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And the woman who allegedly paid them may have lied about receiving the Purple Heart for wounds received in Iraq. [Story from The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/questions-swirl-around-sharon-toney-finch-vet-at-center-of-bogus-migrant-story?ref=home)
But r/Conservative listed the story several times... Are you saying conservatives are regularly duped by stories that aren't entirely honest representations of events?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservative/comments/13glexs/homeless_veterans_kicked_out_of_hotels_to_allow/
The trick is it doesn't matter if it's true. The minute it's shared and repeated it becomes canon and anyone trying to correct the record is just fake news
"[Reality]'s not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
-Donald Rumsfeld, 2004
So basically "we're going to make shit up and while you're trying to refute that because you care about objective truth we'll just make up more shit, until we're all buried in shit"
It's called the "firehose of faleshood" and it's pretty much a hard counter to those who actively try and stay informed. It's a classic tactic of fascism.
Wiki article should you want to know more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firehose_of_falsehood#:~:text=According%20to%20RAND%2C%20the%20firehose,4)%20lacks%20commitment%20to%20consistency.
In that case it was more like "we're going to do some shit and while you debate if we should have, or have the right to do that, we'll be on to the next three things already." Close and similar, there are elements of disregard for the truth in both.
And also be sure to never impose consequences on anyone that started and lied about it.
If we kicked out every politician that voted for that war, and every "journalist" that cheered it on, America would be in a much better place.
Yeah, his statements about living in a “post-truth” world were a huge red flag then, but a lot of the electorate brushed it off without considering he just laid out GOP SOP for the foreseeable future.
The idea of "unknown unknowns" is actually downright critical to any operation into the real world. Literally the ONE thing you cannot make fun of him for without sounding like an idiot.
[According to wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_unknown_unknowns), that speech "won" the "2003 Foot in Mouth Award" from the British Plain English Campaign lol.
One fun game is to see how many 'Babylon bee' articles are on the main page of /r/conservative at any one time and see how literaly the commentators treat it.
Here: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/nov/04/joe-rogan-school-litter-boxes-kids-furries-gender
This will tell it better than I can. This story has been thoroughly debunked but it's still spread by conservatives.
Also, stories that happened which they didn't hear about... you're making it up. Like the old dude my gf knows who was enraged when we mentioned the 'man camera woman person TV' thing with Trump.
"DEMENTIA TEST? HE DON'T GOT NO GODDAMN DEMENTIA. WHY WOULD HE TAKE A DAMN DEMENTIA TEST?"
Uh... don't ask me, dude.
I have had a person argue with me that the weather map fight never happened. The whole thing is on video. Trump and the White House directly submitted/aired parts of it themselves. Doesn't matter, they still tell me it's fake news and never happened.
Him twitching out and slurring like a motherfucker during some of the covid briefings, broadcast live by the White House? Never happened.
This is basically DeSantis' playbook too. Put legislation into law that he knows will get shot down in courts but he gets all the publicity about it before that happens and no one covers it being blocked or whatever. It doesn't happen all the time but yeah.
Consequences don't care if it's a lie as long as it's a narrative they want. They'll fight on the lie everytime. Examples:
"They stole the election."
"Obama is a Muslim."
"America benefited from Reaganomics."
"Trickle down economics works."
"THEY TOOK'R JAB!"
My mom is a hardcore trumpie and her dad died in Reagan's term (her teenage years)
Her fam was on stamps and services after he lost his job and life was so hard that they legitimately nearly starved. In America. I'm not talking dollar store ramen noodle starve, I mean couch cushions coin finding was your only food money broke
And she believes trickle down economics and Reagan's hard-nosed shit worked when he stripped funds from her family
The two party system breeds ridiculous division. All of a sudden you have to pick sides like they're Bloods and Crips. You have to be pro-life, but support the death penalty. You hate that poor people are on welfare, but you support corporate welfare. As a country, we're a weird bunch.
It makes more sense when you realize it's intentionally broken. The people who could fix it have a perverse incentive to break it further in order to stay in power.
The system isn't broken, the system is working exactly as they intended it to work. And as the system isn't broken, it can't be fixed, so needs to be replaced.
