Out-faking the Fake

I find it so exasperating that I feel compelled to share my thoughts on this so often, but if conservatives and Trump supporters do not want to play in to the “ignorant right winger” narrative or wish to excoriate media sources like CNN and MSNBC, for putting out “fake news” then perhaps we should not be ignorant and spread fake news ourselves. I simply can not believe the stuff I see shared and re-shared as fact that by appearance alone should set off red flags-let alone at least a cursory attempt to authenticate sources. Not only that-as anyone who has ever put in any serious internet research knows, “fact check” sites are agenda driven, and use deceptive tactics-and we play right in to their hands by giving them opportunities to weigh their sites heavily debunking these fake stories. If you are sharing chopped up edit job videos, stories that are outrageous therefore “must be true” about your favorite political targets, you are playing against yourself, and all conservatives. You are being played like puppets. I could give endless examples-like a recent story about LL Bean stating they will not hire any registered gun owners because Michelle Obama is the majority shareholder…. which is not even a publicly held company and Michelle Obama being the major shareholder of an outdoor rec company should have at least raised an eyebrow…. but I would get carpel tunnel syndrome trying to list even a small percentage of the ridiculous things I’ve seen posted on social media from conservatives.
The worst part is when you take on the role of the bad guy and try to point out that Barack Obama eating live puppy dogs is from a satirical site-you get lambasted as one of the “sheep” or hear jaw dropping remarks like “Well, it’s like something he WOULD do!!!” Really? So, your answer to mass disinformation is to spread mass disinformation in response? I guess more than anything I am wondering what the end goal is. You have zero credibility when you use fake sources-your credibility goes south of zero when you refuse to remove it, dig in your heels and defend it. And worse, you publicly confirm the narrative the left wants the world to see. Uninformed. The left is way smarter than the right when it comes to tactics. They have created massive hoax machines designed for the sole purpose of making you -and us-look like a fool. One site, “America’s Last Line of Defense” actually states in the “About” field “Nothing on this page is real. It is a collection of the satirical whimsies of liberal trolls masquerading as conservatives. You have been warned.”
It takes so little effort to verify. Unfortunately, by promulgating this stuff you end up making agenda driven sites like Snopes legitimate. Go to their site and look at their “fake news” political category and look at all the supposed right-wing stories they have debunked. They are 100% accurate on these. Every single time you share phony stories you are going to bat for Snopes, Factcheck.org, CNN, MSNBC, Nancy Pelosi-pretty much the whole team-you are their new best friend.
Some stories have blatant misspellings right in the headline. If the same story can only be found in word for word format from other dubious sites, if it cannot be found on known credible conservative or unbiased neutral sources, and if it seems more outrageous than even Obama or (fill in the blank) is capable of; stop, take a deep breath, and get a little self-control. If I were a liberal and came across this kind of stuff I would rip, shred, chew you up and spit you out very skillfully and potentially sway anyone who is on the fence that you, and or all Trump supporters and or conservatives are not the sharpest tools in the shed.
People have often incorrectly pontificated to me that “No one’s mind is ever changed arguing politics on Facebook” This is as false as saying no one was ever swayed by arguments at the dinner table, work place or local watering hole. I can say from experience that MANY people carefully watch the discourse from the sidelines while never even registering their presence by so much as hitting the “like” button, and many have talked to me privately and in candor, intimated to me that I literally influenced their votes in important elections.
Can anyone get suckered? Absolutely-I certainly have. That’s when you admit you have your facts wrong-delete the post and become a lot more discerning when it comes to where you get your information.
My intention is not to come off as condescending. But we can not complain about CNN and follow up by holding standards that are beneath theirs.