The number of Louise Mensch's fans is growing.

[MineralMan]

FANS. She has fans. As in fanatics. That's where the word comes from.

The number of people who follow a Twitter user is irrelevant to the quality or truthfulness of what appears from that user on Twitter, as we have all learned.

Donald Trump has lots of fans, too. They think he's great. However...that does not make it so.

Who are those followers on Twitter? I don't know. Some are DUers, that's clear, since they post everything that appears on her Twitter feed and blog.

Is what Louise Mensch posts news? Not really. But, she does post stuff that attracts her fans, which is good for her, I suppose. Is it accurate? Well, spottily. Mostly, not so much, though.

Anyhow, if you're a fan of Louise Mensch, that's really nice. For her.

[BannonsLiver]

1. This should be fun

[MineralMan]

2. It's Saturday afternoon.

As the Saint Paul Saints baseball team motto goes: "Fun is Good!"

[Kilgore]

64. I'll bring the beer!

[hrmjustin]

3. I am not a fan of Louise Mensch.

She plays on people's desire to see Trump gone and spreads information that honestly seems too far fetched. I do not see the investigation as advanced as she does.

She is playing people!

[MineralMan]

5. Yeah. I'm not a fan, either. Heck, I'm not a fan of anyone, really.

Maybe I should start, but I don't know...

[womanofthehills]

13. I'm a fan - one of her over quarter million fans

Gee - Joy Reid follows her

[MineralMan]

4. By the way, for her fans.

If you're just following her on Twitter, you're missing a chance to make a financial donation on her blog to help support her. It's easy. You can use PayPal. Just thought you'd like to know.

[grantcart]

15. Well its even easier at her website patribotics.blog

https://patribotics.blog/

Just seven days ago they had an exclusive that there is a sealed indictment against Trump

https://patribotics.blog/2017/05/14/exclusive-sealed-indictment-granted-against-donald-trump/

If you like the story and think that Trump should be indicted then you can make a financial contribution, and guess what? You will soon be seeing even more stories that you would agree with. How long before we get an 'exclusive' that Trump is considering suicide? (contribute here)

that exclusive was a joint effort Louise Mensch and Claude Taylor.

I wonder what type of exclusive a $ 1000 contribution would generate?

[womanofthehills]

16. Already done.

[Oneironaut]

25. You are supporting a con artist.

By the way, making 1000 guesses and getting a couple right doesn't make someone trustworthy. That's what "psychic" fraudsters do too. All it takes is a knack for reading the signs of what is probably going to happen in the future.

I'm still waiting for those indictments...

[womanofthehills]

30. Louise just keeps getting it righ!!

[MineralMan]

36. See. There you go. I try to help people.

[liberalmuse]

6. There were a lot of Jill Stein fans, too.

Too bad she turned out to be a Russian asset. I understand wishful thinking. I want Trump gone, too. But I had always thought liberals were those people more attuned to reality and truth. Lately I've been more and more wrong.

[MineralMan]

7. That's true. There were.

Glenn Greenwald had lots of fans, too. And then there's Julian Assange. I'm not seeing too many of fans of any of them around here these days. There have been so many people who develop a fan following, but it's hard to keep that going, I guess. Eventually, people find out who you really are. That seems to be the problem.

[womanofthehills]

23. Most people don't really think of Glenn Greenwald as a liberal

[MineralMan]

28. Uh, he was a real popular guy on DU, until he wasn't.

I didn't say he was a liberal. He's not. He's a libertarian, but some confused him with being a leftist. He wasn't that, either.

[MineralMan]

8. We all want Trump gone. And so, I believe, he will be.

But, it won't be because of Twitter or Twitterers. It will be because people are doing actual investigations and actually have the power to do something about him. It will be because reliable news media covers what those people are actually doing, and letting people know what is going on.

Bloggers and Twitter users generally don't get a lot done, although they do develop a following of fans.

[shraby]

10. I'm neither here or there on them. I too don't idolize people. I just watch what they do.

That tells a lot.
One thing people like Louise and Claude do, is bring some sunshine into the dreary lives trump has created. A little sunshine doesn't hurt, but does lift the spirits.

