A new political order?

Originally posted by shavixmir
From the BBC:
The White House has barred several major broadcasters and newspapers from attending an informal press briefing.
The BBC, CNN, the New York Times and others were excluded from an audience with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, with no reason given.
It came hours after President Donald Trump delivered another attack on the media in a speech, s ...[text shortened]... officials have particularly irked the president.

Worried yet, my little American friends?

That's just the Lügenpresse. Only the Völkischer Beobachter has fair and balanced reporting.

No. I have guns.

Originally posted by Eladar
What concern is it for you who is running the ruling class? They are all your better and the result is little difference to your life.

Well indeed, it is relevant to ask exactly that question - who is running the ruling class?

One answer is this:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/us-billionaire-mercer-helped-back-brexit

Set aside the specific issues about interference in the Brexit referendum. More to the point is the power to influence political thinking by targetted advertising and PR very selectively designed around psychological profiling of the people using social media - especially Facebook.

Notice who is in control of this power to influence and even shape public opinion. Consider what their agenda is.

The continuing growth of corporate power is intimately connected with attacks on democracy and the balkanisation of rival power centres - atttacks on federal government in domestic US policy, undermining of the EU which is America's only serious rival in upholding a version of democratic values. Racism successfully undermines class consciousness. Nationalism successfully undermines cross-border collaboration to regulate and contain the power of corporations.

The absolute identity with 1930s fascism is simply blatant. Trivial distinctions in the decor are a distraction from the reality. America is leading the way back to the nightmare that was fascism.

Another answer is this:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/02/corporate-dark-money-power-atlantic-lobbyists-brexit

The British Tories are in the pockets of the American run Heritage Foundation and other right wing groups working to undermine European democracies and the restraints they still offer to corporate power.

Originally posted by kquinn909
No. I have guns.

Useful for the politically illiterate to point at their own heads, mainly.

More on Robert Mercer

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/feb/26/robert-mercer-breitbart-war-on-media-steve-bannon-donald-trump-nigel-farage


On its website, Cambridge Analytica makes the astonishing boast that it has psychological profiles based on 5,000 separate pieces of data on 220 million American voters – its USP is to use this data to understand people’s deepest emotions and then target them accordingly. The system, according to Albright, amounted to a “propaganda machine”.


Cambridge Analytica said last Friday they are in touch with the ICO and are completely compliant with UK and EU data laws. It did not answer other questions the Observer put to it this week about how it built its psychometric model, which owes its origins to original research carried out by scientists at Cambridge University’s Psychometric Centre, research based on a personality quiz on Facebook that went viral. More than 6 million people ended up doing it, producing an astonishing treasure trove of data.

These Facebook profiles – especially people’s “likes” – could be correlated across millions of others to produce uncannily accurate results. Michal Kosinski, the centre’s lead scientist, found that with knowledge of 150 likes, their model could predict someone’s personality better than their spouse. With 300, it understood you better than yourself. “Computers see us in a more robust way than we see ourselves,” says Kosinski.
...

There’s nothing accidental about Trump’s behaviour, Andy Wigmore tells me. “That press conference. It was absolutely brilliant. I could see exactly what he was doing. There’s feedback going on constantly. That’s what you can do with artificial intelligence. You can measure ever reaction to every word. He has a word room, where you fix key words. We did it. So with immigration, there are actually key words within that subject matter which people are concerned about. So when you are going to make a speech, it’s all about how can you use these trending words.”

....
“We make mathematical models of the financial markets which are probability models, and from those we try and make predictions. What I suspect Cambridge Analytica do is that they build probability models of how people vote. And then they look at what they can do to influence that.”

.....
You have these incredible propaganda tools developed in an authoritarian regime moving into a free market economy with a complete regulatory vacuum. What you get is a firestorm.”

From the BBC:
US President Donald Trump has said he believes Barack Obama is behind a wave of protests against Republican lawmakers, and national security leaks.
He told Fox News: "I think President Obama's behind it because his people are certainly behind it", but added: "I also think it's just politics".
Mr Trump offered no evidence for his claims; his predecessor in the White House has not commented.

Worried that he's paranoid yet, Americans?

Originally posted by finnegan
You have these incredible propaganda tools developed in an authoritarian regime moving into [b]a free market economy with a complete regulatory vacuum. What you get is a firestorm.”[/b]

Fire does not burn in a vacuum, old bean. 😉

In any case I have yet to experience any pangs of regret over my decision to never touch Facebook, even with a barge pole whilst wearing a hazmat suit.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
I don't think there is anyone intelligent enough to provide an opposite reaction to Donald Trump.

You are smarter than that. This is not about intellligence and you know it

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
That's just the Lügenpresse. Only the Völkischer Beobachter has fair and balanced reporting.

You mean in like western Europe or Holland or the world?