{"id":100882,"date":"2018-07-10T13:09:11","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T17:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=100882"},"modified":"2018-07-10T13:09:11","modified_gmt":"2018-07-10T17:09:11","slug":"msm-has-become-propaganda-arm-of-the-democratic-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=100882","title":{"rendered":"MSM Has Become Propaganda Arm of the Democratic Party"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>MSNBC Does Not Merely Permit Fabrications Against Democratic Party Critics. It Encourages and Rewards Them.<\/h1>\n<p><!--more--><div id=\"attachment_100884\" style=\"width: 698px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-10-at-1.07.13-PM.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-100884\" src=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-10-at-1.07.13-PM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"348\" class=\"size-full wp-image-100884\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-10-at-1.07.13-PM.png 688w, https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Screen-Shot-2018-07-10-at-1.07.13-PM-300x152.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 688px) 100vw, 688px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-100884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Colin Young-Wolff\/Invision\/AP<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<p>Glenn Greenwald<br \/>\nThe Intercept<\/p>\n<div data-reactid=\"185\">\n<p><u>DURING THE 2016<\/u>\u00a0primary and general election campaigns, various MSNBC\u00a0hosts were openly campaigning for Hillary Clinton.\u00a0One of the network\u2019s programs featured Malcolm Nance (pictured above), whose background is quite sketchy but is presented by the cable network (and now by NBC News) as an \u201cintelligence expert\u201d and former intelligence officer for the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n<p>On August 20, 2016, weekend host Joy Reid asked Nance\u00a0about the supposed \u201caffinity\u201d for Russia harbored by Jill Stein supporters. In response, Nance told MSNBC viewers: \u201cJill Stein has a show on Russia Today.\u201d You can still watch the video of this\u00a0claim\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/archive.org\/details\/MSNBCW_20160820_140000_AM_Joy\/start\/2460\/end\/2520\">here<\/a>\u00a0on MSNBC\u2019s own website or see it here:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">this by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MalcolmNance?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MalcolmNance<\/a> was an out right lie. I&#39;m curious: will <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoyAnnReid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JoyAnnReid<\/a> correct on air Saturday? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrJillStein?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DrJillStein<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7bOK2TBXAi\">pic.twitter.com\/7bOK2TBXAi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Johnson (@adamjohnsonCHI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adamjohnsonCHI\/status\/768994464819978242?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 26, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Whatever your views might be about Stein and her third-party candidacy, there is no disputing the fact that Nance\u2019s statement was a falsehood, a fabrication, a lie. Stein did not have a show on RT, nor did she ever host a show on RT.\u00a0What Nance said was made up out of whole cloth \u2014 fabricated \u2014 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 employee of RT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-reactid=\"187\">\n<p>Reid allowed Nance\u2019s lie to stand. Perhaps she did not realize at the time that it was a lie. But subsequently, a campaign was launched to urge MSNBC to correct the lie\u00a0it broadcast, based on the assumption that MSNBC \u2014 which is part of NBC News \u2014 was a normal news outlet that functions in accordance with basic journalistic principles and would, of course, correct a false\u00a0statement once that was brought to its attention.<\/p>\n<p>The media watchdog group FAIR\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/home\/stoking-russia-panic-for-partisan-gain-will-have-a-long-term-price-for-peace\/\">repeatedly documented<\/a>\u00a0the lie told by Nance and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/fair.org\/home\/jill-stein-cites-fairs-correction-of-msnbc-falsehood\/\">urged\u00a0MSNBC to\u00a0issue a correction<\/a>. The Intercept\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/12\/09\/a-clinton-fan-manufactured-fake-news-that-msnbc-personalities-spread-to-discredit-wikileaks-docs\/\">wrote about this<\/a>\u00a0falsehood on several occasions and also noted that MSNBC was refusing to issue a correction of what everyone knows is a false \u2014 but an obviously quite significant \u2014 claim. Multiple tweets were directed at NBC News, MSNBC, Nance, and Reid asking them to correct the fabrication to their viewers:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-article-medium wp-image-198121\" src=\"http:\/\/theintercept.imgix.net\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2018\/07\/fairstein-1531044181.