American Politics 4.0 - Orangeyou Glad He’s Back?

[KelVarnsen]

Honest question for the mods.

I have Mel on ignore which works great but considering he is a troll and adds nothing why is he still here? Like don't we have rules?

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

Honest question for the mods.

I have Mel on ignore which works great but considering he is a troll and adds nothing why is he still here? Like don't we have rules?

I see Mel in the way I view Dino on the Crypto thread, I dont agree with either them on much but I think it is useful to get their point of view and they have both at times given me pause to consider something I would have missed otherwise

[Dion]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

They wouldn't but this thread is a cesspool of reactionary opinions, consipracy theories, fake news and people with degrees from the University of Left Wing Media.

Tread lightly.

You and your right wing MAGA friends should look in the mirror before you start accusing the left with conspiracy theories and fake news. One only has to think of Fox News and the propaganda they spew.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Dion

You and your right wing MAGA friends should look in the mirror before you start accusing the left with conspiracy theories and fake news. One only has to think of Fox News and the propaganda they spew.

Good you get it! The cesspool isn’t political.


The shame here and believe it or not that my side has taken a page out of the
Right.

I mean if the post about Elon hacking the election isn’t proof enough

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Good you get it! The cesspool isn’t political.


The shame here and believe it or not that my side has taken a page out of the
Right.

I mean if the post about Elon hacking the election isn’t proof enough

You should Google ‘reactionary’, smart guy.

If you didn’t spend your time in this thread just owning the libs maybe you wouldn’t get the responses you do. Throw in a good faith argument once in a while.

A few people saying a conspiracy to commit election fraud by Elon is someone plausible is a far cry from people going on a violent rampage at the Capitol on the word of the world’s biggest liar.

Cesspool. Lol

[GGG]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

You should Google ‘reactionary’, smart guy.

If you didn’t spend your time in this thread just owning the libs maybe you wouldn’t get the responses you do. Throw in a good faith argument once in a while.

A few people saying a conspiracy to commit election fraud by Elon is someone plausible is a far cry from people going on a violent rampage at the Capitol on the word of the world’s biggest liar.

Cesspool. Lol

Entertaining a conspiracy theory from a guy that says every election since 2004 has been hacked and presenting it as news worthy of discussion is not an acceptable level of scrutiny before sharing. Casting doubt without merit on the electoral process is dangerous.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

You should Google ‘reactionary’, smart guy.

If you didn’t spend your time in this thread just owning the libs maybe you wouldn’t get the responses you do. Throw in a good faith argument once in a while.

A few people saying a conspiracy to commit election fraud by Elon is someone plausible is a far cry from people going on a violent rampage at the Capitol on the word of the world’s biggest liar.

Cesspool. Lol

Hacking the US election is not plausible in any shape or form. Telling the truth isn’t owning anyone

[sarge]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Hacking the US election is not plausible in any shape or form. Telling the truth isn’t owning anyone

Yet another pathetic MAGAt 🤡!

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by GGG

Entertaining a conspiracy theory from a guy that says every election since 2004 has been hacked and presenting it as news worthy of discussion is not an acceptable level of scrutiny before sharing. Casting doubt without merit on the electoral process is dangerous.

I agree. It shouldn’t be given a sniff of legitimacy.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

I'd be more worried if i was named Alvin Bragg or Letitia James

Because they are black?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Hacking the US election is not plausible in any shape or form.

It actually is and foreign governments have been influencing elections around the globe for the past 20 years using cyberattacks and social media influence campaigns. The US elections have been very good at preventing and countering cyberattacks but have been dismal at identifying and countering influencing campaigns. The Russians have been very active for the past five elections, with the Chinese and Iranians really stepping up efforts in 2022 and 2024. Election interference is becoming a big problem globally.

https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023...l-engineering/

https://www.npr.org/2024/11/09/nx-s1...sia-china-iran

https://www.state.gov/briefings-fore...lign-influence

https://www.state.gov/briefings-fore...ence-community

https://www.cfr.org/article/chinas-g...ce-us-politics

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c86ljyv38vxo

https://blogs.microsoft.com/wp-conte...n-04172024.pdf

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-...2024/104252926

https://engineering.jhu.edu/news/nav...isinformation/

In the US, the feds and cybersecurity interests have been doing their best to try and warn election officials about this interference and how to better manage it. Unfortunately, they have pretty much failed.

https://www.cisecurity.org/insights/...al-engineering

https://www.fbi.gov/video-repository...83018.mp4/view

https://blog.knowbe4.com/a-look-at-e...al-engineering

All nations must get better at identifying and calling out possible bad actors trying to influence elections.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-wo...at-do-about-it

You would have to be ignorant not to recognize what is happening around us and accept that this is happening in real time. To suggest it isn't and hasn't played a role in recent outcomes, especially the growing social divide, is an example of either having your head up your ass, or just flat out trolling.

Telling the truth isn’t owning anyone

You haven't made a statement of truth in all the years you've trolled here.

[GGG]

We have not observed any foreign actors seeking to interfere in the conduct of the 2024 elections.

Hmmm, first link I picked.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by GGG

Hmmm, first link I picked.

Nice cherry picking of information and not understanding the context of the article.

For context, the article in question states the following"

"On Friday, September 6th, as we mark 60 days before the U.S. elections, experts from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) provide a summary of the current threat environment and what steps are being taken to ensure election integrity in the 2024 U.S. elections."

This is a discussion with ODNI officials, speaking to the election infrastructure, which would not actually be in place for another 30 days or more, depending on state and county, and the risks affecting the election. This is clearly stated in the ODNI's introduction.

