Snitch Central

President Obama's campaign has unveiled a new website, called Attach Watch, which is designed to give his supporters a place to report people who express disapproval or interpret his policies in an un-approved manner.

You can report things you've seen or heard through TV interviews, Public Statements, Forwarded Emails, Rumor, TV Ad, Video Ad, Radio Ad, robocall, or websites/blogs.

His first Ministry of Truth attempt (to report those who were critical of the health care act) ended badly after just a few weeks. I wonder how long this one will be around?

Dick Nixon would have been proud.

With a 55% disapproval rating, and the loss of the House seat formerly held by the unfortunately yclept Rep. Weiner being at least partially laid at his door, I hope he's got a robust server.

Ok....I don't see anything wrong with that web site. Lies are told and spread about him constantly (not American, loves terrorist, wants to take over health care, etc...) I see it as a kind of fact-check for him and democrats/liberals in general. Do you have a problem with him trying to set the record straight? Do you have a problem with folks getting the truth?
You can fact check all of his stuff too you know.
I suppose if you wanted me to I could give you links to web sites devoted entirely to criticizing him and spreading lies and rumors.

It's a great way to build up your enemies list. What do you think they'll do with the information provided?
If it were simply a matter of fact checking, don't you think we already have a perfect infrastructure for doing that within the media, the internet and our own ability to reason?
While I'm certain that this is not the case, this sort of thing could easily be the pre-cursor to the type of thoughtcrime infrastructure needed to build up, and retain, an authoritarian state. Plus, I think it shows just how tone-deaf his campaign may be. At least they don't call it "Turn in your neighbor".

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Originally Posted by alan

It's a great way to build up your enemies list. What do you think they'll do with the information provided?
If it were simply a matter of fact checking, don't you think we already have a perfect infrastructure for doing that within the media, the internet and our own ability to reason?
While I'm certain that this is not the case, this sort of thing could easily be the pre-cursor to the type of thoughtcrime infrastructure needed to build up, and retain, an authoritarian state. Plus, I think it shows just how tone-deaf his campaign may be. At least they don't call it "Turn in your neighbor".

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This is just the DNC, right?

It's not a very good idea. Although grassroots information gathering is cheaper and more widespread, I expect the amount of disinformation that will come into the site is going to create an unusable signal to noise ratio.

Can I just add myself to the list at the same time I register on the do not call list? Would be much more efficient that way.

It's funny, but I have a lot less problem with this than I have with the way the rightwing comes up with a catchy name about something (like "Snitch Central"), and then the BLINDING speed with which every rightwinger gloms onto it, to the point where when you Google on the words "snitch central", you can see almost simultaneous spreading of the new term all over the blogosphere, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and various rightwing talk show hosts........

It's like watching so many tin soldiers, all marching to the same drummer, all singing the same tune, all behaving as though they just invented the term themselves......THAT's the part that seems scary to ME.

It's the lockstep quality.......scary, but it works. The Dems get about a D in marketing and propaganda, but I give the rightwing an A+ in that department.

If they want to track all the hate and lies coming from the right, all they have to do is tune into Fox news. :laff:

There certainly are a lot of mistruths out there, and no side is innocent, but this site has a feeling of paranoia to it. Do we really need the 'Obama Youth'?

No one will turn in any pertinent information they don't already have. It's probably just a way to fluff up their mailing list, and perhaps a way to make the die-hards feel as if they are contributing to 'the cause'.


Cheney probably wishes he had thought of it. :devil:

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Originally Posted by loosechickens

It's funny, but I have a lot less problem with this than I have with the way the rightwing comes up with a catchy name about something (like "Snitch Central"), and then the BLINDING speed with which every rightwinger gloms onto it, to the point where when you Google on the words "snitch central", you can see almost simultaneous spreading of the new term all over the blogosphere, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and various rightwing talk show hosts........

It's like watching so many tin soldiers, all marching to the same drummer, all singing the same tune, all behaving as though they just invented the term themselves......THAT's the part that seems scary to ME.

It's the lockstep quality.......scary, but it works. The Dems get about a D in marketing and propaganda, but I give the rightwing an A+ in that department.

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It's not really a new term ground out on short notice by the Great Right Wing Conspiracy, I think it comes from the SnitchCentral.com commercial website.

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Originally Posted by creaker

This is just the DNC, right?

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It's the Obama for America campaign. Not sure how it interacts with the DNC.

