US Doesn't Care About Kneeling, It's Russians

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Man, I am so tired of this NFL kneeling topic, but this was just too damn funny to not share. Apparently nobody is actually upset about the NFL protests. It, like all of our troubles and decisions that we don't agree with in this country, are due to the Russians. Apparently we're not allowed to have our own strong opinions without the Russians giving them to us.

Give it a few more years at this pace and kids will go to school and the teacher will be like "Why don't you have your homework?" and the kid will reply "Russian hackers deleted it!"

God how I wish I could put a ninja on this post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/russia-trolls-nfl_us_59cc45eee4b02aef6cd76665

Quote:WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. senator on Wednesday said Russian internet trolls, seeking to polarize Americans, helped fuel a debate ignited by President Donald Trump over whether NFL players should have the right to kneel during the national anthem.

The assertion, made by Republican James Lankford, comes as congressional investigators probing Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election are focusing on how Russian agents used social media to spread divisive political content.

“We watched, even this weekend, the Russians and their troll farms, their internet folks, start hashtagging out #TakeAKnee and also hashtagging out #BoycottNFL,” Lankford, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said during a hearing on threats faced by the United States.

“They were taking both sides of the argument this weekend ... to try to raise the noise level of America and make a big issue seem like an even bigger issue as they are trying to push divisiveness in this country,” Lankford said.

Lankford did not provide evidence to corroborate his statement.

A Lankford aide said U.S. intelligence shared with senators showed that Russian troll operations relied on social media to meddle in U.S. issues going back to last year’s presidential election in an effort to divide Americans.

Such activity has also been occurring in Europe for years, the aide said.

A website built by researchers working with the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a bipartisan, transatlantic project to counter Russian disinformation, showed tweets promoting both sides of the football debate from 600 accounts that analysts identified as users who spread Russian propaganda on Twitter.

A Senate aide said the website was viewed as credible among congressional investigators.

Facebook this month revealed that suspected Russian trolls purchased more than $100,000 worth of divisive ads on its platform during the 2016 election cycle. Twitter is expected to privately brief the Senate panel on Thursday, and the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday technology companies would testify about Russian interference in an open hearing next month.

Trump last week said that football players should be fired for kneeling during the national anthem. The players want to draw attention to what they say is social and racial injustice.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia orchestrated a multi-pronged cyber offensive on the 2016 election to discredit Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and help Trump, a Republican, win.

Russia denies seeking to influence the U.S. election, and Trump has dismissed claims of collusion as fake news.

[Johnny Cupcakes]

Sitting there in their ushankas eating a nice meal of potatoes; just giggling over our gullibility.

We need something to divide us, really. If it's not one thing, it's another. Thanks to the Russians for the 39th week of the year's divisive topic.

[*Nately120*]

[*michaelsean*]

Now they've gone too far.

[Belsnickel]

Could we maybe not misrepresent what was said in the article? It's bad enough when the media misrepresents statements, let's not build straw men out of these articles.

The article says that, while there was no evidence corroborating the claim, an elected official says that Russian efforts were aimed at elevating the discussion surrounding the NFL kneeling issue and Trump's comments, making the argument more present in our social media streams than it otherwise would have been. Trying to say the claim was "nobody is actually upset about the NFL protests" or "we're not allowed to have our own strong opinions without the Russians giving them to us" is disingenuous bullshit and misinformation in itself.

[Interceptor]

[StLucieBengal]

[Bengalzona]

Some would say that the U.S. doesn't care about cops shooting black people, It's commies ...

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(09-28-2017, 11:10 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Could we maybe not misrepresent what was said in the article? It's bad enough when the media misrepresents statements, let's not build straw men out of these articles.

The article says that, while there was no evidence corroborating the claim, an elected official says that Russian efforts were aimed at elevating the discussion surrounding the NFL kneeling issue and Trump's comments, making the argument more present in our social media streams than it otherwise would have been. Trying to say the claim was "nobody is actually upset about the NFL protests" or "we're not allowed to have our own strong opinions without the Russians giving them to us" is disingenuous bullshit and misinformation in itself.

