The Real Questions: Who Would Make This And Why?
September 30, 2019 8:31 AM Subscribe
“Every few months, after I’d dismissed it in my mind as an obvious fraud, someone new would bring the tape up to me. Usually they’d just seen it and wanted to see what I thought. I would retread my initial suspicions and explain that, while it must be a fake, it’s certainly a very good fake. And each time, I’d walk away a little less convinced.” The Pee Tape Is Real, but It’s Fake: There’s a video going around that no one’s really talking about. What makes it most unreal is how believable it is. (Slate) (cw: blurry nudity, possible pee)
HEADS UP: The link made my browser go a little kerflooey, I think there's malware of some sort lurking there....
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:44 AM on September 30, 2019
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:44 AM on September 30, 2019
What makes it most unreal is how believable it is.
I remember with complete clarity the night that the dossier dropped on Buzzfeed. And when I got to the pee tape bit I just nodded right along because if that isn't the most on-brand request to a couple of prostitutes, I don't know what is. I have remained 100% a pee tape truther, but I also know a) we're never going to see it and b) even if we did, it would change the minds of literally no one. How naive we were back in those heady days to think that anyone would give a shit.
This was a great article, though.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:54 AM on September 30, 2019 [16 favorites]
I remember with complete clarity the night that the dossier dropped on Buzzfeed. And when I got to the pee tape bit I just nodded right along because if that isn't the most on-brand request to a couple of prostitutes, I don't know what is. I have remained 100% a pee tape truther, but I also know a) we're never going to see it and b) even if we did, it would change the minds of literally no one. How naive we were back in those heady days to think that anyone would give a shit.
This was a great article, though.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:54 AM on September 30, 2019 [16 favorites]
Tools for mistrusted links:
https://geekflare.com/website-malware-scanning/
and remember, don't click links, type URLs into the search bar, because you never know what's hidden beind a text link.
posted by hank at 8:56 AM on September 30, 2019 [7 favorites]
https://geekflare.com/website-malware-scanning/
and remember, don't click links, type URLs into the search bar, because you never know what's hidden beind a text link.
posted by hank at 8:56 AM on September 30, 2019 [7 favorites]
Maybe this is the pee tape, meaning, it existed but it was fake all along.
posted by mumimor at 8:58 AM on September 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 8:58 AM on September 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
Before clicking, check the i-pee address first.
posted by dr_dank at 9:15 AM on September 30, 2019 [64 favorites]
posted by dr_dank at 9:15 AM on September 30, 2019 [64 favorites]
Has the concept of false flags been just thoroughly, irretrievably ruined?
posted by Selena777 at 9:16 AM on September 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Selena777 at 9:16 AM on September 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
If it is real, Trump will blurt it out soon enough.
posted by Bee'sWing at 9:17 AM on September 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 9:17 AM on September 30, 2019 [4 favorites]
If you've been looking for a golden shower of damning evidence, urine luck!
posted by grumpybear69 at 9:24 AM on September 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
posted by grumpybear69 at 9:24 AM on September 30, 2019 [17 favorites]
that anyone would give a shit
I see what you did there.
posted by Mogur at 9:26 AM on September 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
I see what you did there.
posted by Mogur at 9:26 AM on September 30, 2019 [2 favorites]
PUNS PERTAINING PHONEY PRESIDENTIAL-PISSING PORTRAYAL ? PERFECT!
posted by lalochezia at 9:31 AM on September 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 9:31 AM on September 30, 2019 [5 favorites]
It was only five or six years ago that the Rob Ford crack tape became a MacGuffin and then was mooted, offered for purchase, crowdfunded, sold, denied as real, confirmed as real, entered into evidence in a related trial, and then finally released.
When it was released after Ford's death—no I am not linking to it—it was actually rather pathetic (as in 'inducing pity').
If the real pee tape is released, it won't be funny.
posted by rpophessagr at 9:41 AM on September 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
When it was released after Ford's death—no I am not linking to it—it was actually rather pathetic (as in 'inducing pity').
If the real pee tape is released, it won't be funny.
posted by rpophessagr at 9:41 AM on September 30, 2019 [12 favorites]
At the beginning of the article, I rolled my eyes at this:
...that the most extraordinarily damaging piece of evidence against the president could just be waiting there, in plain sight, with no one doing anything about it.
... because I was like, really? Would it even be damaging, though, in this fucked-up timeline that we're in?
And then at the end I read this:
Watching it, before knowing it had to be false, brought on an eerie sense of exhaustion. What if it were real, and what if it made no difference? Donald Trump has been credibly, repeatedly accused of things far worse than watching a sex show set up by powerful Russians: rape, for one thing. Foreign influence on his behalf? He goes on camera and admits it and asks for more.
And then I was satisfied.
posted by knownassociate at 11:03 AM on September 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
...that the most extraordinarily damaging piece of evidence against the president could just be waiting there, in plain sight, with no one doing anything about it.
... because I was like, really? Would it even be damaging, though, in this fucked-up timeline that we're in?
And then at the end I read this:
Watching it, before knowing it had to be false, brought on an eerie sense of exhaustion. What if it were real, and what if it made no difference? Donald Trump has been credibly, repeatedly accused of things far worse than watching a sex show set up by powerful Russians: rape, for one thing. Foreign influence on his behalf? He goes on camera and admits it and asks for more.
