All through the Obama administration, but particularly during the rescue of the economy from GW Bush’s catastrophic mismanagement, DailyKos was dominated by grossly false, doom laden attacks on the competence and morals of the administration. As noted by some, instead of calling for progressive finance reform, DailyKos and many other “progressive” sites focused on bitter accusations against Tim Geithner and Barack Obama. Now it turns out that one of the primary, much cited, sources for this material is a conduit for Russian government disinformation. Here’s an explanation from TNR.
One of the frequent reposters of Sorcha Faal stories is The European Union Times, a site the Southern Poverty Law Center found was registered to Jessica Nachtman, whose husband, Christopher, was identified as a racist skinhead gang member. (Jessica Nachtman told the SPLC she provides web hosting for a “European” she declined to identify.) Overseas, Sorcha Faal stories often land on the Bulgarian site Strogo Sekretno (Top Secret), published by Krassimir Ivandjiiski, whose son, Daniel, founded Zero Hedge, a website owned by a Bulgarian company that pushes right-wing conspiracy theories and publishes pro-Russia commentary originating in the West. This network of conspiracy sites repeats the same information so often that impressionable readers who stumble into it can leave thinking they’ve done their homework, said Emerson Brooking, a resident fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council, a think tank. “The effect on these people is they get enmeshed in these worlds of conspiracy theories, and it becomes harder and harder to make their way back out,” he said. [ bold added by CK]
“Enmeshed in these worlds of conspiracy”! Wow. You mean like in this 2009 DailyKos post titled “Breaking: FBI Arrest Opens Goldman-Sachs' Pandora's Box”
Up until about two weeks ago, Matt Taibbi's favorite Goldman Sachs' market observers, the folks over at the Zero Hedge blog, had been continually commenting over the past six-plus months about how Goldman had all but cornered the market on program trading within the NY Stock Exchange. (Program trading is the automated stock trading via computers by firms specially authorized by the NYSE to facilitate same.) Clearly, according to Zero Hedge publisher Tyler Durden, something was up.
Something was up! No kidding. But it didn’t occur to me at the time that what was up was a hostile government disinformation campaign (note the reference to Taibbi, another person with a connection to Russia, who just apologized for predicting Russia would not invade Ukraine and blaming it all on those Democrats). The doom was pervasive at the time and so much of it came from the same places. Consider this 2009 analysis which, incorrectly, predicted a very slow recovery:
Tonight, he's published a collaborative piece--they refer to it as an "analysis"--in conjunction with blogger Tyler Durden over at Zero Hedge, entitled: "The End Of The End Of The Recession."
Or consider this from 2010
It was only a matter of time before this was coming, but SIGTARP's big daddy watchdog Niel Barofsky has just released the most scathing critique of all against Tim Geithner (our beloved Wall Street/Bankers Lap Dog), and accuses him of (among other things), violations including data manipulation, lack of transparency, "Cruel" cynicism, and gross incompetence.
I mean, did Timmy actually think that no one was going to catch up with his continued down ward spiral plan, that has only one conclusion that anyone can realistically reach: that the only people he really works for are the same people that Ben Bernanke, works for? Wall Street and the Banks?
In reality, the SIGTARP report was mostly positive and Obama/Geithner rescued the economy despite Republican opposition and recovered TARP funds for the public, so where does this interpretation come from -oh Bulgaria!
More on the full scathing report here:
http://www.zerohedge.com/...
But, hey let's look on the bright side, the stock markets are doing great, and there were record Wall Street bonuses to be paid in 2008, 2009, and, now, in 2010.
Timothy Geithner has lost all credibility, and is in dereliction of his duties. He is an embarrassment to this nation, and if President Obama doesn't understand that by now, then I guess, in 2012, we'll be saying again: 'at least we didn't get John McCain,' only this time, with a little less glee, in understanding, that you had better sure as hell know, which side, your team is batting for if it all leads to the same: FRAUD TO COVER UP FRAUD.
Hey, on November 2nd, I'll be holding my nose, and voting Democrat, just like I've done for the past 42 years, but I'll tell you what, something better change, and change soon.
Well, yeah, Vlad Putin did want change.