[Ligyron]

14. Yeah, that's about it.

Occupy Democrats is like that too except they have hyperbolic headlines.

Good, feel-good, harmless fun?

[womanofthehills]

17. If you really want Trump gone, why are you putting down a woman who is working hard at this

Why are you picking on Louise so much and not Claude Taylor and Rick Wilson? Claude , Louise and Rick Wilson are all Twitter friends who are all posting the same intel leaks. Why pick only on the woman, Louise?????????

Are you on Twitter? Do you really know what's happening over there?

[Warren DeMontague]

44. you know who else had fans? HITLER, THAT'S WHO

MAKES YA THINK, DOESN'T IT.

...

[bettyellen]

59. LOL Warren redeems himself!

[salin]

9. Vox wrote about this yesterday

https://www.vox.com/world/2017/5/19/15561842/trump-russia-louise-mensch "Democrats are falling for fake news about Russia."

I still prefer TPM, and when I follow twitter - I read Laura Rozen. Her links are credible (mostly other journalists.)

[TomCADem]

11. Why Can't Liberals Have Their Own Alex Jones?

Wait, are those chem trails I see?

[womanofthehills]

19. "chem trails" is a cheap dig

Anytime, anyone disagrees with someone - the other person must believe in chem trails. Try posting anything anti Monsanto on DU and you will be accused of being a chem trail freak.

[grantcart]

20. And they can send them their money too, lol.

[grantcart]

12. And they are true believers

1) They make the leap that since she had an early breaking lead that everything that follows is gold. She got a tip about the Alfa bank connection that was confirmed by other sources within a few days. Since then however almost all of her "revelations" including that Trump is considering resigning or that Trump has already been secretly indicted remain laughably unconfirmed.

2) Real news people don't try to explain the motives of the people that are providing information. Mensch attributes her flood of revelations to the fact that the international intelligence community loves her because she stood up for them when no one else did. I have known 6 active or former intelligence officers, 3 for DIA and 3 for the CIA. One was a professor, two were in my language classes and 3 I worked with when I had some overlapping work (very slightly overlapping). They were all different types of people but the one thing that none of them had was sentimentality. When she talks about the sentimental way that IO hold her in high regard it is clearly what she thinks of herself.

3) Her fans think that because she was one of the first to talk about the existence of the Steele dossier that this somehow shows that she is well connected. It actually shows the opposite. The dossier was originally a product for the Bushes and then for the Democrats. Over that time period there were literally hundreds of people who were aware of it, including dozens of news people. None of the news people didn't want to go public until they could confirm some elements of it. Mensch tweeted when she first heard about it and it shows that she is a rumor monger who might get a lead here and there but will rush to get it out before she can confirm it.

4) The "Real Deal" aka Malcolm Nance said it the best:

“She’s batshit crazy, OK?” Nance told The Daily Beast. “She is a fruit loop of the highest order.”

5) If you are still a fan of Mensch then let me leave you with this question

If she is so good at digging in and getting sources and she is so committed to revealing the truth then why isn't she digging and revealing what is going on with the other great bureaucracy, Fox News? There are firings, revelations and breaking news stories at Fox but she isn't hearing anything.

I wonder if that is because she works for Rupert Murdoch?

[MineralMan]

40. Well, see, I trust the Sane Progressive about the same amount as

Louise Mensch and her buddies. And she has videos all the time. Much more entertaining, really.

I keep in touch with a few people who were in the USAFSS and NSA when I was. Oddly enough, we don't talk much about the current news, really. Some of them are still in that business, but not many, since it was so long ago. Buncha old farts. We still know stuff, but none of us would share it. It's still classified, and we are still sworn not to talk about it.

It's interesting that people like Louise Mensch have all these IC sources who are so willing to reveal what is certainly classified information. I find that odd, somehow, but I don't know. Maybe she has powers that convince them to tell her stuff. Who can say. Or, maybe, her sources really don't exist or are lying about what it is they do.

Ask me about the NSA. I'll tell you that I worked there, and what years I worked there, but I won't tell anyone a damned thing I did there. I don't know anyone who worked there that would, either. That's one of the reasons I discount this stuff.

[grantcart]

46. What years did you work there, lol

It is quite clear that Mensch just makes shit up.

