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THE JUSSIE SMOLLETT HOAX AND THE MEDIA’S TRIBAL WAR ON AMERICA
Frontpagemag.com ^ | 2-19-2019 | Daniel Greenfield

Posted on 02/19/2019 6:54:04 AM PST by servo1969

Why did the media fall so swiftly for the Jussie Smollett hoax right after falling for the Covington Catholic hoax? The easy answer is bias. And that might have even been the right answer a generation ago.

These days the media isn't biased. It's tribal.

Bias leads us to make mistakes. But the media wasn't making a mistake when it loudly broadcast false claims with plenty of red flags about Trump supporters wearing red hats. Just as the media wasn't making a mistake when it spread fake news about attacks on Muslim women by Trump supporters after the election. This wasn't an error due to prejudice, but an active effort to reinforce tribal prejudices.

The Covington Catholic story in particular was not newsworthy by any rational definition of the term. The media insisted on making it news because it perfectly encapsulated the tribal prejudices of its base of urban and suburban lefties by pitting anti-abortion kids in MAGA hats against saintly minorities.

There's another example of tribal hatred masquerading as news in the news now.

Prime Time Sports, a small sports memorabilia store in a Colorado Springs mall, announced that it was going out of business. Malls are emptying out across the country and there was no reason why the closing of a mall shop selling Cubs t-shirts and Patriots mini-helmets should have ended up in hundreds of papers around the country. But the reason why its closing ended up in major papers and news networks, including CNN. says a great deal about the malicious nature of political tribalism on the Left.

"A Colorado store that boycotted Nike after its Kaepernick ad will close," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette gloated about the misfortune of a mall store 1,400 miles away.

"He stopped selling Nike products because of Colin Kaepernick," the Washington Post breathlessly reported. "Now his store is closing."

The fate of a 2,000 square foot hole in the wall placeholder in a dying mall had somehow become of crucial interest to the opinion-shapers and policymakers of the nation's capital. But when Kermit Gosnell, the abortion doctor suspected of hundreds of cases of infanticide, was on trial, the Post dismissed it as a "local crime" story. Those are the same tribal priorities that led the media to be outraged that Governor Northam wore blackface 34 years ago, but not that he now backed infanticide.

The headlines sum up why the national media found the closing of a mall shop so newsworthy. The owner had dared to buck the media's tribal message that Colin Kaepernick was a civil rights hero. Going out of business was his punishment. It was a story of just deserts. A moral lesson for America.

Stand up to our social justice mega-corps and we will destroy you. And then dance on your grave.

Stories of ordinary people punished for their political views have slowly become a staple of the media. These often focus on some random person caught on video in what can be spun as a politically incorrect moment during a confrontation, and then being followed around by the cameras as their lives are destroyed. The Covington Catholic case is the most famous of these types of tribal humiliation stories.

Their existence says everything about where the media, its parent leftist movement and America are.

In a liberal society, people from different tribes can agree to disagree because they recognize their mutual humanity. In a tribal society, the 'other' is less than human. Tribal narratives are about the superiority of 'our' people to 'their' people. Outrage at selective incidents is used to dehumanize the 'other' tribe, to call for violence against them, and then to urge their utter destruction.

Or, as New York Times columnist Sarah Jeong once tweeted, "#CancelWhitePeople".

Tribal superiority is reinforced through ritualistic acts of humiliation of the other side. Media stories like the one about a sports store in a failing mall going out of business 'count coup' on conservatives.

Once upon a time, America was a liberal society. And Americans were able to coexist together.

It's easy to see what we have lost by what we now have. A tribal society is governed by mysteries and absolutes. Morality is relative and contradictory. The only real absolute truth is the superiority of the group. Divisions between tribes are therefore absolute. Unity is possible only against a common enemy.

And so we've lost science and replaced it with scientism. Science was a set of techniques for testing the accuracy of answers. Scientism is the conviction that anything a politically correct PhD says about the entire planet or the universe must be believed with a religious fervor because it makes you a more moral person.

Religious tolerance and tolerance for all different ideas have also become casualties.

In a tribal society, the other tribe is evil because of its ancestry and beliefs. These two are intermingled, as they were in Nazi Germany or among the leftist exponents of 'white privilege'. Your tribe is superior because of its ancestry and beliefs. The enemy tribe is evil because of its race and its beliefs.

Racial tolerance has been replaced by racial tribalism. Coexistence is held to be a physical impossibility. The new racial theorems claim that 'whiteness' and 'blackness' are in perpetual conflict, and that racial justice can only come by recognizing this conflict and doing everything possible to destroy 'whiteness'.

