The Sit Down and Shut Up Award and Other Realities*

[merrily]

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In a way, this post is about a chair and an award. However, it really is about us (the left). So, before I go further, I need to make some observations about the left/us that may not be popular.

Admittedly, this is a broad generalization, but please bear with me. The right does a lot of long-range, systematic planning, plotting and "fail-safe-ing," while the left tends to expect people to be good and things to go as they should. When expectations don't manifest, the left sometimes goes into laser-focused, reactive mode. On such occasions, we could do with more of taking a breath, stepping back and assessing the situation and the big picture. Twice. And, in general, we could do with more short-term and long-range planning. Lots. I freely admit that I am among the members of the left who are most in need of this advice.

Second, those on the right excel at framing and manipulation. In the short-term, we need to avoid buying into, and being constricted by, their framing. They don't have a right to chose the which game we'll be playing and which field we will be playing it on, and then restrict us to playing defense. In the long-term, we need to best the right at both framing and choosing the playing field--if we should play at all.

Third, when very young, I heard an expression from an older person that has stayed with me, even if I have not lived it: "Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see." As an adult in 2016, I don't recommend believing even half of what we see.

Now that I have alienated everyone whom I love, I will get to the (drum roll) lifted chair debacle.

A. Was the "chair lifter" an actual supporter of Bernie? Are the people making the threats actually even supporters of Bernie? How can we tell?

Whatever the chair lifter did or did not do, who knows if he is even a Bernie supporter? The Hillary campaign (including PACs) has used a number of different false flag ops. An early one that hit the news was fake Twitter and facebook fans, something I thought no candidate would risk after Newt Gingrich got outed for hiring facebook "likers." Another op, one that Brock announced, is a million dollars worth (at least) of pro-Hillary internet trolls.

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A third false flag operation is one that some of us spotted as early as 2014. A phalanx of fake Bernie supporters, aka Bernie Butters,™ would mechanically announce "I support Bernie Sanders, but...." Then, the poseurs would criticize Bernie or defend or praise Hillary. They never criticized Hillary. They rarely, if ever, complimented or praised Bernie. Or, they might compliment Bernie on one vaguely-worded category. Then, at some point, one of more of them would find some lame reason why he or she simply could "no longer support Bernie," such as the data breach (as if Bernie had been at the computer). Later, one or more would find that he or she just could not continue to support Bernie because of--wait for it--the behavior on Twitter of his supporters, the Obama boys Bernie Bros. It was like dominoes.

When outed for having faked their support for Bernie, they would lash out and flail. Meanwhile, in each instance, the true supporters of Sanders would have been goaded and provoked, which would invariably go unmentioned. This pattern/op, now known as #BernieLostMe, has appeared on message boards, in social media and in the press. I have, however, never once encountered it among people I know "in real life."

So, with all the false flag operations that we know about, is it really far-fetched to wonder if someone may have hired people, perhaps actors, to disrupt in person?

B. When a new story erupts and consumes media oxygen (and therefore the attention of the general public), we need to notice which news stories our attention is being diverted AWAY from.

C. We (the left) either need to learn media or raise enough money to hire someone knowledgeable.

D. We need to find some way to discourage media from disseminating one side of a story.

This would have been the non-event that it should have been, had it not been for media breathlessly and incessantly reporting Lange's version of events as though it were (a) the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; (b) VERY important; and (c) conclusive proof of the one-sided, misandryist and utterly bogus Obama boys Bernie Bros propaganda that media has been catapulting. [url]http://www.npr.org/sections/ombudsman/2016/05/18/478579787/fact-checking-nprs-reports-on-vegas-violence[/url]

Does establishment media collude with the political establishment? I believe it does. Either way, however, establishment media is disserving the country. For its precipitous, inaccurate, inflammatory and possibly collusive coverage, media richly deserve a Sit Down And Shut Up Award.

*Some of you may have seen this post elsewhere, but it's here as well for those who have not.