Scaring White People for Fun and Profit

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

Seen from a friend's journal:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

[chessdev]  Scare-mongering in politics?  Nothing new...  but to the point where the facts are
being "chosen" in order to whip up support?  

Is the rhethoric more important than the facts to these guys?  Are people aware of the truth and saying this anyway?  Or do they really believe it?

To me, using issues like to drive things like trying to repeal an Amendment... or to justify laws that
promote racial profiling just seems outrageous.  It just seems a shame that issues dont seem to be argued
without someone creating their own facts...

Comments

[root-fu.livejournal.com]

Its standard misinformation. Everyone's guilty of it, to some degree. Everyone from scientists who have been caught photoshopping pictures of mars to make them look more "exotic" to the government covering up Project MK ULTRA.

For the most part, its the naive and un-educated who believe this type of misinformation campaign is exclusively reserved to any single party. Likewise, the ACORN video of them "soliciting prostitutes"? That the result of editing and misinformation, too.

The problem isn't that people "make up their own facts". Its that people are not as skeptical as they should be on a number of issues and often choose to blindly go along with a consensus and have appalling capacity in terms of critical thinking. Its an issue of conformism and anti-intellectualism.

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

I read National Review Online, Instapundit, City Journal, The Weekly Standard, Reason.com, Commentary, Belmont Club and the Volokh Conspiracy pretty much every day. If that doesn't make me a denizen of "rightwingville," I don't know what does.

I've never heard about any of these memes she's nattering on about. Until right now.

I have heard about amending the 14th Amendment. I think the idea has some merit, but if she, or anyone else, thinks it will have any impact on illegal immigration they are kidding themselves. It is a smoke screen, a sop to folks who want to actually enforce our immigration laws. The last thing Graham, Kyle or McConnell want is an end to illegal immigration.

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

http://michellemalkin.com/2010/07/24/invasion-gangs-gun-battles-at-tex-mex-border/

http://bigpeace.com/stzu/2010/07/24/breaking-news-multiple-ranches-in-laredo-texas-taken-over-by-los-zetas/

and a summary of multiple sites reporting this can be found here:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201007250014

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Just imagine if these folks were in government! Why, they might even go so far as to fire someone and vilify them as a racist before they watched her entire speech in context! Gracious!

(all of those links, btw, include both skepticism and ongoing updates that debunk the story)

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

I'm aware of the updates ... but the point was, as per usual, they ran the story before finding out if it was true. WITH outrage no less..

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Whoosh!

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

So essentially agreeing with you is "whoosh".

OK then.....this will be constructive...

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

as per usual...

Works on both sides. At least in this case a woman didn't lose her job over it.

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

Never heard of it. But Ms. Maddow sounds pretty crazy to me.

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

As compared to Coulter or Malkin or Beck?

Seriously?

I'm going to assume you're unfamiliar with her then

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

I wasn't comparing to anyone.

Yes, I don't watch her show, and after this fine example, I see no reason to change that.

[chessdev.livejournal.com]

*shrug* I'm sure the wheels of society will continue to move on...