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The Onion to Take over InfoWars

nytimes.com

111–120 of 297 posts

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#111
post #17

When this all started, the Onion released a priceless 'press statement': "Through it all, InfoWars has shown an unswerving commitment to manufacturing anger and radicalizing the most vulnerable members of society—values that resonate deeply with all of us at Global Tetrahedron. No price would be too high for such a cornucopia of malleable assets and minds. And yet, in a stroke of good fortune, a formidable special in…

Brilliant plans for the future: https://theonion.info/?p=1 > Such is the InfoWars I envision: An infinite virtual surface teeming with ads. Not just ads, but scams! Not just scams, but lies with no object, free radical misinformation, sentences and images so poorly thought out that they are unhealthy even to view for just a few seconds. The InfoWars of old was only the prototype for the hell I know we can build toget…

It's like setting out to write "The King in Yellow"

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#112
It seems strange to me that our laws allow someone to declare personal bankruptcy to avoid paying on liabilities, while somehow maintaining interests in other companies… resulting in that weird situation where another of his companies tries to buy the “bankrupt” company? (If you didn’t read the article, the only other bidder against the Onion was one of Alex’s own companies)

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#113
post #69
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Onion is satire, so ... But Alex Jones is currently busy with Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and others to bitterly criticize Trump for the Iran war. Trump retaliated by calling all of them "low IQ". Given that Carlson's media company has an investment from the ubiquitous 1789 Capital (Thiel and Trump Jr.), we don't know if this is theater to keep the isolationist MAGA in the fold. It could also be that they sacrifi…

They’re just reading polls and reacting accordingly. There’s no principle involved.

No polls so much as views + likes. What gets a reaction? What makes good TV? This seems to be all that matters.

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#114

Not the direct point of this thread, but this being a nytimes link... I still can't believe the way those reporters giggled their way through the Hasan Piker interview the other day. That is guy is poison, but since he align with their views, it's all just rosy and silly to promote killing people on the other side of the political spectrum.

Which Hasan Piker interview was this? The only one I saw was about shoplifting.

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The word "prosecution" implies criminal case brought by the government. This was a civil case brought by the victims. If you mean higher bar for litigation, then maybe this lawsuit and its outcome shows that the bar isn't as high as you think when it comes to defamation?

Yes I did mean litigation (didn't know that that term was a distinction learned something today). To my understanding the case outcome is pretty much what I would expect, even considering the first amendment raising the bar. It's also interesting that there's been so many legal shenanigans in the case that it's hard to even keep track of them all.

The principal legal shenanigan came from Jones and his team - stubbornly refusing to engage with either court via a kind of sovereign citizen "I know my first amendment rights, F- you" vibe.

That sealed the case outcome as, IIRC, at least one of the judges just ruled against them for not mounting any defence.

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#116

Editorialized title. It has a plan to take over that will need approval. Lots of non-paywalled coverage that would be better links, eg: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/20/the-onion-al... See previous discussion linked in sibling as well.

This is a really good point, especially since a similar plan was attempted once before and failed.

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a case about Sandy Hook the event - it is a defamation case by the victims of that event, that Alex Jones directly attacked. This is the biggest difference - no one is claiming that all of the people who lost their loved ones in the 9/11 attacks were actually actors paid to pretend that they were grieving for their parents and children and friends. No one was encouraged to personally attack said victims a…

That’s sounds like a first amendment violation with more steps.

The first amendment has never been held to give immunity for libel or slander. So if you think it's a first amendment violation, you need to learn that the first amendment does not give blanket immunity for speech that harms others.

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s sounds like a first amendment violation with more steps.

It isn't because there's no government prosecution.

How is a ruling in a civil court not a form of government prosecution? It would be more correct to say that your first amendment rights stop at defaming others.

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't because there's no government prosecution.

How is a ruling in a civil court not a form of government prosecution? It would be more correct to say that your first amendment rights stop at defaming others.

The government didn't bring this civil suit. Ruling on civil disputes is the government's role. That's not what prosecution means.

Re: The Onion to Take over InfoWars

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The context is that Jones blew up the court process every chance he got, setting a new record for contempt fining. The most important piece was refusing to comply with discovery (his lawyer was so bad-behaved here he ended up with a disciplinary suspension). As a result Jones received a default judgement, i.e. the plaintiffs win by default and he doesn't get to argue his case. This also means the plaintiffs get every…

Do you have a good/entertaining source for this? I'd love to read (or watch/listen) more about it

ALAB series covered it in amusing detail
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