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Originally Posted by loosechickens

It's funny, but I have a lot less problem with this than I have with the way the rightwing comes up with a catchy name about something (like "Snitch Central"), and then the BLINDING speed with which every rightwinger gloms onto it, to the point where when you Google on the words "snitch central", you can see almost simultaneous spreading of the new term all over the blogosphere, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and various rightwing talk show hosts........

It's like watching so many tin soldiers, all marching to the same drummer, all singing the same tune, all behaving as though they just invented the term themselves......THAT's the part that seems scary to ME.

It's the lockstep quality.......scary, but it works. The Dems get about a D in marketing and propaganda, but I give the rightwing an A+ in that department.

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Just more proof of a vast right-wing conspiracy to notice things and talk about them. Maybe that's what this is all about?

Just read this quote and it made me laugh.
This seems as good a thread as any to post it on.

“Don’t try to win over the haters. You’re not the jackass whisperer.” -Scott Stratten

Wow, the word 'snitch'... Could you have chosen a more loaded one? I appreciate your strong stances; I wonder about the inflammatory language you chose here.

Wow Bammy must be desperate!!! Its ok Mr. President, you're not paranoid, they're really out to getcha, bwhahahaha

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Originally Posted by mtnlaurel

Just read this quote and it made me laugh.
This seems as good a thread as any to post it on.

“Don’t try to win over the haters. You’re not the jackass whisperer.” -Scott Stratten

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ok, now that's funny!

Time to activate my hotmail account and go covert.I think I'll report Alan and LDahl's posts. haha, kidding.

I don't think a site to ostensibly counter rumors about the President is necessarily a bad thing for his campaign. And really, they are probably as much after email addresses for hitting people up for money as much as anything. But this struck me about Obama's website:

The website design is uncompromisingly stark. Black, with white and red touches--strong, aggressive, and hinting of evil. It's intimidating. Perhaps they were shooting for simple and strong, but they overshot the mark. I remember a time when 90% of the true crime books published had three color covers: black, white, red. This site reminds me of those crime books. Black guns. Red blood. Gulag.

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It's a great way to build up your enemies list. What do you think they'll do with the information provided?

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nah actually as mentioned it seems a @#$#poor way to build up an enemies list and in fact it seems profoundly amateur.

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While I'm certain that this is not the case, this sort of thing could easily be the pre-cursor to the type of thoughtcrime infrastructure needed to build up, and retain, an authoritarian state.

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And/or you could use things far more resembling a real infrastructure, like say I don't know, telecoms that face no consequence for cooperation with government spying. That's bipartisan by the way. It doesn't fit so easily into "Obama and Dems are the boogeyman" tales.

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Plus, I think it shows just how tone-deaf his campaign may be. At least they don't call it "Turn in your neighbor".

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tonedeafness I would believe.

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Originally Posted by redfox

Wow, the word 'snitch'... Could you have chosen a more loaded one? I appreciate your strong stances; I wonder about the inflammatory language you chose here.

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snitch (snhttp://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/ibreve.gifch) Slang
v. snitched, snitch·ing, snitch·es
v.tr. To steal (something, usually something of little value); pilfer. See Synonyms at steal.

v.intr. To turn informer: He snitched on his comrades.

n. 1. A thief.
2. An informer.



I think the word is appropriate in that it describes the actions the campaign is encouraging. It's not like I chose to single out an individual and use a loaded term such as "lunatic". Now that would have been inflammatory!

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Originally Posted by alan

It's the Obama for America campaign. Not sure how it interacts with the DNC.

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No doubt responders will be getting emails requesting donations. That makes it even creepier.

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Originally Posted by LDAHL

No doubt responders will be getting emails requesting donations. That makes it even creepier.

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Actually it dumps you straight to a donation page.

Truth is I find the whole thing creepy.

"
It's funny, but I have a lot less problem with this than I have with the way the rightwing comes up with a catchy name about something (like "Snitch Central"), and then the BLINDING speed with which every rightwinger gloms onto it, to the point where when you Google on the words "snitch central", you can see almost simultaneous spreading of the new term all over the blogosphere, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and various rightwing talk show hosts........

It's like watching so many tin soldiers, all marching to the same drummer, all singing the same tune, all behaving as though they just invented the term themselves......THAT's the part that seems scary to ME.

It's the lockstep quality.......scary, but it works. The Dems get about a D in marketing and propaganda, but I give the rightwing an A+ in that department.
"

I have to agree with LooseChickens again on this; the Fox disinformation and spin machine is incredibly fast and effective, getting all the internet bloggers and forum posters on the same page immediately.
I don't identify with a left propaganda machine starting up in response, but in an election year, it will certainly devolve into a propaganda war, very quickly.

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Originally Posted by kenh

"
It's funny, but I have a lot less problem with this than I have with the way the rightwing comes up with a catchy name about something (like "Snitch Central"), and then the BLINDING speed with which every rightwinger gloms onto it, to the point where when you Google on the words "snitch central", you can see almost simultaneous spreading of the new term all over the blogosphere, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and various rightwing talk show hosts........

It's like watching so many tin soldiers, all marching to the same drummer, all singing the same tune, all behaving as though they just invented the term themselves......THAT's the part that seems scary to ME.

It's the lockstep quality.......scary, but it works. The Dems get about a D in marketing and propaganda, but I give the rightwing an A+ in that department.
"

I have to agree with LooseChickens again on this; the Fox disinformation and spin machine is incredibly fast and effective, getting all the internet bloggers and forum posters on the same page immediately.
I don't identify with a left propaganda machine starting up in response, but in an election year, it will certainly devolve into a propaganda war, very quickly.

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You're right. We shouldn't notice such things and we certainly shouldn't talk about it, speculate about it or make fun of it.

By the way, I first saw this yesterday on the ABC News website . Did Fox News put it there?

Thank you Alan for your faithful service to the right wing propaganda machine. You have managed to set forth the exact terminology required to turn a mundane news item, if even that, into a sinister plot by the Obama Administration to create an enemies list, which of course will then be used to single out law abiding citizens for "disappearing" or some other such implication. Interesting how trying to prevent oneself from being "swiftboated" is turned around into something evil. What of the zillions of untrue smears and rumours get passed around about Obama, his family and members of his administration on a daily basis? Where do those originate? I know, they originate with the left wing to make the right wing look bad and create a pretext for maintaining an enemies list disguised as a rumor and smear control website! How convenient that everything wrong and bad and evil always originates with Obama!

You didn't just pass along an item of interest or concern for discussion. No, you used the exact words that the right wing blogs have seized uopn to induce the utmost level of paranoia in its readership.

The Obama campaign in 2008 set up a smear control site because it didn't want to succumb to sustained swiftboat type lies spread by the right. Obviously there is no lack of smear tactics against Obama, and here's the latest one!

So Alan is to blame for bringing up something he found on an ABC website...this is right wind propaganda? This is Obama and his desperate flunkies letting his followers know how stupid he thinks they are...that anyone would actually take this seriously??? tells me that the arrogance with which Obama regards the general electorate extends to his devotees...Please this is a load of crap. Comrades....

For me this thread pretty much shows the problems that we face in this country. It is all about winning and very little about the greater good.

Peace

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Originally Posted by rosebud

Thank you Alan for your faithful service to the right wing propaganda machine. You have managed to set forth the exact terminology required to turn a mundane news item, if even that, into a sinister plot by the Obama Administration to create an enemies list, which of course will then be used to single out law abiding citizens for "disappearing" or some other such implication. Interesting how trying to prevent oneself from being "swiftboated" is turned around into something evil. What of the zillions of untrue smears and rumours get passed around about Obama, his family and members of his administration on a daily basis? Where do those originate? I know, they originate with the left wing to make the right wing look bad and create a pretext for maintaining an enemies list disguised as a rumor and smear control website! How convenient that everything wrong and bad and evil always originates with Obama!

You didn't just pass along an item of interest or concern for discussion. No, you used the exact words that the right wing blogs have seized uopn to induce the utmost level of paranoia in its readership.

The Obama campaign in 2008 set up a smear control site because it didn't want to succumb to sustained swiftboat type lies spread by the right. Obviously there is no lack of smear tactics against Obama, and here's the latest one!

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I'm not sure what "propaganda" I'm propagating, but if you really feel that way, there's a link in the original post where you can report this thread. Isn't that a double plus good idea?

I was thinking more along the lines of this administrations 2009 effort to have health care bill supporters send emails reporting any resistance to their efforts to the flag@whitehouse.gov email address. You may not remember it because it only lasted a few weeks before it quitely disappeared after negative public scrutiny.