Now she is getting hilariously specific.

For example she states that the Marshal of the Supreme Court, Pamela Talkin has physically informed the President of the United States that the "formal" beginning of impeachment has begun.

I am sure that this is news to Ms. Talkin in as much as the Marshal of the Supreme Court has nothing to do with notifying the President about impeachment, lol.

(I was involved in a couple of semi secret operations and no one ever asks lol)

[MineralMan]

61. 68-9 while in the USAF.

Nobody asks me any more, either.

[chowder66]

18. The National Enquirer gets a story right once yet I don't find myself buying or reading it.

Her buddy Claude Taylor posted this the other day then abruptly deleted it.

Claude Taylor‏
@TrueFactsStated
Remember the death of Seth Rich, the DNC staffer killed in D.C? Intel source says he was killed by Russian Intel for still unknown reasons.

Luckily it was archived.
http://archive.is/wycec#selection-4081.0-4081.139


Mensch has gotten more wrong than she has gotten right by tenfold. Finding it fun to follow her is like finding it fun to follow Breitbart just because they may have said one true thing.... once.

[womanofthehills]

22. When they get stories wrong - they admit it

No one knows how Seth Rich was killed?

Mensch has gotten more right than wrong and when she is wrong she admits it.

[chowder66]

37. No she has NOT gotten more right than wrong.

They shouldn't be reporting anything until they have better information to back up their claims so they don't have to admit they were wrong all the time. That does not help their credibility one iota.

Has she proven that the 210 people she has accused of being Russian agents are Russian agents? If not then she's got a lot of tweeting to do. She's going after innocent people who disagree or question her. Are you okay with that?

I can't say what I want to say regarding your dismissal of the Seth Rich comment.

[MineralMan]

41. You know it was the Seth Rich conspiracy folks who hacked DU recently,

and took it down, right. I'm not impressed.

[grantcart]

48. bull. what she has gotten wrong would fill a library

Just in the last few days.


She accused Nance of not writing the book he is well known for
She believes that Trump has already been indicted
She thinks that Pamela Talkin, Marshal of the Supreme Court, has already notified Trump that the "formal" process of impeachment has begun.

The Marshal of the SC doesn't inform the President about impeachment, Presidents can't be indicted prior to impeachment, Nance wrote the book.

But if you go to her website she says that if you send her a mountain of money they certainly will be able to prove all of the things that she is already reporting as fact.

You can believe Mensch or you can believe Nance but you cannot believe both

“She’s batshit crazy, OK?” Nance told The Daily Beast. “She is a fruit loop of the highest order.”

If you aren't sure which is factual maybe the fact that Nance isn't trolling you for a contribution will help you.

[SaschaHM]

21. She joins the ranks of HAHA Goodman and recount-Jill Stein...

when it comes to folks that have their reputations and wallets restored by telling DUers what they want to hear.

[womanofthehills]

31. Jill Stein had dinner with Putin - Louise Mensch hates Putin

[womanofthehills]

38. And your point is????

So what has Mensch said in the past month that did not come true? Please tell me!!!!!!!!!

[WinkyDink]

24. Good thing we're eschewing publicizing her!

[smirkymonkey]

26. The right wing has more than their fair share of nut-cases.

I think we are allowed a few. Bottom line, I think there are more important things to worry about.

[womanofthehills]

32. Why do you call Louise Mensch a nut-case when she has been right about so many things?

What has she said in the past month that you think she got wrong? "Nut -cases" - you are using Trump's vocabulary - God I hate name calling.

[smirkymonkey]

34. I didn't mean it literally. I just meant the perception of her.

I do take what she says with a grain of salt, but I also think she is on to something.

[Spider Jerusalem]

47. She claims that Russia "funded riots" in Ferguson, MO...

and that Black Lives Matter is a Russian front. These things are a matter of record, she's said them. They are also insane.

[HopeAgain]

68. If that in itself is not enough to discredit her

Then the OP is clearly right on.

[alarimer]

27. Her fame shows the lack of critical thinking skills in American education.

She is con artist and not to be taken seriously.

