I think Smollett is an idiot but I am truly amazed that this false claim is getting

[malaise]

more coverage than the white supremacist who wanted to kill the Speaker of the House, other Democrats and many persons in the media.

Just saying!!

[Shell_Seas]

1. Because Repubes have to prove they are victims.

[dewsgirl]

2. Me too.

[forgotmylogin]

3. It's really unfortunate this happened.

Smollett handed the redcaps an instance of fraud they can continuously point to as "proof" that claims of racially-motivated crimes aren't to be unconditionally believed.

[Fla Dem]

12. Not just racially motivated crimes, but all identity crimes, LGBT and sexual claims.

Hurts the "Me Too" movement. Smollett is a highly recognizable celebrity who made a claim that if proven false can have a ripple effect.

Had he been any Joe Smooze it probably would have never made it beyond local news.

[lancelyons]

39. Exactly... thats why I am so pissed at him

Not only that.. he has undermined crimes against LGBTQ and African Americans.

If guilty, I think he should be rediculted for a very long time. What a shame and embarrassment.

[defacto7]

65. If he's guilty it usually means he'll get a lot of work.

[romainetarra]

148. Hope he makes it right

Hopefully he makes it right and stands up to protect other minorities and turns this negative into a positive something the current white house hasnt done.

[Loki Liesmith]

54. Well they shouldn't be unconditionally believed

They should be taken seriously.

[treestar]

59. +1

Exactly.

[WillowTree]

74. This

[forgotmylogin]

78. +1 Certainly.

But the people whose arguments benefit from blanket disbelief of race and minority crimes will wear this like a brooch.

[uponit7771]

91. THIS !!!!

[MH1]

99. Perfectly said. nt

[mudpuddle]

113. Exactly.

[treestar]

58. Nothing should be unconditionally believed

Saying that gives the redcaps proof on unreasonableness. Why is that better than saying they should never be believed or always doubted? I get the idea of that being the case in the past, but now saying just the opposite is not justice.

[uponit7771]

92. +1

[MadDAsHell]

110. Shouldn't we all agree on that though? nt

[Baltimike]

4. because Smollett's "attack" garnered national news coverage

so the hoax portion of it will be swift.

he has relegated himself to the likes of the backward B girl from '08 and the stolen valor peeps.

[certainot]

56. 1500 radio stations to cover smollet and ignore domestic terrorism might make a difference

making molehills into mountains and visa versa

[Baltimike]

84. The right wing domestic terrorist attempted attack is being reported too and Jussie's story

will flame out in due course.

I am disheartened by this because he REALLY should have known better.

[uponit7771]

93. +1

[Drunken Irishman]

102. Unfortunately...

It's over-correcting for reporting on the story in the first place. There was wall-to-wall coverage of the attack, so, it only makes sense there'd be wall-to-wall coverage of the hoax.

[Baltimike]

103. +1. nt

[Dennis Donovan]

5. buph

That's the noise I just made while trying to type what I just thought about all of this.

It's my best reaction to it.

[malaise]

9. Jonathan Capehart is raising the point I just made

where is the press conference for the White Supremacist - where is the condemnation from the right on that.
The Superintendent of the Chicago police wishes gun violence could get this much coverage

[Pachamama]

50. I honestly am confused - the Smollett case is awful and needs coverage - but the White Supremacist

...who wanted to kill as many people as possible - that should be the top story and discussion and when I turned on TV and see this is the story on and being covered primarily?

[certainot]

57. team limbaugh makes the difference

[treestar]

63. nailed it

why they have to follow his lead is a mystery, but they do it. He starts the ditto heads talking and they don't want to hear anything that does not confirm their bias. Has he said a word about the white supremacist? I bet not.

[MineralMan]

6. Yes. Why it is the lead story on the national news is very puzzling.

I think it's a sad story, but a relatively minor one. It has been leading the news for far too long.

[malaise]

10. +1,000

[octoberlib]

7. The people I've seen talking about it on

Twitter are all Republicans and nary a one has mentioned the Coast Guard guy.

[malaise]

11. Capehart just said thathe's like to hear from them

[maryellen99]

21. They all say it's either not a big deal or it's a false flag

Plus they are all what about Steve Scalise.

