133 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 124 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 9/29/17

The Russia-Blamers Think You're Stupid

By       (Page 1 of 1 pages)   4 comments

Thomas Knapp
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Thomas Knapp

The Kremlin, Moscow
The Kremlin, Moscow
(Image by (From Wikimedia) Meghas, Author: Meghas)
  Details   Source   DMCA

"Russian operatives used Facebook ads to exploit America's racial and religious divisions," the Washington Post claims in a September 25 headline.

Over at The Daily Beast, Dean Obeidallah explains "How Russian Hackers Used My Face to Sabotage Our Politics and Elect Trump."

And US Senator James Lankford (R-OK) thinks that "the Russians and their troll farms" (as opposed to Donald Trump and professional football players) are behind the current "take a knee" kerfuffle between Donald Trump and professional football players.

Because, you know, Americans never had rowdy disagreements with each other over race and religion until last year, and wouldn't be having them now if not for those dirty, no-good Russian hackers who stole the 2016 presidential election from the second most hated candidate in history, on behalf of the most hated candidate in history, operating through subterfuge to achieve the outcome that some of us predicted months in advance, long before anyone mentioned Russian hackers.*

Evidence? Who needs evidence? The people who hated the outcome and have been railing against it for nearly a year now have told us what happened, and why, and whodunit, and they'd never lie to us about something like that, would they? They lied about Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction, and about illegal wiretapping by the NSA, and about a thousand other things, but THIS is DIFFERENT.

Keep in mind that when all the most wild and baseless accusations (e.g. that !THEM RUSSIANS! hacked the voting machines) are discarded, the basic claim remaining is this: By spreading "fake news" through social media, !THEM RUSSIANS! fooled a bunch of Americans into voting the wrong way.

Let's assume for a moment that the basic claim is true, although so far the actual evidence indicates a tiny propaganda operation in the scale of things. If it's true, the conclusion it points to is:

American voters are morons who can be gamed into doing anything by anyone with the ability to buy ads on Facebook and Twitter.

I didn't say that. Russian hackers didn't say that, at least in public. That's what the propagators of the new Red Scare are claiming.

If the American electorate is really as abjectly stupid as the "blame the Russians" crowd insists, it seems to me that instead of blaming the Russians, they should get to work on either making the electorate smarter or coming up with a system that doesn't leave important political decisions in the hands of the gullible. Just sayin' ...

*In May of 2016, I predicted that Donald Trump would carry every state Mitt Romney carried in 2012, plus Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. I didn't predict Wisconsin and Iowa, but 48 of 50 states from six months out ain't too shabby, is it?

Well Said 3   Supported 2   Must Read 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Thomas Knapp Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Thomas L. Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north central Florida.


Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

The Big Question About the UN Security Council's Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

2020: I'm So Sick of Superlatives

America Doesn't Have Presidential Debates, But It Should

Hypocrisy Alert: Republicans Agreed with Ocasio-Cortez Until About One Minute Ago

Chickenhawk Donald: A Complete and Total Disgrace

The Nunes Memo Only Partially "Vindicates" Trump, But it Fully Indicts the FBI and the FISA Court

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend