The Bernie Sanders Campaign Faced A Fake News Tsunami. Where Did It Come From?

WASHINGTON ― Last June, John Mattes started noticing something coursing like a virus through the Facebook page he helped administer for Bernie Sanders fans in San Diego. People with no apparent ties to California were friending the page and sharing links from unfamiliar sites full of anti-Hillary Clinton propaganda.

The stories they posted weren’t the normal complaints he was used to seeing as the Vermont senator and the former secretary of state fought out the Democratic presidential primary. These stories alleged that Clinton had murdered her political opponents and used body doubles.

Mattes, 66, had been a television reporter and Senate investigator in previous lives. He put his expertise in unmasking fraudsters to work. At first, he suspected that the sites were created by the old Clinton haters from the ‘90s ― what Hillary Clinton had dubbed “the vast right-wing conspiracy.”

But when Mattes started tracking down the sites’ domain registrations, the trail led to Macedonia and Albania. In mid-September, he emailed a few of his private investigator friends with a list of the sites. “Very creepy and i do not think Koch brothers,” he wrote.

Mattes and his friends didn’t know what to make of his findings. He couldn’t get his mind around the possibility that trolls overseas might be trying to sway a bunch of Southern Californians who supported Sanders’ run for president. “I may be a dark cynic and I may have been an investigative reporter for a long time, but this was too dark ― and too unbelievable and most upsetting,” he said. “What was I to do with this?”

By late October, Mattes said he’d traced 40 percent of the domain registrations for the fake news sites he saw popping up on pro-Sanders pages back to Eastern Europe. Others appeared to be based in Panama and the U.S., or were untraceable. He wondered, “Am I the only person that sees all this crap floating through these Bernie pages?”

He wasn’t. Bernie supporters across the country had been noticing dubious websites and posters linked back to Eastern Europe long before Mattes did ― and even before The Washington Post reported in mid-June that Russian government hackers had stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee. They had been warning each other that something weird was going on, posting troll alerts and compiling lists of fake news sites.

There is enough real news to fight over, they thought, without arguing over anti-Hillary conspiracy theories from Macedonia.

Sometimes it was hard to tell who was doing the trolling and for what purposes. Aleta Pearce, 54, who lives in Malibu, California, was an administrator of half a dozen pro-Sanders Facebook groups and a member of many others. In May 2016, she posted a memo to various Facebook groups about the fake news issue, warning of bogus sites.

“The pattern I’m seeing is if a member is repeatedly posting articles that are only from one URL that person is just there to push advertising,” Pearce wrote. “They probably have a sock account with little to no content. They are often from Russia or Macedonia.” (A “sock” or “sock puppet” account uses a false identity to deceive.)

Pearce added, “Please share this with other Bernie groups so we can put an end to this spam bombing that’s filling up our pages and groups. It’s time to chase the mice out of the hen house and send them a message. They don’t know who they are messing with.”

The first tidal wave of spam was mostly anti-Bernie, Pearce recalled, posted by Clinton backers. (David Brock’s Clinton-backing super PAC had likely paid for some portion of those.) But after Clinton became the Democratic nominee in July, Pearce noticed a switch to anti-Hillary messages with links to fake news and to real news with obnoxious pop-up ads.

“Every site publishing those ― you clicked on the article, you would be slammed with ads and strange articles,” Pearce told HuffPost. “It was overwhelming. It was 24/7.”

She kept a list of fake news sites to watch for ― it grew into dozens. There were posts on the Clinton-has-Parkinson’s conspiracy and the Clinton-is-running-a-pedophilia-ring-out-of-a-pizza-shop conspiracy.

On the Sanders campaign, it was Hector Sigala’s job to connect with all the organic Facebook groups. He recalled seeing “a lot of trolls” try to convince people of something “that was obviously fake.”

Many of the interlopers, Sigala said, claimed to be Sanders fans who had decided to vote for GOP nominee Donald Trump or Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the general election and tried to convince others to do likewise. “It made it seem like the community as a whole was supporting that, but that wasn’t the case,” he said.

Sigala thinks most of them were just your average internet trolls. He said he found many were members of 4chan, a gathering place for the alt-right, white nationalists and plain old nihilists from which has sprung all manner of mischief.

The Sanders campaign had begun seeing this particular brand of fake news starting in early 2016. “The first time that we kind of fell for it, for like two minutes, was this link from what seemed to be ABC News,” Sigala said. It turned out to be ABC.com.co, a fake site that has no affiliation with the real news network. It had “reported” that the pope himself had endorsed Sanders.

In trying to wade through the flood of fake news, Sanders supporters had some serious trust issues. There was good reason to be skeptical of Clinton and the WikiLeaks dump of DNC emails was real, after all. But a steady diet of stories fabricated out of thin air can also feed into paranoia and flame wars.

Bev Cowling, 64, saw a sudden deluge of requests to join the Sanders Facebook groups she administered from her home in Toney, Alabama. All of a sudden, they were getting 80 to 100 requests to join each day. She and the other administrators couldn’t vet everyone, and the posts started getting bizarre. “It came in like a wave, like a tsunami,” she said. “It was like a flood of misinformation.”

Cowling, a retired postal worker, said some of her Facebook group members were ready to believe the bogus news links. “People were so anti-Hillary that no matter what you said, they were willing to share it and spread it,” she said. “At first I would just laugh about it. I would say, ‘C’mon, this is beyond ridiculous.’ I created a word called ‘ridiculosity.’ I would say, ‘This reeks of ridiculosity.’”

But Cowling got pushback. She was called a “Hillbot” and a Trump supporter. She ended up removing dozens of members who refused to stop pushing conspiracy theories. “I lost quite a few friends,” she said.

Matthew Smollon, a 34-year-old copy editor and page designer based in Knoxville, Tennessee, noticed an influx of posts linking to fake news as early as January 2016. So much of it, Smollon noticed, came from the same accounts. Almost all the sites he traced went back to Veles, Macedonia, which Wired magazine has since dubbed the “Fake News Factory to the World.” There wasn’t a single link he found that went to a pro-Clinton fake news story.

None of the fake stories stood out to Smollon. He described the Facebook groups as “being in a room filled with blasting televisions.” It was hard to pick out the loudest noises. “The ultimate goal of this wasn’t so much misinformation as distraction from valid info,” he concluded.

But Smollon had a hard time convincing other Bernie supporters that they were being played. “No one cared,” Smollon said. “At that point, you were a Hillary shill. It was like an echo chamber of anger.”

Even when pointing out that something like NBCPolitics.org was a fake site ― the real site is NBCNews.com/politics ― he drew criticism. He was eventually removed as a moderator from one of the pro-Sanders Facebook groups. “It’s the closest I’ve been to being gaslit in my life,” he said.

In June, Smollon posted a piece on Medium with the headline, “Dear Bernie Supporters: Stop sharing posts from dumpster fire websites.” He urged his fellow Sanders fans to wake up:

Guys, I sincerely love you. I love your passion. I love your fire. I love all of that. But when 400 people are circle-jerking clickbait links in between wondering how Hillary Clinton is behind the FEMA Earthquake drill that happens on several days with one of them being primary day?

Holy shit.

You are allowing yourselves to be manipulated. Through the practice of taking anything that agrees with your opinion at face value, actively refusing to believe anything but what agrees with your narrative and following that up with blatant disregard for doing two minutes of searching to verify the information: you become the myopic Trump supporter that you so vocally loathe.

Some people “liked” his Medium piece on Facebook and posted it on their walls, he said. Others did not. Smollon later updated his article to say he’d been banned from the group “Bernie Believers” because of it.

“This is a pretty solid case for admins/mods being part of the spam,” he wrote. “Not all of them obviously, but it only takes one person running with an ulterior motive to ensure the whole thing goes to shit.”

Bernie Sanders Storms CNN and Destroys Their Pro-Republican Talking Points

Sen. Bernie Sanders went on CNN today and knocked down questions that were nothing but thinly disguised Republican talking points by using facts, truth, and the history of Republican obstruction.

Video:

Bernie Sanders Nails Republican Lies About Voter ID Laws After Release Of GAO Report

Something most liberals have known all along has basically been confirmed in a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report shows new voter ID laws that have been passed in a number of Republican-controlled states are making it more difficult for Americans to vote. Specifically those Americans who tend to vote for Democrats.

I know, you’re shocked.

Here’s part of the statement released by Senator Bernie Sanders’ office:

State laws that make voters show IDs at polling places have put a price on ballot access and eroded turnout – especially among African Americans, young people and recently-registered voters – a non-partisan congressional watchdog concluded. 

The Government Accountability Office report also found scant evidence of voter fraud that the new laws that ostensibly are designed to discourage. 

The report was requested by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). The senators asked the research arm of Congress to investigate what they called an “alarming number” of new state laws that make it “significantly harder” for millions of voters to cast ballots. 

The report calculated the direct cost to would-be voters in the 17 states where voters must present a driver’s license or other state identification at polling places. The price for driver’s licenses ranges from $14.50 in Indiana to $58.50 in Rhode Island. The cost of getting a birth certificate needed to obtain a non-driver ID ranges from $7 in North Dakota to $25 in Georgia. 

Focusing on two states with strict ID laws, Kansas and Tennessee, the GAO found greater falloffs in voter turnout in those states than in states without restrictive voting laws. The 2012 general election turnout compared to 2008 was as much as 3.2 percent less in Kansas and 2.2 percent less in Tennessee than in other states. The falloff was greatest among African-Americans, young people and newly-registered voters, the GAO said.

I highlighted the last two paragraphs because they’re particularly important. Republicans have seemingly found a way around illegal poll taxes by simply requiring people pay to have an ID before they’re allowed to vote. So, in reality, it’s just a roundabout way to levy a poll tax – without directly charging a poll tax.

Not only that, but these laws are lowering voter turnout. And like I’ve said before, anyone who’s trying to make it harder for Americans to vote clearly has some kind of unethical ulterior motives. Especially when this study concluded that the people most adversely effected by these laws were African Americans, young people and newly registered voters. Otherwise known as voters who tend to vote for Democrats more than Republicans.

Again, I know you’re completely shocked. Republican legislatures passing strict voter ID laws that just happen to lower the voter turnout among demographics who vote for Democrats - no way! 

And, as most of you might expect, the Supreme Court keeps upholding these unconstitutional laws. But that’s what happens when the court is controlled by conservative justices.

This has to stop, because history is just repeating itself. Decades ago poll taxes were used to try to discourage people from voting (specifically African Americans). Now these “poll taxes” are being disguised under the pretense of “combating voter fraud” by requiring Americans to present an ID before they can vote. An ID that the vast majority of Americans would have to pay for in order to obtain.

So, if Americans can’t be forced to pay in order to exercise their right to vote, but an ID costs money, how is that not requiring Americans to pay a fee before they can vote?

I can’t emphasize this enough, liberals must get out to vote this November. I don’t care what hoops they try to make you jump through - vote. We cannot continue to allow Republicans to violate our Constitutional rights and rig our election process. Because if we don’t get out to vote, we’re just handing this country right over to them. And we damn sure can’t let that happen.

Bernie Sanders Slams Tea Party Idiot Marco Rubio for Voting Against Veterans’ Benefits

“It’s not who you are underneath — it’s what you do that defines you.” Of all the recent one-liners in recent movie history, this line from Batman Begins may be the most profound. One of the oldest questions in philosophy is “how do we define ourselves?” Bruce Wayne would say we’re defined by our actions — our observable behavior and impact on the world. Others would say we’re defined by our intentions, because we can’t always know what effect our actions will have. But how much good does the self-definition of intention do in the real world, where material effects matter? Well, we want to answer that question for you. Does that answer your question?

The GOP and its Tea Party core have long defined themselves in terms of support for veterans; a convenient base, if you’re counting on the strength of arms to maintain power. But that self-definition, that intention, has long since given way to the action of selling veterans out at the drop of a dollar. After all, what are veterans if not leeches…wards of the state, welfare queens sucking our nation dry of dollars reserved for precious corporate tax breaks?

Koch-friend Marco Rubio has long been more of the Courtney “use once and destroy” Love school of thought regarding veterans than most. Rubio, along with the rest of the GOP, have developed a rather stunning habit of pandering to veterans from one hole, and speaking out to block every effort to care for them with the other. Most recently, Rubio was one of 41 Senate Republicans to block the passage of a bill that would have improved veterans’ benefits.

The reason that all but two Republicans (excepting Dean Heller and Jerry Morgan) blocked the vote was that Harry Reid would not permit an up or down vote on a rider that imposed sanctions on Iran. This completely unrelated bit of poison was none other than Mitch McConnell’s contribution to the bill. When he was denied his sanctions, he and his fellow Republicans scuttled the entire veterans’ bill in protest.

McConnell and his cronies were immediately slammed by almost every involved party, not least of which being the American Legion veterans’ association. Jon Stewart put in his two cents, but Bernie Sanders levied the most damning attack of all right on the floor of the Senate.

In 3 Minutes, He Nails What No One Wants To Hear About Those Canceled Health Plans

Tune in to any news station and you'll get the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare") Scandal-of-the-Day. Despite all that coverage, we're losing sight of the bigger problems in health care. Here's a pissed-off guy who's not afraid to talk about what really matters. 

 

Watch Bernie Sanders Provide Republicans a History Lesson on Deficits

Vermont’s Independent Senator, Bernie Sanders, stood up for the American people and middle-class in the midst of a budget meeting dominated by Republican austerity economics.

“It’s important to understand the past as we go forward,”he said, singling out the Iraq War, Medicare Part D, and the reckless Bush Tax cuts as the main drivers behind America’s deficit spending.

“Is it fair to say that the reason we began to go into deficit was because we went to war in Iraq, which by the time we take care of the last veteran is going to cost us about $3 trillion?” Sanders asked Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf during Wednesday’s meeting. “How do we pay for that war?”

Elmendorf began explaining that Congress actually cut taxes during that period, until Sanders cut in.