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;q=90&amp;w=540&amp;h=375\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Former intelligence officer who also said Putin was going to invade Ukraine in October and thought Jill Stein had a show on RT <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EEjYlXqALv\">https:\/\/t.co\/EEjYlXqALv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Johnson (@adamjohnsonCHI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adamjohnsonCHI\/status\/816824439987957761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/twitter.com\/mcorcoran3\/status\/777173684717023232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E777173684717023232&#038;ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheintercept.com%2F2018%2F07%2F08%2Fmsnbc-does-not-merely-permit-fabrications-against-democratic-party-critics-it-encourages-and-rewards-them%2F<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Periodic reminder that MSNBC, during the campaign, falsely told its viewers Jill Stein had a show on RT &amp; refuses to correct\/acknowledge it. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/m5YHg5ybzE\">https:\/\/t.co\/m5YHg5ybzE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/846087743700697092?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 26, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">After Naval officer Malcolm Nance stated, \u201cJill Stein has a show on RT,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoyAnnReid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JoyAnnReid<\/a> refused to correct him. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vj8KfVY98H\">https:\/\/t.co\/vj8KfVY98H<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Green Party US \ud83c\udf3b (@GreenPartyUS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GreenPartyUS\/status\/794968934650966016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>To date\u00a0\u2014 almost two years later \u2014 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. In other words, NBC News and MSNBC know that they told viewers something that was materially false, and yet refuse to correct it. Please, defenders of this network: Tell me what that says about its integrity, about its real function, about whether it is a real news outlet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-reactid=\"195\">\n<p>Worse, not only was Nance never sanctioned in any way for the lie he told, but he was\u00a0<i>rewarded<\/i>: He has since gone from \u201cMSNBC contributor\u201d to \u201cMSNBC intelligence analyst,\u201d and is far more pervasive on the network, and\u00a0its hosts have spent the month\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nBlSHxKkSvM&amp;\">aggressively promoting his new book<\/a>on how Vladimir Putin is destroying U.S. democracy.<\/p>\n<p>On MSNBC, lies are not corrected; they are rewarded, provided the lies are designed to smear the reputations of Democratic Party critics. Is this not definitive and conclusive proof of that: that this is not a news outlet but a political arm of the Democratic Party? What else could possibly explain, let alone justify, behavior like this? I\u2019m asking that earnestly.<\/p>\n<p><u>I BRING THIS UP<\/u>\u00a0again now not because I think MSNBC will ever correct its lie \u2014 it has made clear that lies\u00a0designed to destroy the reputations of\u00a0Democratic Party critics are perfectly permissible \u2014 but because a very similar event happened on Friday night involving the same\u00a0MSNBC analyst.<\/p>\n<p>This week, I traveled to Moscow to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1015205072937144320\">meet with Edward Snowden<\/a>, as well as to participate in a cybersecurity conference, on a\u00a0panel regarding \u201cfake news\u201d that included Alexei Venediktov, famous in Russia as a fierce critic of the Putin government in his position as editor-in-chief of Ekcho Moskvy radio station, along with Giovanni Zagni, head of an Italian website dedicated to checking politicians\u2019 statements who is working with Facebook to determine \u201cfake news.\u201d (The Intercept paid for\u00a0my travel and I was paid no fee for the\u00a0trip).<\/p>\n<p>The panel was moderated by RT Editor-in-Chief\u00a0Margarita Simonyan and also included Sergey Nalobin, acting deputy director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Given the presence of harsh Putin critics on the panel, the discussion included severe criticisms of both the U.S. and Russian governments, their propensity to lie, and their desire to control the internet.