July 9, 2018

"MSNBC Does Not Merely Permit Fabrications Against Democratic Party Critics. It Encourages and Rewards Them."

Writes Glenn Greenwald:
During the 2016 primary and general election campaigns, various MSNBC hosts were openly campaigning for Hillary Clinton. One of the network’s programs featured Malcolm Nance (pictured, above), whose background is quite sketchy but who is presented by the cable network (and now by NBC News) as an “intelligence expert” and former intelligence officer for the U.S. Navy.

On August 20, 2016, weekend host Joy Reid asked Nance about the supposed “affinity” for Russia harbored by Jill Stein supporters. In response, Nance told MSNBC viewers: “Jill Stein has a show on Russia Today."...

Jill Stein did not have a show on RT, nor did she ever host a show on RT. What Nance said was made up out of whole cloth – fabricated – in order to encourage MSNBC viewers to believe that Stein, one of the candidates running against Clinton, was a paid agent of the Kremlin and was an employee of RT....

To date – almost two years later – neither NBC News nor MSNBC, nor a single journalist who works for either one of those media outlets – has corrected this significant falsehood, despite obviously knowing that it was broadcast to their viewers....

Worse, not only was Nance never sanctioned in any way for the lie he told, but he was rewarded: he has since gone from “MSNBC Contributor” to “MSNBC intelligence analyst,” is far more pervasive on that network, and its hosts have spent the month aggressively promoting his new book on how Putin is destroying U.S. democracy.

68 comments:

David Begley said...

Every morning - for about 30 seconds - I watch Morning Joe. Mika just spits out her hate for Trump daily. Nominal Republican Joe (who is shacked up with her) laughs and intones his daily outrage. Those two deserve each other. Truly horrible and sick people. New York’s finest! The best and the brightest. The toast of the town. Puke.

rhhardin said...

made up out of whole cloth – fabricated –

False etymology. L fabricare, to make, construct, build. e.g. German Fabrik, factory.

David Begley said...

Mika needs a VSteam of her mouth.

rehajm said...

In this scenario Joy Reid is the neutral party. It reeks of a Cintonesque deflection.

Mike Sylwester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike Sylwester said...

The CIA has a bizarre obsession about the RT television network. Long discussions about RT have been featured in the reports that the US Government has published about Russian meddling in the USA's elections.

It's obvious that the CIA has spent much manpower, money, time and effort studying the RT television network.

I speculate that the CIA has decided that RT exerts political influence not only by broadcasting programs in the USA but also by providing money to selected politicians in the USA.

In particular, RT paid Michael Flynn and Jill Stein rather large amounts of money to appear and speak at an RT event in Moscow during 2016. At this event, Flynn and Stein also sat at the same table as Vladimir Putin.

I vaguely remember reading some insinuation that Flynn was involved with some Russian women while attending that RT event.

The CIA seems to think that Putin uses RT as a very important agent of influence in the USA's politics.

My name goes here. said...

Forget it Jake, it's MSNBC.

Mike Sylwester said...

The August 20, 2016, broadcast of Joy Reid's show was watched by at least 10,000 people.

tim in vermont said...

I thought that Jill Stein had a show on Russia Today until I read this article. I think that Glenn Greenwald is an economic ignoramus, but he has it right on this whole Russian thing. It’s all out of the Hillary campaign. She would rather bang the war drums against a fellow great power (what could go wrong?) than accept the results of an election.

jaydub said...

I don't know why anyone would watch political commentary on MSNBC or CNN and expect to get an honest presentation. But then, I also don't know why anyone would watch MSNBC or CNN at all.

Michael K said...

It's obvious that the CIA has spent much manpower, money, time and effort studying the RT television network.

The CIA probably employs a third of its employees to read foreign language newspapers or watch foreign language TV.

It's what they do.

tim in vermont said...

The CIA seems to think that Putin uses RT as a very important agent of influence in the USA’s politics.

What about the Guardian, which had their readers calling voters in Ohio to try to influence the election against Bush? Oh that’s right, doesn’t count! Just like Facebook helping Obama with user data was never a problem!

It’s like I always say, the only thing most people can accurately judge is whether it’s their ox being gored, and that’s all that matters to most people.

MayBee said...

Glenn Greenwald is interesting.

Right now, I'm trying to look through his twitter timeline to see if he and empty wheel have interacted recently. She thinks Russia bought the election, or something. She went to the FBI about a source and- believe it or not- is being praised by the WaPo for it. She's kooky, but Greenwald published her book theorizing that Dick Cheney outed Valerie Place.