[trc]

143. They may not know about the CG Lt.

Faux may not have even mentioned the guy

[underpants]

8. You're kidding right?

A. He’s black
A+. He’s gay too

That Fox News GOLD right there.

The fact that he’s a celebrity gives CNN and the rest reason to follow it.

Lastly - MAGA! - the right ferociously attacks when something as blatant as the Covington kids happens. They also ignore the Parkland Shooter with a MAGA hat and the MAGABomber.

[Dennis Donovan]

15. It's crushing because now, every hate crime will be suspect...

[GoCubsGo]

13. I don't think Smollett is an idiot, so much as a guy with psychological issues.

But, yes. It's beyond disgusting that this gets top billing over the Coast Guard Nazi, and over every last bit of shit coming out of the White House. It doesn't get much more fucked up than this.

[GoCubsGo]

122. You are as wrong as anyone could be.

I am not sure how you came to the conclusion that I want the Nazi to succeed, when I said that the media should be focusing the majority of its attention on him and the various White House scandals, rather than focusing on some actor's hoax. Especially given the context of malaise's original post.

[GoCubsGo]

132. Most of that damage has been done because the media made it their top story.

And, then continued to talk about it, and dissect it, and hang onto it for days on end--at the expense of everything else. But, hey. If you want to keep on misconstruing what I said, knock yourself out. You'll still be wrong. I also find it interesting that you fixate on the Nazi guy, while ignoring that I also would like them to focus on the White House corruption, along with the Nazi guy.

[GoCubsGo]

135. Still completely misconstruing everything I said and missing the point, I see.

Like I said, knock yourself out. I'm done wasting my time on you. Good day.

[jberryhill]

14. Maybe because Smollett went on TV to promote his story

Maybe because he is a television personality.

Maybe because he is wealthy and relatively well known.

Dude went on national television to call out people who doubted him:



Just saying.

The ENTIRE POINT was that he was a celebrity seeking media attention.

He got it.

[Dennis Donovan]

17. yeah...

there's that.

[Dr. Strange]

55. I think that's the bigger point.

The white nationalist would have been a much bigger story if he had already attacked someone. For Smollett, the story started out as an attack that had already occurred.

[spooky3]

28. +1

[malaise]

41. If that were a Muslim or a Mexican with those weapons and threats to ReTHUGs

it would be BREAKING NEWS with non-stop coverage

[jberryhill]

45. If my aunt had four wheels and an electric motor, she'd be a Tesla

[nolabear]

70. ...

[LanternWaste]

79. I'd pretend the analogy is relevant and accurate too.

But it's not. Admit that to yourself... if no one else.

[jberryhill]

80. ah, I have you back

I was starting to miss you.

For your next trick, you'll explain why the woman from Alabama who joined ISIS is not getting as much coverage as the Smollett story, which was precipitated in large part by Smollett's own publicity-seeking efforts over it.

Because that story does involve a person of color, who is also Muslim, and who participated in terrorist related activities, and it still is not out-placing Smollett in the judgment of persons whose job it is to maximize ratings.

[MadDAsHell]

112. He got real quiet. nt

[uponit7771]

94. +1

[obnoxiousdrunk]

82. +1. n/t

[ADX]

85. Say it again louder so the people in the back can hear you...

...If the story Smollet told had been proven true and two MAGA-cretins arrested, there'd be a hue and cry if it DIDN'T get the coverage it's getting now.

We can't have it both ways...

[uponit7771]

95. Trump hasn't been on TV multiple times promoting white supremacy and terrorism against the media?

slip showing?

tia

[cwydro]

152. And called himself the "gay Tupac."

He went looking for publicity, and he got it.

[brooklynite]

16. Perhaps that's because we have limited details about the plot at this point.

[Caliman73]

71. Doubtful. Lack of details has never stopped media from looking into leftist violence before.

What is keeping the White Supremacist Coast Guard plot out of the headlines is framing and attitude. We on the Democratic side of the political spectrum were aware that right wing hate group membership rose 100's of percentage points when President Obama was elected. Left leaning publications and some hosts on MSNBC covered that. It was however, largely untouched by national media. We know that President Obama had the highest number of death threats as well. Those were not huge national stories as they should have been.

