Althouse: Hacking the Fox News Twitter feed, tweeting a false report of presidential assassination.

July 4, 2011

Hacking the Fox News Twitter feed, tweeting a false report of presidential assassination.

"We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the United States. In such a time of madness, there’s light at the end of tunnel."

63 comments:

Fred4Pres said...: The hackers reveal more about themselves than about Fox News. They are scumbags (the hackers).; 7/4/11, 4:20 PM
themightypuck said...: If only the had done this before Weinergate.; 7/4/11, 4:34 PM
Rose said...: It's funny, I had just stumbled across some of the diatribes written in the aftermath of the Gifford's shooting. the screams and howls, the blaming of sarah Palin, and the magnifying glass on every word that even suggested "violence." Each and every time, they blame the right, and it turns out to be the left - and here, there is silence. No one will forensically examine this act. There will be no blooming of rage from the left.

This fills me with rage, however, because I see it it overlaid with Nancy Pelosi trotting out the tears, weeping in mock fear of the right, and the nightmare we survived in the aftermath of Loughner's insanity.

It isn't just fun and games. If you are on the left, hang your heads in shame if you do not condemn this more forcefully than anything we saw after AZ.

It's time for this to end.; 7/4/11, 4:37 PM
edutcher said...: And it's kind of doubtful, given past performance, that they will turn out to be any flavor of Conservative.

Apolitical (techie jerks with no agenda but to show how cool they are), maybe, but far more likely to be Lefties.

And, of course, what motive?

Energize someone? The base?

PS OT: While we may speculate on the hacker's ID, interesting to see DSK has another accuser, unlikely to be slimed by the media, filing charges.; 7/4/11, 4:49 PM
AllenS said...: We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the United States. In such a time of madness, there’s light at the end of tunnel.

Nobody, and I mean nobody wants that fucking idiot Biden as the POTUS. Nobody.; 7/4/11, 4:49 PM
PaulV said...: the definition of a gaffe from urban dictionary is a Biden.; 7/4/11, 4:57 PM
Wince said...: Anybody get a screenshot or cache of the original NYT headline and lead paragraph before it was changed that, as I remember, kind of raised doubt whether the Fox News Twitter site was actually hacked?; 7/4/11, 5:02 PM
Alex said...: This is about attacking Fox News and energizing the left for 2012. They are making their intentions very clear. Every dirty trick in the book will be used without reservation or hesitation. No mercy will be shown to conservatives.; 7/4/11, 5:03 PM
Lucius said...: Projection, projection. Assasination is the collective, masochistic wet dream of the progressive Left.

Obsessive apocalypticism. The cult of martyrs (JFK, MLK, Malcolm X, RFK) whose deaths can be used as a scapegoat for the death of their 60s radical "Dream", instead of the sheer impracticability of their inchoate agenda.

Fantasizing about Obama's death (under the projective terms of the fantasy that the Right wants to assasinate him) may be their subconscious way of 'rescuing' his agenda. If he were dead, the failure would be laid at the feet of evil, heartless, demoniac Bitterclingers instead of at his own, Carter-lite, feet.; 7/4/11, 5:03 PM
Alex said...: Speaking of left-wing wet dreams:

Death of a President is a 2006 British high concept motion picture about the fictional assassination of George W. Bush

Sick and not condemned by a single left-wing blogger.; 7/4/11, 5:05 PM
Wince said...: Looking at my history, the original NYT headline said "Apparently Hacked..." before being changed to "Fox News Twitter Account Sent Out Alarming Posts," which I guess doesn't exactly rule out Fox News authoriship.

I suppose hope springs eternal at the NYT.; 7/4/11, 5:07 PM
garage mahal said...: Hacked? LOL

That's what they all say!

At least that's what Anthony Weiner said.; 7/4/11, 5:16 PM
ricpic said...: It would calm me down considerably if Joe were to wear his old fraternity sweater at his swearing in.; 7/4/11, 5:17 PM
Carol_Herman said...: You know, to "twitter" ... I thought you just did a funny little laugh.

Now, I'm told you do it with a cell phone. (But I don't have a cell phone. I have a land line. And, it's connected to an answering machine ... where I ask people who call to leave a message.)

Today, I learned from you that you "twitter" without a problem. One sentence at a time.

