January 15, 2019

"... your clearest signal for fake new[s]."

67 comments:

JPS said...

Does Max by chance have a list of other people who may be Russian agents?

Limited blogger said...

Trump should make Scott his communications director

Limited blogger said...

If you don't know, Scott Adam's response to a 'laundry list' is "give me your most persuasive/best argument". You then debunk that, and you are done. Debunking a laundry list one by one is fruitless.

Tank said...

I prosecuted a foreclosure case once where one of the points in my trial brief was The Defendant have 100 Defenses, meaning they had no defense but were just throwing sh** against the wall. The Judge loved and quoted it in his decision.

doctrev said...

Russian agents keep crossing into this country. In 1976, sleeper agents were infiltrated into the United States with the express ambition of starting a coup against the elected American President. One of those agents? "Макс БутG."

He's been found out!

Bay Area Guy said...

Did Max Boot forget that the Berlin Wall came crumbling down 30 years ago? That West and East Germany reunited? That the Soviet Union is no more?

The guy is beyond clueless living in a fantasyland.

Meade said...

"Does Max by chance have a list of other people who may be Russian agents?"

FOUL! That would be #Whataboutobamaandclintonism.

MikeR said...

Scott Adams misspelled "news". Obviously not qualified to be President.

Molly said...

(eaglebeak)

Max Boot = dumb as a neocon, dumb as a Never Trumper, dumb as a post.

Professional lady said...

I've always tried to keep my briefs and arguments concise and persuasive by concentrating on the one or two (ok, maybe three) strongest arguments. Cluttering up a brief or argument with a bunch of weak theories is not persuasive. You wind up just annoying the reader/listener that they have to wade through/listen to all that garbage. They can also take it as no confidence in your good arguments.

MikeR said...

One reason why Trump cannot be a Russian sleeper agent: Fracking.
Fracking is doing more damage to Russia's economy than any good things Boot can possibly imagine. It isn't even close.

Lucid-Ideas said...

"Trump should make Scott his communications director"

Scott could provide responses to the DC press corps using Dilbert cartoons. +100 This MUST happen.

Gary Larsen's Far Side would also be interesting, but not funny. DC is so weird Far Side cartoon responses would hit too close to home.

rehajm said...

Some of them aren't even arguments, just people's names.

Gk1 said...

It would be amusing to see how Glenn Greenwald would react to this list. It is so over the top hysterical its like they aren't even trying to be persuasive any more. It's like blurting out "Halliburton!" during the Bush years like that was some sort of self contained argument.

ga6 said...

Max is a Russian Americans

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

CNN = Clinton News.

Anonymous said...

JPS said...
Does Max by chance have a list of other people who may be Russian agents?


It really is getting to this point. and the FBI seems to be behaving as though J Edgar is back.

I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.

- Joseph R. McCarthy

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's not fake if you're desperate to believe it.

Two-eyed Jack said...

I say defend against the "asked Russia to hack Hillary" charge every time it is brought up. This keeps showing up. It is on video, so people can see it for themselves. It is Boot, et al's, "geometric logic" argument. Attack that until they are ready to drop it from their lists.

buwaya said...

As below, I have said this a hundred times over.

It does not matter how stupid it is.
They can manufacture material out of nothing if they have to.
They can feed anything into their machine.

What matters is that they own the machine.

Francisco D said...

CNN = Never much of a news network, but increasingly an entertainment network.

"Professional" journalists must be proud.

It seems that the same SJWs that destroyed my field (psychology) have done the same for journalism.

Original Mike said...

"Blogger JPS said..."Does Max by chance have a list of other people who may be Russian agents?"

Yeah, he has it there n his hand...

Two-eyed Jack said...

Buwaya, I would say that you are fundamentally right. The problem (for proponents of civil discourse) with propaganda messages is that they are effective precisely in their lack of nuance, disregard for larger perspective, and sheer relentlessness. The best that can be done within that framing is
(1) a mirror-image propaganda campaign that seeks to bolster one's supporters against the larger propaganda flow from the other side (2) an exploitation of wedge issues to turn the opposition against itself (3) a delegitimization of the other side's institutions of control.

I support the slogan "Nay, nay, nay! The Fake News Media is the friend of the people!"

buwaya said...

"It seems that the same SJWs that destroyed my field (psychology) have done the same for journalism."

Journalism has always been a political field.
From its first days, of the first regularly published journals.
Karl Marx was a journalist after all.

There was nothing to destroy.
The only problem is that the venues have become a near-monopoly.
There is no profusion of papers each pushing a point of view. There is just the one monolithic MSM, with its only alternative a few small outliers and a subversive samizdat.

Mike Sylwester said...

In its application for a FISA warrant, the FBI declared that Carter Page knowingly engages in clandestine intelligence activities for Russia. The FBI said so in 2016, but now we are in 2019.

