Time Magazine Applauds "elite cabal" election conspiracy as "a good thing"

[BobRyan]

It seems that what you want is...
"–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

So you just quoted the NY Times article and said "I wanted it" -- is it your understanding that I am praising the methods of the so-called cabal as reported in the NY Times article?? You think I am applauding the work of the cabal??

 

[The Barbarian]

On the contrary I am objecting to the "control" of information with nothing left but spin-doctoring as the only thing "allowed" out when they "control" information and then manipulate laws and election policy

You just gave us an example showing that assumption is untrue.

If there had been such a cabal, your example wouldn't exist.

is it your understanding that I am praising the methods of the so-called cabal as reported in the NY Times article?? You think I am applauding the work of the cabal??

I notice you included an example of an independent news source that doesn't fit the sort of thing you see in NY Times. You pretty much undermined your own argument.

 

[BobRyan]

Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”
Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."
.

... I am objecting to the "control" of information with nothing left but spin-doctoring as the only thing "allowed" out when they "control" information and then manipulate laws and election policy -- as described in the the NY Times article where they claim success in what the secret cabal had stitched together

==================================

“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans

 

[The Barbarian]

“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,”

It's why Trump failed. He repeatedly attacked news organizations, in an attempt to cow them into submission. He even declared reporters and news sources as "enemies of the people" which is a common ploy used by would-be dictators.

The press remained uncontrolled by Trump and the extreme right, and this ultimately brought them down. And they learned from that.

In the future, their first attacks will be on the free press. And they'll try a lot harder to destroy freedom of information next go round.

 

[BobRyan]

“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans

It's why Trump failed.

Could be a big contributing factor.

 

[The Barbarian]

BobRyan said: ↑
“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans

It's why Trump failed. He repeatedly attacked news organizations, in an attempt to cow them into submission. He even declared reporters and news sources as "enemies of the people" which is a common ploy used by would-be dictators.

The press remained uncontrolled by Trump and the extreme right, and this ultimately brought them down. And they learned from that.

Could be a big contributing factor.

No "maybe" about it.

 

[BobRyan]

BobRyan said: ↑
“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans

Which was one of the key features of the so called "secret cabal" that the NY Times reported on regarding the 2020 elections (as noted in the OP)

Notice the detail in that article I just quoted
===================================
"The judge said the Supreme Court should overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, the 1964 case holding that when the media discusses public figures, the outlet should be liable under state defamation laws only if the plaintiffs can prove “actual malice,” which the Court defined as the speaker either knowing the statement was false or making it in “reckless disregard for the truth.”

“The First Amendment guarantees a free press to foster a vibrant trade in ideas. But a biased press can distort the marketplace,” Silberman concluded. “And when the media has proven its willingness—if not eagerness—to so distort, it is a profound mistake to stand by unjustified legal rules that serve only to enhance the press’ power.”

===============================

When confronted with that level of "abuse" exercised by the media - the one who says "then obey the media and they won't do that to you" is like the Police in Minneapolis saying "prepare to be robbed" and "obey the criminals"

Minneapolis police say to obey criminals and 'be prepared' to be robbed

That is a criminal-organization style of American politics I would just as soon not promote.

 

[The Barbarian]

When confronted with that level of "abuse" exercised by the media - the one who says "then obey the media and they won't do that to you" is like the Police in Minneapolis saying "prepare to be robbed" and "obey the criminals"

Yes, police often tell people that when they are faced with an armed robber, they should not resist them. Never heard of a police department that advised citizens to fight back against an armed robber. Probably for liability reasons, as resisting an armed robber is likely to leave one dead.

Claim

Minneapolis police advised residents to submit to robbers after the city defunded the police department.

Rating

Mixture
About this rating



What's True
Minneapolis police did initially advise residents in writing not to fight back in the event they are the victim of a robbery, although police later amended the advice, taking out the language about fighting back.