Mike Sylwester said...

Malcolm Nance is a rather serious person, and so I doubt that he concocted his statement about Jill Stein.

It's likely that Nance's statement is based on information from the CIA, which studies the RT television network with a bizarre intensity.

When the US Intelligence Community published on January 6, 2017, its preposterous report about Russian meddling in the USA's 2016 election, a huge portion of the report described RT news programming in much detail. This part of the report revealed that the CIA expends significant resources -- manpower, money and time -- watching and analyzing RT news broadcasts.

For example, the CIA found that RT broadcast shows that criticized fracking in the USA's petroleum industry and found that these broadcasts into the USA were intended to affect our Presidential election and to ruin Americans' faith in Democracy.

In this situation, it's a safe bet that the CIA has recorded many RT shows in which Jill Stein herself criticized fracking.

RT has some special relationship with Stein, which is why she was invited and paid to attend an event in Moscow in 2016. During that event, she sat at the same table with Donald Trump's adviser Michael Flynn and also with Trump's fellow colluder Vladimir Putin.

The CIA surely has studied RT's involvement with Stein and Flynn.

----

In my previous comment at 7:27, I meant to write:

I vaguely remember reading some insinuation that Flynn was involved with some Russian woman ... -- not women.

Ralph L said...

At least with Russia Today you know who's behind it.

Who is the Roger Ailes of MSNBC?

FIDO said...

But Inga will claim that ignoring such drivel shows a lack of intelligence.

Do you want to be uninformed or misinformed?

If I don't know which way to go, I have a one in four chance of going the right way (NEWS)

If I listen to MSNBC or Inga, I will be lead in the wrong direction with 100% certainty.

But I suppose it's possible to embrace the Althousian view: That if she listens to MSNBC, as least she has eliminated ONE direction (Rachael Maddow's) so at least she is at one direction in three.

My doctor, however, has encouraged a low bile diet.

tim in vermont said...

She thinks Russia bought the election, or something.

I read that piece in the WaPo, and it doesn’t seem like she has anything, but more like she got caught up in the dancing plague, err, I mean the whole Trump/Russia mass hysteria and so has justified selling out a source.

Sebastian said...

"Worse, not only was Nance never sanctioned in any way for the lie he told, but he was rewarded: he has since gone from “MSNBC Contributor” to “MSNBC intelligence analyst,”"

I appreciate Greenwald trying to be an honest prog and calling BS on his fellow progs and all, but isn't outright fabrication the defining element of prog "intelligence"?

I mean, even Peter Strzok realized there was no there there in the Mueller witch hunt. Of course, he knew better than anyone that the "collusion" itself was a fabrication, since the FBI and CIA had to use "confidential informants" to try and pin something, anything, on Trump campaign people. The fact that they had to sic Halper on someone as peripheral as Papadopoulos, and could only get a last-minute FISA on Page, tells you how desperate they were.

But at this point the slow rollout of the deep-state evidence and the prog freakout over Russia aren't so much about Hill or "the attack on American democracy" but about a massive CYA for the blatant attack by the American government on an American political campaign.

tim in vermont said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
MayBee said...

This is an interesting tweet from Greenwald:
Glenn Greenwald

Verified account

@ggreenwald
16h16 hours ago
More
Glenn Greenwald Retweeted Polygraph
This is a US-government-funded and controlled "news outlet" blatantly lying about what I said, fabricating quotes of mine, and claiming I "voiced support for the government of Russia" when I did no such thing. The US is drowning in propaganda like this:

@PolygraphInfo
Follow Follow @PolygraphInfo
More
A reporter who never trusts "any government" & an LGBT activist voicing support for the government of Russia that criminalized “public expression of non-traditional sexual relations, manifested in a public demonstration of personal perverted sexual preferences in public places.”

-----
Apparently Polygraph is/was part of Voice of America. Which totally doesn't "meddle" in other country's elections via media.

DanTheMan said...

If what he says is true, Glenn Greenwald is a Russian agent.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Neat. Now magnify that by some large factor and understand what right wing political advocates have to deal with.

I mean it's almost like the Media as a whole is terribly biased and uses "news" reporting to favor one party and one political side or something.

But it's uniquely bad and should get publicity when that bias hurts the hard/far Left--is that the premise here?

tim in vermont said...

I loved the IM from Strzok where he expressed his glee at have a “pretext” (his word) to interview Carter Page.

Craig said...

