Skip to main content

Four years ago, even before the polls closed, we were bombarded with false and misleading claims of election irregularities and fraud. Most of it was obvious (to experts in elections) BS - vote-flipping satellites and the like - but it was exhausting to deal with from sheer volume. And it convinced enough people that we had a literal insurrection attempt.

This year I expect at least the same volume of disinformation, but that it will be of better quality and less obvious.

Be ready.

in reply to Matt Blaze

Matt Blaze
Matt Blaze
• •

In particular, I expect less of the wildly fantastic "Venezuelan hackers used Italian Satellites to flip votes via China", which at this point just about no one is fooled by, but a lot more of taking mundane, normal election activities (someone moving a box of ballots) and casting it in a falsely sinister light.

That stuff is very easy to generate and time consuming to refute. The only way to win is to not get sucked in in the first place.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

in reply to Matt Blaze

Matt Blaze
Matt Blaze
• •
Remember that elections are extremely complex events, and each jurisdiction - over 5000 in the US! - does things a little differently, governed by state law and local practice. When someone shows you video or other "proof" of some supposed nefarious activity in a place you aren't specifically familiar with, be skeptical. If there's wrongdoing, there are avenues for them to come forward and prove it.
in reply to Matt Blaze

Matt Blaze
Matt Blaze
• •
Remember also that part of the adversary here is foreign governments, not actual candidates. Their goal is not necessarily to pick the winner, but rather to weaken the legitimacy of the US government's ability to function. Disinformation about election integrity is a central weapon in their arsenal for achieving this.
in reply to Matt Blaze

Matt Blaze
Matt Blaze
• •

So the risk here is not so much that disinformation will actually result in a legitimately elected president being denied office; I suppose that's *possible*, but a lot would have to come together for that to work.

The real risk - and the intended threat - is that widespread and lingering unfounded doubt about the election's integrity will consume so much attention that the government can't govern (especially with regard to foreign policy) at full capacity.

This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)
in reply to Matt Blaze

Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
• •

Or some Republican high on their supply of the Trump Cult, will pull a "GSA Emily Murphy".

Emily Murphy withheld intelligence briefings from the Biden transition team for personal gain.
nbcnews.com/politics/national-…

It gave Republican allies in Putin & MBS's circles valuable time to position themselves to advantage.

Kushner. Mnuchin. Wilbur Ross. Made out like bandits. Remember the binder that went missing?

nbcnews.com/politics/national-…

msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinio…

1/2


Biden not getting intelligence reports because Trump officials won't recognize him as president-elect

The Trump admin's unwillingness to acknowledge that Biden won has led to an unusual restriction on the flow of national security info to the president-elect.
Ken Dilanian (NBC News)

Nicole Parsons reshared this.

in reply to Nicole Parsons

Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
• •

2/2

Emily Murphy was handsomely rewarded for her foot dragging afterwards with a lucrative career appointment at George Mason.

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/poli…

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_…


Why Won’t Emily Murphy Just Do Her Job?

In delaying the transition, the General Services Administration chief is acting like an ideologue.
Anne Applebaum (The Atlantic)

Nicole Parsons reshared this.

in reply to mori_au 🇦🇺

Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
• •

@mori_au
#KochNetwork has a decent record rewarding its hacks.

Ben Sasse gets to co-opt Florida college students.

John Yoo & Kayleigh McNinny get their talking head punditry on Fox News explaining that torture isn't bad.

Bill Barr got funding for law practices & speaking tours.

Kushner got $2 billion from the Saudis for classified secrets.

Judge Cannon got a promotion for thwarting Trump's trial for theft.

Trump was rewarded by Musk, MBS & Putin for selling out CIA agents.

#kochnetwork @mori_au 🇦🇺

Nicole Parsons reshared this.

in reply to Dark Phoenix

Nicole Parsons
Nicole Parsons
• •

Trump sues media organizations who report unfavorably of him.
washingtonpost.com/politics/20…

theguardian.com/us-news/2024/n…

He's trying to get their sources, means, & methods & give it to Putin. Again.
vox.com/2019/9/9/20856915/cnn-…
newsweek.com/russia-fbi-intel-…

Combined with a compliant, corrupt Supreme Court, the hesitancy is understandable.
newrepublic.com/article/187699…

theguardian.com/us-news/2024/s…

And considering how often #CancunCruz flies to Mexico...
nbcnews.com/investigations/col…


CIA reportedly removed top spy from Russia over fear of retaliation — and maybe Trump

CNN reported that the CIA removed a top asset in Russia over fear that Trump might compromise the spy.
Alex Ward (Vox)
#cancuncruz
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)

Nicole Parsons reshared this.

in reply to Matt Blaze

Matt Blaze
Matt Blaze
• •
I naturally hope I'm wrong about the upcoming onslaught of post-election disinformation. But this thread is my best guess of what we might expect and what we need to be prepared for.
⇧