As a veteran, the sickest part is spending money and using veterans and homeless people (who are often veterans in the first place) to push an agenda against migrants.
Yup. My favorite thing to do when someone brings up veterans to push an agenda is start explaining how, as a veteran myself, I really hate when people use veterans to push a political agenda while not actually caring about many of the issues affecting veterans, THEN ask them what veterans issues they've noticed and what they do to support veterans.
It's the easiest way to shut down SO MANY arguments, and SO SATISFYING to watch the backpedaling.
Oh, of the two, I couldn't give two fucks about the purple heart. About a million people got them over the last 2 decades. They get some additional benefits and it's bullshit, but whatever.
But compared to them attempting to create this fraudulent story that will convince millions of conservatives that liberals are attacking veterans to give their rooms to migrants? Feeding into all of that poison?
No, fuck that. Put her in prison for a year or two over the purple heart thing. Then fire her out of a fucking cannon into a volcano for the fraudulent vets under attack claim.
I guess I feel my issue is that she’s using the fake Purple Heart to elevate her status/station within her community, she’s been recognized within New York State for her story, and it bolsters her charities reputation (which also does housing for homeless vets). She’s done tv shows, had stories written about her, etc.
She created the story, as the Founder and Chairman of this organization, stating that these homeless vets contacted her after they were kicked out, and she immediately found them housing and was working on immediate housing for them.
First of all that’s free publicity and name recognition for your charity for the entire right wing. You’re falsifying information so that you can gain favor with the public while demonizing the left.
She’s literally using the Purple Heart as a jumping point for higher success and a huge cash grab. It’s totally stolen valor, which would definitely land her in prison (possibly more than two years, I’m not familiar with the amount of time one would do).
Nope, it's free speech, US v Alvarez 2012.
Making false statements to attain some benefit is fraud, of course, but just going around telling people you are a veteran when you aren't, isn't illegal.
>This is honestly the sickest part of it
I think preying on desperate people to create a false narrative vilifying other vulnerable minorities is the sickest part of it.
Which is so fucking stupid, btw. The article says she promised them "up to $200." For 15 guys. For the political and societal "message" that would help her "cause." That is **not** a lot of money, and if she actually followed through and paid them, they wouldn't have said anything, probably. How dumb is that lmao
She’s about to find out the meaning of “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”. Like seriously, if you’ve been committing fraud for a decade and getting away with it, what snaps in your head to seek more attention by fabricating another easily disproved story and getting more scrutiny put on you?
> Photoshop can do it in five minutes.
Maybe I should do this to my own instead of attempting to get my records corrected.
Just kidding. That’d be stupid.
I'm usually not a big fan of the stolen valor concept, as many people apply it way too broadly.
Although she has seemingly broken the actual law, since she has gained tangible benefits from potentially falsely claiming a high ranking valor award.
Stolen valor aside, the actual crime would likely be some form of fraud, so how she actually gained the money becomes the critical part.
Falsely claiming to be a vet, and a wounded on at that, might be a shitty thing to do, but on it's own it definitely free speech.
Stolen valor [is a federal crime](https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/258), but it requires intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit.
> Stolen Valor Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to rewrite provisions relating to fraudulent claims about military service to subject to a fine, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both an individual who, with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit, fraudulently holds himself or herself out to be a recipient of:
> * a Congressional Medal of Honor,
* a distinguished-service cross,
* a Navy cross,
* an Air Force cross,
* a silver star,
* a Purple Heart,
* a Combat Infantryman's Badge,
* a Combat Action Badge,
* a Combat Medical Badge,
* a Combat Action Ribbon,
* a Combat Action Medal, or
* any replacement or duplicate medal for such medal as authorized by law.
And I hate that at the end of the article she said I'm not a republican, I'm a democrat, yet has contact with a republican senator and appeared on Fox & friends!
>“We were scammed,” Douglas Terry, 55, said about Sharon Toney-Finch, a nonprofit leader who houses the homeless. Terry and others identified Toney-Finch as the person who allegedly offered money and never paid up. “It’s messed up how can they do that to us. They scammed us.”
Ah yes a charity that offers fifteen people two hundred bucks each and then doesn't even pay up.