Well, this isn't surprising. Ann Althouse's cherished cruel neutrality proves, once again, to be a fraud. There's nothing but Trump Derangement Syndrome Derangement Syndrome to explain how this howler -- "What Nance said was made up out of whole cloth – fabricated – in order to encourage MSNBC viewers to believe that Stein, one of the candidates running against Clinton, was a paid agent of the Kremlin and was an employee of RT" -- made it past Althouse without objection.

(Well, there's also the standard, "As you age, you become more conservative." That's a totally plausible way to understand what goes on around here.)

tim in vermont said...

made it past Althouse without objection.

Here’s your big chance to explain why she got it wrong. Your chance to catch her out in a big mistake! Go for it!

MayBee said...

Tim in vermont:
I read that piece in the WaPo, and it doesn’t seem like she has anything, but more like she got caught up in the dancing plague, err, I mean the whole Trump/Russia mass hysteria and so has justified selling out a source.

Yeah.
We know she has a fertile imagination from the Valerie Plame stuff she did. And we know she is solidly left. She wrote a piece on her website sayingt she won't look perfect (she's not a hero!!) if everything comes out, but of course said no more and her commenters told her she's a hero.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

MSNBC and CNN are both arms to The Party.

Clyde said...

MSNBC the dishonesty.

tim in vermont said...

What would be great., Craig, if you could show that Stein, whom I believe to be an idiot, BtW, took more money from Putin than Hillary. But then again, you probably believe Hillary to be the “high priced spread” and worth it.

David Begley said...

CNN put on TV a guy who has a very shaky record to accuse Jim Jordan knowing about sex abuse of the wrestling team at Ohio State.

Never once mentioned it. I guess the porn star's lawyer wasn't available.

narciso said...

Remember msnbc was bin Laden's favorite channel till they fired oberman

Chuck said...

Glenn Greenwald is frequently disagreeable to me. But he's rarely wrong.

Now, can anybody tell me who's worse; Malcolm Nance or Sebastian Gorka?

narciso said...

Malcolm name knows nothing has incited attacks against trump oversees.

gilbar said...

Please help me out Craig; What part of this 'howler' is the problem?
Is any part of it untrue? (the regular meaning of 'howler'_
Or, is it that it is So True that it makes you howl in pain?

Inquiring minds need to know; How is it a howler? ( Here's your change to unload)

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Well step on up Craig; if you're not just some loudmouth I'm sure you'll be happy to educate this group of old idiots and let us know exactly why Greenwald's assertion (that there's no basis for calling Stein a paid employee of RT with her own show on that network) is such an obvious howler.

Here, I did my best to help you out: ThinkProgress: The Pro-Kremlin Talking Points of the Jill Stein Campaign and Vanity Fair: Washington's Russia Circus Comes for Jill Stein

Now do either of these Leftist Media hits on Stein assert anywhere that Stein had a show on RT or received any money from RT? No, they don't.
Here's the strongest case they can make:
To be sure, Stein received a wealth of support from the Kremlin propaganda channel RT. Not only was her campaign, as NBC noted, “heavily promoted by RT,” but she opted to participate in the 2016 Green Party presidential debate, broadcast on RT.

Of course, Stein’s most prominent moment during the presidential campaign came via RT – and through an intersection of the Trump campaign’s relationship with Russia. In late 2015, Stein memorably joined Michael Flynn – who recently pled guilty for lying about his interactions with Russian officials – and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow at a gala celebrating the ten-year anniversary of RT.

Do either of those equal "having a show on RT?" No, no they don't.

The absolute best case you could make would be to argue that Nance's statement should be understood metaphorically--to mean only that Stein received a lot of support from RT and so much attention there that it was as though she had her own show--but that's incredibly weak given the context of the assertion (that Stein was directly working with and/or received financial support from/colluded with Russia using RT).

Anyway since we're all so ignorant I join others in asking for you to set us straight Craig.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Chuck said...Now, can anybody tell me who's worse; Malcolm Nance or Sebastian Gorka?

Is it possible to give a more perfect example of whataboutism? I am not sure it is--well done Chuck.

SGT Ted said...

Crap like this and etc. is why I don't much care when Trump haters whine about Trump telling lies.

n.n said...

Multiple independent -- not "independent" -- sources or it's a political myth.

Francisco D said...

"This part of the report revealed that the CIA expends significant resources -- manpower, money and time -- watching and analyzing RT news broadcasts.

That reminds me of the old joke about Gus Hall and the CPUSA. They were so thoroughly infiltrated by the FBI, CIA and various branches of military intelligence that, if they quit paying dues, the CPUSA would collapse.

robother said...

