A word of advice for approaching unconfirmed rumors you want to believe:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Store away.

Don't immediately proclaim them as truth. Don't throw them away. Store them away.

Just put them in an imaginary bag, hold onto it, don't make too much about it, and see how things ultimately turn out.

If it's confirmed you can have the satisfaction that you heard it first. If it's never confirmed, you can later quietly move it to the dustbin without having made a fool of yourself.

Store away, not throw away or shout about.

ON EDIT: Please note this is not an attack on Louise Mensch or Claude Taylor. This is not saying they are providing us false information. This is only to day they are giving us information that to date remains unverified and therefore we should take a wait and see attitude on it.

[Squinch]

1. Great advice.

[moriah]

2. k&k nt

[brush]

3. That's what most DUers do.

I don't get why there are so many posts on this.

DUers are pretty sophisticated news consumers, not children who need to be told the obvious.

[retrowire]

5. Yeah take me for example

I read it stepped back and thought "well that'd be swell" and carried on.

[mythology]

6. I don't find that to be all that true

Most people, DUers included, tend to believe what they want to believe, regardless of the evidence. For example, look at all the people who jump on any unsubstantiated claim of election fraud.

[brush]

8. I don't agree.

Your sentence below is a good example:

"...look at all the people who jump on any unsubstantiated claim of election fraud."

Most DUers know better than that.

My post was about most DUers being pretty sophisticated about overly optimistic indictment posts, or even silly, repug talking points, all which we take with a grain of salt.

I certainly wasn't referring to random, gullible deplorables who eat that stuff up.

[BadgerMom]

26. I think I'm pretty sophisticated about language

I was a summa cum laude Phi Beta Kappa English major at UC. I wrote for two newspapers and taught English/language arts at the secondary level. My best friend's husband reported for The NY Times for decades. I only offer these facts as evidence to support my headline statement above.

I have a trigger with paternalism.

I know Louise Mensch is not an unassailable source. She is wrong until she's right. I don't write OPs about her work or wait breathlessly for magic to happen. I do read her on Twitter. I also believe that posting the Twitter-verse buzz is reasonable. Sometimes they break news earlier than anyone else. That is the reality today. Some info breaks earliest from highly impeachable sources. All of us live in this world now. If you don't trust yourself to handle questionably sourced material, pass it by. If not, let us adults deal with it ourselves.

Stop telling us all how to deal with this information. We're adults.

[WheelWalker]

34. Thank you. I share your position.

[Silver Gaia]

40. Yes! Thank you for your post, BadgerMom.

I am also a well-educated summa cum laude graduate and I hold an M.A. degree as well. I do not need to be told how to think, nor do I think DUers in general need to be told such things. We are sophisticated enough to value critical thinking. I am fully capable of following Louise Mensch or Claude Taylor without somehow becoming a gullible rube, and I agree that Twitter is where breaking news is often found in today's world. I am tired of seeing threads attempting to tell us how to think about this, and I don't have a problem with DUers posting and discussing it. Enough already.

[uponit7771]

22. +1

[Charlotte Little]

39. Sometimes

...people need hope.

These are not normal times. We are witnessing the country being taken over by not only the Russians, but by the fundamentalists, white-supremacists, neo-nazis and Goldman Sachs. Many of us are stressed and in a state of dismay over how much Trump is getting away with. We recognize that our democracy can be lost very easily and we're up against the clock given the damage that Trump, his administration and the republicans are doing each and every day.

We're not children and you are correct - we don't need to be told the obvious. So, please, stop criticizing and over-analyzing the needs of others. Let us speculate and hope. Let us come to our own conclusions. If L&M turn out to be charlatans, we'll have to deal with it. But for now, I like that little bit of hope I feel when Claude's tweet pops up in my feed - like these:

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo Claudetweet1.png"/></a>

<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo Claudetweet2.png"/></a>

Because of these two tweets, I may fall asleep tonight not tossing and turning in fear for the future of this country and planet, but instead to counting indictments in my head.

[Silver Gaia]

41. There's this, too, Charlotte.

Hope is so very important. For me, it is hope that keeps me in the fight as well as soothes my fear enough to let me sleep. Despair is not a motivator for me. Fear and despair just make me feel like giving up. Having even a shred of hope fuels my desire to resist, to fight. I need it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. If something is too bad or good to be true it likely is.

[Jim__]

7. And rumors that are later confirmed serve as validation of the source.

Not confirmation of one story, but sources that present stories that consistently turn out to be true are clearly reliable. Storing the information allows you to track the credibility of various sources.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

16. And that's one reason I'm not immediately discarding Mensch

It does appear she was indeed correct about FISA warrants during the election circling Trump's circle.

