A prominent Washington-based conservative advocacy organization is promoting a deceptive digital ad campaign that is stoking fears about mail-in voting and targeting battleground states with high concentrations of minority voters.
FreedomWorks, the tax-exempt nonprofit that helped launch tea-party protests a decade ago and is now aligned with causes central to President Trump’s reelection, has extensively promoted the website behind the operation, and is the sole organization to do so, according to data from CrowdTangle, a social media analysis tool.
The website, called Protect My Vote, warns baselessly that mail balloting results in “lost votes and lost rights.” An associated page on Facebook has purchased more than 150 ads, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times this month.
They appear designed to tap existing anxiety about the integrity of the voting system to convince voters in swing states where minority turnout could be decisive that mail balloting is not reliable amid an uncontained pandemic leading many Americans to consider alternative ways to be heard on Election Day.
Some of the paid posts feature an image of LeBron James and misconstrue a quote from the basketball star, falsely suggesting that when he condemned polling closures as “systemic racism and oppression,” he was linking those closures to the expansion of opportunities to vote by mail.
He was not.
A longtime adviser to James, Adam Mendelsohn, called the ads “shameless” and “reprehensible,” saying lawyers were examining the matter.
He said the misinformation made all the more pressing the efforts by James and other Black athletes and entertainers to protect the voting rights of Black Americans, through a new effort, More Than a Vote.
David Pecker is stepping down as CEO of the National Enquirer’s parent, ending a reign that saw the company entangled in a campaign-finance scandal that sent President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer to jail.
Pecker’s company, American Media Inc., is being taken over by Accelerate360, a logistics firm based in Smyrna, Georgia, whose recent efforts include the delivery of millions of facemasks and units of hand sanitizer.
✁
Under Pecker, the National Enquirer for years buried potentially embarrassing stories about Trump and other favored celebrities by buying the rights to them and never publishing.
The practice was known as “catch-and-kill.”
The Associated Press reported Pecker kept a safe in the Enquirer’s office that held documents on buried stories, including those involving Trump.
American Media admitted it had paid $150,000 to keep former Playboy model Karen McDougal quiet about an alleged affair with Trump to help his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied an affair.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan agreed in 2018 not to prosecute American Media in exchange for its cooperation in a campaign finance investigation. That probe eventually led to a three-year prison term for Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
(The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump’s stellar reputation for mental acuity took a hit on Thursday when he failed a cognitive test in which he was asked to remember Steve Bannon.
According to the White House physician, Trump was shown several pictures and asked to identify them, including ones of a woman, a man, a camera, a TV, and Steve Bannon.
“He nailed woman, man, camera, and TV but drew a blank when it came to Steve Bannon,” the physician said. “He said he was unfamiliar with that picture and could not remember ever seeing that person before.”
After repeated attempts to jog Trump’s memory concerning the identity of Steve Bannon, including writing the name Steve Bannon on a notecard and showing it to him, the physician gave up trying.
On a positive note, the physician said, Trump’s cognition appeared to improve later in the morning, when he was able to block Steve Bannon on Twitter, Facebook, and his phone.
Man, I had no idea how many songs there were with that title. I was looking for one I’d heard on Dr. Demento, a country lament with the chorus, “Beam me up, Scotty, oh beam me up, Scotty, life’s full of troubles below; beam me up, Scotty, oh beam me up, Scotty, I’d like to get up and go.”
The one I linked to, I could wish the singer stayed on tune more, but I do like the source song.
If, as claimed, Mr. Trump (as well as so many others of his ilk) will be gathered up in the Rapture, I think I’ll sit it out relying on Mark Twain’s observation of “What a hell of a heaven it will be when they get all these hypocrites assembled there!”
RobinHood over 3 years ago
Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won’t you please take me along?
I won’t do anything wrong
Hey, Mr. Spaceman
Won’t you please take me along for a ride?
Roger Mc Guinn
RobinHood over 3 years ago
We’re all waiting for the Doctor.
Wilde Bill over 3 years ago
Is she waiting to be raptured?
Silly Season over 3 years ago
A prominent Washington-based conservative advocacy organization is promoting a deceptive digital ad campaign that is stoking fears about mail-in voting and targeting battleground states with high concentrations of minority voters.
FreedomWorks, the tax-exempt nonprofit that helped launch tea-party protests a decade ago and is now aligned with causes central to President Trump’s reelection, has extensively promoted the website behind the operation, and is the sole organization to do so, according to data from CrowdTangle, a social media analysis tool.
The website, called Protect My Vote, warns baselessly that mail balloting results in “lost votes and lost rights.” An associated page on Facebook has purchased more than 150 ads, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times this month.