I was surprised to see something like this again after that fiasco. Maybe most people just have shorter memories than I do, or perhaps they simply don't see a problem with our President's staff or his political campaign headquarters inviting the faithful to report their errant neighbors.

What a strange world we live in.

"double plus good idea" gave me my BIG laugh for the day, although this thread has been entertaining in the whole.

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Originally Posted by loosechickens

It's funny, but I have a lot less problem with this than I have with the way the rightwing comes up with a catchy name about something (like "Snitch Central"), and then the BLINDING speed with which every rightwinger gloms onto it, to the point where when you Google on the words "snitch central", you can see almost simultaneous spreading of the new term all over the blogosphere, Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and various rightwing talk show hosts........

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That's funny, I just googled "snitch central" and this thread was the third hit! I didn't know this site was part of the right wing blogosphere...

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Originally Posted by rosebud

Thank you Alan for your faithful service to the right wing propaganda machine. You have managed to set forth the exact terminology ... Interesting how trying to prevent oneself from being "swiftboated"

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Nice use of left wing terminology to be critical of Alan for using right wing terminology...

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Originally Posted by DocHolliday

That's funny, I just googled "snitch central" and this thread was the third hit! I didn't know this site was part of the right wing blogosphere...

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I read this and thought "That couldn't possibly be true", but then did my own google search and, you're right!
I did notice that the first entry is for a site called snitchcentral, which has nothing to do with this topic, so, according to some's reasoning the simple living forum is the #2 right wing site in the googleverse.

To paraphrase Larry the Cable Guy, I don't care who you are, that's some funny **** right there!

Being criticized is just the price of power. The price of being the most powerful man in the world with the ability to single handedly order people's executions without a trail etc.. Even being criticisized with completely false ridiculous things. Really so what? Some blogger with a few thousand readers has that, meanwhile the President has *real* power.

Focusing on this as an issue though just doesn't seem honest. So is your concern civil liberties? Good, and this webside doesn't reflect positively on the Obama campaign, but there are bigger fish to fry. Heck, even Anonymous don't bother to hack down Obamas silly little website. Worry also then about telecom immunity and real government spying ability. Worried about "disappearings", man if that was happening on any scale we'd all know. We'd all know people who were "disappeared", though we might not talk about it. But hey, I posted the government was having Haliburton build strange internment camps of unknown purpose, and that was a legitimate source I linked to. What is the progress on that anyway?

Apparently, the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, a subsidiary of Fox News, is coordinating a massive influx of mocking tweets and posts to Attackwatch. Top Ten Lists are starting to appear all over. My favorite thus far: "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean millions of voters aren't out to get you".

It will be interesting to see if it becomes more a forum for the President's detractors than his defenders.

Actually I think the rightwing WILL attempt to overwhelm that site, because the last thing they want is for people to actually notify the Democrats of the lies and smears that are traveling around the internet in emails, etc., in order for the fact to be put forth to show those emails and smears to be lies.

The Democrats learned a bit about how powerful being "Swiftboated" was, and that it really didn't mind if the rumors and smears were complete lies....if they were sent around often enough and loudly enough, by the time the truth came out, it was too late. This site was an attempt to get out in front of the negative spin machine, so that truthful information could counter the lies.

I'm sure it also didn't hurt to harvest email addresses of supporters to try to get more donations.

I have no doubt that you guys will overwhelm this site and nullify it. Any attempts to bring factual information about the lies being spread will be treated in the same way.

The right is the undisputed champion of propaganda....as I've said before, I give you an A+, and the Democrats are so miserably bad at it, somehow thinking that just stating the facts once will clear up any misunderstandings against a tidal wave of lies, it's pathetic, and they get, at best, a D-. And this feeble attempt to set up some way to find a way to move against that tidal wave of lies will sink, just as the last one did. You guys will see to it. Congratulations.

And what was the swiftboaters’ one effective tactic? Endlessly replaying Senator Kerry’s own words. I’m not sure something similar isn’t happening right now. The fact that the Obama campaign people created such a petty, petulant, perhaps even paranoid site speaks for itself. Such actions cry out for ridicule.

When people draw attention to it, or respond with denunciations of the oceans for not receding as directed, ATMs for destroying jobs, or wind and clouds for not cooperating with green technology initiatives, and we get apparently serious accusations of an enormous coordinated conspiracy at work, the whole kerfuffle becomes too hilarious for words.