But it's just too early to tell regarding her more recent claims.

[calimary]

24. Agreed. I've been watching Louise Mensch,

And Claude Taylor. John Schindler, too. Most interesting. So far they have a pretty intriguing track record.

But it makes total sense to file their stuff away and not ordering the champagne yet. There's a LOT to do and a long time to come.

And remember "Fitzmas"? We can't afford to get carried away on assumptions.

We can't afford to get carried away abd get complacent, either. This is nowhere near a done deal or a sure thing. The work and The Resistance must continue!

[Silver Gaia]

42. I remember Fitzmas, but I don't think it affected me like it did others.

For me, there is no let-down so great as what unfolded the night of November 8, 2016, and not just because Hillary was not going to become the first woman president, but because that meant that this horror show we are witnessing was about to be unleashed upon us. I had assumed that America would not allow that to happen. Boy, was I wrong. That was the greatest let-down I have ever experienced. Nothing else compares, not Fitzmas, nothing.

[WinkyDink]

9. Are we all children here? Have we never read reports or heard rumors before? How delicate ARE we?!

I guess one can conclude that I don't take kindly to unsolicited advice.

[HopeAgain]

14. But what role does credibility play?

In effective resistance?

Just asking... Trump is saying the "Russia thing" is fake news. Does it help to give them examples?

People are free to tweet, post and restate whatever they want, but I believe that when truth is on our side, it is our best weapon.

[samnsara]

10. hopefully most people will use the unconfirmed 'news'..

..as a jumping off platform to start doing their own research into the issue.

[wryter2000]

11. Thank you

I've seen some wild speculation here. Believing in Fitzmas is only going to lead to disappointment.

[cwydro]

13. I've been amazed at the gullibility of many DUers.

They want so badly to believe something is true that they believe any hopeful rumor at face value.

[SansACause]

12. It's probably all crap.

But boy howdy what a great piece of fiction it would make! I suspect people are already writing books about the fictional election of Ronald Drumpf.

[Madam45for2923]

15. If Trump had released his taxes and was not hiding his collusions we would not need speculation.

and if MSM was doing a proper job uncovering this MESS we are in... we would not need to speculate.

We would already have most questions answered.

[uncle ray]

17. the same advice applies to rumors you DON'T want to believe or feel are not viable options

because "it can't happen" or "it hasn't happened before" etc.

we are so far off in uncharted territory now, we have no idea what the map we are drafting will look like when complete.

[wildeyed]

18. Even more important to remember now that fake news has metastasized.

We have no idea who most of the people spreading the info are or what their agenda is. I think it is fine to speculate, as long as everyone knows it is just speculation. Also, I still remember "Fitzmas". That was a painful let down. Sigh.

[Jim Dandy]

19. Sorta disagree

I don't think anyone should be suppressing information because they are afraid someone will accuse them of being factually incorrect. Things need to be discussed and evaluated. We're adults here, and not in need of information nannies. If people want to be happy about something, or outraged, or whatever they feel at the moment, let them be. Life has enough scolds as it is.

[Sunlei]

20. agree. Almost seems like this was planned for a 'got you' next week (so Comey looks like a leaker)

I bet the old (R)udy is behind this

[cry baby]

21. Wise advice, indeed. nt

[Cryptoad]

23. Whats this new

thingy that any body who post on Twitter is all knowing!?

[PubliusEnigma]

25. You don't have to read every thread if it upsets you. Simple as that.

Don't pretend like a call for limiting discussion is for the greater good, though.

[Dem2]

28. Seems as if you didn't read he O/P?

Welcome to DU

[uppityperson]

31. Welcome to du. I recommend you re-read the OP

[Dem2]

27. Yes

I would never repeat anything like these rumors, unfair to those who see me as a reliable source and not a rumor monger.

[RelativelyJones]

29. Good advice. Keep your eyes open, check source track records and verify reports.

[Qutzupalotl]

30. Claude Taylor has issued a clarification:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

and earlier today:

Link to tweet

[Honeycombe8]

33. I agree. That's what I did. Unverified, but not proven false OR true, not reported across news orgs.

I try to remember it, but don't regard it as fact at this time.

[defacto7]

35. K&R. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

36. Sound advice

Mensch & Taylor are not the only ones on Twitter with such threads .. a new one or two with
different info than those two have appeared today.

Thing is .. taken as a whole, while ebullient in parts, they fit together and have the ring of truth.

I'd say we'll know a lot more as the days roll by, and the net is getting bigger all the time.

[PatrickforO]

37. Indeed.

[Mr. Ected]

38. Sage advice

Exactly how I feel.