2014, a series of Internet entrepreneurs have realized that not much drives traffic as effectively as stories that vindicate and/or inflame the biases of their readers. Where many once wrote celebrity death hoaxes or “satires,” they now run entire, successful websites that do nothing but troll convenient minorities or exploit gross stereotypes. Paul Horner, the proprietor of Nbc.com.co and a string of other very profitable fake-news sites, once told me he specifically tries to invent stories that will provoke strong reactions in middle-aged conservatives. They share a lot on Facebook, he explained; they’re the ideal audience.

Here are some fake narratives all in one short time frame:

Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman did not declare war on the Islamic State.

Donald Trump has not been disqualified from running for president.

Muslims have not previously been banned from entering the United States.

There was not a pro-Islamic State rally in Dearborn, Mich.

Jimmy Carter did not credit marijuana for curing his cancer.

Paul Horner thinks he is educating people by making them stupid

A big loss for fake right wing fake news—Paul Horner, now dead at 38

Paul Horner, who invented numerous for his site “National Report” was quite amused – he asks “Is National Report the fake news site, or Fox News?” he asks. “You decide.”

Fake news is incidentally, a relatively new addition to the media landscape. The Internet’s always teemed with rumors and scams, of course. But the fake news industry — a crop of Web sites dedicated solely to passing off fact as fiction, for the resulting ad revenue — has only exploded within the past two years. National Report was registered in February 2013, and is now so successful that it’s planning an empire of five more fake-news sites. Some of its most popular competitors, like World News Daily Report, the News Nerd and Huzlers, came even later than that.

Fake news gravitates to the gullible, the ignorant – the bigoted. It gravitates to the Stupidparty base

Cognitive bias is now so strong  that the people who eat up these false narratives, these totally invented hoax news stories – they are now only interested in entertaining  information that conforms with their views — even when it’s clearly fake. Yes Hillary really was impregnated by an Alien and her spawn really will usher in the end times. Not convinced, am I being too dramatic? – well produce an intelligent economic plan, foreign policy agenda or societal solution that is backed up with serious intelligent thought, a genuine plan -emanating from the Stupidparty. They literally have nothing, because their supporters do not demand anything. Nothing is plenty and you get plenty of nothing from the media. That is why this vacuum can be so easily filled utter hateful gibberish as advanced by Trump, Cruz, Carson and the rest. Stupidparty has fast forwarded us to the logical end game -2016, the great battle of our time. Snooze and you lose.