Liars And Cheaters!

Posted on by under Election 2020, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Steve Scalise is 54 years old and a member of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Louisiana.  Dan Scavino is 44 years old and currently serves as the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Director of Social Media.  Both of these men are legally and by most standards considered to be adults.  And yet, they have behaved in a manner more befitting 12-year-old children.

Steve-ScaliseSteve Scalise tweeted a video that spliced together footage from an interview between, Ady Barkan, who has ALS and speaks using a computerized artificial voice, and Biden.  In the original video, Barkan asks Biden if he can agree that “we can redirect some of the funding,” for police departments toward mental health services, to which Biden replies, “Yes.”

The clip tweeted out by Scalise, however, splices in the words “for police” from one of Barkan’s other questions to make it sound as if Barkan is asking Biden if he agrees they can “redirect some of the funding for police.”

Scalise used the tweet to promote the popular and false talking point that Democrats are responsible for sowing unrest as protests continue nationwide following shootings of Black people by police, adding in his tweet: “No police. Mob rule. Total chaos. That’s the result of the Democrat agenda.”  Barkan did not appreciate Scalise’s little trick, saying …

“These are not my words. I have lost my ability to speak, but not my agency or my thoughts. You and your team have doctored my words for your own political gain. Please remove this video immediately. You owe the entire disability community an apology.”

Ady-BarkanI had never heard of Mr. Barkan until tonight, but he gets two thumbs up from me!  Scalise did take the tweet down, but that isn’t the point.  The point is that an adult, a member of one of the highest governmental authorities in the nation, would lie and cheat, for that is exactly what a doctored video is … a lie, an attempt to cheat.  I thought Steve Scalise was a better man than that, but obviously I was wrong.

Dan-ScavinoDan Scavino also posted a manipulated video, this one purporting to show Joe Biden falling asleep during a live television interview.  According to Snopes …

This was not a genuine video of Biden during a television interview.

This was a mashup combining a 2011 clip of singer Harry Belafonte and a misleading clip of Biden during the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

The video of Belafonte comes from an appearance the then-84-year-old singer made on KBAK, a California television station, in October 2011. After the video went viral, Belafonte’s spokesperson released a statement blaming the singer’s “nap” on a technical glitch. The spokesperson said that Belefonte’s earpiece wasn’t working and that the singer was meditating while the issue was being worked out.

The clip of Biden comes from the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The manipulated footage appears to show Biden sleeping, but it’s clear in the original footage that Biden was never actually asleep.

The segment used in the manipulated footage comes from the moment during the DNC in which former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed Biden for president. In the full video from C-SPAN, Biden can be seen momentarily looking downward, but it doesn’t appear that he ever actually falls asleep.

The video shared by Scavino loops together a few seconds of footage from this video in which Biden either has his eyes closed or is looking downward and then plays it beneath unrelated audio of a person snoring.

Again, an adult with a responsible position, taking a salary of $179,700 per year that we the taxpayers provide, and this is the behaviour we must tolerate?

Personally, I would like to think the good people of Louisiana will abhor this juvenile behaviour on the part of their representative, Steve Scalise, and elect his democratic opponent, Lee Ann Dugas.  And as for Mr. Scavino, I will take great joy in knowing that he is likely to be fired in about five months when Joe Biden takes office.

The real danger here, folks, is that far too many people get their ‘news’ from social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or others.  These are people who are not highly educated, don’t understand much about how government works, or should work, and tend to believe whatever they read on their favourite social media platform.  They won’t stop and ask a question, or go digging for further information, or seek a fact-checker to find the truth.  Even though Scalise’s tweet was removed, by that time it had already received tens of thousands of views.  The same is true of Scavino’s tweet.  People saw, they will believe, and they will remember.  Once seen, it is unlikely to be forgotten.

Just another of the many ways in which Trump and his band of thugs are attempting to rig this election in his favour.  I wonder if there is a single republican in our government who actually possesses a conscience?  Obviously, Steve Scalise and Dan Scavino do not.

26 thoughts on “Liars And Cheaters!”

  2. This is why I say honesty is the most important issue in this campaign. Unfortunately, my former party has adopted the view that winning–by any means–is the preeminent “virtue.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • I fully agree with you about honesty, but it seems that your former party has none … no honesty, no values, no integrity, no sense of decency whatsoever. I don’t believe that Trump would stand a chance of winning in a fair and honest election, but we can already see that this election is likely to be even more riddled with dishonesty and corruption both from within and without, than even the last one.

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  5. I lost all respect for Scalise a long time ago Jill. I felt bad when he was shot by that nut case at a Republican member softball game. I thought, naively unfortunately, that he would rise to the occasion and come out for stricter gun controls. No such luck. In fact, he doubled down on 2nd Amendment issues to placate the NRA. Couple that with his unwavering devotion to the current so-called president, and there you have the current iteration of the Republican Party. Him doing what he did by tweeting the doctored video is not surprising at all. In fact, predictable. No shame. None.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Jill, these were very sloppy cheating attempts by people who should know better. Scalise through away the good will he was rightfully granted by surviving an asinine mass shooting of the GOP congressional softball team members.

    Sadly, the technology exists to make these cheating videos more believable. And, one thing is for certain the president is known for lying and cheating. Speaking of cheating, the Trump campaign just hired the creator of the Swift Boat footage that John Kerry should have responded. It lied about Kerry and now “swift boating” lives like “gaslighting.” Trump has done and will do both. Keith

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes, I was very disappointed in Scalise, for as you say, he could have ridden the wave of empathy from his shooting for the rest of his career, but this childish stunt was beneath any member of Congress!

      Sadly that technology could be used for such good things, but instead is used for this corruption. And even sadder is the fact that some, even once told the videos were doctored, will still believe them. Sigh.

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  7. The most distressing part of your post is towards the end when you point out that too many people get their ‘news’ from social media and tend to believe whatever they read. Actually, it’s more than distressing. It’s downright scary. Yet this is what we’re dealing with in our attempts to point out the truth behind the lies.

    Liked by 1 person

    • That is, in fact, the scariest part of the whole thing … that people find it easier to believe conspiracy theories and lies than to listen to facts. Trump could not win in a fair and honest election, but there is little chance that we will see a fair and honest election.

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  8. This is not the first time I have been embarrassed and appalled by my home state’s officials over the years. Disgusting. The most frightening thing in all of this is that Trump hasn’t uttered a word about any real thing he plans to do if reelected. His silent agenda is the scariest thing in the world to me.

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    • I think Steve Scalise had gained a lot of empathy after his shooting, but he blew it, at least in my mind, with this ridiculous stunt. The GOP and Trump have no platform, no goals or plans … fear-mongering is his election strategy, and what he does in the next four years if he wins will be to cement his position as a dictator. It is, indeed, scary!

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  9. Pingback: Liars And Cheaters! — Filosofa’s Word | Rethinking Life

  10. No, to answer your question about the republicans. There aren’t any republicans with a conscience or morals of any kind. None, because if there were, they would already have dumped the party and walked away. Those who are still there are liars,hypocrites and vile.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Good point! And many have dumped the party and walked away … politicians, journalists, and laymen. I tend to agree with your assessment of those who remain loyal to the Republican Party.

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      • I agree with your assessment. He is rigging the election and no one has stopped him from doing the illegal things he’s done from the beginning, so no one will stop him from doing that either. The last few elections have been fixed and we all know it.

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        • No one has stopped him because he has loaded his entire administration with sycophants who will do his bidding, starting with Attorney General Bill Barr. Law and justice? Hah! Not any more.

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