The "hack gap" - how and why conservative nonesense dominates American politics

[homersapien 11,498]

I've witnessed the effects of this in my own family.

 

The hack gap: how and why conservative nonsense dominates American politics

Republicans have a huge strategic advantage in shaping the news.

.........The reason is something I’ve dubbed “the hack gap” over the years, and it’s one of the most fundamental asymmetries shaping American politics. While conservatives obsess over the (accurate) observation that the average straight news reporter has policy views that are closer to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party, the hack gap fundamentally does more to structure political discourse.

The hack gap explains why Clinton’s email server received more television news coverage than all policy issues combined in the 2016 election. It explains why Republicans can hope to get away with dishonest spin about preexisting conditions. It’s why Democrats are terrified that Elizabeth Warren’s past statements about Native American heritage could be general election poison in 2020, and it’s why an internecine debate about civility has been roiling progressive circles for nearly two years even while the president of the United States openly praises assaulting journalists.

The hack gap has two core pillars. One is the constellation of conservative media outlets — led by Fox News and other Rupert Murdoch properties like the Wall Street Journal editorial page, but also including Sinclair Broadcasting in local television, much of AM talk radio, and new media offerings such as Breitbart and the Daily Caller — that simply abjure anything resembling journalism in favor of propaganda.

The other is that the self-consciousness journalists at legacy outlets have about accusations of liberal bias leads them to bend over backward to allow the leading conservative gripes of the day to dominate the news agenda. Television producers who would never dream of assigning segments where talking heads debate whether it’s bad that the richest country on earth also has millions of children growing up in dire poverty think nothing of chasing random conservative shiny objects, from “Fast & Furious” (remember that one?) to Benghazi to the migrant caravan.

And more than Citizens United or even gerrymandering, it’s a huge constant thumb on the scale in favor of the political right in America.......

 

The hack gap, explained

The essence of the Clinton email scandal wasn’t the claim that she’d done something wrong — everyone, including Clinton herself, agreed that it was inappropriate to violate State Department email policy and that she should not have done that.

The essence was, rather, the bizarre and obviously false claim that the Clinton email scandal was important.

The argument around this score became in most respects circular. As a CNN explainer on the controversy concluded, the scandal mattered politically because “among Clinton’s biggest challenges in the presidential race is demonstrating her authenticity — and part of that is showing voters she’s trustworthy. Increasingly, though, voters say they distrust Clinton. The numbers have shifted dramatically since news of her private email server was first reported in March.”

But, of course, the only reason the email controversy so thoroughly dominated perceptions of Clinton was it dominated coverage of Clinton — coverage that was justified with reference to its importance in driving perception.

You can tell that it wasn’t actually important because the people most invested in pretending it was important — Republicans — clearly do not actually think government email protocol or Freedom of Information Act compliance are important issues. Have you seen any Fox News segments about email protocol adherence or Freedom of Information Act compliance in the Trump administration? Have congressional Republicans held any hearings about the subject? Have muckraking right-wingers launched any investigations? Of course not.

When the New York Times reported that Trump White House staffers were using personal email accounts, the conservative movement shrugged. When Trump’s use of an insecure cellphone for sensitive communications was revealed, Congress didn’t care.

There’s hypocrisy in this, of course. But politics is full of hypocrisy.

The essence of the hack gap is that when Clinton was in the crosshairs, conservative media made a huge show of being sincerely outraged by her misconduct, which forced the topic onto the national media agenda.....

 

Read the full article at:  https://www.vox.com/2018/10/23/18004478/hack-gap-explained

 

[SaltyTiger 7,900]

I do not care to read another Vox article Brother Homer. "hack gap", hell CNN and the likes did not report a thing other than Russia for 18 months plus after election. Go back and look at your own BS on this very board. Suppose that well is dry hole.

10 hours ago, homersapien said:

 

The hack gap explains why Clinton’s email server received more television news coverage than all policy issues combined in the 2016 election

This reeks of another "Hillary excuse". Go look at your retirement account.

Look at the wonderful working people that are smiling again.... Then go purchase a MAGA hat

[homersapien 11,498]

"Television producers who would never dream of assigning segments where talking heads debate whether it’s bad that the richest country on earth also has millions of children growing up in dire poverty think nothing of chasing random conservative shiny objects, from “Fast & Furious” (remember that one?) to Benghazi to the migrant caravan."

[homersapien 11,498]

10 hours ago, SaltyTiger said:

I do not care to read another Vox article Brother Homer.

Of course you don't care to read it.

[homersapien 11,498]

'You can tell that it wasn’t actually important because the people most invested in pretending it was important — Republicans — clearly do not actually think government email protocol or Freedom of Information Act compliance are important issues. Have you seen any Fox News segments about email protocol adherence or Freedom of Information Act compliance in the Trump administration? Have congressional Republicans held any hearings about the subject? Have muckraking right-wingers launched any investigations? Of course not.

When the New York Times reported that Trump White House staffers were using personal email accounts, the conservative movement shrugged. When Trump’s use of an insecure cellphone for sensitive communications was revealed, Congress didn’t care."

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

1 hour ago, homersapien said:

Of course you don't care to read it.

Same crap, just a different day. 

[TitanTiger 20,538]

4 hours ago, homersapien said:

Of course you don't care to read it.

Opposing views are hurtful.  The same folks who poke fun at 'liberal snowflakes' in college who cry and protest over a professor who doesn't affirm the views they already hold sacred can't even be bothered to click a link and engage a discussion on a message board.

[AUDub 11,204]

2 hours ago, TitanTiger said:

Opposing views are hurtful.  The same folks who poke fun at 'liberal snowflakes' in college who cry and protest over a professor who doesn't affirm the views they already hold sacred can't even be bothered to click a link and engage a discussion on a message board.

