The Republican Utopia

[teachercd]

2 hours ago, funhusker said:

Ha!  Maybe it is just that we are not "shut down" as much as some states but like...I pretty much do everything I did before.  I am teaching everyday, I am golfing, I still run to get booze at the store, I grill out.  The only thing I don't do is stop over to grab some day-beers with friends at a bar.

[commando]

seems right

 

[knapplc]

Hello, and welcome to this totally organic protest by Trumpian agents across the country.

 

Here's a woman in Huntington Beach, CA.

 

 

Here's a woman in Florida.

 

 

Weird how these completely home-made signs use the same lettering and style, clear across the country.

 

 

Or... is it weird?  Maybe it's all just a drummed up hoax, said this guy from the Reddit:

 

view the rest of the comments →

 

 

 

Quote

 

[–]Dr_Midnight 1216 points 1 day ago*828& 393 more 

There's an imperial ton of astroturfing going on, and it's quite visible in how those groups popped up literally overnight (hint-hint). The thing is that they targeted groups who were... how does one say... more receptive to the message who wouldn't be inclined to look any deeper into what they were joining.

As an example, right now, this is happening in Orange County, CA.

Now, here's a screenshot of the description of the "Operation Gridlock Los Angeles" group when it was first spotted by Buzzfeed News.

Concurrently, here's a screenshot of the description of the "Operation Gridlock Tennessee" group.

But, hey... it's Buzzfeed News right? Cool-cool-cool-cool-cool...

Here's a link to the group "Pennsylvanians Against Excessive Quarantine" - sitting 55,281 members deep at the time of this post.

Okay...

Now here's a link to the group "Minnesotans Against Excessive Quarantine" - presently with 18,938 members.

Why do these groups have the exact same description?

Let's not stop there. Following their own links: one is from the "Pennsylvania Firearms Association", and the other is from the group "Minnesota Gun Rights" - both with the exact same layout.

Both of these domains are registered with the same registrar and were registered on the exact same day at the same time.

[ ~]$ whois reopenmn.com
[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.godaddy.com]
[Querying whois.godaddy.com]
[whois.godaddy.com]
Domain Name: reopenmn.com
Registry Domain ID: 2512322197_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2020-04-08T14:39:18Z
Creation Date: 2020-04-08T14:39:17Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-04-08T14:39:17Z

[ ~]$ whois reopenpa.com
[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.godaddy.com]
[Querying whois.godaddy.com]
[whois.godaddy.com]
Domain Name: reopenpa.com
Registry Domain ID: 2512322050_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2020-04-08T14:37:30Z
Creation Date: 2020-04-08T14:37:29Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-04-08T14:37:29Z

The rest of the whois information is obscured by a proxy organization that provides privacy for whois records (I even use them myself as do many others for privacy reasons), so I cannot tell who owns these domains.

Following the pattern of their sites, I checked for "reopenmd.com", but it never resolved to anything. That said, the DNS lookup itself didn't result in a NXDOMAIN error which tells me the domain does exist.

[ ~]$ whois reopenmd.com
[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.godaddy.com]
[Querying whois.godaddy.com]
[whois.godaddy.com]
Domain Name: reopenmd.com
Registry Domain ID: 2515645280_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2020-04-17T04:19:17Z
Creation Date: 2020-04-17T04:19:16Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-04-17T04:19:16Z
Registrant Organization:
Registrant State/Province: Florida
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=reopenmd.com
Admin Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=reopenmd.com
Tech Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=reopenmd.com

Registered a little more than week later with the same registrar. The thing is, they didn't actually complete their whois information this time, and whoever set it up cheaped out or forgot to pay for the Domains by Proxy service. Although whois information is literally a public record, I'm not inclined to place my account at risk by opening myself up to accusations of doxxing. That said, anyone who feels inclined to can go to https://whois.godaddy.com and search for reopenmd.com. I myself would be personally curious as to why someone in Florida is registering domains claiming to be gun rights organizations in other states.