<\/p>\n<p>After\u00a0Nalobin claimed that Russia was the victim of disinformation and \u201cfake news\u201d campaigns, I responded by pointing out that while this was true, Russia is also the perpetrator of such campaigns, and that in general, the history of the Cold War has continued through today: whereby the U.S. and Russia both use the same tactics against one another while claiming to be the victim:<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EhriEiARHVU?start=3249\" width=\"100%\" height=\"400px\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>After the event, there were camera crews from numerous media outlets wanting to interview some of the panel participants. I spoke to all of them. One of them was RT, which published\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rt.com\/usa\/432042-greenwald-rt-interview-moscow\/\">the full transcript<\/a>\u00a0of the three-minute interview, as well\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=fFh6pEt1CGg\">as selected video clips<\/a>.\u00a0The primary point I made that received the most\u00a0attention \u2014 namely, that it has become regarded as suspicious, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/mtracey\/status\/1014894970929602561\">even treasonous<\/a>,\u00a0<em>merely\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1014852166283034625\">to visit Russia<\/a><\/em>, and that I accepted the invitation to attend in part to combat that toxic, dangerous, and xenophobic perception \u2014 is the statement of mine that RT\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/RT_com\/status\/1015337089355976705\">highlighted on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, anyone is free to criticize people who decide to visit Russia. Anyone is free to denounce those who speak with RT (such as Stephen Hawking,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=VtNdlqgAh7c&amp;\">whose RT interview can be seen here<\/a>, though I\u2019d love to hear from those holding such views why it\u2019s permissible to speak to think tanks such as Brookings and Center for American Progress, which are funded by Gulf state tyrannies). And, needless to say, anyone is free to attack or dispute any statements or views that I, or anyone else, express as part of such discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Nance did none of that. What he did, instead, is exactly what he did on MSNBC to Jill Stein in August 2016: In two tweets, he outright lied about me on purpose, telling his 420,000 Twitter followers that I am \u201can agent of Moscow\u201d and \u201cdeep in the Kremlin pocket.\u201d He further lied by stating that I \u201chelped Snowden defect\u201d and that I \u201creports into [my] masters in Moscow.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udc47\ud83c\udffd READ: Glen Greenwald shows his true colors as an agent of Trump &amp; Moscow. now we know why he helped Snowden defect, covers for Wikileaks attack on Democracy &amp; shills for Fox News. He\u2019s deep in the Kremlin pocket. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GXW07PmXFo\">https:\/\/t.co\/GXW07PmXFo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MalcolmNance\/status\/1015603194557153280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>None of\u00a0Nance\u2019s statements here is opinion. These claims \u2014 especially that I am an \u201cagent of Moscow\u201d and\u00a0\u201cdeep in the Kremlin pocket\u201d \u2014 are intended to be factual statements: that I work for, and am paid by, Russia and the Kremlin, and that I aided Snowden in \u201cdefecting\u201d to Moscow. They are all outright lies. There is no other way to describe them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-reactid=\"197\">\n<p>Thus far, his tweet has been retweeted by close to 5,000 people. After I noted that they were lies, Nance\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/MalcolmNance\/status\/1015758487328940032\">reaffirmed them and said how proud he was<\/a>\u00a0to have broadcast them.<\/p>\n<p>This is because Nance knows that he is free to lie this way with impunity. That\u2019s because he works for an organization \u2014 MSNBC \u2014 that masquerades as a news outlet but actively encourages its employees to lie this way about anyone who criticizes the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n<p>He will be celebrated inside MSNBC, not sanctioned or even told to rescind his lie, because \u2014 just as happened with the lie he told about Jill Stein \u2014 the person he chose to falsely accuse of being a paid agent of Russia is someone that the MSNBC audience of Democratic partisans hates, and lying is thus permitted and encouraged, just the way it is in any partisan organization. The network is\u00a0derided as \u201cMSDNC\u201d for a reason.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, Nance is simply adhering to the post-World War II tactic of the U.S. military and intelligence community from which he emerged: For decades, they accuse any journalists they dislike, or\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/freedom.press\/news-advocacy\/before-snowden-nixon-admin-pioneered-evidence-free-russian-spy-smears-against-daniel-ellsberg\/\">dissidents of any kind<\/a>, of being covert agents of Moscow.