They appear designed to tap existing anxiety about the integrity of the voting system to convince voters in swing states where minority turnout could be decisive that mail balloting is not reliable amid an uncontained pandemic leading many Americans to consider alternative ways to be heard on Election Day.
Some of the paid posts feature an image of LeBron James and misconstrue a quote from the basketball star, falsely suggesting that when he condemned polling closures as “systemic racism and oppression,” he was linking those closures to the expansion of opportunities to vote by mail.
He was not.
A longtime adviser to James, Adam Mendelsohn, called the ads “shameless” and “reprehensible,” saying lawyers were examining the matter.
He said the misinformation made all the more pressing the efforts by James and other Black athletes and entertainers to protect the voting rights of Black Americans, through a new effort, More Than a Vote.
~
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/disinformation-campaign-stokes-fears-about-mail-voting-using-lebron-james-image-and-boosted-by-trump-aligned-group/2020/08/20/fcadf382-e2e2-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html
Silly Season over 3 years ago
Speaking of UFOs coming to take people away…
~
David Pecker is stepping down as CEO of the National Enquirer’s parent, ending a reign that saw the company entangled in a campaign-finance scandal that sent President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer to jail.
Pecker’s company, American Media Inc., is being taken over by Accelerate360, a logistics firm based in Smyrna, Georgia, whose recent efforts include the delivery of millions of facemasks and units of hand sanitizer.
✁
Under Pecker, the National Enquirer for years buried potentially embarrassing stories about Trump and other favored celebrities by buying the rights to them and never publishing.
The practice was known as “catch-and-kill.”
The Associated Press reported Pecker kept a safe in the Enquirer’s office that held documents on buried stories, including those involving Trump.
American Media admitted it had paid $150,000 to keep former Playboy model Karen McDougal quiet about an alleged affair with Trump to help his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied an affair.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan agreed in 2018 not to prosecute American Media in exchange for its cooperation in a campaign finance investigation. That probe eventually led to a three-year prison term for Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
~
https://www.stltoday.com/business/david-pecker-out-as-ceo-of-national-enquirer-parent-company/article_289fab9e-777b-534e-826c-ba6b0db23050.html
Silly Season over 3 years ago
(The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump’s stellar reputation for mental acuity took a hit on Thursday when he failed a cognitive test in which he was asked to remember Steve Bannon.
According to the White House physician, Trump was shown several pictures and asked to identify them, including ones of a woman, a man, a camera, a TV, and Steve Bannon.
“He nailed woman, man, camera, and TV but drew a blank when it came to Steve Bannon,” the physician said. “He said he was unfamiliar with that picture and could not remember ever seeing that person before.”
After repeated attempts to jog Trump’s memory concerning the identity of Steve Bannon, including writing the name Steve Bannon on a notecard and showing it to him, the physician gave up trying.
On a positive note, the physician said, Trump’s cognition appeared to improve later in the morning, when he was able to block Steve Bannon on Twitter, Facebook, and his phone.
Kip W over 3 years ago
“They’re coming to take me away, ha-ha
They’re coming to take me away,
Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha…"
—Jerry Samuels
ajr58(1) over 3 years ago
She needs an Electronic Sub-Etha Signaling Device
William Robbins Premium Member over 3 years ago
Oh Honey, take me with you.
Bruce1253 over 3 years ago
Oh no, no, no. You and your buddies helped create this mess, now march right back in there young lady, and get started cleaning things up!
Plods with ...™ over 3 years ago
I have a suggestion….
rbluecat over 3 years ago
Not now; too much good trouble to get into. Maybe Nov 4, if we fail.
rossevrymn over 3 years ago
Just leave the GOP.
Bradley Walker over 3 years ago
Beam me up, Scotty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ-ZTUVE-zk
Man, I had no idea how many songs there were with that title. I was looking for one I’d heard on Dr. Demento, a country lament with the chorus, “Beam me up, Scotty, oh beam me up, Scotty, life’s full of troubles below; beam me up, Scotty, oh beam me up, Scotty, I’d like to get up and go.”
The one I linked to, I could wish the singer stayed on tune more, but I do like the source song.
Bookworm over 3 years ago
If, as claimed, Mr. Trump (as well as so many others of his ilk) will be gathered up in the Rapture, I think I’ll sit it out relying on Mark Twain’s observation of “What a hell of a heaven it will be when they get all these hypocrites assembled there!”
braindead Premium Member over 3 years ago
Not to worry, Carmen.
“One day it will be gone. Like a miracle.”
PaulKmecak over 3 years ago
Planet-Killer Asteroid 2020!!
MichaelSFC90 over 3 years ago
No, Carmen. If you leave now you will miss Trump’s upset win on Election Day.