Smollet is a celebrity who may or may not have engaged in a false, attention seeking action. Everyone is saying that his actions will hurt ENTIRE movements for civil rights. Why? Why didn't the actions of White hate groups, and White people making death threats against the President in numbers never before heard of hurt White people? The answer is because White people's actions are judged solely as individuals with no reflection upon White culture. In fact, there is always a major effort to distance the actions of White people who engage in violence from White culture. They are painted as "troubled" "mentally ill", or damaged in some way that separates them from normal culture. Smollett's actions are somehow indicative of problems within Gay people or Black people, or Liberals in general and everyone of those groups are indicted because of the behavior or one person who may have acted WAY outside the norms of any of those groups.

That is the more likely explanation for why one is leading coverage and the other, way more significant story is not.

[ck4829]

153. +1

[janterry]

18. I think it's just an interesting puzzle

I'd never heard of him, never even heard of his show (I don't watch tv) - but as I wrote - as soon as I looked at his injured face, I knew it was a fib. I just knew it. There weren't enough injuries.

So, I kept sort of watching the news until it unraveled.

I guess what remains is the puzzle of why someone would do this. I don't know that we'll ever really know - but from a human interest perspective it's interesting.

Sure, it doesn't compare to other 'real' news events. But neither does anything the Kardashians do - or some other hollywood odd story.

But that's why it's getting coverage. Just human interest.

[malaise]

26. I never heard of him before either

and I agree it is interesting but it does not deserve this coverage not when we have a story about mass killer.

[luvtheGWN]

44. Maybe the real story is this:

Those two guys gave him a hard time (apparently one of them was an extra in the Empire show) about being gay, and this was his way of getting revenge on them. If his story is false, then it was all for nothing and he lost, badly.

[MaryMagdaline]

19. Don't be amazed. RWrs love this story. They are the first to bring it up

Plays into their “see, racism doesn’t exist” theme. Every victim is now a hoaxster unless proven otherwise.

[jalan48]

22. I agree. It's a Kardashian type of news. He's an entertainer and more well known than the white

supremacist. Focusing on him is much better for "ratings".

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

23. Smollett apparently has some fame in the entertainment world.

So, of course, he gets coverage. Plus, he "asked" for coverage, getting on TV interview shows to talk about it.

White supremacist Coastie, I'm not quite sure what the charges are. He did a lot of amassing weapons, creating lists, talking with winger groups, but is he actually charged with a crime? I didn't get that from the TV news programs. Maybe he was using his government computer for non-government political purposes.

[treestar]

67. we'd know the answer if there was nonstop coverage

[mr_lebowski]

86. He had large supplies of drugs that require an Rx like Tramadol (low-grade opioid) and HGH

And no Rx for them. Oops.

So he's in definite trouble for drug possession. I'd guess they'll likely find some illegal weapons mods as well, dude seems like the type would've turned his AR into full Auto, that kind of thing.

[spanone]

24. K&R...

[ooky]

25. The coverage is totally overblown. Absurd, like Fox News shit.

[watoos]

27. I don't watch cable news until 4 PM eastern.

Why put yourself through that misery?

One thing for sure, the white supremacist may not have made the headline news but the judge who Stone must see today is very much aware of that white supremacist.

[LakeArenal]

29. No shit. Breaking into regular programming?!?!

Poor Jusse. This is such a sad story that does not need universal coverage. He’s not a mass shooter or a climactic disaster.

Just a sad man searching. Not sure for what. But he’s not even violent.

[malaise]

42. They broke out quickly but that was unbelievable

What could make this worthy of breaking into coverage of regular programs?

[smirkymonkey]

53. I think it's ridiculous. I am wfh today and they just broke into regular programming to

report on this. I had never heard of the guy before this incident. It was a stupid thing for him to do, but this insane over-coverage of the event is unwarranted.

I am getting the impression that they now want to point to every claim by a minority or LGBT person who claims to have been victimized (or woman) and say "Hey, remember Jusse Smollet? They are probably just making it all up to get attention!"

[DesertRat]

30. +1000 nt

[True Dough]

31. Again, I frequent a sports forum full of ReThugs

and in the "general discussion" forum, many of them are writing off the naval officer story as a "false flag."

As usual, they bury their heads in the sand while, at the same time, making hay over the Smollett story.