<\/p>\n<p>You would think that any real journalists inside NBC News might be bothered enough by this classically McCarthyite tactic \u2014 accusing a journalist of being an agent of Russia without a shred of evidence \u2014 to denounce it, but you would be quite wrong. Just look at how\u00a0identical\u00a0the script is used by Nance to the actual words Joseph McCarthy spoke at one of his notorious hearings:<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrap align-center width-fixed\"><a href=\"http:\/\/theintercept.imgix.net\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2018\/07\/mccarthy2-1531047260.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;q=90\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-article-medium wp-image-198128\" src=\"http:\/\/theintercept.imgix.net\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2018\/07\/mccarthy2-1531047260.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;q=90&amp;w=540&amp;h=336\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>That\u2019s because NBC News and MSNBC have essentially merged with the CIA and intelligence community and thus, use their tactics. The network is filled with former generals and CIA officials who are part of the community that pioneered these smear tactics of accusing journalists and critics they dislike of being traitors, spies, and Kremlin loyalists. Indeed, Nance sometimes appears on MSNBC along with former CIA Director John Brennan, who MSNBC also\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com\/entertainment\/the-wrap\/article\/Ex-CIA-Chief-John-Brennan-Signs-as-MSNBC-NBC-12546115.php\">hired as an \u201canalyst.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0This is who they are.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also what the Democratic Party is: This is their go-to tactic. After my colleague\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/01\/14\/howard-dean-lobbyist\/\">Lee Fang reported on<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/theintercept.com\/2016\/01\/21\/howard-dean-despite-denials-has-long-sad-history-of-selling-himself-on-k-street\/\">numerous corporate interests for which Howard Dean secretly shills<\/a>\u00a0in exchange for large payments \u2014 everything from pharmaceutical companies to Iranian regime-change cults such as MEK \u2014 this was\u00a0the response from Dean (who, needless to say, also frequently appears on MSNBC):<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-wrap align-center width-fixed\"><a href=\"http:\/\/theintercept.imgix.net\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2018\/07\/howarddean-1531046695.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;q=90\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-article-medium wp-image-198126\" src=\"http:\/\/theintercept.imgix.net\/wp-uploads\/sites\/1\/2018\/07\/howarddean-1531046695.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;q=90&amp;w=540&amp;h=333\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>Anyone who criticizes the Democratic Party or its leaders is instantly accused of being a Kremlin agent despite the lack of any evidence. And the organization that leads that smear campaign is the one that calls itself a news outlet (and this is all independent of the fact that another one of its hosts recently lied about having her blog hacked and claimed she reported it to the FBI \u2014 a claim everyone in journalism knows is a lie \u2014 and not only was never sanctioned for it by\u00a0<em>was\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/maddow\/status\/990281550678896641\">praised for doing that<\/a><\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/maddow\/status\/990281550678896641\">\u00a0by MSNBC\u2019s star host<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, MSNBC is not the only cable outlet that acts as an arm of a political party and encourages its on-air personalities to lie and smear critics of that party. I have spent years\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.salon.com\/2007\/09\/11\/petraeus_interview\/\">documenting lies told by certain Fox News employees<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/tv\/glenn-greenwald-calls-out-the-disinformation-from-fox-news-on-fox-news\/\">denounced the willingness of some of their hosts<\/a>\u00a0to do exactly that while on Fox News itself.<\/p>\n<p>But you can\u2019t be a credible critic of lies \u2014 whether told by other cable outlets or politicians \u2014 if you not only permit but clearly encourage and reward your own on-air personalities when they do the same. And in the case of MSNBC, they not only do this, but they practice one of the most historically destructive versions of it: fabricated allegations that their critics, including journalists, are treasonous agents of a foreign power.<\/p>\n<p>___<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/07\/08\/msnbc-does-not-merely-permit-fabrications-against-democratic-party-critics-it-encourages-and-rewards-them\/\">http:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/07\/08\/msnbc-does-not-merely-permit-fabrications-against-democratic-party-critics-it-encourages-and-rewards-them\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MSNBC Does Not Merely Permit Fabrications Against Democratic Party Critics. It Encourages and Rewards Them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}