Beware of fake reports from "Democrats"

[Separation]

I read an article yesterday that was called, 'How the Democrats Killed the Blue Wave'. I wont link to it, but it was written by a woman that works for The Independent Woman's Voice. One would think, "Oh wow, obviously this is written by a Democrat and things just arent looking good."

However, I did some looking (some may have already known but I sure didnt) and this is what I found.

The Independent Women's Voice describes itself as a "nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that supports women and families by providing women with fact-based evidence showing how conservative free market solutions advance prosperity, freedom, and greater choices." This election cycle, IWV has been suggesting that Clinton's policies are worse than Trump being accused of sexual misconduct and praising Trump's childcare plan.

What you have here is a group that claims to be nonpartisan and independent and focused on women’s issues, issues of interest to moderate women that is, in fact, heavily political and spends millions of dollars to elect some pretty extreme Republicans," Arn Pearson, the group's general counsel, told NBC News.

I think the media has a responsibility to show who these people are that they are giving a voice to, and by show. I mean a paragraph or two who are paying their bills and who are actually promoting them. Not just a link to the authors name at the bottom of a page. Whether it's a panel of "experts" on a news segment, or an article linked by them.

Of course this would require honesty from the corporations that sign the checks.

[VOX]

1. Excellent post. Read and heed.

We saw much of this ploy in 2016, and it’s a good guess that the perps of this disinformation have gotten better at practicing their subterfuge.

Don’t be misled— always read the fine print, and dig deeper for the truth.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. So darn true.

[DemocracyMouse]

36. That group pushes that yarn about Republican economic superiority.

Republicans suck at economic policy. It's been proven by every Republican administration going back half a century.

The economy BOOMED after the New Deal. Don't let anyone lie about Republican economics, Republican family values, Republican traditionalism. They are a lame, superstitious and conflicted party whose only significant talent is corruption and vote suppression. This has never been more true and Trump has helped to reveal the truth.

Do not fear the Republicans. Despise them and pity them.

[Fred Sanders]

4. This ploy was the best the Russians had and all they can do is rinse and repeat with a new cast

of characters and Republicans willing to jump on the Russian blueprint propaganda bandwagon.

Actually consider that encouraging, they do not have any other weapons and we see all the incoming, and now it just seems laughable.

I think voters are far more wary now also.

Putin offed his chief architect of cyber warfare for not coming up with anything more but the same old stuff?

Fired really means fired in Russia.

[Wounded Bear]

25. They won't change until it stops working...

[VOX]

29. Regarding Russian trolls, I saw something new today in Washington Post comments...

Posters commenting on political articles who were clearly Democrats/progressives, were somehow attracting dismissive responses calling them “Russians,” “Ivan,” “Boris,” etc.

So, either some snotty Republican domestic trolls have adopted this tactic to muddy the waters completely, or actual Russian trolls are doing it.

Either way, the effect is the same. It’s a typical Republican/right-wing dirty trick. These people couldn’t play fair and above board if their lives depended on it.

All the more reason for Democrats to bear down and move forward.

[DFW]

34. The Washington Post comments section is FULL of Russian trolls

When I see them, I usually post a quick, snarky reply in Russian, and see if I get any response. If it's a right wing American, I usually a snarky response back. If it's someone who sees a reply in their native language, I get no reply at all.

By the way, if any other Russian speakers want to join in the fun, the WaPo comments site will reject a comment if it starts out in Russian, so make your first word(s) in English and then switch over.

[VOX]

43. It's a free-for-all in WaPo comments.

I wade into it whenever I just want to mix it up anonymously.

When I comment in Russian, I always start with English, but I was unaware that reversing the formula won’t fly.

Thanks for the tip!

[DFW]

44. They probably have their software set up to reject certain symbols initially

They are let through if the software recognizes the initial symbols, and then it probably doesn't reject anything subsequent to them.

[Turbineguy]

3. I would expect a flurry

of non-existent women to come forward with allegations against Kavanaugh that are easily disproved and attributed to Democrats.

Ratfucking is the specialty of maison Gop.

[BamaRefugee]

10. I expect a flurry too, but not about Kavanaugh

If we win the House, there will be wave after wave after wave of false accusations against Democrats, including female Democrats, it will be non-stop, trust me on this!

[peggysue2]

5. This can't be stressed enough

There will be a flurry of 'woe is me' literature out there; the doom and gloom squads are already out there circulating despair and angst. Check and double-check everything so you know the source and the veracity of the conclusions. And always Keep Your Eyes on the Prize:

A massive, indisputable win on November 6th.

We can do this. Because we must.

[Socal31]

6. Just a little refresher for those who are new to the internet:

"A concern troll visits sites of an opposing ideology and offers advice on how they could "improve" things, either in their tactical use of rhetoric, site rules, or with more philosophical consistency. The "improvements" are almost exclusively intended to be less effective."


https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Concern_troll

[ConstanceCee]

7. Thanks for This

This is a very good reminder to check who wrote things. The Blue Wave is still coming.

[Scurrilous]

8. K&R

[Kurt V.]

9. K&R

[Nitram]

11. Thanks for the heads up. There is misinformation all around us.

[dalton99a]

12. Kick

[7962]

13. It also matters where you read the article. And if its published as "opinion"

Merely titling something Democrat should never be assumed to mean written BY a democrat.

[ginnyinWI]

14. I look with a skeptical eye at any predictions

about the mid-terms.

Nobody really knows--as with the last Presidential election--and there are any number of factions who want to suppress turnout.