[womanofthehills]

33. So, be more specific - what has she conned us about this month?

[kwassa]

65. Why are you limiting it to this month?

[Madam45for2923]

39. I feel so ashamed! Back to reading whoever I damn please.

[MineralMan]

42. Well, of course.

I didn't suggest that people not read her stuff. It's entertaining. I read it, too.

[Warren DeMontague]

43. The constant drumbeat about "discrediting" Mensch is a little .. obsessive, I think.

We're all grown-ups here. She posts speculation. Some of it clearly far-fetched.

So what? She's either incredibly prescient and connected, or full of it, or some combination of the two.

What fucking difference does it make? People should use the handy hide thread function if seeing her stuff bothers them so much.

[MineralMan]

45. I said that she speculates.

I said that we should be aware of that when we read her stuff.

I didn't say that it made a difference, because it doesn't. I don't hide anything. I find many things too amusing to hide. That's what I love about DU.

[Warren DeMontague]

49. None of us are children, here.

As a matter of fact, DU skews real fuckin' old, demographically, which results in occasionally laughable unhinged-ness towards everything from twitter to daylight savings time to naked breasts and swearing on cable tv.

But in addition to that, we are all perfectly capable of discerning these things for ourselves. A lot of us remember Fitzmas, and '24 business hours'. Nevertheless, even the most impartial observer would acknowledge that we are in unprecedented territory in terms of the speed with which the wheels have come off the administration.

Whatever ridiculous stuff Louise Mensch may be asserting, reality isn't all that far behind.

[MineralMan]

50. Ah, thanks for letting me know.

But, you see, I prefer actual reality over someone's artificial representation of it. And, as you say, we are adults here, so we should be able to deal with the occasional dislike of some postings on this open website. I recall postings from Glenn Greenwald, H.A. Goodman, and many others who were rightly laughed at or scorned by some and nearly worshiped by others.

Although you are welcome to chastise me as you see fit, I will also feel free to post as I choose. That way, all Democratic, progressive, and left-leaning points of view will appear on DU for discussion.

Good fortune in all of your endeavors.

[Warren DeMontague]

51. Oh, this is a mild chastisement by Warren DeMontague standards.

You should see what happens when my blood sugar gets low.

[MineralMan]

53. Oh, dear. Well, having experienced a number of your chastisements,

I'm quite familiar with their range. So, it's a blood sugar thing? For me, it's my evening adult beverages. That's why I rarely post after 6 PM CST.

[Warren DeMontague]

54. Yeah, I'm a bit of a prick when I haven't eaten.

But I'm working on self-acceptance. Om Mani Padme Hum....

[MineralMan]

55. Well, we all have our little idiosyncrasies, don't we?

But, we compensate as best we are able, generally.

[HopeAgain]

52. but the FISA Warrants!

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[cwydro]

56. I'm amazed by this phenomenon.

Fake news is alive and well on DU.

[MineralMan]

57. Well, you know, it always has been, really.

The sources of fake news just keep changing. It can be difficult to keep up. Why, I remember when Glenn Greenwald was accepted as the giver of all truth here. No longer, apparently. Odd, isn't it?

[Turbineguy]

58. She seems to post stuff

I like to hear and only hope it's true. I have to wait for verification.

[Takket]

60. the only differene between her and Alex Jones is which political party they target

[brooklynite]

62. As with FOX NEWS...

She post items which support the biases and beliefs of her readers.

[cwydro]

67. Exactly.

Spot on.

[saidsimplesimon]

63. MM

While it is everyone's right to read whatever they wish. I am not a fan(atic) on twitter, do not have an account, nor want one.

I neither dismiss or endorse Mensch. The only time I see any of her "predictions" is when the links are shared. There is not sufficient evidence that compels me to consider her a credible journalist.

From what little I know, she supported Brexit (a big mistake, imo). She served as a conservative MP. She is reported to be a conservative libertarian, again, not my cuppa tea. She works for Rupert Murdoch and that heinous rag News Corpse.

Murdoch has a reputation of tolerating, even encouraging journalists who hack computers and telephones. I question her lack of reported sources and methods.

My bottom line opinion is that she is "much ado about nothing". Most of us can use our deductive mental powers to figure out what she reports as "truth".

[cwydro]

66. K and r. nt