Even though Page's clandestine intelligence activities are known by the FBI, Page continues to travel around freely and to participate in radio and television interviews. Tonight while I was driving home from work, I heard Page talking on the Sean Hannity radio show.

When will the FBI follow through on its accusations and charge Page for his crimes?

The FBI should at least confiscate Page's passport, to prevent him from traveling back and forth between the USA and Russia to continue conducting his clandestine intelligence activities.

Skeptical Voter said...

Put a sock in it Max. Time to go home and suck your thumb.

BarrySanders20 said...

Blogger MikeR said...
One reason why Trump cannot be a Russian sleeper agent: Fracking.
Fracking is doing more damage to Russia's economy than any good things Boot can possibly imagine. It isn't even close.

And in the spirit of listing arguments by strongest first, if you had to list a second, it is Trump's insistence that NATO allies start taking their own defense seriously. Who believes Putin is pleased that European countries will be spending way more on arms and strengthening their militaries?

You have to be a moron to believe Trump is acting for, at the behest of, or in cahoots with, Putin.

Cahootin with Putin ain't computin.

fivewheels said...

"It's like blurting out "Halliburton!" during the Bush years like that was some sort of self contained argument."

"Fox News!"

The left believes in several reverse-Godwins. As if just uttering the words means you win the argument.

Gk1 said...

Wasn't it George Costanza of Seinfeld that said "Just remember Jerry, It's not a lie if you believe it."

Henry said...

"It's like blurting out "Halliburton!" during the Bush years like that was some sort of self contained argument."

I always think of Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon yelling "ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA! ATTICA!"

Big Mike said...

And two reasons why Max Boot is mentally deficient:

(1) In keeping his promises to push fracking and complete the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines Trump has cost the Russian economy billions of dollars and literally hundreds of millions of dollars in hard currency from Putin’s own wallet.

(2) if Trump really was a Russian asset, why would he need to publically ask for Russian help in recovering Hillary Clinton’s emails? Couldn’t he just ask his contact?

Good thing for him that Max isn’t in IT. Those of us who are (were, in my case) good at that job learn to question our assumptions and ask ourselves how our ideas can be wrong.

If Max Boot was intelligent — yes, I know that I have already ruled that out — he would realize that “Russia, if you’re listening” occurred long after Hillary was no longer the Secretary of State. He was pointing out that her entire electronic message traffic was almost certainly in Russian hands (and Chinese, and U.K., and Mossad) because her server was pretty much unsecured. Shocking as it may seem to Max Boot, the message traffic of the US Secretary of State is a high value intelligence target, and an unsecured server is trivial to hack.

Big Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Oh Yea said...

Just one day after leaving office as governor, John Kasich has signed with CNN to be a commentator.

buwaya said...

Boot was an OK writer.
"Savage Wars of Peace" is pretty good.
Perceptive. If you are going to have a Pax Americana then this is what you need to do.
Or if you are going to have a Pax of any kind.

I don't think this was done by a ghostwriter.

But that is not an argument of the sort he is making now. I suspect he is cashing in.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Even though Page's clandestine intelligence activities are known by the FBI, Page continues to travel around freely and to participate in radio and television interviews. Tonight while I was driving home from work, I heard Page talking on the Sean Hannity radio show. ”

Except that while the FBI was drafting their first FISA application to electronically surveillance Page, he was making several offers to the FBI to come in and talk to them about what was going on. And, of course, he had been a cooperating witness for the FBI into the spring of 2016. The FBI knew well who Page was, because he had testified for them in a number of cases over the previous four or so years. Hard to believe, with a straight face, that he was engaging in clandestine intelligence activities.

gilbar said...

Oh Yea said...
Just one day after leaving office as governor, John Kasich has signed with CNN to be a commentator.

I honestly thought this was a joke!
I honestly thought that the scum would wait a decent interval (maybe 48 hours?) before quitting to pretend to be someone that some people thought might have once sort of been something comparable to a thing kinda of like a republican. I was wrong

elkh1 said...

Poor Max, has a fatal case of TDS. Reopen Bedlam and let him be president there.

Yancey Ward said...

The people who claimed Trump could never win, especially the ones that called themselves Republicans, have been broken mentally. You see it all the time now- they will cavort on television with people who literally thought they were scum just 3 years ago. They are like dogs that roll around in their own shit piles- how much self-respect do you have to lose in order to, as a self-described conservative, go on CNN and perform like a show poodle for people who despise you? That is what Kasich, Boot, and Kristol are these days- kept and fed show poodles for the Left. A more ignoble state I cannot imagine.

narciso said...

Max is Russian, quite nearly the same age as me, I would be skeptical about that regime, although even the yeltsin regime was less than met the eye, not so much a Siberian Weimar, but more the typical maskirovna,

buwaya said...

"They are like dogs that roll around in their own shit piles"

Money is a hell of a drug.

JaimeRoberto said...

I've got about 145 million reasons why Hillary may be a Russian agent and another 500K why Bill might be too.

tomaig said...