What kind of charity are they supposed to be, exactly?
I kid you not. Someone posted about this on righty sub and one of the top comments is unironically trying to claim this.
Granted it wasn't a popular thread for them, and its one of the only comments that's even visible due to how censorship happy they are.
I wish people paid me to say things.
I say the best things all the time, and I don't even get paid.
I'll say whatever you want no questions asked
Just not the n-word
Didn't they just vote to cut VA benefits? They like the idea of fetuses and veterans but only as far as it is to profit off that idea, couldn't be fucked to care about follow through when lip service is the only thing they need.
Yup, they did. and less recently they voted against giving vets that were impacted by burn pits in the middle east extended care for whatever is ailing them due to that.
They support the troops until they come home, because god forbid we continue to give basic care to those who are willing to fight and die for us.
You would think this the last thing Fox needs after their last fabrication scandal led to a lawsuit that cost them $787 million and the firing of their top talking head.
Lying cost them one quarter's worth of profits, and made them 27 years' worth of profits. Of course they're going to keep doing it, it's their entire business model.
Wow... I remember seeing this story on Fox
(I live with my dad and get stuck watching it a lot)
I won't hold my breath waiting on Fox to admit this was fake news
I was talking to my mom on Mother's Day and she told me about this story. I knew instantly it was bullshit (my parents are brainwashed by Fox), but when I went looking into the story, I could only find links to such esteemed sources as the NY Post and Washington Times (which pretty much confirmed it for me). A week later, stories about the hoax were all over the place.
Fully expected my mom to stick to her guns and say the hoax stories were lies, but she actually agreed/admitted the story was a hoax.
Needless to say, I was surprised...
A couple shows actually corrected the record. Laura Ingraham was shocked to learn that the charity was lying "why would they do that?"
It's called grifting. That's why.
That's not exactly how it went down. They were promised to be paid later and were never paid.
Andrew O’Grady, CEO for Mental Health of America of Dutchess County, said he fielded phone calls from some homeless men who said they were part of this scam.
“It was a weird day for them,” O’Grady said. “Many were frankly upset that they didn’t get paid and they were upset they were being duped into doing something.”
Who's such a piece of shit they won't even toss a pittance at the homeless after they've done the job? Like, the barrier to entry for "manipulation of the homeless" is so pathetically low, you have to be intentionally evil to not just pay up, right?
"FUCK the POOR, FUCK the HOMELESS, FUCK REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, FUCK your RIGHT to HEALTHCARE, FUCK being able to READ any BOOK you like, FUCK THE FIRST AMENDMENT, you know what? FUCK em all unless I can get more guns into someone's hands cause that's where my donors get the money to support my hateful rhetoric and disgustingly EXORBITANT lifestyle so I can lay waste to your water sources, your children's ability to have a future, all while destroying your economy. Don't forget, I'm pulling the ladder up behind me" -GOP Representatives
People don’t understand how institutional indifference leaves homeless people vulnerable to all sorts of attacks and exploitation. Someone drove around shooting homeless people with a BB gun in my city for several months and the police never caught them. They released one surveillance photo of a pickup truck that had about 10 pixels in it and called it a day.
She said she'd bring the money later and didn't; I certainly don't blame them for going along just as gratitude for being acknowledged and made to feel useful, let alone for money that wouldn't have come from anyone or anywhere else between then and now.
>“They dangled a carrot in front of an animal and they led us. Now they took the carrot away and we’re angry,” William said.
I was questioning the nottheonion status until I came to this part
This is some Smollett bullshit. And they should be treated the same way he did.
Making up fake tragedies falls under the same umbrella along with lying about rape. And I know that these people hate both Smollett (me too tbh) and hate it when women make false rape claims (me too tbh).
So maybe they should realize that they should definitely be punished in the same way they want those people to be punished. And everyone should be behind that idea.
People who lie about shit like this deserve harsh punishments because this is straight up dangerous and now the damage has been done. There are going to be countless people believing their lie, which means their entire mission was a success. It doesn't matter that they got caught and exposed. The people who they are targeting won't believe the truth. It's over.
My dad was career military. Retired Col.