There's nothing progressive about this narrow-minded tribalism. Instead the 'progressives' have destroyed what was once a liberal society while declaring that their tribal hatreds and prejudices, their intolerance and refusal to listen to other points of view, are justified by tribal outrage and grievance.

All other forms of morality and justice have been supplanted by the tribal representation of 'diversity'.

Tribal warfare begins with outrage, it escalates to raids and then to war. The media is already saturated with the tribal outrage of victimhood. The purpose of outrage is to declare something unacceptable. Media tribal outrage depicts almost any conservative views as unacceptable causes of tribal suffering. Every day, conservative views are responsible for the murder and oppression of minorities. Like Colin.

The next step in the tribal war is the raid. The raid is a brief skirmish that inflicts harm and humiliation on a tribal foe, demonstrating his weakness and the strength of the raiders. It raises the morale of the tribe, encouraging it to embark on a conflict, while weakening the morale of its targets to resist.

The media has been conducting these tribal raids for some time now. Over time the intentions behind them have become more explicit. Stories that reinforce the tribal conviction that conservatives are morally inferior give way to stories that seek to economically and even physically punish conservatives.

The journalists tweeting about Nick Sandmann of Covington Catholic and his "punchable face" were demonstrating that the ultimate purpose of tribal narratives about the evil of the 'other' in his MAGA cap is to escalate that outrage, demonstrations of inferiority and ritual humiliations into violence.

The deluge of disgust, contempt and hatred is a tide that can only wash up on one bloody shore.

Different tribes can coexist in a liberal society, they can separate in a federation whose divisions are governed by strict rules, or, hatred and anger will funnel them into an escalating tribal war.

The media is the voice of the leftist tribes reinforcing their identities, policing their boundaries and stirring up hatred, outrage and violence against the rest of the country. It lets no incident pass it by that it can use to stir up more tribal enmity, whether it is a boy in a red cap in Washington D.C. or a mall store closing in Colorado Springs. It has become the greatest enemy of a tolerant and open society.


TOPICS: Editorial
KEYWORDS: empire; greenfield; hoax; jussie; media; msm; rumprangernews; smollett; theleft; tribal; tribalism
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To: servo1969

bookmark


21 posted on 02/19/2019 7:27:48 AM PST by GOP Poet
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To: maggief

Maggie, that is funny and creative.


22 posted on 02/19/2019 7:30:25 AM PST by Migraine
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To: Migraine

I found it on twitter. :)


23 posted on 02/19/2019 7:32:18 AM PST by maggief
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To: servo1969

Not funny.


24 posted on 02/19/2019 7:32:30 AM PST by coaster123 (Bring back the curtsy. - If one is alive one is privileged.)
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To: servo1969

I hate liars.

““But the reason why its closing ended up in major papers and news networks, including CNN. says a great deal about the malicious nature of political tribalism on the Left.”

The owner told 11 News there are a few reasons he decided to close the store down after 21 years, one being the Nike boycott. Stephen Martin, owner of Prime Time Sports, said the growth in online shopping has reduced sales at his store, and he can no longer afford to pay his lease. Furthermore, according to Martin, “”In the past two years, I’ve had seven competitors within 30 miles of me close,” he said. “I’m the only full-service sporting apparel store between Castle Rock and the New Mexico line.”

Martin canceled an autograph-signing session with Brandon Marshall, another protestor/kneeler, of the Denver Broncos in the fall 2016. Martin said. “At that time, it was a business decision for me because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to meet his $10,000 signing obligation.”

More lying by the media by presenting it as a racial protest rather than the whole allotment of reasons it is closing. Let’s sell those papers!!! So in this case, this article will be overshadowed by a liberal press trying to pad their agenda because the article directly falls into the losing effort to argue on a point that is minor in it’s nature rather than giving the whole truth. Can’t be intelligent that way.

rwood


25 posted on 02/19/2019 7:41:52 AM PST by Redwood71
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To: SoCal Pubbie

But she wasn’t part of a hoax media created story. She was a hoax.


26 posted on 02/19/2019 7:48:52 AM PST by outpostinmass2
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To: outpostinmass2

You asked for someone on the left being held accountable. I gave you the first example that came to mind. While I agree with you the lefties tend to get a pass, there are many examples of those don’t. Anthony Weiner, Al Franken, and Harvey Weinstein all paid a price.