The response to this site, and the response to the response, strikes me as more worthy of Oliver Hardy than Oliver Stone.

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Actually I think the rightwing WILL attempt to overwhelm that site, because the last thing they want is for people to actually notify the Democrats of the lies and smears that are traveling around the internet in emails, etc., in order for the fact to be put forth to show those emails and smears to be lies.

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Wait don't they HIRE people to monitor media buzz? Public Relations etc.. People whose full time job it is? Come on now what are we running here a mom and pop diner? I think not. I seems doubtful they need little joe schmoes help by filling out a webpage. I guess one could try to make some kind of wisdom of crowds argument ....

But little joe schmoe participating does have some psychological effect on him (makes him feel part of etc. - basic psychology here).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...08XK_blog.html

excerpt:

"Earlier this week, I wrote a post about Attack Watch, the new Web site created by Obama’s presidential reelection campaign.

Obama campaign Deputy Press Secretary Katie Hogan described it as “a tool providing our supporters with the facts they need to fight back against lies and distortions about the President’s record.”

Hogan told me that 100,000 people signed up for the site in the first 24 hours. Thousands of people also responded to the site on blogs, via Twitter using the hashtag #attackwatch, in the comments section of our post or in e-mails I received.

A large section of people that responded continued to ridicule the site as “paranoid,” or said that they felt they were being spied on. Another subsection of respondents, however, said they appreciated the site and felt it was needed because of a culture of fear they said was created by the GOP."

and this is followed by a number of comments about the site, some from people grateful that there is a central place they can go to to help fight the smears, and others, with comments similar to those conservatives here who are paranoid about a "new world order", as well as the ridicule contingent......probably NOT a good thing when the Daily Show mocks ya, hahahahaha........

who knows.......it may have been a good idea, and not all good ideas work, and if it was an attempt to build grass roots by email harvesting, a lot of conservatives are going to be getting "Donate to the Obama Campaign" emails.......

I will have to give Alan credit for posting a link to the ABC news article. Everyone should just read that and make up their own minds.

Honestly, the folks who hate Obama will find any reason to criticize him. He wins the Nobel Peace Prize. HOW HORRIBLE! Osama Bin Laden is killed...meh, he can't take credit for that, it was the military's accomplishment. Michelle Obama launches an innocuous campaign focusing on childhood obesity...OMG, she's the cookie police! It just all becomes ridiculous and tiresome. You think it's petty to set up a rumor control device? Isn't it just as petty to complain about it? What evidence do you have that it is being abused in any way or used to spy on folks or being used to form an enemies list or that there is going to be any fall out on the likes of YOU? NONE. You have no evidence whatsoever of any abuse of the information that goes to the Obama campaign regarding the origination of UNTRUE stories. ZERO.

Alan, you know you did not come up with the term "Snitch Central" all by yourself. You know it's right wing spin. I know talking points when I see them, and calling this website snitch central is spin, just like calling the Affordable Health Care Act "Obamacare" is spin. When you google this term ONLY right wing websites or commentators, such as yourself, are calling it that. You are just passing along talking points. You didn't just say, hey guys lookie here, isn't this interesting, what do ya think? No, you called it "snitch central" and got the whole ball rolling about how it's creepy and Nixonian blah blah blah.

But the fact is, this is merely a rumor control website set up to combat smears and untruths (in case you have forgotten here are a few: Obama is a Muslim, Obama is not a US citizen, Obama was born in Kenya, Obama is the anti-Christ, Michelle hates white people, Obama's gonna take away all your guns, Obamacare is going to kill grandma etc etc etc).

Yeah, and don't even start with trying to relitigate the whole John Kerry Swiftboating thing. That was a disgrace and you know it. When I saw people at the Republican Convention wearing purple banaids to signify that John Kerry faked his way to a purple heart I knew the Republican Party was heading towards its nadir. I have, unfortunately, seen worse since then, with the unrelenting and unfair criticism of this president over petty crap like this.

Do you honestly think that Obama has gone thru worse than what Bush did? The leftists made all sorts of wild claims about Bush: Bush stole the election, Bush blew up the towers, Bush wants to take civil rights and your SS away, Bush lied People Died!, the propaganda from Michael Moore, Dan Rather's "fake but accurate" memos, Bush stole the election again, Bush blew up the levees, Bush destroyed the economy. ad nauseum

I just think that if you believe this is an effective tool for the Obama team, you need to drink some more koolaid.