So, back to this here story. Someone "hacked" the "twitter" line of Fox news ... and said that before November 2012 ... Biden will become president.

Gosh, it sounds like a tale right out of Dallas. I remember it well. I couldn't believe it. But, then I heard Walter Cronkite's announcement.

Maybe, since Drudge is running a headline that the NY Governor, Andrew Coumo, Jr., will replace Biden on the democratic ticket ... Maybe, it's Biden who gets shoved under the bus, ahead of time?

Imagine if JFK had only thought about that!; 7/4/11, 5:24 PM
d-day said...: From the story:

The false Twitter posts about Mr. Obama seemed even more provocative because Fox News is widely perceived to be a voice of opposition to the Obama administration.

Seemed provocative to who?

Passive construction = agenda-driven reporting. It's only provocative if you think ideological reporting makes them somehow culpable.

The only minds that would draw that conclusion are those incapable of grasping the difference between holding conservative beliefs and being balls-out frigging crazy.; 7/4/11, 5:26 PM
Wince said...: Is that the difference between Twitter and the NYT?

The NYT can change the shit they make up?; 7/4/11, 5:29 PM
rhhardin said...: It sounds like a lefty deal.

They have the motive and the morals.; 7/4/11, 5:43 PM
Anonymous said...: I think that "Bite Me" is behind this. Very inappropriate.; 7/4/11, 6:05 PM
A. Shmendrik said...: If Joe Biden ever became President, the markets worldwide would shit instantaneously.

A piece of faux news like this could be completely doubted right from the first instant you saw it. Then, in every moment thereafter in which you didn't find pure mayhem in the other channels of media, rushing to cover such a supposed thing. File this as so unbelievable on its face that it fails to ignite any form of controversy. A good hoax has to have at least several continuous seconds of being believable.; 7/4/11, 6:10 PM
james said...: why not just add this to DSK's chamber maid's list of transgressions. a bit of politics shaping the commenters' reality. get a grip, you're better than this,; 7/4/11, 6:12 PM
ndspinelli said...: Hookers for Hackers..please donate.; 7/4/11, 6:24 PM
Mike aka Proof said...: One of the hackers interviewed said:
"Fox News was selected because we figured their security would be just as much of a joke as their reporting,” said the Script Kiddies representative."

Sounds like a leftie to me.; 7/4/11, 6:30 PM
damikesc said...: You know, at this point, I'd have few qualms with a HARSH crackdown by the FBI and CIA on hackers. Screw the lot of them. Accidentally beat their heads when arresting them.; 7/4/11, 7:04 PM
george said...: Biden would not be any worse than Obama in any way. What could he do that hasn't already been done? Nationalize the health care industry? Spend us into oblivion? Make gaffe after gaffe and generally be unable to put a coherent thought together on any subject without the aid of a teleprompter? Been there and done that.

I am still amazed at how much even conservatives buy into the myth that Obama is anything other than an idiot. And "idiot" is the best case scenario because the only alternative would be to think that he hates the US and wants to see it destroyed.; 7/4/11, 7:11 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: How did Twitter become, like, the center of the universe?; 7/4/11, 7:25 PM
virgil xenophon said...: Crack/

Left a note for you about music back at the hospice end-of-life thread..; 7/4/11, 8:04 PM
Anonymous said...: True lulz!

Only the most serious of topicks are able to deliver the most serious of lulz.

But don't blame the hackers... Really, you shouldn't! You should blame FOX News for the insecurity of the e-mail account tied to their official twitter feed:

In a statement Monday afternoon, Twitter indicated that its own servers had not been broken into; instead, the e-mail account associated with the specific Twitter feed had been compromised, and from there the hacker or hackers had been able to gain access.

Stupid people with no appreciation for security provided the hacking opportunities that were exploited.

But then there is the amount of stupid on display in this thread here-- all the conservative brain hamsters spinning contorted logic to turn this into a Republican campaign advantage. Work it, you con-men, work it!!!; 7/4/11, 8:06 PM
Anonymous said...: damikesc wrote...

Accidentally beat their heads when arresting them.

Hey-- that could be the campaign slogan for 2012 Team Republican.; 7/4/11, 8:08 PM
Carol_Herman said...: What does "lulz" stand for? Does it have any meaning?; 7/4/11, 8:14 PM
Fred4Pres said...: No mercy will be shown to conservatives.

