The new normal?

[johnny9fingers]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/06/emmanuel-macron-targeted-by-hackers-on-eve-of-french-election

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-39827244

Is the only way to stop this sort of thing from affecting the voting population a proper education? The mixing of the real and the fabricated in these releases leaks means that separating the

Comments

How the worm turns.

[policraticus]

Funny. I'm old enough to remember when Julian Assange was a courageous speaker of Truth to Power. It seems so long ago now, but he was once feted for disclosing, without fear or favor, the unseemly and inconvenient way that the powerful conduct their ugly business. I remember when he lived his life on the run from CIA or FBI, his supporters sure that the dark powers who ran our world were hot on his trail and eager to snatch him for an extended stay in Guantanamo. Why I even remember whenever mentioning the sexual assault charges lodged against him exposed you as a gullible fool who was merely repeating slanders fabricated in Washington and propagated by those who wanted to silence The Truth.

I guess it does matter whose ox is being gored.

Like the Clinton/DNC hacks, and the original Wikileaks, the only useful question is "are these genuine?" If the answer is "yes," then whatever is embarrassing is not the fault of Assange or Putin or Trump, it rests with the authors.

RE: How the worm turns.

[johnny9fingers]

He lost the "courageous speaker of Truth to Power" some time ago, as we all know.

And the poor lad has to try every trick in the book to wriggle out from his unfortunate situation. This has meant he and his organisation have just become an easy propaganda tool for clever and unscrupulous folk to take advantage of.

As it happens, the Macron leak didn't come only from Wikileaks; it was leaked via a number of conduits, as is now appropriate given the way wikileaks is now viewed. But then again, I suppose in the age of fake news mixed in with real news and deposited at the last minute to have an affect on the democratic process, my unfortunate and accidental accreditation of this to Assange will no doubt be corrected. Eventually.

As for your question are these genuine? Well, if only half of them are, and the other half is completely made up, and the election is tomorrow, how do you tell?

RE: How the worm turns.

[policraticus]

Or, he was never a speaker of Truth to Power. He was always a scumbag, but when he was a scumbag exposing "truths" you wanted exposed, his scumbaggery wasn't important.

how do you tell?

You use your intellect and your best judgment. I'm pretty sure that is how you should make all your decisions. Waiting to get some sort or imprimatur from an authority strikes me as infantile.

RE: How the worm turns.

[johnny9fingers]

I may use my intellect and judgement, and you may use yours too, and I'm perfectly happy with that. What I'm not happy for is that many people do not have your intellect and judgement, and they, rather than you or I, will decide the issue.

Thankfully the French are a pretty well-educated nation.

[oportet]

Maybe the medias preferred candidate doesn't really have the lead the polls indicate - wouldn't be the first time...

Eventually, you'll get your wish - someone will turn him over - but it won't stop anything. He isn't a hacker, he's the middleman - an easy position to fill.

[johnny9fingers]

I'm not vindictive.
Brexit and Trump required decades of disinvestment in state education. It is as much our fault as Julian's. But if no means no, or even "not without a condom" means no if you don't have a condom, then poor old Julian appears to have let his libidinous moment get the better of him. Maybe the lass will be generous. But that should be her decision, and only hers; without any other pressure from the outside.

He is a middleman. A virtual Harry Lime selling dodgy out-of-date antibiotics fake info to the world. Shame he doesn't have the charisma of Orson Welles. A good speech about cuckoo clocks would go down a treat too.

[htpcl]

It's hybrid warfare, my friend.

[johnny9fingers]

Indeed.

And it is being exposed, but that will make no difference.

[debunkgpolitics]

Had the leaked personal e-mails of Mr. Podesta had been false, he and Ms. Clinton would have vehemently refuted them. No one refuted the released content. Therefore, Ms. Clinton would have lost votes after voters learned the truth about her entire agenda, which they are entitled to know.