Seriously, even without that information - who or whomever is responsible for this astroturfing couldn't make this more obvious if they tried. It honestly took me longer to type all of this up to present here than it did for me to find this all. Yet people have taken the bait hook-line-and-sinker.

Meanwhile, the President then starts tweeting "LIBERATE MINNESOTA", "LIBERATE VIRGINIA...", and "LIBERATE MICHIGAN"; and one of the major forces behind the group in Michigan was a political group that has direct ties to and has historically been heavily funded by the family of the Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (though said family denies direct involvement in last weeks protest)?

In that regard, I'm not alleging some major conspiracy here, but l-o-f#&%ing-l.

---

Edit: for the record, reopenva.com also exists and has the exact same registry info as reopenmd.com.

[ ~]$ whois reopenva.com
[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.godaddy.com]
[Querying whois.godaddy.com]
[whois.godaddy.com]
Domain Name: reopenva.com
Registry Domain ID: 2515650132_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2020-04-17T04:43:47Z
Creation Date: 2020-04-17T04:43:46Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2021-04-17T04:43:46Z
Registrant Organization:
Registrant State/Province: Florida
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=reopenva.com
Admin Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=reopenva.com
Tech Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?domain=reopenva.com

---

Edit 2: Apparently, others have found that a domain for pretty much every other state was registered in the same pattern at the same time.

 

 

But wait!  There's MORE!!!

 

 

Quote

 

icesirisomorphic algorithm 37 points 20 hours ago*2 

Iowa: website leads to Iowa Gun Owners. That domain is registered by the same proxy LLC as reopeniowa, but was registered in 2007. Identical to Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

Maryland: Website lists no contact information or responsible group. Identical to New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, similar to Ohio.

Minnesota: website leads to Minnesota Gun Rights. That domain is registered to the same LLC as reopenmn, but was registered in 2013. Identical to Iowa, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.

New Jersey: Website lists no contact information or responsible group. Identical to Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, similar to Ohio.

North Carolina: Website lists no contact information or responsible group. Identical to Maryland, New Jersey, Oklahoma, similar to Ohio.

Ohio: Website lists no contact information or responsible group. Similar to Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, somewhat similar to Washington.

Oklahoma: Website lists no contact information or responsible group. Identical to Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, similar to Ohio.

Pennsylvania: website leads to Pennsylvania Firearms Association, registered to the same LLC as reopenpa, but was registered in 2019. Identical to Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin.

Washington: Website lists no contact information or responsible group. Similar to Ohio.

Wisconsin: Website leads to Wisconsin Firearms Coalition registered to the same LLC as reopenwi, but was registered in 2016. Identical to Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania.

Conclusion: of 100 domains researched, 16 have active websites, including 1 Facebook group, and 6 quasi-legitimate looking domains.

There appear to be at least two campaigns here, one of which is definitely an astroturf. Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin are identical and likely all maintained by the same individual or group. Maryland, New Jersey, and North Carolina are identical and could be maintained by the same individual or group, but there isn't any real data to support that. Ohio, Oklahoma, and Washington are outliers. They're roughly similar to the previous group, but different enough that the domains may have been bought independently.

Conspiracy rating: 5/10 Comet Ping Pongs.

UPDATE: One of the domain squatters in Florida has now run his domains through the GoDaddy proxy service. Keep an eye on any websites that redirect from those domains, as he could have found buyers.

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[–]derilectisomorphic algorithm 59 points 13 hours ago*3 

This isn't any conspiracy, it's just good old fashioned American business. There are indeed two campaigns:

• One using OneClickPolitics:

PA, WI, OH, MN, IA - OCP's branding is displayed proudly all over these sites, just look at the source and the stunningly obvious "contact your legislator" custom site widget. Seems to use uniform CMS. Ohio is not an outlier - they just altered their CMS presentation.

• One using UJOIN:

MD, NC, NJ - these were harder to ferret out, but they all use similar formats & different CMS They try to link directly to CHANGE.ORG, and up their "blog" when data can't be autofilled. These "blogs" cross link with one-another. These sites seem to have a hard time dealing with privacy extensions, unlike OneClickPolitics.