[malaise]

43. Precisely

They are following the RW agenda

[uponit7771]

97. +1

[Harker]

32. His publicity stunt worked.

I'd never heard of him or his tv show prior.

[ksoze]

33. Smollett is more than an 'idiot". He falsely used a national issue over money.

For starters, the actor picked the wrong city to use in his criminal act. A city that has been under extreme pressure that is vilified in a scam made it worse for him. The Chicago Chief of Police asked that this press conference received the same coverage as Smollett's false allegations got. In an era of heightened awareness of racial bias, his "idiot" move hurts us all as its detracts from the real issues.

The white supremest story is getting attention (as it should) and lead the news ahead of the Smollettt stuff on national news yesterday.

[Pisces]

34. This is America!! We value celebrity above all else. Celebrity always gets top billing.

[nolabear]

72. Sometimes I wish we had royalty instead.

Just one big bunch with no use except to be obsessed over.

[exboyfil]

35. It doesn't help that a leading

Democratic candidate weighed in early on.

A bit more introspection from our candidates would be useful.



https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6720093/Kamala-Harris-caught-guard-probed-previous-tweet-actor-Jussie-Smollett.html

[RockRaven]

36. Certain parties have vested interests in delegitimizing ALL accusations of assault (or racism fwiw)

and I think that is a driving force behind some parties' decisions about how to allocate coverage.

[lancelyons]

37. Agreed

I said this earlier. Its crazy.

Maybe its just timing and the other thing is coming.

But i dont think so. I think the white supremacist deal is essentially over in terms of coverage.

[procon]

38. This isn't a national news story.

It's the stuff that generally makes Hollywood gossip headlines in the throwaway supermarket tabloids that titillate the interests of lowbrow consumers of endless celebrity scandals. It might have gotten a couple of column inches in the NY papers as a local event, or the acting trade magazines would have ran the story.

[Cryptoad]

40. And some sit around wondering,,,,,,

how Trump got so many votes,,,, Hello!

[JHB]

46. C'mon, malaise, it should't be even slightly surprising!

Conservatives have built an outrage machine that makes the most "snowflakey" liberal arts college students look like veritable stoics by comparison.

In dozens upon dozens of RW venues the favorite sport is railing against liberal "outrages" and Democratic "corruption". Most of it is deliberate exaggeration, purposeful spin, fantasy, and horseshit. They love it when they get ahold of one they can wave around to prove to themselves they are right, that they are the people truly being wronged. They echo it and demand every venue shout it from the rooftops.

And mainstream media, always ready to prove they don't have "liberal bias", will echo it too. They have to talk about it endlessly, "it's out there".

[malaise]

48. Perfect

[Anon-C]

51. ...

[uponit7771]

98. THIS !!!!

[onenote]

47. My recollection is that his allegations got a lot of attention here when they were first made

And I imagine that if the media hadn't covered those allegations when made there would have been a lot of complaints about that. So it's hardly surprising that there is a lot of coverage when it turns out the story was a hoax.

[melman]

69. That's right

Nobody said it was getting too much attention when they thought it was real.

[ooky]

49. They are still running this shit? Now 43 minutes and counting.

Must be no other news today.

[malaise]

62. I turned them off ages ago

Fugg 'em!

[pdsimdars]

52. I don't think 'amazed' is the word you're looking for . . more like disappointed (as usual)

[bigbrother05]

60. It is consistent, ignore anything that would reflect badly on real Americans

Smollett's original story called out the hatred fanned by the MAGAts, now they can claim that they are the victims of a radical left agenda.

The CG LT while clearly a hardcore MAGAt, so don't pay any attention/wait until the facts are in/clearly had problems/acted alone.

See, civil rights are only for the real Americans so quite trying to scapegoat MAGA Supreme.

[treestar]

61. I didn't even know about the white one wanting to kill the Speaker

That you'd think would be a big deal.

[malaise]

75. Here

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/20/coast-guard-officer-white-nationalist-terror-attack/2933311002/

A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant and self-described white nationalist planned a domestic terrorist attack targeting politicians and journalists, federal prosecutors say in court papers.

Christopher Paul Hasson was arrested last week on gun and drug charges, but intended "to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country," according to court documents filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Maryland.

Hasson was scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon in Maryland.

