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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   28023 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 7, 2024

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Well the cat thing seems to be directionally true even though it isn’t technically true.

https://christopherrufo.com/p/the-cat-eaters-of-ohio

Is "directionally true" the new buzzword that means "actually not correct, but we wish it was"? Might as well say Johnny's answer to a math problem being "three billion" is "directionally true" when the real answer is "five". It's totally meaningless.

Is "directionally true" the new buzzword that means "actually not correct, but we wish it was"?

Its the mirrior of/response to the sort of technically true but misleading brand of "facts" and "fact checking" that has become distressingly common in the current media environment.

Example: so-and-so claims that Candidate Smith is a psycho who tortures puppies. Candidate Smith responds that this is baseless slander. It was a kitten Smith tortured, not a puppy, and it was only that one time.

Smith's supporters will spill gallons of ink going about how So-and-so is a liar and thier claims have all been "debunked", but the people inclined to think that torturing small furry animals is indicative of Candidate Smith being a psycho have had thier perception reinfored rather than rebuked, making So-and-so's claim "directionally correct".

Remember how someone making up a fake hate crime is at least "Raising Awareness" or "Starting A Conversation?" Remember how that's weak bullshit nonsense? This is that.

And yet the WSJ tracked down the woman who made the complaint that triggered the embellished lie — she later found her cat in her own basement — and the at-core intellectually dishonest like Rufo then when looking for “directional” truth to prop up the lie.

And even for Rufo, it’s an African, not Haitians, plural.

Immigrant from third world barbecuing cats is true. Immigrants from third world causing all sorts of problems due to incompatible cultures is obviously true (and the cat thing is merely an extreme example).

That anyone has produced evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating cats and dogs is a lie. And this gets back to the initial point. Immigration does cause tensions and problems. So a non-zero number of Trump supports are happy to swallow the lie, as opposed to the claim they view him as an honest liar.

That anyone has produced evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield are eating cats and dogs is a lie.

It's not cats and dogs it's only cats. It's not Haitians it's Congolese. And it's not Springfield, it's Dayton. Note that what @zeke5123a said is consonant with all of those things.

I did note it. He’s just derailing things, as are you, about whether Trump supporters do or don’t believe his lies.

During ABC's presidential debate, Trump said: "In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they are eating the cats. They’re eating – they are eating the pets of the people that live there." But city officials have told BBC Verify there have been “no credible reports" that this has actually happened. -BBC

For Jamie McGregor, a businessman in Springfield, Ohio, speaking favorably about the Haitian immigrants he employs has come to this: death threats, a lockdown at his company and posters around town branding him a traitor for hiring immigrants. -NYT

You do understand that if Trump says "Haitians are eating dogs in Springfield" and it turns out that no, Congolese are eating cats in Dayton, Trump's point is still made even if he was wrong on every detail, right?

I realize your conception of whether or not someone is lying is that one can throw out factually incorrect statements on national television, and that’s honest, provided post hoc, someone else can track down an isolated event that doesn’t actually fit the former so long as it fits a vibe.

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