The Russia Hacking Scandal Continues

Everyone who has watched mainstream media outlets even a little for the past six to eight months has repeatedly heard to exhaustion­­—with no credible evidence provided—that Russia hacked the elections in favor of Donald Trump, stealing the presidency from its rightful successor, Hillary Clinton. You heard about President Trump’s “explosive Russian dossier,” which, again, no reliable evidence has surfaced to pass any hardened skeptic’s standards of proof. You heard long lamentations from the mainstream media about how our democracy was infringed upon and that impeachment may be the only option necessary to correct the monumental scar the collusion inflicted on our population’s collective consciousness.

Evidence could still surface in the future proving all of these accusations true, and then—and only then—would it be necessary and proper to have a conversation about impeachment and correcting the issue in the future. The possibility of new evidence emerging is extremely unlikely due to recent events highly discrediting the hacking narrative and the mainstream media’s credibility in general.

New Evidence Against The Narrative Emerges

James O’Keefe, the controversial journalist and brainchild behind Project Veritas, released an exposé which recorded CNN commentator Van Jones in a private conversation calling the Russian hacking accusations a “nothingburger”. Another video emerged with CNN producer John Bonifield calling the narrative “mostly bullshit” for ratings and openly admitted that President Trump has the right to say he is being “witch hunted”. He went on to gawk at journalists who dare to use ethics in their reporting, calling it “adorable” and that the news business is, just that, a business, implying that money and ratings trumps the truth of the matter.

Maybe O’Keefe’s videos aren’t enough to convince you. Skepticism requires scrutinizing all sources, and in the interest of fairness, O’Keefe has been accused of selectively editing videos in the past, but the full context of what Van Jones said is present in the video. There’s no sly cut or dialogue left out before that quote. The camera rolls on, and the encounter was brief.

Further damnation of the mainstream media’s narrative occurred when the New York Times, which published the claim that 17 intelligence agencies agreed that Russia hacked the election, redacted that claim and reduced the number to 4. For many people, their only argument was the appeal to authority that the intelligence community had a consensus that Trump and Putin colluded together to steal the election and undermine democracy.

The Big Picture

Why did I write this piece? I wrote it because, despite all of the evidence coming forward that the mainstream media pumps out baseless assertions on purpose for ratings, people still relentlessly hold on to beliefs that aren’t supported by facts. People still believe the claims of the CIA and FBI, despite the fact they are known liars and are as incredible as a source could be. People still use #PutinsPuppet in their FB/Twitter posts.

I’m going to be frank; at this point, if you still believe that CNN is a reputable company after reviewing all of the new evidence, you’re at best willfully ignorant or at worst a partisan hack with an agenda. Reputable companies don’t keep employees who think ethics are “adorable” and useless. Reputable companies don’t threaten to dox private citizens for making memes that poke fun of those in power—even if they are shared by the President with the express intent of trolling the media establishment he so deeply hates. Reputable companies don’t lie to you on a daily basis and incite misinformation and violence for the sake of narrative control and keeping the masses ignorant.

What a wonderful time it is to be alive. We live in the epoch that saw the common man have the ability to share his ideas with the world unabridged and free. We live in the era of the internet, the greatest tool ever created for disseminating information between individuals and groups.

The emperor has no clothes, and courageous journalists and shitposters on the internet expose his nakedness for all the world to see.

The traditional gatekeepers no longer hold the keys to information and truth. We the People are the gatekeepers, which comes with the responsibility of being honest with ourselves and not radicalizing ourselves in pockets of self-confirmation and bias. How thrilling it is to find the information for ourselves and to combat, in real time, the lies and delusions of those who prey on the baser instincts of our nature.