Hasson has been stockpiling weapons since 2017, the government said, and created a list of targets including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Allegedly expressing extremist views for years, Hasson viewed pro-Russian, neo-fascist, and neo-Nazi literature thousands of times between January 2017 and 2019. He once wrote, "I am dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth" in an email draft, court documents said.

----------------------------
M$Greedia better be at the Court House this afternoon

[treestar]

87. Thanks, I think I had heard

but not much. You'd think those plans would be discussed; they are horrifying.

[malaise]

89. Hopefully they will be discussed this afternoon

during the Court hearing

[Shemp Howard]

64. It's all about celebrities these days.

Take a look at the magazines at the checkout counter. The average American wants to know what celebrities are doing. And they love a juicy angle.

Smollett is a (minor) celebrity. This Coast Guardsman is not.
The Smollett story is bizarre. The Coast Guardsman story is not.

The Guardsman story just another 'gun nut about to go crazy' story.
Nothing juicy there.

So I'm not a bit surprised that the Smollett story is overwhelming the Coast Guardsman story. Saddened, but not surprised.

[Docreed2003]

66. Having to listen to the MAGA trolls at work crow about this today

All of them crowing about this case as if it somehow proves that they are correct about everything and liberals are idiots. Yes I'm exaggerating but damn these fuckers annoy me and I'm surrounded by their crap

[Awsi Dooger]

116. Same thing on all the sports sites

It is unbearable. All the wingers are rejoicing as if it validates everything they have ever said about society and the media.

At least it happened far from an election day. But Trump is guaranteed to bring this up time and again from the stump in 2020, knowing his base will delight in the mockery.

[Greybnk48]

68. Enough already!

The amount of coverage on cable this is getting is absurd.

[IronLionZion]

73. Coverage is black and white

White Americans are uncomfortable accepting the existence of white terrorism and choose to pretend it doesn't exist.

They need to believe in brown and black villains. Sure, for some the whole concept of white is right and black is bad may just be subconscious. But there are others who are deliberately promoting it and enjoy the privileges.

White villains enjoy the benefit of a doubt. There are a lot of people claiming the white terrorist is mentally ill. No one is saying that of idiot Jussie Smollett.

Just like no one is concerned that a US military officer could be a terrorist. There have always been many calls to stop Muslims and anyone who "looks like the enemy" from serving in our military. There's nothing like that when it's a white fellow. In fact, when a white woman Air Force intel analyst defected to Iran, there were folks on the right saying diversity was the real problem because a white woman could be seduced by a charming Iranian man.

[malaise]

76. Well said

[ck4829]

154. Indeed

[LanternWaste]

77. I'm not surprised at all.

It's red meat for the bumper-sticker crowd who want to minimize and trivialize the reality of hate crimes, racism, and sexism; and incidents like this allow them all the cover they need to continue doing so, and all the excuses they desire.

[malaise]

81. Good point but I'd expect Fox to do their bidding

I did not expect them to break into regular program on networks for this.

[onecaliberal]

83. More coverage than mass shootings.. unbelievable.

[barbtries]

88. i wish i was amazed.

racism is prevalent. watched a snatch of MSNBC this morning when a commentator brought exactly this up - they cut him off to air the press conference about Smollett.

In reality, the white supremacist who had a list of liberals he wanted to murder is a way more consequential story. this illustrates the failure of the media as well as the pervasive nature of racism in our fucked up, sick country.

tired now. i don't want to spend another second trying to figure out why Smollett pulled this absurd stunt. I want to know how many other nazis/white supremacists are plotting to assassinate innocent people and what's being done to stop them. i don't get your amazement though. this is par for the course in the USA.

what would it take to go live in Jamaica??? (jk. kinda)

[malaise]

90. LOL re Jamaica

You haven't seen our murder rate.

THIS

tired now. i don't want to spend another second trying to figure out why Smollett pulled this absurd stunt. I want to know how many other nazis/white supremacists are plotting to assassinate innocent people and what's being done to stop them. i don't get your amazement though. this is par for the course in the USA.

[barbtries]

136. i was seeing a Jamaican for a minute in i wanna say 2003.

he was from Kingston and told me it had the highest murder rate in the world. is that true? or still true?

We take the prize for mass shootings by a mile. i think. I come from LA, where homicide is the leading cause of death for black and latino men aged 18 to 24.