27 posted on 02/19/2019 8:00:31 AM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: outpostinmass2

The media didn’t “fall” for it. It is part of their agenda. They participated in the fake news.


28 posted on 02/19/2019 8:05:49 AM PST by spudville
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To: SoCal Pubbie

Anthony Weiner, Al Franken, and Harvey Weinstein

Those guys committed crimes and were caught red handed. There was no choice. And they weren’t media news people.

I should have been more specific with my question but this thread was about the media.

I know Dan Rather was allowed to retire at age 70 from CBS after his hoax but I hardly call that paying a price.
But he is still out there talking and writing books.

The Rolling Stone reporter Elderly hasn’t done any reporting since the UVA story which is surprising. But she didn’t lose any money. Just allowed to quietly go away.


29 posted on 02/19/2019 8:14:29 AM PST by outpostinmass2
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To: outpostinmass2

“Those guys committed crimes and were caught red handed.”

Filing a false police report and making terrorist threats by mail are also crimes.


30 posted on 02/19/2019 8:44:17 AM PST by SoCal Pubbie
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To: servo1969
The media is the voice of the leftist tribes reinforcing their identities, policing their boundaries and stirring up hatred, outrage and violence against the rest of the country. It lets no incident pass it by that it can use to stir up more tribal enmity, whether it is a boy in a red cap in Washington D.C. or a mall store closing in Colorado Springs. It has become the greatest enemy of a tolerant and open society.

Well put

31 posted on 02/19/2019 8:45:47 AM PST by 1Old Pro
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To: SoCal Pubbie

“Those guys committed crimes and were caught red handed.”

Filing a false police report and making terrorist threats by mail are also crimes.


Agreed, but we will see....


32 posted on 02/19/2019 8:46:43 AM PST by outpostinmass2
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To: servo1969

I wish everyone would stop saying that the “media fell for the Smellitt hoax.” They didn’t “fall” for anything, they deliberately encourage, promote and spread these hoaxes deliberately. It serves its purpose. Everyone will remember the initial headline reporting and will forget the back page paragraph that says that it was a hoax. They just move on to the next hoax, it’s deliberate, it’s purposeful, and never forget that.


33 posted on 02/19/2019 9:59:01 AM PST by euram
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To: outpostinmass2

Well Dolezal was the perpetrator of a number of fake hate crimes against herself, just like Smollett.


34 posted on 02/19/2019 10:52:41 AM PST by Boogieman
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To: All

GET OUT YOUR INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH BARF BAG -—YOU’RE GONNA NEED IT.

Hoaxer Smollett came out as gay during a televised interview with Ellen DeGeneres in March 2015.

In a 2016 interview with Out magazine, Smollett clarified his sexual orientation by stating “If I had to label myself, I would label myself as a gay man.” However, he stated his belief that openness to love is more important than gender, revealing that “If I fall in love down the road with a woman, I’m going to love that woman.”

As a boy, Smollett had some romantic interest in girls. When Smollett’s gay character Jamal Lyon from Empire engaged in a tryst with a female character, Smollett defended the plot development by stating that he and Empire creator Lee Daniels were trying to create a conversation about sexual fluidity in the gay community.

Daniels has stated that “Jussie and I both share the same feeling that, yes, even though we are gay, we’re sexual human beings. And we do occasionally want to sleep with a woman.” Daniels stated that “We’re showing life on Empire”, in that both he and Smollett were incorporating their own sexual fluidity as gay men into Empire.


35 posted on 02/19/2019 1:04:19 PM PST by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: All

breitbart.com
By Alana Mastrangelo
on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo
and on Instagram.

Here’s 12 establishment media commentators and journalists who fueled the Jussie Smollett flames with impassioned and uncritical reactions to the Empire actor’s imaginative account of his supposed run-in with Trump supporters in “MAGA country” Chicago.

1. Eugene Scott – Washington Post‘s The Fix reporter——“To many, the Smollett incident — and the political nature of the assault — is yet another reminder for many black gay Americans that this president’s vision of a ‘great America’ does not appear to include them,” wrote Eugene Scott for Washington Post‘s The Fix.

2. Don Lemon – CNN journalist-——CNN’s Don Lemon told Red Table Talk that he wasn’t shocked when he heard Smollett’s story, adding that he was concerned about the actor’s “well-being” in having to deal with being black, gay, and famous.

“One, he has to deal with discrimination as a black man,” said Lemon, “then, on top of that, he has to be gay — and then, fame — fame is not natural — When something happens to you and it’s controversial, everyone is coming for you, and so I knew everyone would be picking apart his story.”