My epistemic bubble is safe and comfy. I dare not venture outside. 

[homersapien 11,498]

6 hours ago, NolaAuTiger said:

Same crap, just a different day. 

Apparently, you are still too inexperienced to recognize "crap".  

Sounds like they need to add "Crap 101" to your curriculum. 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/22/trump-warned-of-great-danger-posed-by-clintons-emails-but-he-eschews-security-procedures-for-his-own-phone/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5b4d2e4043e8

Politico is reporting that Trump has eschewed the normal security procedures when it comes to his personal cellphones. He has at least two — one for making calls and one for Twitter — but the call-capable phone has a camera and a microphone, which was against protocol in the Obama administration because those things could be used to monitor a president's activities and movements. As for the Twitter phone, Trump reportedly refuses to swap it out and has gone as many as five months without having it checked by security experts, despite phones being checked every 30 days during the Obama administration.

Trump's reasoning for resisting the regular security sweep? It's “too inconvenient,” one official said.

That sound you hear is 60 million Clinton supporters tearing out their hair. You may recall that this was exactly the justification Clinton used for her private server: convenience. “When I got to work as secretary of state, I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the State Department, because I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal emails instead of two,” she said.

....“Clinton’s home email server that she lied to the American people about was a profound national security risk,” Trump wrote in one Facebook post. “Hillary Clinton has bad judgment and is unfit to serve as President.”

He said in July 2016 in a campaign speech: “This is not just extreme carelessness with classified material, which is still totally disqualifying. This is calculated, deliberate, premeditated misconduct.”

 

 

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/21/trump-phone-security-risk-hackers-601903

President Donald Trump uses a White House cellphone that isn’t equipped with sophisticated security features designed to shield his communications, according to two senior administration officials — a departure from the practice of his predecessors that potentially exposes him to hacking or surveillance.

The president, who relies on cellphones to reach his friends and millions of Twitter followers, has rebuffed staff efforts to strengthen security around his phone use, according to the administration officials....

....“Clinton’s home email server that she lied to the American people about was a profound national security risk,” Trump wrote in one Facebook post. “Hillary Clinton has bad judgment and is unfit to serve as President.”

He said in July 2016 in a campaign speech: “This is not just extreme carelessness with classified material, which is still totally disqualifying. This is calculated, deliberate, premeditated misconduct.”

 

[NolaAuTiger 3,295]

2 hours ago, homersapien said:

Sounds like they need to add "Crap 101" to your curriculum.  

I get enough of it by viewing all of your “same ol same ol” posts.

You should’ve stuck with science. 😂😂😂

[SaltyTiger 7,900]

12 hours ago, homersapien said:

Of course you don't care to read it.

Damn sure don't. I feel sorry for you. Another one of your worthless post with zero replies until Salty jump starts it. 

I am seeing a lot of people in need right now and there are no "conservatives" or "liberals". just people, good people. 

 

[TitanTiger 20,538]

10 minutes ago, SaltyTiger said:

Damn sure don't. I feel sorry for you. Another one of your worthless post with zero replies until Salty jump starts it. 

I am seeing a lot of people in need right now and there are no "conservatives" or "liberals". just people, good people. 

 

Which, while a nice sentiment, literally has zilch to do with the original post or your failure to read and engage it.

[SaltyTiger 7,900]

1 minute ago, TitanTiger said:

Which, while a nice sentiment, literally has zilch to do with the original post or your failure to read and engage it.

Forgive me Titan. Sorry for not contributing .Will let you guys engage in the discussion

[homersapien 11,498]

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-iphone-chinese-russian-spies_us_5bd0ef93e4b0a8f17ef3d0ad

Trump Uses Unsecured iPhone Even Though China, Russia Are Listening In: Report

Several insiders told The New York Times that the president is well aware of this habit’s risks.

 

Former and current officials connected to President Donald Trump revealed that Russian and Chinese spies are tapping into calls he takes on his personal cellphone, which his aides have repeatedly warned him is vulnerable to such infiltration, according to a New York Times report published Wednesday.

Perhaps most frustrating, the unnamed sources said, is that Trump has continued to use an iPhone even after his aides told him that foreign agents successfully hacked him, likely gaining valuable insights into how they could best manipulate him and his administration’s policies. 

The feedback they’ve gotten from him is that relying solely on the White House phone line is inconvenient. However, he appears to take calls on a cellphone whenever he doesn’t want a call logged, such as when he as conversations with hosts at Fox News. 

U.S. intelligence agencies learned from foreign government sources, according to the Times, that people in China and Russia were eavesdropping on the president’s cellphone calls and were intercepting communications between foreign officials.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chinese and Russian spies are listening in on President Donald Trump’s phone calls, according to a New York Times report.

China, the spy agencies believe, is doing so in hopes of keeping a trade war between the two countries from escalating and has established a list of people Trump frequently speaks to who may be able to influence him......

 

 

[TitanTiger 20,538]

Hubris utterly defines him.

[homersapien 11,498]

1 hour ago, TitanTiger said:

Hubris utterly defines him.

Lock her up! 

[SaltyTiger 7,900]

23 hours ago, homersapien said:

Perhaps most frustrating, the unnamed sources said, is that Trump has continued to use an iPhone even after his aides told him that foreign agents successfully hacked him

Good, I bet it frustrates  them to no end realizing  that we have a leader with a set of gonads. 

 

[homersapien 11,498]

11 hours ago, SaltyTiger said:

Good, I bet it frustrates  them to no end realizing  that we have a leader with a set of gonads. 

 

Brains would be far preferable.

[TitanTiger 20,538]

12 hours ago, SaltyTiger said:

Good, I bet it frustrates  them to no end realizing  that we have a leader with a set of gonads. 

You would think this is a feature, not a bug.