• Unknown data collection/provenance:

OK (OCOPA is a real but intensely partisan think tank, the reopenok site is, however, very new and looks to be aping the other sites instead of relying any CMS), WA (this is a true enigma - if someone really wanted their sites to be "grassroots" looking they would all look like they were designed by script kiddies that time-traveled from 1998). Hilariously, whatever software they are using in WA links directly to this reddit post as part of their "truth news feed" - so it's not hand-curated.

---

I encourage you to read and examine the sites, mission statements, and services offered by One Click Politics, and UJOIN. They go out of their way to expound that they are masters at pretending to be grass-roots movements that can conjure up seemingly organic support at the drop of a check.

To quote OCP:

Are you launching a new coalition or association and need more members now? Want 10,000 signatures for your petition from residents of a certain state? Are you battling a legislative issue in a location where you don't have enough advocates, who are constituents of the legislators you are attempting to influence? Or would you like to impress your boss by reporting a 15% growth in membership in less than 90 days? If your answer is yes, keep reading!

OneClick Acquisition is your solution for generating immediate legislative actions from new supporters within mere days. We deliver “on demand, organic supporters” through our proprietary digital ad placement technology.

So again, not a conspiracy - but definitely astroturfing. The real question though, isn't who is doing this. It's can they be definitively financially linked to these two professional astroturfing firms?

(probably not)

Both firms tout their ability to cycle news stories, facebook posts, twitter rampages, and texting so as to appear "grassroots" and not seem as if they are disseminating copy-pasted material.

And yes, there are many, many more professional astroturfing firms out there, willing to take whatever check comes across their desk in order to influence public opinion and legislation.

I suggest that if any of you want to stick it to OCP and UJOIN, take screenshots of their bogus sites, so that they'll have to diversify their tactics in the future.

In conclusion, this isn't something necessarily coming from ESLEWHERE. It's a critical flaw in our political system. Private corporations can legally masquerade as normal citizens who are concerned about their "constitutional rights" being infringed upon by <fill in the blank> and you don't know who wrote the check.

Here's the thing: people on both sides of the aisle are going to be screwed by these so-called protests. People are going to die if this takes hold. This isn't a right vs left thing. This is a normal people vs big-data-government-lobbyist thing. Even your racist uncle who may have gone to one of these protests may be hurt by this. It's not you (if you disagree with him) vs him, or you vs his political views. It's normal people vs THEM.

THEM isn't your governor, or your representative or senator. THEM is whoever hired these ghouls. Also these ghouls themselves.

Wash your hands, wear a facemask, and P.S.:

https://i.imgur.com/BBb1ngJ.jpg

EDIT: I would be remiss if I did not take the time before logging out to mention that the states targeted by OCP - pennsylvania, wisconson, iowa, minnesota, and ohio are presidential election swing states. Make of that what you will.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bold at the end here is my addition.

 

Just be aware of the misinformation out there, kids. Be skeptical and use your common sense.

[GSG]

Made the mistake of watching drumpf conference just now. He's insane. Everything out of his mouth is lies or insults. I've never been more disgusted by a human being in my life and I've met some real scum bags. 

[BigRedBuster]

 

[ZRod]

2 hours ago, knapplc said:

Hello, and welcome to this totally organic protest by Trumpian agents across the country.

 

Here's a woman in Huntington Beach, CA.

 

 

Here's a woman in Florida.

 

 

Weird how these completely home-made signs use the same lettering and style, clear across the country.

 

 

Or... is it weird?  Maybe it's all just a drummed up hoax, said this guy from the Reddit:

 

view the rest of the comments →

 

 

 

 

But wait!  There's MORE!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bold at the end here is my addition.

 

Just be aware of the misinformation out there, kids. Be skeptical and use your common sense.

 

I read this original post when it was made on Reddit last night. There's nothing inherently illegal or wrong in what they are doing. It is truly exercising the First Amendment right. However, I doubt many of these people who are protesting ever stop to think about why the people who organize a protest did it in the first place.If you could trace this all the way back I'm sure you're going to find someone with the ear of Donald Trump, and I'm willing to bet they're net worth is at least in the 9 figures territory and they own a few LLCs

[teachercd]

That is probably giving too much credit.  Most protesters are lonely dorks with other lame a$$ lonely friends.