Hence the reason most of us are armed and ready. Fortunately, most libtards could not catch a trout in a U-Fish pond, let alone seriously threaten us.; 7/4/11, 8:15 PM
Palladian said...: "What does "lulz" stand for? Does it have any meaning?"

Yes, it means "I'm a complete asshole and you may safely ignore the rest of my comment."

"Umm..." used at the beginning of comments generally has the same meaning.; 7/4/11, 8:22 PM
Chef Mojo said...: Hackers should be treated as the horse thieves and cattle rustlers of our age; when caught and convicted, they should be hung from the nearest tree.

I'm dead serious. When so many lives are on the line, and at the mercy of hackers, their potential for causing death and destruction is limitless.

Hacking has gone way past the idea of charming eccentricity and into the realm of vicious assault and attempted murder, if not outright murder.

There was a very good reason horse thieves and cattle rustlers were hung by their necks until dead. Hackers deserve no less.; 7/4/11, 8:31 PM
Chef Mojo said...: @Dead Julius:

Fuck you with a baseball bat, freak. Hackers are scum. The romance wore off long ago. They aren't the Robin Hoods of the net. More like the Che Guevaras of the net; murderous, vicious losers who should end up dead in Bolivia for all I care.

Again, I'm dead serious. Hackers should be treated as the pirates in the 16th to 19th centuries. Outlaws, suitable only for the gibbet. Let the crows peck out their eyes.; 7/4/11, 8:38 PM
Opus One Media said...: it would be, of course, as close to accuracy as faux noise ever got...so let it be...give them credit for being inventive if nothing else.; 7/4/11, 8:50 PM
Methadras said...: Leftard Hacktivism at its worst. Twitter? Really? That's where you go to try and shame Fox to prove how uber-cool (stupid) you are? Hey Twithack moron, who are you trying to impress?; 7/4/11, 9:02 PM
Methadras said...: The Crack Emcee said...

How did Twitter become, like, the center of the Moronverse?

When celebs started infiltrating it, then all of their sycophants followed because then they became literally 1 step away from them. As if they were best friends who followed them.; 7/4/11, 9:03 PM
Winston Smith Rides Again said...: Tragic.; 7/4/11, 9:07 PM
vnjagvet said...: it would be, of course, as close to accuracy as faux noise ever got...so let it be...give them credit for being inventive if nothing else.

You just aren't watching CNN or MSNBC my friend. Their opinion shows are every bit as slanted towards your perspective as Fox is towards mine.

Which of he Fox newscasters do you think slants the news?; 7/4/11, 9:10 PM
David said...: HD! You called Fox News "Faux Noise." Did you make that up? It's so sophisticated and clever.; 7/4/11, 9:25 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Biden would not be any worse than Obama in any way. What could he do that hasn't already been done? Nationalize the health care industry? Spend us into oblivion? Make gaffe after gaffe and generally be unable to put a coherent thought together on any subject without the aid of a teleprompter?"

No, Biden probably couldn't be any worse than Obama has been, but if you're under the impression Obama has nationalized the health care industry--or ever will or ever intended to--you're as deluded or misinformed as all the mouth-breathing Fox News watchers. It's also hilarious to see so many try to make a "thing" out of Obama supposedly being unable to speak without a teleprompter, when he has demonstrated he very ably can, while Bush seemed, when speaking extemporaneously or even sometimes with his teleprompter, to be suffering serious cognitive injury. (Pssst...a little secret...all Presidents use teleprompters when making major speeches.)

No, Obama is terrible, to be sure. He is extending the Bush/Cheney agenda of American imperial wars, greater authoritarianism and loss of civil liberties domestically, and the redistribution of wealth from the (diminishing) working public to the richest minority of citizens and to the slavering hyenas who stink up boardrooms of the banks and Wall Street.

No, Biden couldn't be worse.; 7/4/11, 9:30 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Had any folksingers visit recently, House?; 7/4/11, 9:39 PM
Fen said...: Robert Cook, socialist America-hater who questions Bachmann's intelligence while simultaneously insisting a nuclear armed Iran is not a threat to anyone.

Consider the source.; 7/4/11, 9:40 PM
edutcher said...: HDHouse said...

it would be, of course, as close to accuracy as faux noise ever got...so let it be...give them credit for being inventive if nothing else.

