I believe everything I read (and hear) on the Internet
I was bopping around YouTube checking out town hall videos and stumbled upon this nonsense:
It has nearly 9000 views and 177 comments. In it George, who is working on two “totally awesome” movies about debt and inflation, lets the viewer know that he’s concerned about the “lies and deceit” the Obama “propaganda machine,” in conjunction with the complicit media, were manufacturing about the president’s recent town hall in Belgrade, Montana. George has a “source” who works at “the airport” in Montana and he told him a bunch of shocking things. Right off the bat George, who is a very truthful man, says Belgrade is “probably the most remote location you could chose to have a presidential meeting. You could not pick a more remote location according to my source.” In addition, “there were reports on the radio station that thousands of dollars were paid to ship in lobster to eat. Why on earth would you be eating lobster when Montana is known as one of the best places in the country to eat beef?” George, who is a very truthful man, also makes several other allegations. Watch it if you have a few minutes.
A quick look at Google maps shows you that Belgrade isn’t all that remote at all (especially for Montana). It’s conveniently located off of interstate highway 90 and even have its own airport (I assume this is the one George’s “source” works at). Wikipedia also lists Belgrade as one of Montana’s “major towns.” In addition, a quick Google search shows that George was lying about having a “source” (surprise!) and picked up all of the “facts” that he trots out in his video from an unverified comment that was spammed all over the rightosphere in mid-August and also distributed via email. Here’s one example of it in the blogosphere and FactCheck.org picked up the email.
Not much to add to this. It’s just startling how quickly untruths circulate thanks to the Internet and real propaganda outlets like FOX News. I’m at a loss as to how to beat this insanity. Fact checking is great, but it only works if people are intellectually curious and/or honest enough to listen. Unfortunately, I think most of these teabaggers are neither and never will be. So the only solution I see is to keep exposing their inanity (and outright mocking them) and hope the wobbly folks in the middle will be appalled enough to want to keep their distance from them and, ya know, not believe everything they read on the Internet.
Posted by Kevin K. on 09/02/09 at 10:53 AM • Permalink
Categories: Politics • Barack Obama • Health Care • Nutters • Skull Hampers • YouTubidity •
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