Willing Fools

We ought to have learned from the Judith Miller episode [writing about non-existent Iraq WMD in the New York Times]. Not only do governments lie, they won't hesitate to burn news agencies. In a desperate moment, they'll use any sucker they can find to get a point across.

I have no problem believing that Vladimir Putin tried to influence the American election. He's gangster-spook-scum of the lowest order and capable of anything. And Donald Trump, too, was swine enough during the campaign to publicly hope the Russians would disclose Hillary Clinton's emails. So a lot of this is very believable.

But we've been burned before in stories like this, to disastrous effect. Which makes it surprising we're not trying harder to avoid getting fooled again.

  Matt Taibbi @ Rolling Stone

No surprise, really. Anything that will rile us up against a perceived enemy is easy fodder for Americans being robbed and cheated by banksters, politicians and corporations, with no idea how to make it stop.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.