 

It is like tailgating for losers.

[Enhance]

10 hours ago, Danny Bateman said:

It seems like you're asking how we stop people from choosing to continually consume propaganda that radicalizes them and worsens the partisan divide. And I'm not sure. It's really hard and ethically pretty hairy to talk about clamping down on people's right to choose what they pay attention to, even if it's utter trash.

 

It's definitely starting to spill over into politics in a way that has societal effects, though.

 

I've heard talk of re-instituting a modern Fairness Doctrine but I'm not sure how that would even work and it probably wouldn't touch major sources of some of the worst stuff like social media and talk radio. So I'm not sure that's viable.

 

I think the best thing we can do is take personal responsibility to make sure we're not consuming much if any of the junk media, stay informed and work to spread that to our loved ones and friends. I do think improving public education, particularly civics courses, could go a long way towards improving things in the long-run.

 

Perhaps @Enhance could lend some expertise as far as the media stuff goes. That's his territory.

I think you aptly hit on the problem and the only real viable solution. Media organizations have an immeasurable responsibility on their shoulders, but they also have a symbiotic relationship with citizens.  Media outlets are the gatekeepers, so to speak, of information and the public is essentially the arbiter of what gets published/broadcasted. The only real reason outlets like Fox News continue to air is because they draw meaningful advertising/network revenue and viewership numbers.

 

So, personal responsibility and diversifying where we absorb media are pretty critical. Something like the Fairness Doctrine may have been well-intentioned, but I don't think we'll ever see anything like it again. And, in my opinion, we probably shouldn't. There's plenty of evidence to show it was ineffective and often abused for political gain.

 

I also think a somewhat macabre truth is that it's going to be tough to see a downfall in some of these unsavory outlets until some of the boomers and older gen x'ers phase out. White people in those age groups make up the majority of national broadcast audiences. They don't skew very well with younger generations so my hope is that this trend continues and younger audiences lean towards more honest and respectable forms of media because those habits will persist into their older years.

[Nebfanatic]

2 hours ago, teachercd said:

That is probably giving too much credit.  Most protesters are lonely dorks with other lame a$$ lonely friends.

 

It is like tailgating for losers.

That like to Facebook. The people who are manipulated into going to the protests aren't doing anything other than seeing the event on Facebook. But there is definitely  bad actors manipulating these groups 

[Moiraine]

1 hour ago, Enhance said:

So, personal responsibility and diversifying where we absorb media are pretty critical.

 

 

Even this has its own issues. We've had multiple posters here whose method of getting news was to look at lots of sources and treat them all equally. So NYT is weighed equally with Breitbart in their minds.

[teachercd]

9 hours ago, Nebfanatic said:

That like to Facebook. The people who are manipulated into going to the protests aren't doing anything other than seeing the event on Facebook. But there is definitely  bad actors manipulating these groups 

I didn't even think of that!  The "crisis actors"!

[DevoHusker]

On 4/18/2020 at 5:09 PM, Frott Scost said:

... Remember that not all republicans are idiots but all idiots are republican. 

 

um...believe me, from a Moderate viewpoint, there are plenty of them on both sides of the aisle

[DevoHusker]

19 hours ago, Danny Bateman said:

 

...their extremely narrow worldview.

 

from my experience with social and work contacts...they feel exactly the same about those on the far left

[commando]

this is the coronavirus press response donnie..not whatever it is you are talking about.   

 

 

[Enhance]

9 hours ago, Moiraine said:

Even this has its own issues. We've had multiple posters here whose method of getting news was to look at lots of sources and treat them all equally. So NYT is weighed equally with Breitbart in their minds.

I agree; and what's equally frustrating is that there is often very little reasoning with people on these matters. Some people are going to operate that way regardless and a lot of it simply has to do with habits and pre-conceived notions.