I dislike false information whatever the source.  False charges give cover to genuine charges, making it more difficult to separate which is which.  The thing that bothers me the most is that there’s so much very real stuff to legitimately attack there’s no reason to stoop to insinuations and baseless accusations.  Besides, the truth is, I lean left so I expect more from progressive information providers and I’m always a bit more disappointed when bullshit comes from the left but that’s my own bias.

Having said that, I’m pretty disappointed in the “Trump taxes” pseudo-story highlighted by Rachel Maddow.  I used to be pretty fond of her but, I confess, I haven’t watched regularly for a while.  MSNBC seems to be ground zero for the liberal bubble and it scares me to spend too much time in either bubble.  It’s FAR too easy for them to pull a person in, as it were.

I know that she’s been asking a lot of questions about the Trump/Russia connections.  I’ve also noticed she hasn’t drawn any conclusions; just asked some leading questions.  I don’t like that, either.  It’s a technique I first noticed on Fox “News” years ago and, as I’ve already said, I expect more from the left.

People on the right commonly note that people on the left are “so easy”.  We take the bait far too quickly.  People on the right are…well, right about that.  We do and I suspect that, in this case, that trait was used against Maddow.  Most Americans want to see Trump’s current taxes.  It’s not prurient.  There’s a massive amount of relevant information in the taxes besides what came in and what went out.

But Maddow knew she didn’t have THAT information.  In short, she had a summary sheet that showed how much came in and how much went out with zero detail.  A rich guy brought in a bunch of money and paid out a bunch of money?  12 years ago?  That’s not news.  It warranted a mention at the end of the show.  “We received this document – anonymously – that purports to show that Donald Trump brought in a lot of money and paid out a lot of money.  12 years ago.  There was no other information.  We didn’t want to be accused of “sitting on” it so we posted it on our website where people can see it but…I wouldn’t waste my time.”

But, from what I understand, that’s not what happened.  First there was a pre-show Tweet: We have Trumps taxes.  Then there was an hour-long special dedicated to the “taxes”.  Okay, so she’s no accountant but somebody should have been able to explain to her there was no useful information in that document before she went on.  I suspect she went on with it – like that – because she knew it would be a ratings grabber.  But you know who said that?  Donald Trump!  And what do you suppose the White House is going to do from now on as she asks more and more questions about Russia?

Worse, upon further review, it turns out that a solid case can be made that the original leaker of the “taxes” might well have been the Donald, himself.  If that’s true, she totally got played – because people on the left are so easy.

I’ll tell you this: it seems to me that for a single ratings bump Rachel Maddow damaged, perhaps surrendered, her credibility.  At the very least, she handed her opponent a cudgel to use against her at will.

Am I right or wrong?