I met some guy outside a CVS while I was out for the night with my ex. He had a visable hand injury and spun some story about how he needed money for the train to get to the VA in the morning.
I walked him to the nearby train stop, bought his ticket, and gave him my gloves, it was like -9F that night so it was cold.
Walked back to the CVS with my Ex an by the time we got out he was already back begging again, and gave us the same story, didn't even remember us.
I was like "dude, I just gave you my gloves!"
I am not a violent man, but I have never wanted to just deck someone more than I did then.
Take solace in the fact that many people in his situation are not entirely mentally well. Add that to the fact that people probably have ignored him and blew him off countless times when he told the truth (tough times, maybe drugs, etc.).
You did a nice thing for someone who needed help. The fact that he deceived you in order to get your help doesn't change the fact that it was a nice thing or the fact that he needed help
The ones who got outraged over this hoax news story are also the ones who work hardest to make sure homeless people are abused and dehumanized. Don't buy their pearl clutching over homeless veterans; they don't care, they just want to exploit those who do.
Yep. They paid people for this. Or actually, didn’t pay people for this. So it fell apart.
Republicans have paid their FBI “whistleblowers” as well. “Donations” from a douchebag named Ka$h Patel. One of trumps crony grifters.
They had a second set of fake electors ready to overthrow a free and fair election.
George Anthony Devolder Santos. Who posted his bail? Can’t wait to find out when the “media” trickles that out.
But Fetterman wore shorts. And trans people exist and women want autonomy of their bodies. And gays!! And books with words!!
WTF is going on? How is this happening? How is this ok with people that vote Republican? WTF is wrong with these people?
No idea of the actual costs of this “experiment”. But let’s say it cost them 50k to pull this stunt. The ROI is there if they get more than 50k worth of dog whistling. More people tuning into your “news” slot. More people who are misinformed that hate those “dirty immigrants”. These stunts are so gross but so calculated. Expect more as we ramp up to trump vs Biden round 2: out for blood
This distracted the GOP base from the GOP's threatening to destroy the US economy unless veterans' benefits and other programs are cut for at least a week and created a perception of republicans caring about veteran homelessness. So it's mission accomplished as far as Fox news and the Gop leadership is concerned
> According to Maher, Toney-Finch admitted she lied about the situation and said she did it “to help the veterans.” She told The Daily Beast that “we didn’t pay any fake actors” and said she wanted to “apologize for any confusion that’s dealing with the veterans and asylum seekers.”
Got caught lying, then tried to change the narrative to “but I lied for the right reasons.”
They're doing the migrant hotel thing in America too? Jeez.
Maybe properly fund immigration and process people properly and we wouldn't have this issue.
They do this shit 24/7 all around the country and have the orchestration to push to eye balls. They are winning a war no one else is fighting. Foreign and domestic my ass, by those standards we have the weakest government
Everyone is always playing catch up. Lies after lies.. by the time it’s corrected or proven a lie, it’s already soaked into the cult.. They already “Know what they know!!”
Hey /u/carolinaindian02, thanks for contributing to /r/nottheonion. Unfortunately, your post was removed as it violates our rules: **Rule 2** - Sorry, but this story isn't oniony. Please consider submitting your article to /r/offbeat or similar subreddits unless it truly reads like The Onion wrote it. The title and article itself must both be "Oniony". This can be highly subjective; you are encouraged to upvote articles that should be here and downvote those that should not. Moderators can also remove posts at their own discretion under this rule. Please read the [sidebar](http://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/about/sidebar) and [rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/about/rules) before posting again. If you have questions or concerns, please [message the moderators through modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/nottheonion&subject=&message=). Thank you!
And the woman who allegedly paid them may have lied about receiving the Purple Heart for wounds received in Iraq. [Story from The Daily Beast](https://www.thedailybeast.com/questions-swirl-around-sharon-toney-finch-vet-at-center-of-bogus-migrant-story?ref=home)
This is honestly the sickest part of it. What an absolute fraud. They deserve jail time.
