The bullsh*t non-news story of the day is “Russia celebrated Trump’s election”.
This non-revelation story started with the Washington Post, then spread to NBC News, The Hill, and MarketWatch.
The story is loaded with innuendo and irony, so let’s investigate.
- Washington Post: U.S. intercepts capture senior Russian officials celebrating Trump win
- NBC News: Top Russians Celebrated When Trump Won, Intel Report Says: Source
- MarketWatch: Russian officials celebrated Trump’s win, U.S. ID’s WikiLeaks sources: reports
- The Hill: US caught Russian officials cheering Trump win: report
Of the four, The Hill at least has an excuse. The Hill’s business model is to take any political news, no matter how ridiculous, the retweet the same story, multiple times over the course of the day, typically with hyped up headlines.
Why NBC or MarketWatch would repost trash from the Washington Post is a mystery.
Non-Shocking Celebration
The Washington Post made this amusing claim: “The ebullient reaction among high-ranking Russian officials — including some who U.S. officials believe had knowledge of the country’s cyber campaign to interfere in the U.S. election — contributed to the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow’s efforts were aimed at least in part at helping Trump win the White House.”
Given that Trump was more favorable to Russia than Clinton, it would have been shocking if Russia did not celebrate Trump’s win.
Somehow, the mindless editors at the Washington Post could not figure this out. Worse yet, and arguably more likely, they did not care.
The Washington Post article concluded with “Russia also used social media and ‘fake news’ platforms as an ‘accelerant’ to try to boost Trump and undermine Clinton, the second official said.”
No one is more guilty of “fake news” than the Washington Post.
Subject to Interpretation
Without realizing the irony, NBC offered this tidbit “Highly classified intercepts illustrate Russian government planning and direction of a multifaceted campaign by Moscow to undermine the integrity of the American political system,” said the official.
Apparently it’s OK for the US to hack Russia but not the other way around. Further adding to the irony, the source also noted, “communication intercepts are viewed with caution because they are subject to interpretation“.
So we have yet another bullsh*t story on Russia running rampant in at least four media organizations, started by the Washington Post, despite a caution the story is “subject to interpretation” and despite the fact it would have been major news if Russia didn’t cheer the election of Trump.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
