my Trump friend

[Zoe Girl]

I can say she keeps me informed about alternate points of view, and that is valuable. I would rather it wasn't all posted in all-caps however. Sometimes I just have to share because it seems ridiculous, maybe someone here can tell me if there is any validity since most of my world is very liberal. The post today was counting down to when Trump takes office and claims that it is just in time, Obama just tried to start WW3 by supporting the investigation of Russian influence in the election. As I understand it is other people, and across party lines, that are looking into this possibility.

[bae]

Well, I suspect the count of days until inauguration is likely correct, or close.

And I do find the administration's "The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming" drumbeat a bit curious. I've read the actual reports issued by our intelligence agencies to our nation's IT security folks, and I don't find the reports especially conclusive. What that means to people who reason by reading Tweets, I'm not sure.

[iris lilies]

I am no fan Barack Obama, but I thought it was colorful to boot out those Russian diplomats with such short notice that Russia had to send a plane for them. Those are some dramatic visuals, there.

[sweetana3]

Just remember that both parties are into manipulation of the media and what is provided to the general public. It is, in their minds, all about votes and not the general good. Best to be completely skeptical of what you see and hear online. I feel really sorry for those who just soak it in and base their life decisions on what they are hearing. Or worse, continue to bombard friends and relatives with crazy stuff.

[bae]

Best to be completely skeptical of what you see and hear online.

Exactly!

My baseline assumption is that everything I encounter online is untrue, or at least spun 180 degrees from reality.

Whenever I "fact check" in a realm of knowledge in which I am expert, I find media accounts basically incorrect or cleverly biased, so my assumption is that stories covering areas I am relatively-clueless about are similarly lacking in connection to the truth.