Now Jonathon Chait has a lengthy piece in Hew York magazine, proving that Trump has been a Russian agent since 1987. It's like he scanned a John Birch Society article from 1954 and globally changed a few names and dates. Even the graphics of the conspiracy are right out of the mid 50s.

Big Mike said...

The CIA seems to think that Putin uses RT as a very important agent of influence in the USA's politics.

Back before I retired and the wife and I moved out here to the Shenandoah Valley we could get RT as a free channel over our antenna. We liked to watch it because there was a lot less propaganda being pushed than you would get on NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, and, especially, Gwen Ifill on PBS.

Rick said...

The CIA seems to think that Putin uses RT as a very important agent of influence in the USA's politics.

Russia has always supported the Green Party and movement because it keeps down oil production increasing prices. Russia is the largest oil exporter in the world.

Notice that getting help from Russia isn't a concern for any of the shrinking violets though.

narciso said...

The intelligence assessment was like a,promotional brochure for rt.

Michael K said...

Craig

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Another troll.

Gk1 said...

I had asked a liberal pal to send his most compelling evidence that Trump was a russian "asset" or mole and he couldn't come up with anything other than speculative pieces about russian real estate deals from the late 90's followed by wishcasting that Trump's tax returns would spill the beans. That's it? Denial just ain't a river in Egypt, baby.

Ray - SoCal said...

Russian propaganda technique is have lot of truth, and a little dis-information.

The headache is figuring out what is what.

I would compare RT to Voice Of America (VOA)

Or Al Jazeera

The Russian government is using RT for their own purposes.

RT is a Goliath, and VOA a Pygmy.

It’s sad that RT is seen as being less biased than CNN and msnbc. It just shows how biased the msm is.

buwaya said...

RT is a government owned news service. Most countries have one, or several.
Even "democratic" countries.

Besides the UK, founding the trend with the BBC, Germany, France, Italy, etc and etc. all have them. Even Mexico.

All are intended to "spin" news in favor of government policy. Most aren't accused of interfering in US politics, though all regularly comment on it, expressing opinions.

Michael K said...

It’s sad that RT is seen as being less biased than CNN and msnbc. It just shows how biased the msm is.

I get my US news from British paper web sites.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Clintons grasp for power. GOP needs to shove Clinton Corruption front and center in 2018 mid-terms.

buwaya said...

A better comparison for RT is the BBC.

All of these national broadcasters with foreign services were modelled on the BBC.
And the BBC always, also, put out straight news, selectively choosing stories to cover and ignoring others, and it put out disinformation as well. It still does.

What distinguishes them is what side they are on. Unlike in, say, 1936-45, or 1945-91, this is a very messy business, in a world with many "sides".

Jupiter said...

I am old enough to remember when the Russians were the Soviets, and openly stated their hostility to our government. They funded a wide variety of anti-government ideologies in the US, hoping to destroy us from within. That was when Ted Kennedy knowingly colluded with Soviets, hoping to prevent Reagan's election. The Democrats were OK with the Soviets. "Peaceful coexistence", they all chanted. No Nukes!

Now the Soviet Union is gone, Russia is just one more shithole with a tyrannical kleptocracy, and suddenly the Democrats are worried about Russian subversion. What most Democrats don't seem to realize is that the modern Democratic Party consists in large part of groups pushing ideologies that began life as Soviet disinformation schemes. The Democratic Party is exactly what the Soviets had in mind when they talked about destroying us from within.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Crap like this and etc. is why I don't much care when Trump haters whine about Trump telling lies.

Every politician lies as part of the game. They stand for things they don't really believe and believe things that they won't ever say. BUT the Press is supposed to be, through layers of editors and fact checkers, a trusted source of information. They have eroded their trust through sloppy reporting, anonymous sources and outright fabrication, not to mention the ethical problems of many individual reporters and their close ties to the DNC-Media complex. Cable "news" is the Weekly World News or National Inquirer of the broadcast world, where anything goes, and the only goal is to throw enough smoke and shit to dirty up whomever they can. I've been relying on OAN news channel for a while because ALL the other cable news has transitioned to preporting and opinion, with nary a fact to be heard.

I want to know WHAT is happening here and in the world. Fox News can't get past NYC and DC (unless there's a storm in Florida of course). What else BESIDES POLITICS is happening in the world? That's what I want. Just news. Just facts.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Notice that getting help from Russia isn't a concern for any of the shrinking violets though.

