The invaluable Charlie Savage in The New York Times gave us a deep look into the White House's disinformation machine, the nearly inexhaustible assembly line cranking out bullshit stories and shabby narratives to fool the nation's inexhaustible supply of suckers. As is customary with Savage's work, the reporting is copper-riveted and more credible given how judiciously Savage presents his evidence. The worm in the apple of my alma mater.
In fact, both he and I won my J-school's distinguished alumni, which mysteriously falls off my wall every time Solomon's name appears in the news. The last part of Savage's story shows how eagerly the right-wing media gobbles up the White House's disinformation. It's like watching feeding time at the seal tank.
The Clinton people raged about the conservative "puke funnel" that was arrayed against that administration. In retrospect, those complaints have an unmistakable air of you ain't seen nothing less. And, through pure serendipity, a perfect example of what Savage had written about exploded in real time over the weekend.
Citing the flu, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico took nine days off from campaigning recently. (I am of a mind that, with three weeks left in one of the most important elections of our lives, you campaign from a damn gurney if you have to, but I grew up in Massachusetts. We will have to have a talk about this when Talarico gets to the Senate.) Anyway, the flying monkeys spent a month speculating about The Real Story behind Talarico's sabbatical. Then, over the weekend, a bevy of wingnut clowns came up with The Real Story.
Claiming to have talked to an "employee" at the Lindner Center of Hope, a mental-health clinic in Ohio, some MAGA "influencers" erupted on Xwitter that they had sussed out Talarico's horrible deception and called for his immediate withdrawal from the race. There were a couple of problems with this scoop right from jump. First of all, if Talarico needed a mental-health clinic, why in hell would he fly all the way to Ohio.
Also, according to a phone call with the "hospital employee," Talarico was discharged from the Lindner on October 10, a day that he made an appearance at a music festival in Austin. And then, the Lindner itself dropped the big one. The backing and filling on Xwitter has sounded like the digging of the Panama Canal.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