Oh, HD is just so witty. He learned it by watching Keith Ubermoronn.

Robert Cook said...

No, Biden probably couldn't be any worse than Obama has been, but if you're under the impression Obama has nationalized the health care industry--or ever will or ever intended to--you're as deluded or misinformed as all the mouth-breathing Fox News watchers.

The people at the Daily Worker all know the latest epithets. They're just that superior.

It's also hilarious to see so many try to make a "thing" out of Obama supposedly being unable to speak without a teleprompter, when he has demonstrated he very ably can,

Which case of, "Um, er, uh...", does he mean?

Was it telling us they speak Austrian in Vienna, or that the Navy personnel attached to the Marines are "corpsemen"?

while Bush seemed, when speaking extemporaneously or even sometimes with his teleprompter, to be suffering serious cognitive injury.

Yet everyone understood him perfectly.

No, Obama is terrible, to be sure. He is extending the Bush/Cheney agenda of American imperial wars, greater authoritarianism and loss of civil liberties domestically, and the redistribution of wealth from the (diminishing) working public to the richest minority of citizens and to the slavering hyenas who stink up boardrooms of the banks and Wall Street.

Spoken like a true Commie, although please note people like Cook never turn down their money when trying to gain more power.

Cook just hasn't gotten his cut.

PS After weeks of hiding out after being serially humiliated, the trolls come out to try to spoil everyone's holiday.

It's about all they're good for.; 7/4/11, 9:43 PM
Robert Cook said...: "Robert Cook, socialist America-hater (sic) who...insist(s) a nuclear armed Iran is not a threat to anyone."

"Consider the source."

Indeed. You have demonstrated that you are either dishonest or dumb. Or could you be both?; 7/4/11, 9:58 PM
Clyde said...: The light at the end of the tunnel is January 20th, 2013.

Live long and prosper, Mr. Obama. Back in Chicago.; 7/4/11, 9:59 PM
GMay said...: Is HDHouse taking time off from trolling/blogwhoring in the WSJ comments section, or was he banned?; 7/4/11, 11:07 PM
Eric said...: The great thing about this is everybody, left or right, is going to be horrified. For the left: "Obama assassinated". For the right: "President Biden".; 7/4/11, 11:51 PM
Fen said...: "Robert Cook, socialist America-hater (sic) who...insist(s) a nuclear armed Iran is not a threat to anyone. Consider the source."

Robert Cook: Indeed. You have demonstrated that you are either dishonest or dumb. Or could you be both?

How have I been dishonest?

1) You have defined yourself as a socialist.

2) You have consistently bashed America at every turn.

3) You have claimed (in the Bachmann thread) that you don't consider a nuclear armed Iran to be a threat to anyone.

Show me where I have lied about you.; 7/5/11, 1:39 AM
Fen said...: oh yes, the pricless part:

Robert Cook: Indeed. You have demonstrated that you are either dishonest or dumb. Or (sic) could you be both?; 7/5/11, 1:43 AM
Revenant said...: While I don't approve of hacking and hope the perps get caught and prosecuted... this WAS pretty funny.; 7/5/11, 2:52 AM
Robert Cook said...: "1) You have defined yourself as a socialist."

No, I have not. You have drawn that inference, but I have never said I was a socialist.

"2) You have consistently bashed America at every turn."

I criticize our government's behavior and policies where they violate the law, the Constitution, our stated commitment to freedom, justice, due process of law, transparency, etc., or even just simple standards of humane behavior. That is every citizen's duty, as citizens should not be cheerleaders.

"3) You have claimed (in the Bachmann thread) that you don't consider a nuclear armed Iran to be a threat to anyone."

I said that that as more nations acquire nukes it is worse and more dangerous for the world overall; I don't consider Iran to have demonstrated it would be more dangerous, in particular, than any other country that already has nukes, if it acquired them, or that they would start launching nukes at other nations, for fear of their immediate retaliatory annihilation. Can you show this is not so? This is not at all what you state that I mean. This does not mean I think their having nukes would not increase the peril to the world overall of there one day being a nuclear accident or exchange between mutually hostile neighboring nuke nations.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt: you're just dumb.; 7/5/11, 5:43 AM
Fen said...: Robert Cook: "The Iranian government may be authoritarian, but they are rational, and assuming they ever developed nukes, they are not going to start launching them at other nations, as that would invite upon themselves retaliatory annihilation."

