It’s also the end of the icon of the “intelligence” community.
Last night I heard a supposedly “explosive” story published on CNN and Buzzfeed about Donald Trump supposedly hiring hoes to piss on a bed in Moscow because Obama was in it once before or something. I don’t particularly care for the details. The thought that this could be true defies credulity, but that didn’t stop Buzzfeed (now Fakefeed) from running with it and CNN and the other fake news outlets claiming to have come across a “bombshell” story that part of the “intelligence” community’s “synopsis” included unverified allegations that the Russian government had compromising information on the president-elect, this according to anonymous sources citing anonymous sources.
So to start with, the story was…
- Unverified.
- Synopsis.
- Anonymous sources citing anonymous sources.
This should have from the very beginning raised big red flags. The story about the hookers and “golden showers” should have increased skepticism about the claims that much further.
But none of that stopped the fake news media from running with the story. I thought that this was going to be another major fake outrage storm, but it turned out to be one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen in my life, and that’s no exaggeration.
The source behind this supposed “dossier” Buzzfeed (Fakefeed), CNN, and other fake news outlets ran with is purported to be a former “British intelligence agent” whose “sources US intelligence officials consider credible.”
But there’s a very strong chance that this “dossier” originated from 4chan, which would easily explain its over the top claims – they were designed to be ridiculous. It’s trolling. The 4chan trolling then made its way over to vehemently anti-Trump “Republican operative,” sewer rat Rick Wilson, who ran ex-CIA spook Evan McMullin (McMuffin) as an “independent conservative” candidate. Seeing this as a “brilliant opportunity” for “opposition research,” sewer rat Rick gave it to John McCain, the king warmonger of the Senate, who pushed it up further, eventually prompting ex-minority leader Harry Reid to get involved.
Details continue to emerge, but the chain of events seems to be the following sequence:
- 4chan trolls create “dossier.”
- “Dossier” given to Rick Wilson.
- Rick Wilson gives “dossier” to Evan McMuffin or John McCain (if so, skip 4).
- If McMuffin, he gives it to McCain.
- McCain gives it to Comey.
- “Intelligence agencies” run with it and leak it somehow to CNN and Buzzfeed.
- Laugh.
Yes, you heard this right, the “intelligence” community is using low level political opposition research as “sources.” Michael Tracey, one of the few journalists I consider trustworthy, has outed this as being the case. (Update: this chain has been partially retracted, see below.)
What’s noteworthy is that the “Intelligence Community” is parading around using GOP-funded anti-Trump oppo research in high-level briefings pic.twitter.com/mrCVTEDYQS
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 11, 2017
Even more hilariously, not just the fake news media, but the “intelligence community” likely got trolled by anon. Trolls from 4chan are exercising power over the “intelligence community.”
According to Buzzfeed (FakeFeed) editor Ben Smith, “this is the job of reporters in 2017.” In other words, publishing completely unsubstantiated rumors from anonymous sources, without even the most basic degree of credulity or fact-checking (why didn’t the fake news media ask Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, who was cited in the report, whether or not he’d been to Prague, as claimed?), is “the job of reporters in 2017.”
Fake news. The media lied.
It’s amusing because Buzzfeed (Fakefeed) was having a meltdown over Barack Obama’s farewell address last night, and during that very same farewell address he warned of an increasing cynicism in the country, saying it was “a threat to our democracy.”
I present the Buzzfeed (Fakefeed), CNN, et al. story as exhibit A. Rightly, this is why cynicism is increasing.
Part of being a writer means exploring reality through fiction. Here, fake news stories from fake news outlets that posed as being respectable caused cynicism and division. This ultimately helped to lead to the outbreak of the Red War. My upcoming epic story anticipated Obama’s warnings.
It’s amazing how fast its been. I considered GamerGate the modern day Battle of Marathon, the battle that shattered forever the myth of the invincibility of “social justice” warriors, the left, and the media that promulgates it. Before GamerGate, people cowered in fear over the left and the power of the media to ruin them. Afterward, they realized it was a house of cards and gained far more courage to exist. The preference cascade began
. The popular revolt of 2016 turned into the media’s true Battle of Leipzig, as the media’s credibility was toppled to the dust along with the political establishment.
The story about “golden showers,” or the dumbly-named “golden shower gate,” is the Waterloo of the fake news media. It’s the last attempt at resistance from an already-shattered institution, the final nail in its coffin. The story is just so ridiculous on its face, and with the “sources” involved turning out to likely be 4chan (even if not, it might as well be), it fully revealed the emperor as having no clothes. If they can run with nonsense like this, but not utter a peep when John Kerry, the Secretary of State, ON TAPE saying he and his bosses had hoped to use ISIS as a cat’s-paw to topple Assad…
They truly have zero credibility.