"I’d like to start and note that we’re 60 days out from the election, and as we approach November, we observe IC – we observe foreign actors ramping up their election influence efforts.

In this update, we will discuss foreign election interference versus foreign election influence, and provide updates on the big three election influence actors. I’ll start with election interference versus influence. "

Then if you had presented the full passage you quoted, for context, that would have greatly changed what the ODNI official actually said.

"We have not observed any foreign actors seeking to interfere in the conduct of the 2024 elections. Nonetheless, this is a top priority in the IC, and our interagency election partners remain vigilant in case foreign actors change their approach. In particular, we are monitoring for any activities that could enable election interference, especially cyber or physical disruptions of election infrastructure."

And then if you would have included the passage that followed, establishing the how.

"Instead of interference, the IC assesses adversaries so far are focused on using information operations and propaganda to try to shape voter preferences or undermine confidence in the election. We continue to monitor efforts to cast doubt on the electoral process or claims that they have interfered in the process when they have not actually done so, a tactic known as perception hacking. "

Then the ODNI gets into the why.

"In addition, we’d note that reports of cyber espionage against election or campaign infrastructure do not necessarily mean that an actor is trying to affect the conduct of an election. Foreign actors sometimes use cyber tools to collect information that helps them tailor their influence messages to certain U.S. audiences, or embarrass or denigrate particular candidates through leaks. For example, we have seen foreign actors work to compromise political entities, and foreign actors – all key foreign actors have engaged in such efforts during this election cycle."

Then the money shot, where the ODNI speaks directly to the who.

"Now transitioning to the big three foreign influence actors, Russia, Iran, and China are all trying by some measure to exacerbate divisions in U.S. society for their own benefit, and see election periods as moments of vulnerability. These actors most likely judge that amplifying controversial issues and rhetoric that seeks to divide Americans can serve their interests by making the U.S. and its democratic system look weak, and by keeping the U.S. Government distracted with internal issues instead of pushing back on their hostile behavior globally.

Now moving to Iran, the IC assesses that Iran is making a greater effort than in the past to influence this year’s elections, even as its tactics and approaches are similar to prior cycles. Like Russia, Iran has a multi-pronged approach that looks to stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process. Tehran has also sought cyber access to individuals with direct ties to the presidential campaigns of both political parties, while elements have also denigrated the former president. Iran has a suite of tools at its disposal, as demonstrated in recent reports outlining Iran’s cyber operations, including the hack-and-leak operation against the former president’s campaign. Iran is also conducting covert social media operations using fake personas, and is using AI to help publish inauthentic news articles.

China, for its part, is focused on influencing down-ballot races. The IC continues to assess that China is not attempting to influence the presidential race. China is also continuing its longstanding efforts to build relationships with U.S. officials and entities at state and local levels because it perceives Washington as largely opposed to China. This view likely informs Beijing’s greater interest in some non-presidential races. The IC is aware of PRC attempts to influence U.S. down-ballot races by focusing on candidates it views as particularly threatening to core PRC security interests. China’s influence actors have also continued small-scale efforts in social media to engage U.S. audiences on divisive political issues, including protests about the Israel-Gaza conflict, and promote negative stories about both political parties."

And that was just one of the ODNI staff to speak. The whole discussion was to explain the risk environment and the steps the ODNI were taking to counter such actions. Their goal was to instill confidence in the system and speak to the actions they would be taking as the election infrastructure was kicked into gear and what they expected to see.

It's like you ignored the context and body of the article and picked that one passage that said what you wanted it to say - again, out of context - to score points. Such a weird behavior. Such a weird person.

[GGG]

No it was a classic Lanny Link bomb where you present a whole bunch of information that if you actually read it you find it doesn’t support the discussion ongoing and is designed to overwhelm people. You don’t bother to make a consxose point and put all the onus the reader to infer your argument. It’s bull####

The IC – the U.S. Intelligence Community – reserves the term “election interference” for efforts to degrade or disrupt the United States’s ability to hold an election. This is separate from election influence, which has been the focus of our updates so far. We define election influence as efforts to shape election outcomes or undermine democratic processes.

You seem to be conflating interference and influence and intentionally misinterpreting the term hacking being used by Mel and the original author of the cyber security paper.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Because they are black?

Just brillant! No because you could make a case they abused their position for political purposes.

Incompentence doesn't know skin color but alas i keep forgetting my audience.

[MelBridgeman]

Ya, Lanny’s posts are below my pay grade—classic strawman.

There are significant differences between hacking, irregularities, fraud, and using social media to influence people’s opinions.

That said, questioning the legitimacy of a close election is important. Given the decentralization of the US election system and its highly partisan nature, it’s mathematically likely that some form of fraud occurs. In close races at the county level, it could potentially swing the outcome in one direction or another, but it’s highly unlikely to distort the overall outcome of the election as a whole.

And every close election there is a litany of people who try and mostly fail but that shouldn't be seen as a bad thing. It's not about overturning it it's about keeping the system honest. Now my comment doesn't apply to what Trump did in 2021, Trump dioes things and/or the legacy media gives you the perception that he does things on a completely different level, which is mostly true.

[BowRiverBruinsRule]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Ya Lanny posts are below my pay grade. Classic strawman.

Loser.

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by BowRiverBruinsRule

Loser.

Thanks for the contribution! Very Trumpy to through out names at people. Some of you are the person you hate lol

[BowRiverBruinsRule]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Thanks for the contribution!

You are welcome. All you deserve.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by MelBridgeman

Thanks for the contribution! Very Trumpy to through out names at people. Some of you are the person you hate lol

It’s true, Trump is the only person in the whole world who calls people names. Great insight you “through” out there. Something to think about for sure.