It's not my fault you feel this is misrepresented. Russians probably made this thread.

Fact is, people were already upset with it happening, the President said something about it, players reacted by digging their heels in further, the news networks reacted by broadcasting every single anthem and focusing in on it, and people got even more upset with it.

No Russians were needed in that equation, so to start throwing out "Russians!" is some Cold War bullshit. Are we going to have to change The Reds back to The Redlegs again so we don't share a name with those pesky Ruskies? Maybe we can start turning in our neighbors on suspicion of Russian sympathies or collusion.

"The US didn't want to know about corruption and collusion in the DNC, they were victimized by the Russians."
"The US didn't want to vote that way, they were convinced to do so by the Russians."
"The US didn't want to get upset over the protests, they were convinced to do so by the Russians."

I mean, seriously? Are we just going to start using the Russians to explain away anything we don't like now?

[Belsnickel]

(09-28-2017, 03:46 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: It's not my fault you feel this is misrepresented. Russians probably made this thread.

It's not something I feel, it's blatantly obvious.

(09-28-2017, 03:46 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Fact is, people were already upset with it happening, the President said something about it, players reacted by digging their heels in further, the news networks reacted by broadcasting every single anthem and focusing in on it, and people got even more upset with it.

No Russians were needed in that equation, so to start throwing out "Russians!" is some Cold War bullshit. Are we going to have to change The Reds back to The Redlegs again so we don't share a name with those pesky Ruskies? Maybe we can start turning in our neighbors on suspicion of Russian sympathies or collusion.

"The US didn't want to know about corruption and collusion in the DNC, they were victimized by the Russians."
"The US didn't want to vote that way, they were convinced to do so by the Russians."
"The US didn't want to get upset over the protests, they were convinced to do so by the Russians."

I mean, seriously? Are we just going to start using the Russians to explain away anything we don't like now?

Understanding how our society is being manipulated, if in fact it is, is absolutely essential to our country. Divisions exist and have existed throughout our history, but we are more divided not than in the past 150 years, and the gap seems to be growing. If any foreign nation is playing a role in furthering that divide with the intention to sow discord among the people then that is something we should be made aware of. It shouldn't matter what your politics are, that these things are being done should be a concern to you. Russia is not a friendly nation to us, period. Make light of the situation all you want, Russia wants to see our power and influence wane, and helping to widen the divide in this country is one of the ways they have found to make it happen.

[*jason*]

(09-28-2017, 03:57 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: It's not something I feel, it's blatantly obvious.


Understanding how our society is being manipulated, if in fact it is, is absolutely essential to our country. Divisions exist and have existed throughout our history, but we are more divided not than in the past 150 years, and the gap seems to be growing. If any foreign nation is playing a role in furthering that divide with the intention to sow discord among the people then that is something we should be made aware of. It shouldn't matter what your politics are, that these things are being done should be a concern to you. Russia is not a friendly nation to us, period. Make light of the situation all you want, Russia wants to see our power and influence wane, and helping to widen the divide in this country is one of the ways they have found to make it happen.

Do you think this country is more divided today than it was during Vietnam? Kinda off topic, I know, but I've thought the same as you about the whole "150 years"... Until I thought about Vietnam... Which I don't remember.

[Belsnickel]

(09-28-2017, 07:20 PM)jason Wrote: Do you think this country is more divided today than it was during Vietnam? Kinda off topic, I know, but I've thought the same as you about the whole "150 years"... Until I thought about Vietnam... Which I don't remember.

I wasn't alive for Vietnam, but yes. Of course, I am basing my statement more on the polarization of our elected officials, which this is absolutely true for. The prevailing mindset is that as the people go, so goes Congress. So the logic would be that if Congress is that polarized, then the people must be. But whether that is entire;y accurate, I don't know. The only thing I know for certain is our legislative bodies have not been this polarized in 150 years.