I can't leave in reality. I have a family. Some of them are immune or ignorant to the ills in this country that distress me day and night. but I love them and will stay to be near them.

[malaise]

138. We're up there in the top five

The hardest thing is life is to pick up and start over over a certain age

[barbtries]

140. yeah.

it's just a pipe dream, getting out of here. I'm not getting younger that's for sure.

[jberryhill]

100. Moving to one of the most rabidly homophobic cultures on the planet is not a good idea

Marriage is an exception to rape in Jamaica, and male gay sex is punishable by imprisonment.

There is a higher per-capita rate of police killings in Jamaica than in the US. If you are a black person in a confrontation with police, your odds of survival are greater in the US than in Jamaica.

If this were Jamaica, Smollett would have been the victim of anti-homophobic violence long before now, and it wouldn't be a big story at all, given how commonplace violence against LGBT is in Jamaica.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/americas/jamaica/report-jamaica/

"Between January and March, the police oversight mechanism, the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) received 73 new complaints of assault and documented 42 killings by law enforcement officials. During the year, 168 people were killed by law enforcement officials, compared with 111 people in 2016."

Okay, that is 168 people out of a population of just under 3 million. 56 per million.

https://www.theroot.com/here-s-how-many-people-police-killed-in-2018-1831469528

"Police killed 1,165 people in 2018."

Out of a population of 325 million, that works out to around 3.6 per million.

You are 15 times more likely to be killed by police in Jamaica than in the US.

[barbtries]

137. wow.

there's nowhere is there? i have to keep my marching shoes in working order and stay. but that was the case even if Jamaica was the democratic, egalitarian island paradise of which I dream

[jberryhill]

139. Wherever you go, there you are

There are, of course, many wonderful things about Jamaica.

Every place has its issues.

[barbtries]

141. exactly.

and where we are is often not a place I long to be. not these days anyway.

[padah513]

96. Come tomorrow, two, three days from now

We won't even remember this story. Especially if the judge tosses Stone in jail even though I doubt that'll happen. It's just the nature of the media ratings beast.

[Chemisse]

101. I was JUST saying that to my husband.

It's disgusting that they are going on and on about Smollet when what he did (while abhorrent) was trivial in comparison to the massive carnage that was planned by the White Supremacist, who had a political hit list and the means to carry it out.

When are these right-wing terrorists going to be taken seriously?

[malaise]

118. Notice that the vile MAGAcretin tweeted about Smollett but has not a word on

the white supremacist.

[theboss]

104. How many posts were here regarding the initial story?

We seemed to think this story was a huge deal at one point, didn't we?

[dogman]

105. It works for the MAGAts.

Link to tweet

[ZeroSomeBrains]

106. It's extremely disturbing

I'm afraid of what it will take for the mainstream media to actually take these domestic terrorists seriouspy. I imagine the problem is that these extremists are quite close to the modern Republican Party. That is still no excuse though and I have now lost all remaining respect for mainstream media after this.

[Blue_Tires]

107. It's intentional

so the next time a genuine hate crime occurs, the usual suspects can throw this shit in our face... It's the new "Duke Lacrosse" for 2019...

[malaise]

111. And yet the media does not expose their crap

like the Sandy Hook and other school shooting denials.

[MadDAsHell]

108. It's happening too often. We had one at Drake University in Des Moines last year.

Air Force academy a few years ago. While Drumpf runs his mouth alot, actual hate crimes are extremely rare. Unfortunately, these kinds of fake incidents are becoming common enough that they're almost getting as much press as real hate crimes themselves.

It's also a product of the press coverage of the initial incident. If the initial incident gets wall to wall coverage, of course the determination that it was fake will get the same wall to wall coverage, as it should. We should rightly WANT press attention of these increasingly fake incidents that do so much damage to the racial justice movement; to hide it would be even worse.

Which begs the question: why the fk do people do this?

[LovingA2andMI]

109. Most Definitely....

Fair Point, Indeed.

[dustyscamp]

114. fox news is loving this

I hate how happy these a@#holes are about this
[img][/img]

[spike jones]

115. This one do not get a lot of attention as I remember.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2018_United_States_mail_bombing_attempts

[eppur_se_muova]

120. DOJ didn't bother to announce white supremacist was arrested ... I wonder why ?

Already posted my explanation elsewhere.