Buzzfeed seems particularly vulnerable. This could well be its Gawker moment. Publishing this incendiary, incredulous story without even the most basic heed for verification and fact-checking could well meet the actual malice burden in court, and Trump has infinitely deep pockets to take this wherever it needs to go. We’ll see if he decides to pursue it.
More significantly though, this story is the end of the mystique of the “intelligence” community.
deep state in movies: CIA assassin garrotes the president
deep state IRL: old memo about presidential piss party winds up on buzzfeed— Max Read (@max_read) January 11, 2017
When people hear stories about the CIA and so on, they think of James Bond or they think of some super shadowy agents doing nefarious things.
What if they’re hapless beta males just as incompetent as the media and Congress instead?
That’s what the “golden showers” story is pointing to, and once your brand image shifts, it’s hard to get that reputation back. In The Awakened Lion, the first book of The Red War, troubles were brewing with the Earthlings. Madeline Svenson, the female lead of the story and one of its greatest persuaders, had this to say on the subject of brand imaging:
No entity can rule through force alone, simply because the population it seeks to control outnumbers it by a monumental margin. The population needs an image, a story, a vision – something that will shine down on it from above, something it can revere. The UEG is no different. They have to pair us with some kind of icon to give them legitimacy.
And so the “intelligence community” relied in many ways on this Hollywood image for its respect, as well as the pairing of “national security” with itself. Who wouldn’t want James Bond or Jack Bauer keeping them safe?
Yet the whole “muh Russia, muh Putin” story was deeply suspect from the beginning. It is notable that most of the stories that have emerged about Russia since the election for which there were any details beyond “anonymous intelligence sources,” whether it was the “Russian propaganda/Propornot/fake news” story, the “Vermont power grid hacking” story (both from Jeff Bezos’ blog, formerly the Washington Post), or now the CNN/Buzzfeed (FakeFeed) “golden showers story,” turned out to be complete fabrications. Others, such as the Ukrainian artillery story, are full of holes.
From the very beginning, the “muh Russia” story resembled a persuasion tactic. I know it because I wrote a book on it. It was dominating space. By taking such an extreme position, the “intelligence community” has effectively tried to box Trump in on Russia and force him to toe their line, as it would appear that he is indeed “Putin’s puppet” if he didn’t, as they’re the only game in town on the issue. It’s basically a Trump trick.
But they’re not even going about it in a clever way. The war is being waged through clunky, amateur propaganda and PDFs posted to BuzzFeed.
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) January 11, 2017
But this series of events is so incompetent and comical that the persuasion is poorly done, as the result is that anyone not in Trump-induced mania is now persuaded that the “intelligence community” and the fake news media it relies on is a complete joke. The image of the “intelligence community” in the public’s mind went from James Bond or Jack Bauer to some hysteric that can get trolled by 4chan.
As 2017 will be the year of populist culture, there’s an ample market for new filmmakers to make a parody movie out of this. I can see someone like Jack Black or Jonah Hill being given the role of a “highly respected intelligence source.”
It was only through the extreme cognitive dissonance the left and the media is currently suffering as a result of Trump that these Russia stories went anywhere at all. Given these events, the respect that the “intelligence community” has among the public will be damaged for a long time and it will require strenuous effort to get that back. The “golden showers” story was the Battle of Marathon for the “intelligence community.”
People, especially in this niche, tend to give the elites more competence than they deserve.
I want you to remember this each time something comes up.
These people are nothing. They are paper tigers and paper pushers at the end of the day.
The elite are not all powerful. They are not better than you. They probably aren’t even smarter than you.
You do not need them. You need not fear them. All you need is some edge to you, some persuasiveness, and knowledge of the communications outlets available to you.
They are a rotten edifice desperate to prevent their collapse, but each failed attempt just undermines them further.
As you know, I’m taking Roosh’s Big Ass Book Challenge to start 2017 off with a 500+ page biography of Julius Caesar
, and the Republic of his time was in the hands of squabbling elite families desperately trying to cling on to power. Caesar had more talent than them in every respect. The only way they could try to stop him in the end was through Pompey, another man they didn’t particularly like who also had more talent than them.
The “new men” are rising. We are more talented than them. Trump is at the top of that list.
If this is the best they can do, they are done. Do not fear them. Ever again.
And when you get the system in Stumped, you’ll defend yourself and counterattack against their flopping persuasion tactics
.
Update: Here’s a timeline. The 4chan part of the story has been debunked, but the “intelligence” community passing along low-level political opposition research is true (even if it didn’t originate with Rick Wilson), and John McCain’s central role in the saga is confirmed. Outgoing DNI Clapper issued a statement saying this didn’t originate with the community, but it did pass it on, even if they hadn’t verified it.
The damage is not as bad as it would have been if they really got trolled by 4chan, but the story was so sloppily done that they’re badly tainted regardless. Trump capitalized on it in his masterful press conference and paired them with Nazi Germany. This whole sad saga has been co-mingled with the “intelligence community.” From now on, it will be associated with “golden showers.”
