Conspiracy Theorist Rachel Maddow Puts Out a Conspiracy Theory So Insane Even the Huffington Post Is Calling Her Out

This person, who I think is a liberal because she has me blocked, pointed out the utter fabulism of Maddow's conspiracy theory that the travel ban caused the deaths of the troops in Niger.

Maddow's conspiracy theory goes like this: Chad was patrolling in southwest Niger, but pulled out in protest of the travel ban. This resulted, somehow, in a successful attack against US troops in the southeast corner of Chad -- a 24 hour trip, at the least, due to the distance and poor roads.

Furthermore, the Chadian troops were patrolling against Boko Haram -- it's unlcear why a reduced Chadian presence in Boko Haram-controlled areas would cause the "uptick" in ISIS attacks in a completely different area of the country, 700 miles away.

Even the Huffington Post thinks that everyone's least-favorite dowdy conspiratorial auntie has gone 'round the bend.

It was a vintage Rachel Maddow stemwinder. A deft, 25-minute weaving of carefully curated sound bites, screenshots of news reports, slick maps and graphics, all strung together to make the case that something fishy is afoot. It's a style Maddow has perfected, and it has propelled her to the top of the ratings heap.

There was just one problem. Maddow's theory was so flimsy that it could be debunked by a quick glance at a map, let alone a phone call with an expert.

Janet Malcolm of The New Yorker recently described Maddow's show as "a piece of sleight of hand presented as a cable news show. It is TV entertainment at its finest. It permits liberals to enjoy themselves during what may be the most thoroughly unenjoyable time of their political lives'"

Thursday night&'s entertainment came in an attempt to pin the ambush that killed four Green Berets in Niger earlier this month on President Donald Trump's newest proposed travel ban...

...

Maddow';s segment was designed to strongly suggest, without outright stating, that Trump's addition of Chad in his latest travel ban prompted the country to remove its troops from Niger, leading to an increase in extremist attacks and ultimately claiming the lives of four U.S. soldiers.

Chad's pullout from Niger"had an immediate effect in emboldening ISIS attacks"; Maddow said.

That appears to be false. According to the Council on Foreign Relations and accounts from local residents, the attacks that have increased can be traced back to militant group Boko Haram, which is based just across the border in Nigeria. A group of Boko Haram militants broke away and formed the Islamic State West Africa, Laura Seay, an assistant professor in Colby College's Department of Government, told HuffPost. But they are separate from the so-called Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, the group that reportedly carried out the ambush (although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack).

The pullout of Chadian troops happened on the opposite side of the country from where ISIS-affiliated militants attacked U.S. and Nigerien soldiers.

Chadian troops were present in Niger specifically to ward off the Boko Haram threat: "they had nothing to do with Islamic State in the Greater Sahara. They were also based almost 800 miles away, in an area called Diffa that's long been battling the group," Seay said.

Any expert asked about Chadian troops battling ISIS in Niger would have said "No, that's crazy," Seay added. "Everybody that I know is appalled by this. I would like to think that Maddow's researchers are more responsible."

...
"By reducing the story to its mythic fundamentals," Janet Malcolm wrote earlier this month, "Maddow creates the illusion of completeness that novels and short stories create. We feel that this is the story as we listen to and watch her tell."

It's a tactic that right-wing hosts like Sean Hannity and Alex Jones have perfected...

Formatting fixed. Sorry about that.

BTW, progs seem to be claiming that Trump sent the troops to Niger.

Nope. That was Obama.

But you'll have to excuse them for not knowing that -- the media didn't report on Obama's many, many wars. It was too busy jerking off on to his Nobel Peace Prize (with the winner getting to lick it clean).

They also didn't cover troop deaths under Obama -- which you can now see is once again officially big news.

Wonder why.

posted by Ace at 05:49 PM

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