Anatomy Of a Conspiracy Theory

[SYZ]

Facebook has played a key role in the global spread of misinformation during the
pandemic. Here’s how an individual post can reach a global audience within days:

How misinformation travels on Facebook.

[Craig Kelly was a member of Australia's current Liberal government until he was
eased out (hehe) as a result of his loony tunes comments about the treatments
for coronavirus—which closely resemble Trump's early claims last year.  Kelly has
no formal qualifications in any medical field, and was a high school dropout. One
of the medical "experts" Kelly uses to support his absurd claims is a Bangladeshi
plastic surgeon!]

While our prime minister, Scott Morrison, refused for months to publicly reprimand
Kelly for spreading misinformation, Kelly’s popularity on Facebook has soared. Using
the platform, he's became a beacon for conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Some people need to have their digital devices taken away.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

We have the exact time, place and person for one conspiracy theory.

Sen. Gerald P. Nye was giving a speech to an America First crowd on Sunday, Dec. 7th, 1941. While he was speaking an aide put a note on his podium reporting the raid on Hawaii by Japan. Nye continued with his prepared speech. When he came off stage his aides confirmed the new. Nye's reaction was not at all surprising. "He must have tricked them!" No need to determine if FDR had actually "tricked them somehow", Nye knew the President had done it.

Nye was famous for his investigations into war profiteering in the munitions industry during WWI and the hilarious investigation into "British influence" into pro-Allied movies that failed when all the panel of Congressmen and Senator admitted they hadn't seen the movies under investigation.

[Minimalist]

One wonders how he did it in 1941 without Facebook?

Oh, yeah....   The German-American Bund.


https://untappedcities.com/2015/04/02/th...ll-exists/

The United States of the 1930s, as World War II loomed ahead, was a prolific era for radical movements. The third Madison Square Garden was packed to the gills for an anti-Nazi rally in 1937 and a pro-Nazi rally in 1939. But the latter was really the pinnacle of a more entrenched pro-Hitler community in the United States. One planned community in Yaphank, Long Island replete with an indoctrination camp amidst streets named after Hitler, Goering, and Goebbels, serves as a prime example of how the German-American Bund and German Settlement League managed to put forth a message in which American democracy and fascism could co-exist, something that Ryan Schaffer of the Department of History at Stony Brook University explores in an article for the Long Island History Journal. A special Long Island Railroad train, the “Camp Siegfried Special” even ran at 8am from Penn Station to Yaphank to bring guests to the site.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Edward R. Murrow said of that 1939 rally "There were more American flags than Americans."

For fun, watch "I was a Nazi for the FBI."

[Thumpalumpacus]

One wonders how he did it in 1941 without Facebook?

Oh, yeah....   The German-American Bund.


https://untappedcities.com/2015/04/02/th...ll-exists/

The United States of the 1930s, as World War II loomed ahead, was a prolific era for radical movements. The third Madison Square Garden was packed to the gills for an anti-Nazi rally in 1937 and a pro-Nazi rally in 1939. But the latter was really the pinnacle of a more entrenched pro-Hitler community in the United States. One planned community in Yaphank, Long Island replete with an indoctrination camp amidst streets named after Hitler, Goering, and Goebbels, serves as a prime example of how the German-American Bund and German Settlement League managed to put forth a message in which American democracy and fascism could co-exist, something that Ryan Schaffer of the Department of History at Stony Brook University explores in an article for the Long Island History Journal. A special Long Island Railroad train, the “Camp Siegfried Special” even ran at 8am from Penn Station to Yaphank to bring guests to the site.

I've been saying for a few years now that Trump's populism is not new, Trump's far-right crap is not new. We have these recurrent cycles in American history and we're in that swing right now.

[Dom]