The Soviets (i.e. Russians) have always funded anti-American protests and are heavily invested in environmentalist organizations, continually run commercials and programming slamming fracking, Arctic exploration, pipeline building and exporting natural gas. It's what they do. Of course they also donate and agitate for Black Lives Matter, Occupy (whatever) and unions, who have traditionally reciprocated by pushing Soviet policies on Americans.

Almost everybody on the Left is aligned with and funded by the Kremlin. And they are still trying to sell Trump as a stooge. LOL.

robother said...

"What else BESIDES POLITICS is happening in the world? That's what I want. Just news. Just facts."

You can't handle the facts. Media literally mediates the world's trillion facts, deciding which facts fit into narratives that are more or less consciously political. A newspaper was conceived as a factory, whose main product was consent, manufactured consent of the governed for policies of an enlightened elite.

Televised reality, without comment, even of a natural or man-made disaster, would quickly become tedious. We need a human take, even if only to react against.

Anonymous said...

"Malcolm Nance is a rather serious person, and so I doubt that he concocted his statement about Jill Stein. ..."

Malcolm Nance is a well know load of shit
https://sofrep.com/103975/a-matter-of-honor-the-fiction-of-malcolm-nance/

Jim at said...

I couldn't find MSNBC on my cable line-up if I tried.
Now that I think about it, same with CNN and FOX.

Who needs it?

Robert Cook said...

"For example, the CIA found that RT broadcast shows that criticized fracking in the USA's petroleum industry and found that these broadcasts into the USA were intended to affect our Presidential election and to ruin Americans' faith in Democracy.

Criticize fracking?! Heaven forfend! There's no justification for common sense to be presented on a newscast!

Also, isn't all journalism intended to affect political opinions and decisions in one way or another?

Robert Cook said...

"Russian propaganda technique is have lot of truth, and a little dis-information."

Whereas the American propaganda technique is to have a lot of disinformation and a little truth.

Jim at said...

And whether or not Jill Stein had a show on RT is immaterial.

We should thank Jill Stein. And we should thank Jill Stein voters. Especially in swing states like Wisconsin.

For without those voters - throwing away theirs votes on a loon like Stein - Donald Trump wouldn't be President today.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

We should thank Jill Stein.

And Sanders. While Stein was an outlier, Sanders was affirmatively denied Democrat representation, thus disenfranchising his supporters. And NYT, WaPo, CNN, PBS et al who more than anyone else -- excluding the DNC and Clinton principals -- made it happen.

buwaya said...

"Whereas the American propaganda technique is to have a lot of disinformation and a little truth."

Not quite. The main propaganda technique anywhere is selection of truth. Make much of what serves your interests, suppress or ignore what does not. That was and still is the main US MSM technique. Disinformation was always used sparingly.

Granted, the party line followed by the US MSM these days involves a great deal more disinformation.

rehajm said...

A nickel for all the if not for ‘X’ Donald Trump would not be President scenarios.

What bilge.

Ray - SoCal said...

>Whereas the American propaganda technique is to have a lot of disinformation and a
>little truth.

Question is what is American?

Government? Sorry - the US Government, i.e. CIA, is not competent enough to do propaganda against other countries, much less our own people.

What Rhodes did to sell the Iran Deal with his Media Echo chamber - WOW!!! That was impressive. A lot of how the Obama administration got the MSM to go along with the story, buried bad news, etc. was amazing, but so was their incestuous relationship. Note Rhodes Brother is the head of CBS News, and there were a lot more such relationships between the Obama administration and the MSM.

Trump - It's a shame the only time you have push back against a narrative by the MSM is when you have a GOP President, the current situation I view as a demolition derby.

I agree with Buwaya, a lot of what the MSM does is selective coverage. I'm amazed at how many scandals under Obama were swept away.

n.n said...

the party line followed by the US MSM these days involves a great deal more disinformation

They are Pro-Choice with a politically congruent twist. The modulus changes, but the modus operandi remains the same, thus the calculus, some may say conspiracy of journolism that makes information difficult to discern.

n.n said...

how many scandals under Obama were swept away

Even pridefully celebrated and projected. Case in point the refugee crises that became a call for immigration reform (after Planned Parenthood) in lieu of emigration reform (before social justice).

Sam L. said...

I can remember when Glenn usetawas a liberal!

Mike Street Station said...

Nance also claimed that the Podesta emails were "obvious forgeries." He never tried to prove the claim and it was just one of many inaccurate claims made by the man.

https://mikestreetstation.wordpress.com/2017/03/10/who-watches-the-intelligence-experts/