3. Yamiche Alcindor – PBS NewsHour White House correspondent—— “We have to do better as a country. This is disgusting,” said PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, in a tweet referring to the alleged attackers shouting “This is MAGA country,” which was then retweeted by CNN commentator Sally Kohn.

4. Joyce Vance – MSNBC contributor——“If someone commits this kind of act under your banner, you should have the decency to publicly condemn them and say it’s not what you stand for. But I doubt Trump will,” tweeted MSNBC contributor Joyce Vance in response to Alcindor.

5. Jamil Smith – Rolling Stone journalist-—“The brutal attack on him in Chicago appears to be yet another example not just of further moral decay, but of the brand of terrorism that still doesn’t seem to spark enough response by Americans,” tweeted Rolling Stone journalist Jamil Smith.

6. April Ryan – CNN analyst-——“This attack on @JussieSmollett is a hate crime and should be treated as such!” affirmed CNN’s April Ryan, in response to the NAACP’s Derrick Johnson, who claimed the actor had been a victim of a “racist, homophobic attack” and that “divisive, hateful rhetoric” is putting “lives at risk.”

7. Jemele Hill – The Atlantic journalist——“I’ve met @JussieSmollett a few times at social events and he emanates warmth and joy. I’m just disgusted and appalled that he has suffered the unimaginable,” tweeted an uncritical Jemele Hill.

8. Zerlina Maxwell – MSNBC analyst——“The media is broken. If they can’t call the attack on Jussie racist straight up then they need to find alternative employment,” argued the MSNBC analyst, scrutinizing any media that had been referring to the incident as an “apparent hate crime.”

“Apparent HATE CRIME?” continued Maxwell, “Sure bc that has a legal definition. But to be clear pouring bleach on a Black person while you are yelling about MAGA = RACIST”

9. Joy Reid – MSNBC correspondent——“Nooses never really disappeared as messages of a very specific kind of terror,” said MSNBC’s Joy Reid, “but every time they’re used, my God, it’s chilling. Praying for Jussie’s full recovery. And for us all.”

10. Karen Attiah – Washington Post editor-——“Regarding the heinous attack on @JussieSmollett, yet another reminder that Trump’s ascendance and the resulting climate of hate has meant that lives have been increasingly at stake since 2015. Smollett could have been killed by those thugs screaming MAGA. Let that sink in,” tweeted Washington Post editor Karen Attiah.

11. Amy Siskind – Huffington Post contributor——“Can we get anyone in the Trump orbit to condemn the 2 MAGA men who brutally attacked Jussie Smollett, a gay black man, and put his head in a noose while saying ‘This is MAGA country,’ so others don’t feel like your silence is legitimizing hate? How about you @realDonaldTrump?” tweeted Huffington Post contributor Amy Siskind.

“Confirmed. Trump needs to address this attack publicly and condemn it!” continued Siskind in another tweet, which included a Huffington Post article that did not confirm anything, other than the fact that Smollett had spoken to the police.

12. Brooke Baldwin – CNN journalist and news anchor——“Absolutely despicable,” said CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on CNN Newsroom, “and this is America in 2019.”


36 posted on 02/19/2019 1:07:23 PM PST by Liz ( Our side has 8 trillion bullets; the other side doesn't know which bathroom to use.)
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To: servo1969

Smollett gets new 5-year contract with EMPIRE. BWAHAHAHA!

https://twitter.com/DCCogan/status/1097966925546545152


37 posted on 02/19/2019 1:14:14 PM PST by doug from upland (Why the hell isn't Hillary Rodham Clinton in prison yet?)
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To: servo1969

It’s not a tribal war.

It’s a communist revolution, fully intended to undermine and then destroy the U.S.

IMHO


38 posted on 02/19/2019 4:09:21 PM PST by ripley
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To: servo1969

Three-word summary answer:

Ministry of Truth.


39 posted on 02/19/2019 5:54:59 PM PST by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: coaster123
Just visited Hawaii, the big Island. Had a conversation with a fifth generation native. She says her generation is done fighting, but her children the millennial "Hawaiians" are serious about succession?

Then she tells me that the entire island chain is powered by diesel generators! I had no idea that Hawaii has no ability to generate their own power, they receive huge regular shipments of diesel from the mainland.

40 posted on 02/20/2019 6:55:31 AM PST by thirst4truth (America, What difference does it make?)
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