[malaise]

123. We know why

Anyway this idiot will be laughed to scorn at the Oscars come Sunday.

[MarcA]

121. The "liberal" MSM is anything but Liberal. n/t

[LibDemAlways]

124. Never heard of him before this, and

don't care if I never hear of him again. What a waste of time and resources to cover this.

[malaise]

125. They never followed this trial - wonder why???

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/02/14/world/crime-legal-world/white-supremacist-gets-life-killing-ny-black-man-sword-bid-spark-race-war/#.XG8MUPlKjIU

White supremacist gets life for killing NY black man with sword in bid to spark race war
AP

FEB 14, 2019
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NEW YORK - A white supremacist who killed a black man with a sword wanted to ignite a worldwide race war, a prosecutor told a judge who sentenced the man Wednesday to life in prison without parole.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance read excerpts from James Jackson’s hate-filled manifesto as he decried the “horror of his actions” when he fatally stabbed 66-year-old Timothy Caughman in March 2017 after stalking a number of black men in New York City.

“James Jackson is a white supremacist and a terrorist,” Vance said of the Baltimore man and veteran who served in Afghanistan.

Given a chance to speak, Jackson, who is white, said he wanted to apologize for “this horrible and unnecessary tragedy.”

[walkingman]

126. Thank God it doesn't have any religious undertones - they would have interrupted programming.

We live in a clickbait world which I don't think will ever go away. I worry that mental illness has become the result of this technological era.

[Alea]

127. The M$M is in it for ratings and money

They keep us hating, and hating each other. They got a little mileage out of the coast guard guy but since he's arrested now and off to jail, and didn't provide any bodies, they move on to a story to generate more hate. Hate makes us mad and makes us tune in to find out the next person to hate. Ratings and money.

[Petosky Stone]

128. It's because people click on the links!

Newspapers sell advertising. The more people that read their stories, the more they can charge for the ads. Page-clicks are a huge indicator of readership.

The more people that click on a certain news story; the more the media outlets will play up that story.

If you want something to become a non-story, don't click on it. It'll quickly go away.

Our blooming national debt isn't news;

Just some unheard of actor that faked a hate crime.

[malaise]

129. CNN is covering Roger Stone

M$NBComcast is still covering the hoax

[former9thward]

130. You seemed to think it was a big story at the time.

You wrote an OP about it. https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211747094

[malaise]

142. It would have been if it were not a hoax

It is a hoax with consequences but it sure isn't the biggest story today

[Honeycombe8]

133. It made headlines when it was reportedly a hate crime of a celebrity, noose & all.

It continues to make news as facts unfold that suggest he may have faked the whole thing. So anyone who didn't complain that it made headlines at first, then I don't see any basis to complain now, when the story has changed.

This IS news, when someone possibly falsifies a heinous crime. It diverts precious resources from real crimes, and this particular crime being a hate crime, stokes the racial divide in the country right now. So this IS news, whether it is a hate crime, or whether it was faked. Either way.

[yardwork]

144. I'm not amazed. Unfortunately.

[proud patriot]

145. Haven't you heard IOWARDI??

Republicans can do 100s of things wrong and not a blip .. one liberal burps and it's all news all the time ..

The media is only as liberal as the republican owners allow..

same shit different decade

[hay rick]

146. No surprise. American media serving their masters.

Smollett will be the new welfare Cadillac.

[RhodeIslandOne]

147. We had no problem talking about it when we thought it was legitimate, did we?

Always tread lightly.

[Judi Lynn]

149. Prime example of how low the country has fallen, how shallow, how stupid, how amoral, how empty. n/t

[nini]

150. They want to make sure future claims by others are doubted

Every hate crime claim will now be suspect -even more than they are now. Smollett really messed up here and people other than himself will suffer because of it.

[Demonaut]

151. just an "idiot"...that's too light a label

[ck4829]

155. K&R

[dlk]

156. Republicans are Desperate for Any Distraction From Trump & the Endless Scandals

[hughee99]

157. It got a lot of media attention on day one, when everyone thought

A gay black celebrity got attacked by two white Trump supporters. I don’t remember anyone saying it was getting too much attention until the story started to fall apart.