Definition of "dumb": belief that the leadership in Iran is rational. Or that they care about any retaliatory strike from within their bunkers. This is what comes from droppping suicide bombers from the language.

And I'm graciously ignoring your total ignorance of Iran's history of attacking via proxy. Because you DO know about it. You choose to be dishonest.

Robert Cook: "American is a far more belligerent and aggressive nation than Iran,"

Right. This is you "criticizing our government's behavior and policies where they violate the law".; 7/5/11, 6:46 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Robert Cook: 'American is a far more belligerent and aggressive nation than Iran,'

Right. This is you 'criticizing our government's behavior and policies where they violate the law'."

No, that is me stating a fact.; 7/5/11, 6:49 AM
Lincolntf said...: When you get the likes of Robert Cook plainly stating that they believe Iran is morally superior to the freest, most benificent nation in human history, you know you've reached the bottom of the barrel. Go, Bobby, stand up against those mean Americans who have made every single thing you have ever had or ever done in your life possible. We'll keep carrying you on our backs, it's what we do.; 7/5/11, 7:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Fen,

Are you actually criticizing someone for questioning Bachmann's intelligence? The woman is not exactly the brightest bulb in the box. I had always questioned her smarts, but I had no idea just how far her stupidity extended until she made the comment about the value of the dollar.

She's an idiot...who went to a shitty, shitty law school. She also has apparently never read the Constitution, if you look at her comments about that as well.; 7/5/11, 7:04 AM
Robert Cook said...: "When you get the likes of Robert Cook plainly stating that they believe Iran is morally superior to the freest, most benificent nation in human history...."

Hahahahahaha!

Another person who reads "A" and perceives "Z. It's no wonder the comments on this site so often read like a Bizarro world Art Linkletter Kids Say The Darnedest Things routine.; 7/5/11, 7:48 AM
Lincolntf said...: Oh please, Cookie, I've read your sophomoric whines more than enough to recognize you for what you are. A moral and intellectual coward with a childish need to rebel, who chooses the safest possible target, his fellow Americans to protest against. Because you know they will just shrug and let you get away with it. A weakling by every measure.; 7/5/11, 7:52 AM
Toad Trend said...: I know of no non-liberal/progressive that would even think about doing anything such as this. Non-liberal/progressive types value honesty and fair play.

As dreadful as this administration has been, I would never wish ill health or worse on this president or vice-president. Many Americans made a foolish mistake in the 2008 election, and I believe it is up to those who believe in American exceptionalism (not Robert Cook-style self-flagellation) to energize those who put this man in the white house and see their mistake.

What we have is essentially a punisher-in-chief who believes America is the problem and not the solution, in its simplest terms.

Is America perfect? No, and that isn't the point!

But its people value freedom that is earned through hard work and opportunity, not the mistaken belief that outcomes can be ensured for all.

People are not bricks, they are more like stones - individually different, and should be treated as such and allowed to find their unique fit in this world.; 7/5/11, 8:31 AM
Fen said...: Ren: I had no idea just how far her stupidity extended until she made the comment about the value of the dollar... She also has apparently never read the Constitution

False. And you need to back that up with something more than feebleminded assertion. The "stupid/evil" meme no longer works.; 7/5/11, 3:53 PM
jeff said...: faux noise.
I have trouble reading license tag abbreviations and text messages consisting of incorrectly spelled words. So every time I see a brainiac throw out the faux noise thing, it takes me a second since I read it as it is actually pronounced. However, it does serve as a indication to disregard anything else contained in the same statement. So there is that.; 7/5/11, 9:38 PM
jeff said...: "I had no idea just how far her stupidity extended until she made the comment about the value of the dollar."

Perhaps she is under the impression that flooding the economy with tons of freshly printed dollars tend to devalue the existing dollars in circulation. It would help if you would explain why that would have no effect.; 7/5/11, 9:42 PM
jeff said...: Ah, I see. I just went to a Think Progress web site about how stupid Bachmann is. In the comments they go forever about how smart and how good of a president Carter was. Ok then.; 7/5/11, 9:54 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/5/11, 11:47 PM