As Twitchy reported, the United States has ejected 35 Russian intelligence operatives from the country, and President Obama vowed to impose sanctions on Russian intelligence services in retaliation for what the White House is calling “malicious cyber activity and harassment.”
Why it took this long for President Obama to do something about malicious cyber activity is another question entirely, but credit the White House for stopping short of accusing Russia of “hacking the election,” whatever that means. Does it mean that Russian operatives actually reprogrammed voting machines in Wisconsin by slipping malicious floppy disks into the drive slots?
The term “hacking” has been used as shorthand for a lot of alleged activities, but the result is always the same: Hillary Clinton lost.
#UPDATE US sanctions Russia over vote hacking https://t.co/HNWMV1zcGg
— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/TPCarney/status/814578618403790852
That’s what the tweet says, right? “US sanctions Russia over vote hacking.” See, Dr. Jill Stein was onto something with her floppy disk theory.
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/814584612391452672
Trash headlines like this are why 52 percent of Dems wrongly believe Russia tampered with vote tallies. https://t.co/Kwo8EbqL3C
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) December 29, 2016
Even Michigan Rep. Justin Amash didn’t hesitate to call out AFP for propagating fake news.
#fakenews https://t.co/gCyE5RviWb
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 29, 2016
Unsure what Amash thinks is fake. The sanctions? The hack? Both? https://t.co/2OyBNTipz0
— Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) December 29, 2016
Who has alleged "vote hacking"?
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 29, 2016
You are correct – that's an awful headline.
— Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) December 29, 2016
It is an awful headline — deceptive and flat-out incorrect, even — but AFP ran with it anyway.
@AFP how is this fake news?
— Ryan Brown (@rbcardsfan105) December 29, 2016
The administration has not alleged "vote hacking."
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 29, 2016
True … but the administration also hasn’t done much to dispel the idea either.
The people lecturing you about a fake news epidemic are running stories about Russians hacking votes. *votes.*
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 29, 2016
Yep … and the idea is taking hold.
WaPo: 50% of Clinton voters believe Russia 'tampered with vote tallies in order to get Donald Trump elected.' https://t.co/SMcguLhqQl
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/MikeMadden/status/814530382259482624
And here’s NPR with its entry into the “election hacking” narrative.
#BREAKING: President Obama orders sanctions against Russian intelligence services officials in response to election hacking
— NPR (@NPR) December 29, 2016
.@NPR what "election hacking" are you referring to?
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 29, 2016
.@iowahawkblog @NPR Are you incapable of deductive reasoning? You honestly don't know what NPR's Twitter account means by election hacking?
— Dennis DiClaudio (@dennisdiclaudio) December 29, 2016
Maybe the pro journalists who work with words for a living could explain rather than asking readers to fill in the blanks.
Is it asking too much to use language that conveys what they believe is the case.
@iowahawkblog @NPR— Coshoct (@Coshoct) December 29, 2016
With 140 character limit, we make allowances, especially when discussing the biggest story of the decade. @iowahawkblog @NPR
— Dennis DiClaudio (@dennisdiclaudio) December 29, 2016
.@dennisdiclaudio @coshoct @NPR "email hacking" takes 3 fewer characters than "election hacking."
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 29, 2016
And here’s ABC News’ chief political analyst repeating the line that Russia hacked our election.
What is more problematic for US national security: few thousand Mexicans coming across the border for work, or Russia hacking our election?
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) December 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/GeckoVox/status/814593439018971136
the election wasn't hacked unless you have evidence of vote tampering. That's poor headline and analysis.
— Pouncing Coder Brad (@bradcundiff) December 29, 2016
"Chief Political Analyst, ABC News"
I'm sorry, "Russia hacking our election" is just a lie. It's a lie. You are lying. https://t.co/C212jYDgJG— PoliMath (@politicalmath) December 29, 2016
Is this you trying to see how much you can get wrong in 140 characters?
— Taro Tsujimoto (@RCannon74) December 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/EvelynBeaHall/status/814579461471473665
A media obsessed with the popular vote and possible electoral college revolts wouldn't possibly use "election hack" deliberately. /sarc
— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) December 29, 2016
Media, get a clue. The. Election. Was. Not. Hacked. https://t.co/fVEfzAvPrx
— Kyle Smith (@rkylesmith) December 29, 2016
This "election hacked" narrative took off so fast it needed an attendant & drink cart accompanying it
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) December 29, 2016
Well, there had to be some explanation how Hillary lost.
https://twitter.com/TBCJay/status/814578061148614656
"Oh well too late" – MSM https://t.co/JdCwyGXki7
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) December 29, 2016
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