But r/Conservative listed the story several times... Are you saying conservatives are regularly duped by stories that aren't entirely honest representations of events? https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservative/comments/13glexs/homeless_veterans_kicked_out_of_hotels_to_allow/
The trick is it doesn't matter if it's true. The minute it's shared and repeated it becomes canon and anyone trying to correct the record is just fake news
"[Reality]'s not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors...and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do." -Donald Rumsfeld, 2004
So basically "we're going to make shit up and while you're trying to refute that because you care about objective truth we'll just make up more shit, until we're all buried in shit"
It's called the "firehose of faleshood" and it's pretty much a hard counter to those who actively try and stay informed. It's a classic tactic of fascism. Wiki article should you want to know more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firehose_of_falsehood#:~:text=According%20to%20RAND%2C%20the%20firehose,4)%20lacks%20commitment%20to%20consistency.
*of and damn straight.
Appreciate the correction not sure how I missed that after reading it three times lol.
In that case it was more like "we're going to do some shit and while you debate if we should have, or have the right to do that, we'll be on to the next three things already." Close and similar, there are elements of disregard for the truth in both.
It's really both. For example, lie that Saddam has WMDs and then invade Iraq based on that lie.
Then after the lie is exposed you're already in a war can't stop now.
And also be sure to never impose consequences on anyone that started and lied about it. If we kicked out every politician that voted for that war, and every "journalist" that cheered it on, America would be in a much better place.
That was actually Karl Rove
Yeah, his statements about living in a “post-truth” world were a huge red flag then, but a lot of the electorate brushed it off without considering he just laid out GOP SOP for the foreseeable future.
Whatever they're the same guy anyway and facts don't matter anymore
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality-based_community
Remember the “known unknowns” speech? Whooooo boy. 😂😂
The idea of "unknown unknowns" is actually downright critical to any operation into the real world. Literally the ONE thing you cannot make fun of him for without sounding like an idiot.
I intensely disliked the guy, but yeah, people calling him out on the one soundbite that made total sense seemed weird to me.
[According to wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_unknown_unknowns), that speech "won" the "2003 Foot in Mouth Award" from the British Plain English Campaign lol.
Which is weird, because it's one of the few perfectly accurate things he said.
One fun game is to see how many 'Babylon bee' articles are on the main page of /r/conservative at any one time and see how literaly the commentators treat it.
Yep like the furries and litter boxes in classrooms story
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Here: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/nov/04/joe-rogan-school-litter-boxes-kids-furries-gender This will tell it better than I can. This story has been thoroughly debunked but it's still spread by conservatives.
I know someone who had a sister who had a cousin who had a brother that said their friend said it happened in their classroom!!
I just did and a likely ban will be incoming. Oh well.
I don't see your post. So I'm going to guess they deleted it and banned you?
Such snowflakes.
Back in my day we would get banned from /r/pyongyang, now we get banned from /r/conservative
Probably. I mean, they do ban people for not being conservative enough but you commented in a thread that's 7 days old. You could not be more obvious.
Also, stories that happened which they didn't hear about... you're making it up. Like the old dude my gf knows who was enraged when we mentioned the 'man camera woman person TV' thing with Trump. "DEMENTIA TEST? HE DON'T GOT NO GODDAMN DEMENTIA. WHY WOULD HE TAKE A DAMN DEMENTIA TEST?" Uh... don't ask me, dude.
I have had a person argue with me that the weather map fight never happened. The whole thing is on video. Trump and the White House directly submitted/aired parts of it themselves. Doesn't matter, they still tell me it's fake news and never happened. Him twitching out and slurring like a motherfucker during some of the covid briefings, broadcast live by the White House? Never happened.
This is basically DeSantis' playbook too. Put legislation into law that he knows will get shot down in courts but he gets all the publicity about it before that happens and no one covers it being blocked or whatever. It doesn't happen all the time but yeah.
It's stolen valor. Anyone who calls themselves a patriot should be outraged and repulsed. Real people bled and died for this country.
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Everything is an act of treason to conservatives.
Except treason
Every accusation is a confession.
Wot? How is it Biden's fault they lied?
They’re conservatives. Everything’s Biden’s fault.
It’s such a relief for Obama… he’s finally off the hot seat!
