Proving to be the single sorest loser in recent presidential history, Hillary Clinton hijacked her Twitter feed to endorse Verrit – a fledgling start-up media platform that identifies as a safe space for the 68.5 million shell-shocked Clinton voters. Peter and Leela Daou, Clinton confidants and her 2008 campaign internet coordinators, created the Twitter style hub because, as Peter ‘verrited’ (that does not roll off the tongue), “Hillary Clinton’s voters – an inspiringly diverse coalition – are unrepresented in the media.”
Yeah, he said that. Was he referring to 2008? I seem to recall that Hillary’s core supporters in 2016 were the establishment media. But what do I know?
What We Know About Verrit
The Verrit website is unabashedly in love with Clinton style politics and ideology, but their method of operation has other media outlets scrutinizing their process. Tech Crunch analyzed the site and opined:
Creating a media organization that isn’t absorbed in the 24-hour news cycle and can take a step back to approach topics on a deeper level is certainly not a bad idea, but building one that is supposed to make up for the biases of the mainstream media against liberals in a purely reactionary tone with the explicit backing of former staff of Hillary Clinton doesn’t exactly seem to be a recipe to bringing about solutions to political turmoil.
Tech Crunch summed up their admiration for the project by running the headline, “If a Hillary-endorsed media platform is tech’s best solution for ‘fake news’ then we’re screwed.”
Ouch.
The Verrit website promises a verifiable set of facts and infographics that social media warriors can validate before arguing on Twitter and Facebook and appearing as uninformed fools. Each Verrit is marked with a seven-digit identification code to ensure those #stillwithher that the flock is in possession of the latest and greatest biased information. And sources? Who needs sources? Verrit explains that authentication of tidbits come from trustworthy stoolies.
Verriters, seeking truth, justice, and the American way, will have it all on one site; due diligence of the informed Twitter commentator be damned.
Free Speech and All That Rot
This platform is designed to be above the fray of unsavory counterparts whose mission is delivering anger, angst, and insulting comments to internet trolls, racists, white supremacists, misogynists, and the lot. But users be warned; if the Verrit toadies find your croaking tone a bit off-putting, you too will be censored:
The site’s commenting policy is a bit unsavory, suggesting that instead of just not allowing you to post a comment if you’re in violation of its policy, Verrit will actually change the text itself before posting. “We reserve the right to alter or remove terminology that violates our policy before publishing a comment.”
Whew, 2017 has proven to be a challenge for advocates of free speech.
The Outlook for Verrit’s Success
Legal Insurrection weighed in on Hillary’s endorsement, and may have put the future of Verrit in perspective when they tweeted, “Is the focus group used to come up with the name ‘Verrit’ the same that told you [Hillary] not to go to Wisconsin?” They have a point; it is not at all catchy and sounds almost weasel-esque. But perhaps the name choice imparts an accurate image of Mrs. Clinton.
The secret weapon for shattering that elusive glass ceiling might be Peter Daou himself. He is, after all, the genius behind the movement #menforhillary, a support group for her supporters (I kid you not). Or, maybe the systematic self-destruction of the New York Times and the Clinton News Network (CNN) has opened the door for a media outlet such as Verrit. Whatever the reason behind this foolhardy endeavor by the Daou family, we have Verrit-a-cation of one fact; Hell hath no fury as a Clinton scorned.
