I need help refuting a rumor...

[CoffeeCat]

I just received an email from a right-wing family member. I really need help refuting it. I hate to bring this garbage here, but I want to do a "reply all" and let everyone hear how ridiculous these rumors are.

I know there's going to be a collective groan, but yes--Glenn Beck is circulating a story about the Obama Administration "in talks" with Egypt about returning the WTC bomber back to Egypt--as part of some kind of negotiation. YES, I know this is ridiculous. I haven't heard anything about this and I certainly don't believe it. I won't even post the article here, because I consider it Glenn Beck nonsense.

I am doing my own due diligence, but I am wondering where and how this originated? Usually when Beck lies--he distorts the truth or twists things. Is he making this up out of whole cloth? Or is he twisting something benign into this lie?

The article states that "someone close to the Obama Administration" told Beck that this is the case. Of course, an unnamed source. There are two people quoted in the article. They don't have direct proof of this assertion--they just back up that the assertions are plausible. I looked up the two people that Beck gets quotes from in the article. Surprise, surprise--one is a Fox News contributor and the other is a radical hack who insists that Obama is a Muslim. So yet, the quotes are from partisan (and probably unstable) people.

It appears that Beck just made this up out of whole cloth. I checked Google last night, and it appears that Beck originated the article, then several right-wing blogs spread this bizarre and inaccurate claim. Of course, social media just spreads it further, like a bad virus.

Does anyone have any information about WHY this would be said? I want to refute this with facts and if I'm missing information that someone hear may have--I want to include that. I am tired of Beck's lies, and I believe that if we don't smack them down--they take on a life of their own and evolve into "facts" that people believe.

Any help is appreciated.

[CJCRANE]

1. You could check Snopes, I suppose.

That's your best bet.

[CoffeeCat]

5. Thanks for that...

Unlike Romney, I do appreciate fact checkers.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. It's a pack of lies. Obama just stated that he doesn't even consider Egypt an ally.

[CoffeeCat]

6. I know...

...which is why it's hard to deflect.

Beck makes up nonsense from whole cloth. How do you argue against something that
someone made up? Especially when the lie is so detailed? Your only defense is that it's
a lie. But Beckians never believe it.

[MissMarple]

3. You probably won't be able to get though to the "true believers" no matter what you say.

If it doesn't confirm what they "believe" they will reject it, especially if they are beckites. You might have a better shot appealing to their vanity. Something like ' you're a very smart person, I'm surprised you would believe something so obviously made up and unverifiable. Mr. Beck seems to have lost his way after he left faux, or maybe he is confusing the WTC bomber with the Lockerbie bomber, or the justice system would never allow that because there are too many conservatives in it put in by Bush '. But then, we are getting into that "facty" territory again. They are against Obama at a gut level and will accept anything that confirms that feeling, reject anything that challenges it.

[CoffeeCat]

7. I find it very, very bizarre...

...that so many people are heavily invested in believing Beck. They won't even consider that
Beck is a lying circus act--which he clearly is.

It's as if their egos are tied to Beck being accurate. If Beck is wrong, then I have been bamboozled and I am a complete idiot. Therefore, everything Beck says absolutely has to be correct. PERIOD.

I like your, "You're a smart guy..." tactic.

Thank ya!

[CJCRANE]

4. I think he gets some of his ideas from DU.

I'm serious. I noticed this a few times when Beck was still on Fox. Ideas from DU would get picked up and twisted round.

A couple of days ago I posted that the Dems put the first WTC bomber in prison and killed Bin Laden (in reply to a troll).

So Beck's just using the Rovian idea of attacking a strength, turning it into a weakness. So he's glommed the Lockerbie bomber story (who was released by the Scottish government) onto this one.

[CoffeeCat]

9. That's a very good point

I would be VERY surprised if Beck (and other right-wing entertainers and organizations) didn't pay attention to Democratic sites like DU. I imagine they pay close attention to Twitter and Facebook trends as well.

And very true--Rove attacks strengths, and Obama has surely earned his foreign-policy bona fides during the past year. Considering that the Republicans attacked Obama on his foreign-policy "inexperience" and tried to spotlight Obama's lack of experience up against McCain's lifetime of military and foreign-policy credentials. Obama has had some foreign-policy home runs. He's ending the Iraq war, winding down Afghanistan and he killed bin Laden.

I've noticed plenty of attacks on Obama's foreign policy. One meme they spread was that Obama had warnings about the Libya attack 48 hours before it happened. This was a total lie. This lie came down the pike about five days ago. It started with an article from The Independent--which is a right-wing rag owned by Murdoch. The article stated that there were credible threats 48 hours before the Libyan attack. However, there were no specific threats. Nothing about Libya, at all. President Obama did nothing wrong. But that article was used to suggest that Obama had 48 hours warning about Libya. It's not true. That meme--along with that article spread all over social media.

I think this is a very deliberate, orchestrated attempt to chip away at Obama's foreign-policy experience, and fodder for inflaming the right-wing nutjob base of the Republican party.

I ignored that "48 hours" email, but I don't feel like ignoring the recent "Egypt" lie. Enough is enough.

I agree with you wholeheartedly that sites like DU are used to plant attacks in order to view the responses/defenses against attacks. Good points that you made in return about the Dems putting the first WTC bomber and prison and killing bin Laden.

Thanks for your feedback, as well.

[progressivebydesign]

8. Truly? When it involves Glenn Beck, who utterly delusional, you should walk away.

Don't try to refute anything. And frankly, I would ask that the person stop sending me things like that. Period.

I would simply reply that I'm not going to refute it because Glenn Beck is not a credible source of anything, and find it offensive that someone who routinely likens the President to Adolph Hitler, would be listened to with any seriousness.

[CoffeeCat]

10. Yes, I agree....

...but now it's also on social media.

I do think that responding on social media is very important. I think Rove and other Republican operatives put false stories and outright lies online. They light the fire. Then, they use social media to spread the wildfire and do damage to the President. I feel that it is imperative--that as these fools attempt to dupe people, that our voices are heard and we speak the truth and do our best to
debunk these lies.

I strongly feel that saying nothing--allows the lies to take hold.

We can pour cold water on these fires, and it's worth two minutes of my time to include my opinion in these Facebook posts--in response to the lies. I think it helps others to see that not everyone buys into the lies.