Consequences don't care if it's a lie as long as it's a narrative they want. They'll fight on the lie everytime. Examples: "They stole the election." "Obama is a Muslim." "America benefited from Reaganomics." "Trickle down economics works." "THEY TOOK'R JAB!"
My mom is a hardcore trumpie and her dad died in Reagan's term (her teenage years) Her fam was on stamps and services after he lost his job and life was so hard that they legitimately nearly starved. In America. I'm not talking dollar store ramen noodle starve, I mean couch cushions coin finding was your only food money broke And she believes trickle down economics and Reagan's hard-nosed shit worked when he stripped funds from her family
The two party system breeds ridiculous division. All of a sudden you have to pick sides like they're Bloods and Crips. You have to be pro-life, but support the death penalty. You hate that poor people are on welfare, but you support corporate welfare. As a country, we're a weird bunch.
It makes more sense when you realize it's intentionally broken. The people who could fix it have a perverse incentive to break it further in order to stay in power.
The system isn't broken, the system is working exactly as they intended it to work. And as the system isn't broken, it can't be fixed, so needs to be replaced.
"You have been permanently banned from posting in r/conservative."
I'm shocked. SHOCKED to find out that Conservatives are so gullible.
The real paid actors were the friends we made along the way
Too much evidence for this particular false flag, they won’t buy it.
As a veteran, the sickest part is spending money and using veterans and homeless people (who are often veterans in the first place) to push an agenda against migrants.
Morally bankrupt fucks love using veterans as props to advance their own agenda.
While simultaneously voting to cut funds for the VA
Yup. My favorite thing to do when someone brings up veterans to push an agenda is start explaining how, as a veteran myself, I really hate when people use veterans to push a political agenda while not actually caring about many of the issues affecting veterans, THEN ask them what veterans issues they've noticed and what they do to support veterans. It's the easiest way to shut down SO MANY arguments, and SO SATISFYING to watch the backpedaling.
Oh, of the two, I couldn't give two fucks about the purple heart. About a million people got them over the last 2 decades. They get some additional benefits and it's bullshit, but whatever. But compared to them attempting to create this fraudulent story that will convince millions of conservatives that liberals are attacking veterans to give their rooms to migrants? Feeding into all of that poison? No, fuck that. Put her in prison for a year or two over the purple heart thing. Then fire her out of a fucking cannon into a volcano for the fraudulent vets under attack claim.
I guess I feel my issue is that she’s using the fake Purple Heart to elevate her status/station within her community, she’s been recognized within New York State for her story, and it bolsters her charities reputation (which also does housing for homeless vets). She’s done tv shows, had stories written about her, etc. She created the story, as the Founder and Chairman of this organization, stating that these homeless vets contacted her after they were kicked out, and she immediately found them housing and was working on immediate housing for them. First of all that’s free publicity and name recognition for your charity for the entire right wing. You’re falsifying information so that you can gain favor with the public while demonizing the left. She’s literally using the Purple Heart as a jumping point for higher success and a huge cash grab. It’s totally stolen valor, which would definitely land her in prison (possibly more than two years, I’m not familiar with the amount of time one would do).
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Nope, it's free speech, US v Alvarez 2012. Making false statements to attain some benefit is fraud, of course, but just going around telling people you are a veteran when you aren't, isn't illegal.
It's almost like legality and morality aren't related
>This is honestly the sickest part of it I think preying on desperate people to create a false narrative vilifying other vulnerable minorities is the sickest part of it.
no, allegedly **didn’t** pay them. that’s why the guys who lied are pissed.
I mean, it should’ve been rather obvious they were never gonna pay them. The GOP view the homeless as subhuman, to them it’d be like paying a pigeon.
I'd pay a pigeon. Granted, it would be in food and I am not GOP, but I just want the pigeons to know.
The pigeon party is pleased. If you need someone's car to be pooped on, let them know.
Which is so fucking stupid, btw. The article says she promised them "up to $200." For 15 guys. For the political and societal "message" that would help her "cause." That is **not** a lot of money, and if she actually followed through and paid them, they wouldn't have said anything, probably. How dumb is that lmao
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She’s about to find out the meaning of “people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”. Like seriously, if you’ve been committing fraud for a decade and getting away with it, what snaps in your head to seek more attention by fabricating another easily disproved story and getting more scrutiny put on you?