“You’re not suggesting that in the middle of a war which cost $3 trillion Congress actually cut taxes for the rich?” he asked, sarcastically.

Incredibly, House Budget Committee Chairman and Tea Party “darling” Paul Ryan found his question particularly funny, interrupting with a chuckle, “Bernie, that’s fine. Come on.”

But Elmendorf, smiling as well, finished explaining that Congress cut taxes “for a lot of people” and spent a lot of money overseas.

Sanders, known for his hard-hitting progressive views and unabated honesty, replied:

Bernie Sanders Blows Away Ted Cruz as 500,000 Sign Social Security Petition in Days

Bernie Sanders is showing Ted Cruz what real people power looks like as his coalition to protect Social Security and Medicare has gathered nearly 500,000 petition signatures in a matter of days.

There is something incredible happening. The American people are standing up to protect Social Security and Medicare. A Sen. Sanders (I-VT) led coalition is flexing its muscle with a petition drive that has collected almost 500,000 signatures already. 

In a statement, Sen. Sanders said, “The success of this petition drive makes it very clear to me that the American people want deficit reduction to be done in a way that is fair and not by cutting programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. At a time when the number of people living in poverty in our country is at an all-time high, we must not cut programs which provide basic security to tens of millions of our people who are struggling economically.”

To put into context how successful this petition drive has been, it took months and a national television advertising campaign for Ted Cruz’s defund Obamacare petition to get to 2 million signatures.

Bernie Sanders and a coalition of groups that includes CREDO, Daily Kos, Campaign for America’s Future, Social Security Works, Democracy for America, Progressives United, MoveOn, Other98, USAction and the Alliance for Retired Americans have gotten to a nearly a quarter of Cruz’s total number of signatures in about 1/10th of the time.

The movement that Bernie Sanders is leading won’t be spending millions of dollars on television ads. They don’t have shadowy billionaires writing big checks in the background. What Bernie Sanders and the left have is popular support on the issues. They don’t have to buy their support. They are a real people’s movement.

Ted Cruz and the tea party are Astro-Turf. They are a “movement” which has been designed to raise money, and carry out the agenda of a few billionaires and special interests. They don’t have popular support for their positions on the issues, so they have spend millions of dollars constructing illusions of strength.

The left’s grassroots are strong and well organized. The grassroots left has had success in recent years with various protests, boycotts, and petitions. If the media really wanted to know what is going on at the grassroots level in this country, they would ignore Cruz and the tea party and spend their time talking to Sanders and the left.

The reality is that what took Ted Cruz and his allies millions of dollars and months to accomplish, Bernie Sanders and the left have a chance of accomplishing in three more weeks. Nothing would make the point about protecting Social Security and Medicare clearer than blowing Ted Cruz’s defund Obamacare petition out of the water. In order for that to happen, people have to keep sharing and signing the petition. (You can sign a MoveOn version of the petition here.)

This is about making Congress and the president pay attention to your voice. Social Security and Medicare are beloved programs, and you can save them from getting caught up in Washington budget hysteria. Ted Cruz is being blown away by Bernie Sanders and his coalition that is standing up to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Bernie Sanders Goes South to Find Out WHY They Vote Against Their Own Best Interest

Bernie Sanders is on a Southern states tour talking to people in order to find out what they think of important issues such as Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare and Obamacare.  His ultimate goal being to develop a 50 state strategy, something the Democrats do not seem to be interested in doing.  For too long they have written southern states off as a lost cause where they are unlikely to win rather than trying to find out what it is that drives them to so often vote against their own interests.

Bernie spoke to Ed Schultz from Columbia, South Carolina about what he is finding out talking to people in the deep south telling him,

“You’ve got a lot of great people.  I’ve been meeting with trade unionists, Independents, Progressive Democrats, and they are tired of being abandoned by the national Democratic Party, they want some help and they believe that with some help they can start winning in these conservative states.”

He goes on to say,

“These are low income states and what concerns me is that you have many white working class people who are voting against their own best interests.  These are guys getting hung up on gay marriage issues, they’re getting hung up on abortion issues and it’s time that we started focusing on the economic issues that bring us together.”

He told Ed that to reach these people who are working for low wages, have no health care coverage and who cannot afford to sent their children to college the Democrats have to show them that they are willing to take on Wall Street and the big money people who have, in effect overthrown our government.  He thinks that if this is the message Democrats can once more win elections in the south.

Ed pointed out that nine of the Republicans on the budget reconciliation committee with him are people who were willing to allow the country to go into default and asked him how tough a fight it was going to be to protect programs like Social Security and Medicare which they see as “entitlement” programs rather than earned benefits.

Go Bernie! Go!

Bernie Sanders Goes off on Charles Koch