Just go vote.

[JHan]

15. K &R!

[INdemo]

16. Russia?

[ProudLib72]

17. KNR!!

Good sleuthing!

[Sucha NastyWoman]

18. Sister organization to the Independent Womens Forum

Who have been around at least since the Clinton impeachment days, probably longer. They are an anti-feminist group of women who masquerade as a pro women. Just another right wing propaganda organization

[link:http://iwf.org|

[meow2u3]

24. Independent Women's Forum my pig's eye!

They're about as independent as a robot--and programmed as such to rattle off far right talking points on command!!

[elmac]

19. Putin has free reign in this country so fake news sites from russia will be more

than in 2016. GOP money and backing is helping putin do the job of destroying what little democracy we have left.

[Roadside Attraction]

20. Pardon my language . . .

. . . but . . . these rightwing muthaufkahs will stop at nothing. They pose as non-partisan groups, just like the one you point out.

They generate lies that they pass around word-of-mouth, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, then, they cite their own Facebook, blogs, etc. as the source.

I live in rural Virginia. After the 2016 election, my county and the surrounding six counties all formed Indivisible groups. We are registering voters; writing letters to editors of our local papers (in fact, we all but control the letters pages now); holding meetings open to the public that are recruiting new members; registering voters; and, threatening the incumbent Republican.

A couple of months ago, KKK recruitment flyers showed up in two of our local communities.

Now, the local Tea Party groups and one of the County Republican Committees is spreading the claim that it was Indivisible spreading the KKK flyers as a false flag operation. We have confronted these assholes about this but all they do is laugh and say, "We know you would deny it."

[KY_EnviroGuy]

21. They pick the most tempting, innocent and patriotic but devious names for their orgs.

Repugs have used, abused and adulterated our common dialog until one doesn't know what to believe these days.

Back in the late 90s/early aughts here in KY, they ran a woman for Congress and used the typical Repug lies and deception in the campaign, probably supported by McConnell's lie machine. One of the most devious tactics of her campaign was soliciting contributions to her creation called something like "Grandmothers for Freedom" (off the cuff, LOL), knowing full well she would work hard to marginalize Social Security and Medicare.

Republicans have absolutely no shame or regrets of their corrupt actions, ever......

Thanks for the good post, Separation!.......

[liberal N proud]

22. Saw one today that said the nomination cemented GOP majority

The propaganda is going to be full blast for the next 3 weeks.

[Wounded Bear]

23. RWers have gotten pretty good over the years at misleading names...

Thanks for the heads up!

[BeckyDem]

26. wow just wow. Great catch.

[Grasswire2]

27. you didn't know this??

Independent Womens Forum was funded originally by Richard Mellon Scaife.

Some women who were groomed and deployed: Laura Ingraham. Kellyanne Conway. Ann Coulter. Barbara Cochran. Barbara Olsen.

They were deployed first to take down Bill Clinton. They have been a scourge on America.

All part of the Federalist Society - Scaife bunch.

KNOWN SINCE THE LATE '80s.

[Separation]

31. Obviously I did not

But I sure do now.

[Cha]

33. Thank You for letting us know.. I sure as hell didn't know.

[brush]

28. Bet that's a Koch-funded group. Sounds just how they operate.

[VOX]

30. K&R. Highly recommended.

[Cha]

32. Bookmarking the BullShit you discovered, Separation!

Thank You.. there's Gaslighting RF out there Everywhere determined to bring down the Democratic Party that is fighting hard to get our Democracy BACK

[ancianita]

35. A bunch of them show up on social media. Facebook, where geezers hang, is suddenly full of "new"

independent voices.

[hostalover]

37. Thanks to you I will be more circumspect regarding internet articles!

[ooky]

38. Well, I'm about to open the trap door on MSNBC's

non-stop coverage of how the democrats have lost their "energy" advantage bullshit and just watch some regular TV for a while until they find a different hyper talking point to lock onto.

[Honeycombe8]

41. Fivethirtyeight.com is tracking the blue wave-red wave thing with data & polls.

As 538 points out, it depends on what you are looking at, when you try to determine who came ahead after the Kavanaugh confirmation. Or which side is more enthused at this point, or whether the Democratic Party has lost enthusiasm among its voters lately.

[Honeycombe8]

39. Good work. Yes, a reader has to know the source of material.

The source doesn't necessarily mean it's true or false, but you can tell the slant or cherry picking of information, if you know the source.

I try to stick with known news organizations and neutral entities (like 538.com) for facts & info & reporting.

[IronLionZion]

40. There are lots of troll pieces designed to discourage Democrats

I've seen several pieces claiming women, minorities, and young people are leaving the Democratic party and boycotting the elections or supporting Trump/GOP. There are some claiming liberals should give up, not vote, not donate, not canvas or anything else for Dem candidates. Of course there is disappointment with our party leadership and candidates. They're trying to turn a mole hill into a mountain to divide us and benefit the GOP.

DUers should be wary of falling for it and shouldn't share it.

[Separation]

42. There is a full court press on Twitter trying to pass this off as fact.

AFTER EDIT: I still dont know why anytime I embed something from twitter it looks all weird here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">You and others like you that suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome remind me of Baghdad Bob, as Abram Tanks were rolling through the city behind him. This is laughable, you citing opinion articles from other victims of Trump Derangement Syndrome, prove nothing.</p>— MjG (@hmh461) <a href="

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Guilded Lilly]

45. New K&R