And then I was satisfied.
posted by knownassociate at 11:03 AM on September 30, 2019 [6 favorites]
The real pee tape is the friends we impeached along the way.
posted by Reverend John at 11:04 AM on September 30, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Reverend John at 11:04 AM on September 30, 2019 [13 favorites]
I love Ashley Feinberg and her trademark obsessive internet detective work. A few other gems from her:
That time she identified James Comey's sock puppet Twitter account
That time she found Eric Trump's YouTube playlist
Her investigation of whether Donald Trump's hair is a weave
posted by aka burlap at 1:06 PM on September 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
That time she identified James Comey's sock puppet Twitter account
That time she found Eric Trump's YouTube playlist
Her investigation of whether Donald Trump's hair is a weave
posted by aka burlap at 1:06 PM on September 30, 2019 [19 favorites]
It was first posted to LiveLeak. I mean come on
posted by sylvanshine at 8:09 PM on September 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by sylvanshine at 8:09 PM on September 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
Debord, anticipating the deep fake pee tape:
The spectacle, which obliterates the boundaries between self and world by crushing the self besieged by the presence/absence of the world, also obliterates the boundaries between true and false by repressing all directly lived truth beneath the real presence of falsehood maintained by the organization of appearances. Individuals who passively accept their subjection to an alien everyday reality are thus driven toward a madness that reacts to that fate by resorting to illusory magical techniques. The essence of this pseudo-response to an unanswerable communication is the acceptance and consumption of commodities. The consumer’s compulsion to imitate is a truly infantile need, conditioned by all the aspects of his fundamental dispossession. As Gabel puts it in describing a quite different level of pathology, “the abnormal need for representation here makes up for a torturing feeling of being on the edge of existence.”posted by Fiasco da Gama at 10:16 PM on September 30, 2019 [1 favorite]
My favorite conspiracy theory is that is was made and planted to be "believable enough" by the Russians as a honeypot, hoping for some CNN Dan Rather figure to shove it on the TV before some clear proof of fakeness was revealed. This of course would allow Trump to take several "CONSPIRACY" victory laps and shift all discussion from reality to "that disgusting fake video".
As far-fetched as something like that sounds, it is actually exactly the sort of propaganda technique the Russians are really good at pulling off and Americans are really bad at sniffing out.
Did you ever wonder how Russia kept people from revolting when they suffered empty supermarkets while U.S. media showed them a clearly better life? They didn't try to block U.S. media but instead appealed to Russians' sense of superiority: of course full supermarkets don't exist. We Russians are too smart to be fooled, but stupid Americans believe that they are real.
The Russians simply sold an idea of reality based on smugness, which was surprisingly potent. As long as there are people to point to as dumber or lesser, the smug class will suffer any injustice. The more dire reality becomes, the stronger the reliance on being better than that other group. The belief burrows so deeply that Russians visiting the U.S. refused to believe that all the stores they went to were real and not an elaborate hoax to trick them specifically.
If you watch Fox News, these are now the exact techniques used to denigrate liberals: they are naive snowflakes who believe in equality and fairness. Of course equality and fairness don't exist. We Republicans are too smart to be fooled, but stupid liberals think they are real. And like that, half of the country has abandoned the basic tenet of our national identity.
I feel like a course on how propaganda functions needs to be part of our education if we are ever going to get out of this lizard brain political realm.
posted by lubujackson at 12:21 AM on October 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
As far-fetched as something like that sounds, it is actually exactly the sort of propaganda technique the Russians are really good at pulling off and Americans are really bad at sniffing out.
Did you ever wonder how Russia kept people from revolting when they suffered empty supermarkets while U.S. media showed them a clearly better life? They didn't try to block U.S. media but instead appealed to Russians' sense of superiority: of course full supermarkets don't exist. We Russians are too smart to be fooled, but stupid Americans believe that they are real.
The Russians simply sold an idea of reality based on smugness, which was surprisingly potent. As long as there are people to point to as dumber or lesser, the smug class will suffer any injustice. The more dire reality becomes, the stronger the reliance on being better than that other group. The belief burrows so deeply that Russians visiting the U.S. refused to believe that all the stores they went to were real and not an elaborate hoax to trick them specifically.
If you watch Fox News, these are now the exact techniques used to denigrate liberals: they are naive snowflakes who believe in equality and fairness. Of course equality and fairness don't exist. We Republicans are too smart to be fooled, but stupid liberals think they are real. And like that, half of the country has abandoned the basic tenet of our national identity.
I feel like a course on how propaganda functions needs to be part of our education if we are ever going to get out of this lizard brain political realm.
posted by lubujackson at 12:21 AM on October 1, 2019 [20 favorites]
Is the video available in high definition?
Because I've always wanted my pee HD.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:40 AM on October 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
Because I've always wanted my pee HD.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:40 AM on October 1, 2019 [6 favorites]
For what it's worth the combination job of Physical Education Teacher Education and Adaptive Physical Education is referred to as PETE / APE.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:50 AM on October 1, 2019
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:50 AM on October 1, 2019
The Russians simply sold an idea of reality based on smugness, which was surprisingly potent.
Not just the Russians.
posted by Grangousier at 11:57 AM on October 1, 2019
Not just the Russians.
posted by Grangousier at 11:57 AM on October 1, 2019
> Did you ever wonder how Russia kept people from revolting when they suffered empty supermarkets while U.S. media showed them a clearly better life? They didn't try to block U.S. media but instead appealed to Russians' sense of superiority: of course full supermarkets don't exist.
Reverse Cargo Cult a.k.a. HyperNormalisation
posted by CheapB at 5:20 PM on October 5, 2019
Reverse Cargo Cult a.k.a. HyperNormalisation
posted by CheapB at 5:20 PM on October 5, 2019
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posted by chavenet at 8:36 AM on September 30, 2019 [12 favorites]