What's False
This advice was not given as the result of the city defunding the police department, as the police force is still operating. Also, the City Council voted to amend the city charter to replace the current police department. But the question must first be put to voters before it could go into effect.

 

[The Barbarian]

BobRyan said: ↑
“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.

It's why Trump failed. He repeatedly attacked news organizations, in an attempt to cow them into submission. He even declared reporters and news sources as "enemies of the people" which is a common ploy used by would-be dictators.

The press remained uncontrolled by Trump and the extreme right, and this ultimately brought them down. And they learned from that.

 

[BobRyan]

Yes, police often tell people that when they are faced with an armed robber, they should not resist them. Never heard of a police department that advised citizens to fight back against an armed robber.

June 26 - moves to defund police in Minneapolis
Minneapolis Council Moves To Defund Police, Establish 'Holistic' Public Safety Force

July 21
Nearly 200 officers are quitting Minneapolis police department

August 1 - Minneapolis residents sent email from Police Chief "prepare to be robbed" and "obey the criminals"


Nearly 200 officers are quitting Minneapolis police department

Never heard of Police promising to "fail" ahead of time either. Sounds like the actions of a Police department demoralized, under attack by city council and suffering the loss of hundreds in attrition.

And not simply "here is a tip if you just so happen run across a mugger"

 

[cow451]

This is a story of people working together to ensure our democracy was not compromised. Protecting people’s right to vote and countering a deliberate misinformation campaign aren’t nefarious activities. I’m proud of what everyone involved did.

I was beginning to wonder whether anyone posted had both actually read the article and also had English as a first language.

 

[cow451]

The article was good.

The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors. The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.

Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trump’s conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result. “The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation,” says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program.
​

So because a bi-partisan group cared about the US and democracy, and feared the actions/words of Trump will hurt the US, they worked "to ensuring it [the election] would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted".

Key statement: "The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding."

They wanted a free and fair election. They were not working to make sure Trump lost but that if he won or lost, it was fair and credible election, preserving democracy.

Good.

Ahhhh...... someone else read the article with comprehension!

 

[cow451]

Why would the left have a problem with checking into the machines..they wouldn't want to win an election unfairly would they?

Read my signature.

 

[BobRyan]

Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

Part of the outcome according to the article was "the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans." (obviously that sounds as "non-partisan" as it really is BTW)

If it were a communist country we would call that sort of thing "propaganda combined with rigging an election", good thing it is America where the only election interference we know of - is Russian tweets and blogs.

Where their so-called "secret cabal" working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

This is a story of people working together to ensure our democracy

“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans
==================

"Wrong" if "they" do it.

They worry that:
One of the horrific things that President Trump might do according to the left leaning group planning ahead for the 2020 elections was supposedly "restricting internet communications in the name of national security”.
The Left Secretly Preps for MAGA Violence After Election Day

Whew! Good thing "that" did not happen! (at least not to the left) We sure dodged a bullet there.

"Right" when "WE" do it.

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election
working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

It's why Trump failed.

Well at least it is one of them

 

[The Barbarian]

It's why Trump failed. He repeatedly attacked news organizations, in an attempt to cow them into submission. He even declared reporters and news sources as "enemies of the people" which is a common ploy used by would-be dictators.

The press remained uncontrolled by Trump and the extreme right, and this ultimately brought them down. And they learned from that. This the reason that they failed in their attempt to destroy our democracy.

Well at least it is one of them

 

[BobRyan]

The idea in 2024 is that the nonsense they tried in these statements below -- won't happen again.

Democratic senators warned of potential 'vote switching' by Dominion voting machines prior to 2020 election

Judge Rejects Democrats’ Claims of Voting Machine Irregularities

from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

"In a way, Trump was right.​

​

"There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes..."​

==========================================================

Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

Part of the outcome according to the article was "the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans." (obviously that sounds as "non-partisan" as it really is BTW)

If it were a communist country we would call that sort of thing "propaganda combined with rigging an election", good thing it is America where the only election interference we know of - is Russian tweets and blogs.

