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Well, well, well, there seems to be serious doubt about the supposed Russiagate scandal closing in on some left-leaning quarters. Rolling Stone – of all places – posted a Tolstoy length hammering of the efficacy of Russiagate by Matt Taibbi entitled “The New Blacklist” with the subtitle: “Russiagate may have been aimed at Trump to start, but it’s become a way of targeting all dissent.”
Could this be the start of some self-awareness among the denizens of the left who believe this whole Russia thing has gotten out of hand? Perhaps we best not go that far – but, Mr. Taibbi does indicate that he’s more than a bit uncomfortable with the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. How could this be? Let’s permit the left to make the case for us.
Elderly Trump Supporter Accosted
Leave it to the so-called “reporters” at the Clinton News Network to begin what Rolling Stone calls “the crazy inverse logic of the new national blacklist.” Apparently, CNN’s Drew Griffin drove up to the quiet suburban home of Florine Goldfarb, banged on her door, and proceeded to question her “Russian connections” through Facebook. Even Salon thought accosting this elderly Trump supporter was crossing the line. In the rather bizarre exchange with Griffin, the scope of Ms. Goldfarb’s knowledge of Russia sounded like it extended to the Borsch she ate once about ten years ago.
Embarrassing!
Conspiracy Theorist’s Hamilton 68
Devin Nunes
The website Hamilton 68 appears to be ginning up Russiagate connections faster than you can say Dostoyevsky.
Mr. Taibbi notes that when they posted that House Intel Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’s #Releasethememo campaign had become the “top-trending hashtag” among Russian twitter accounts, a gaggle of press outlets and politicians rushed to point out that Nunes was doing the work of the enemy. Taibbi even opines that Rolling Stone couldn’t stop themselves from “accusing Nunes of working in concert with Russian propagandists.”
Hamilton 68 seems capable of seeing a Russian behind every grassy knoll. Their latest conspiracy escapade is that Putin’s finest are using the Parkland, Florida school shooting to play both sides against the middle in the current gun control ruckus “by pushing contradictory hashtags like #guncontrol now and #NRA.” This little odd tidbit, according to the Stone, was spread far and wide:
The New York Times put a piece about Russia’s Parkland meddling on page A1, the choicest real estate in American journalism, and outlets like Wired, Newsweek, Vanity Fair and countless others trumpeted the same story. Even Fox News, usually a Russiagate doubter, got in the act, citing Hamilton 68 to say: “Russian bots aren’t pro-Republican or Pro-Democrat. They’re just anti-American.”
Of course, nonsense like this has been oozing out of Fox News for some time now. Are they trying to become “one of the guys” or are they just starting to fly their freak flag – who knows? But some of us have become more than a bit suspect, if not downright circumspect, about swallowing everything that comes out of Fox box.
There is more – much more – in “The New Blacklist,” and it is quite gratifying for those on the right to finally see the left calling out their cohorts who see a Russian lurking behind every corner.
But this is not to say folks like Mr. Taibbi are turning right. No, he still finds the need to call President Trump “a sleazeball.” Still, there does seem to be an understanding – or perhaps a modicum of acceptance – that not everyone who voted for the president is either a Russian agent or unwittingly duped by one.
Could this mean those on the left are finally moving beyond the five stages of grief and actually dealing with the loss of the 2016 Presidential election?
Probably not. But it is refreshing to see some on the left have a brief, momentary brush with reality.
