The Pennsylvania Democrat has some thoughts to share on Biden, the left and James Carville, too.

[JoeOtterbein]

Politico

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN

12/27/2023 05:00 AM EST

John Fetterman’s had a rollercoaster of a year.

In January, he was sworn into office as Pennsylvania’s new Democratic senator despite suffering from a debilitating stroke on the campaign trail. In doing so, he managed to flip the only seat in the upper chamber during the 2022 cycle. Six weeks after assuming office, he checked himself into a hospital for clinical depression.

Fetterman emerged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as an unlikely evangelizer of mental health treatment, something medical professionals applauded as a stigma-busting move that could save lives.

But in the last few months, Fetterman has returned to the place where he’s most comfortable: as a highly skilled troller. Only this time, his targets have often been allies in the progressive movement who have long seen him as an icon. In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Fetterman has emerged as one of the most vocal supporters of the country in the Senate.

snip

more at link

[yardwork]

1. Fetterman is not a troll.

He seems to have hurt the feelings of certain groups by not automatically going along with their latest Putin-promoted cause. That doesn't make him a troll.

[atreides1]

2. Okay.

What Putin-promoted cause is that, or is there more than one?

[lapucelle]

6. Probably this.

In a Worldwide War of Words, Russia, China and Iran Back Hamas

Officials and researchers say the deluge of online propaganda and disinformation is larger than anything seen before.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas is fast becoming a world war online. Iran, Russia and, to a lesser degree, China have used state media and the world’s major social networking platforms to support Hamas and undercut Israel, while denigrating Israel’s principal ally, the United States.

snip====================================

The deluge of online propaganda and disinformation is larger than anything seen before, according to government officials and independent researchers — a reflection of the world’s geopolitical division.

“It is being seen by millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world,” said Rafi Mendelsohn, vice president at Cyabra, a social media intelligence company in Tel Aviv, “and it’s impacting the war in a way that is probably just as effective as any other tactic on the ground.” Cyabra has documented at least 40,000 bots or inauthentic accounts online since Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/technology/israel-hamas-information-war.html

[Arazi]

8. Wow! I hadn't seen that article and it's verrryyy enlightening

I’ve been saying I believed the protests and UN resolutions were a lot of manufactured outrage since many other far worse conflicts have never generated this level of heat.

And here you are with this gift.

Thank you.

Fetterman is right on this. Nothing wrong with that man’s brain

[betsuni]

12. Wow also! Thanks for the article.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

4. Don't be a coward...

Name names.

[lapucelle]

7. The New York Times names them.

In a Worldwide War of Words, Russia, China and Iran Back Hamas

Officials and researchers say the deluge of online propaganda and disinformation is larger than anything seen before.

From the first hours of its attack, Hamas has employed a broad, sophisticated media strategy, inspired by groups like the Islamic State. Its operatives spread graphic imagery through bot accounts originating in places like Pakistan, sidestepping bans of Hamas on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter, according to Cyabra’s researchers.

snip---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Officials and experts who track disinformation and extremism have been struck by how quickly and extensively Hamas’s message has spread online. That feat was almost certainly fueled by the emotional intensity of the Israeli-Palestinian issue and by the graphic images of the violence, captured virtually in real time with cameras carried by Hamas gunmen. It was also boosted by extensive networks of bots and, soon afterward, official accounts belonging to governments and state media in Iran, Russia and China — amplified by social media platforms.

snip---------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a single day after the conflict began, roughly one in four accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X posting about the conflict appeared to be fake, Cyabra found. In the 24 hours after the blast at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, more than one in three accounts posting about it on X were.

The company’s researchers identified six coordinated campaigns on a scale so large, they said, that it suggested the involvement of nations or large nonstate actors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/technology/israel-hamas-information-war.html

[ForgoTheConsequence]

10. I didn't address you.

Nor did that response have anything to do with the context at large. Try again.

[lapucelle]

11. ...

[Cha]

16. This is a Discussion Board.. We can Post where We Want

to.. Too bad if anyone doesn't like the answers.

And, Yeah Hillary's Right.. Again.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. I love the guy!

ETA -

SCOTUS Matters. That's all.

[JoeOtterbein]

9. Me too!

He's one of the best Senators we have!

[lapucelle]

5. Taking a principled stand is not trolling.

Link to tweet

[Elessar Zappa]

13. Fetterman's great.

We need more like him.

[TheKentuckian]

14. Opening the bidding at 51.

[UTUSN]

15. K&R