It is Boot, et al's, "geometric logic" argument.

He should have been rolling steel balls in one hand while he was laying out his "18 reasons"...

tcrosse said...

John Kasich has signed with CNN to be a commentator.

Although his face is perfect for radio.

Darrell said...

Katshit on CNN.

Has a ring to it. . .

Earnest Prole said...

Please tell me "Max Boot" is an old Mad Magazine parody of some kind and not a real, live human being existing today.

rcocean said...

These Boots are made for lyin'

Drago said...

MikeR: "One reason why Trump cannot be a Russian sleeper agent: Fracking."

You cannot reason people, like sad little gadfly, out of positions they did not reason themselves into.

chillblaine said...

Yeti Comes In a proven winner, four and one half hitless seasons, no wins unfortunately. Maybe next time. No cryin' en beisbol.

Freeman Hunt said...

They have him by their geometric logic.

chillblaine said...

Matt Checks In for real and for all time. L'Chaim.

tim in vermont said...

Blogger Freeman Hunt said...
They have him by their geometric logic


But they will never get the strarwbury ice cream back. Trump took a double scoop!

tim in vermont said...


Blogger Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
It's not fake if you're desperate to believe it.


Snort! LOL!

Michael said...

Read buwaya carefully. We are past the point where the ridiculous is dismissed out of hand. The universities and the press have cleared the path for inanities to be swallowed by the ascendant and aspirational classes. And acted upon. There are endless examples. And now grown people believing with their whole hearts and minds that Trump is a tool of the Russians. Just. Like. That.

Charlotte Allen said...

Has anyone noticed that Max Boot is starting to look like a Russian asset? He's starting to look like Khrushchev.

Jason said...

He reminds me of Chuckhead on pecan pies.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Why doesn't this loser stick to drawing boring cartoons of flat-faced fluffers in cubicles? How did he suddenly get to appoint himself the expert of everything?

The only thing Dilbert ever convinced anyone of was how keyed in to boring Scott Adams was.

Static Ping said...

He's not wrong. A debate trick is to pile on so many arguments that the other side cannot bat them all down in the time allotted and if they try they do not get to present their arguments. It's even better if the pile of arguments is full of garbage as large piles of garbage give the illusion of strength when there is no strength. It works nicely for television when you have 5-10 minutes to digest it all, and it even works to some extent in written form as who has the time to beat down a dozen arguments and, more importantly, who has the time to read it.

You will see trolls do it from time to time, but that usually takes too much effort.

narciso said...

Dogbert is very perceptive about scientistic narratives.

chickelit said...

Who gives a flying fuck what Max Boot thinks? He's a failing Russian intellect. He probably admires Solzhenitsyn. And Solzhenitsyn would have despised Trump's materialism. But Trump has much more in common with Solzhenitsyn in foreign policy than Boot does and Boot probably realizes that.

Tough shit, Boot. Go back to Berkeley and write columns.

buwaya said...

Solzhenitsyn would have despised the depraved nomenklatura that hates Trump.

Solzhenitsyn would not have got on well with the likes of Boot.

Have a look at his Harvard address, of 1978. That analysis was of 1978. Imagine then a Solzhenitsyn unleased on the decadent mess of today, degenerated so horribly from its condition in 1978.

What he would have made of Trump - we can only speculate. But Trump is in style and affect a very "Russian" figure, and his aspect of Samson in the Temple would have appealed to Solzhenitsyn, a very old-testament sort.

narciso said...

Soltzenitsyn from my review of the first two volumes of the red wheel, certainly saw the cardinal error in pre revolutionary society was of the lack of a very efficient figure like stolypin and the sluggish deepstate.

buwaya said...

Boot is not a Russian really. He is a Russian Jew ethnically. There is quite a difference, both historically and culturally. And he came to the US at age 6 or 7, so whatever there ever was of Russia still in him is from his parents.

If you want to explain his motivations, I think you are best advised to trace his funding.

narciso said...

Possibly, we can guess a few possible influential donors. The hysteria is a bit much even in ths post Marcos era there was not an analog I imagine

chickelit said...

Boot is not a Russian really. He is a Russian Jew ethnically. There is quite a difference, both historically and culturally. And he came to the US at age 6 or 7, so whatever there ever was of Russia still in him is from his parents.

Don't underestimate an immigrant parent(s)' influence on a child. I presume that you came here on your own. My wife came here via Dutch parents as a toddler. She is a Dutch/American cultural chimera. Fascinating.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Sowing chaos, a Russian objective... Yeah, CNN claimed that, because it takes Democrat party journOListers to have that kind of chutzpah, venality, and lack of self awareness.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

1. Trump is a Russian agent.
2. ?????????
3. Profit!

Lewis Wetzel said...

"How did he suddenly get to appoint himself the expert of everything?"
He predicted a Trump victory.
How did you get to appoint yourself the expert of everything, Ritmo?