==================
“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans
==================

Ok so that's the bad news -- now how to slap lipstick on it??...

Well here is the next sentence.

Time added this: "They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it".
That's right my friends - America was being force-fed that medicine "for its own good" according to the left.

Time: "That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream"

And they claim this as a non-partisan effort that was needed to (in their words "to fend off President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud" (as Time put it)... when presumably some of the coordinated work of the secret cabal began to unfold and then be challenged as if there were "a conspiracy" at work.

Anyway it is nice they are officially confessing to the "secret good" they were doing behind the scenes.

Here is a good review of it:

Opinion: Time Magazine Details the 'Shadow Campaign' Against Trump

===============================
from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

"In a way, Trump was right.

"There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy."

"The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign..."

Trumps complaining about evidence appearing of a secret cabal/conspiracy during the election is apparently "an assault on democracy" when viewed from the left. Just part of "President Donald Trump’s anticipated claims of fraud" as the article put it.

No surprise then that opposing Trump looks like a "non-partisan effort" to the left.

Apparently coordinated opposition to one of the Presidential candidates during the election process is considered "non-partisan" if that candidate is not the Democratic candidate.

And just so we all know that "the left" is not limited to "the Biden campaign" the article makes this point.

"Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign "

=============================

Meanwhile: Democratic senators warned of potential 'vote switching' by Dominion voting machines prior to 2020 election

Judge Rejects Democrats’ Claims of Voting Machine Irregularities

I think any hint of a problem with the machines or the process should be looked into - so that both sides can agree to the accuracy even if both sides are not happy with the outcome. That is the whole point of having election monitoring from both parties given full and unrestricted access to vote process and where monitor's objections are treated seriously and respectfully.

 

[The Barbarian]

Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

In other words, democrats were working to get Biden elected.

And while there was also a pro-Trump cabal, including media such as Fox News and World News Daily, and the RNC, that was somehow O.K.

The post-mortem of the Trump cabal:
"We just didn't cheat hard enough."

Except for the Italian Space Election Satellites. No one expected those.

"No one expects the Italian Space Election Satellites!"

 

[BobRyan]

In other words, democrats were working to get Biden elected.

How? --

Did it include this?

The idea in 2024 is that the nonsense they tried in these statements below -- won't happen again.

Democratic senators warned of potential 'vote switching' by Dominion voting machines prior to 2020 election

Judge Rejects Democrats’ Claims of Voting Machine Irregularities

from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

"In a way, Trump was right.​

​

"There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes..."​

==========================================================

Time Magazine article: "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”

Time Magazine: 'Secret,' 'Well-funded Cabal' Worked to 'Protect' 2020 Election

Time reported this:
"though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."

Part of the outcome according to the article was "the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans." (obviously that sounds as "non-partisan" as it really is BTW)

==================
“It should be borne in mind that the first step taken by any potential authoritarian or dictatorial regime is to gain control of communications, particularly the delivery of news,” Silberman added, saying “it is fair to conclude, therefore, that one-party control of the press and media is a threat to a viable democracy.
from: Federal Judge Accuses New York Times, Washington Post of 'Shocking' Bias Against Republicans
==================

===============================
from: The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election

"In a way, Trump was right.

"There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day.

" Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy."

"The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign..."

"Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign "

Those claiming that Time Magazine is run by far right maga groups -- need to read a bit more.

 

[The Barbarian]

In other words, democrats were working to get Biden elected.

How? --

Getting their message out. Countering the far right media propaganda. I get it. Trump's people thought that voter suppression would be enough. It wasn't. And so Trump lost by a margin he once characterized as "a landslide."

In neither of his runs at president did he get a majority of voters to vote for him. He won't get that this time, either. Americans don't want him. That's the problem, not some imaginary grand conspiracy to steal the election. As Trump's own AG admitted, that story is false.