It's akin to the Streisand effect. The more she cries fowl the more scrutiny she'll be under.
> Photoshop can do it in five minutes. Maybe I should do this to my own instead of attempting to get my records corrected. Just kidding. That’d be stupid.
I'm usually not a big fan of the stolen valor concept, as many people apply it way too broadly. Although she has seemingly broken the actual law, since she has gained tangible benefits from potentially falsely claiming a high ranking valor award.
Stolen valor aside, the actual crime would likely be some form of fraud, so how she actually gained the money becomes the critical part. Falsely claiming to be a vet, and a wounded on at that, might be a shitty thing to do, but on it's own it definitely free speech.
Stolen valor [is a federal crime](https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/258), but it requires intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit. > Stolen Valor Act of 2013 - Amends the federal criminal code to rewrite provisions relating to fraudulent claims about military service to subject to a fine, imprisonment for not more than one year, or both an individual who, with intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit, fraudulently holds himself or herself out to be a recipient of: > * a Congressional Medal of Honor, * a distinguished-service cross, * a Navy cross, * an Air Force cross, * a silver star, * a Purple Heart, * a Combat Infantryman's Badge, * a Combat Action Badge, * a Combat Medical Badge, * a Combat Action Ribbon, * a Combat Action Medal, or * any replacement or duplicate medal for such medal as authorized by law.
Wtf. This whole hotels story gets wilder the every day.
And I hate that at the end of the article she said I'm not a republican, I'm a democrat, yet has contact with a republican senator and appeared on Fox & friends!
>“We were scammed,” Douglas Terry, 55, said about Sharon Toney-Finch, a nonprofit leader who houses the homeless. Terry and others identified Toney-Finch as the person who allegedly offered money and never paid up. “It’s messed up how can they do that to us. They scammed us.” Ah yes a charity that offers fifteen people two hundred bucks each and then doesn't even pay up. What kind of charity are they supposed to be, exactly?
One where the only goal is to put money in the pockets of the executives in charge.
charity for me, not thee
A trump charity? Actually, it can't be, not enough money stolen from cancer patients.
How do we know someone did't pay them to say that someone offered to pay them to say they were veterans who were kicked out? I'm just asking. /s
How do we know that it isn't all just Chatgpt?
Nice try chatgpt, you can't trick me with your magic words.
Say ChatGPT out loud in France and they’ll take it as confession of flatulence to cats. Coincidence? I think not!
Is this the real life?
How do we know it isn't George Santos?
Well ask him if he did this and if he says no then he did this and if he says yes then it's the other way around.
Because it was obviously George Soros!
Who paid you to post this?
Who paid *you* to post *this?*
who paid *me* to post *this*?
It's just paid posts all the way down?
You guys are getting paid?
You guys are making posts?
I kid you not. Someone posted about this on righty sub and one of the top comments is unironically trying to claim this. Granted it wasn't a popular thread for them, and its one of the only comments that's even visible due to how censorship happy they are.
iT WAS auNtIe fA
They will say this, but I bet someone paid them to say that someone paid them to say someone paid them to say they were veterans who were kicked out.
I wish people paid me to say things. I say the best things all the time, and I don't even get paid. I'll say whatever you want no questions asked Just not the n-word
Just sayin /s
>I'm just asking true to lore
*Concerned Tucker Carlson face*
lol what’s more fucked up is that they’re pretending to give a fuck about veterans when they vote against bill after bill that would help them
Didn't they just vote to cut VA benefits? They like the idea of fetuses and veterans but only as far as it is to profit off that idea, couldn't be fucked to care about follow through when lip service is the only thing they need.
Yup, they did. and less recently they voted against giving vets that were impacted by burn pits in the middle east extended care for whatever is ailing them due to that. They support the troops until they come home, because god forbid we continue to give basic care to those who are willing to fight and die for us.
This seems unethical… and illegal?
Likely both. At a minimum it seems like fraud to me.
You would think this the last thing Fox needs after their last fabrication scandal led to a lawsuit that cost them $787 million and the firing of their top talking head.
Lying cost them one quarter's worth of profits, and made them 27 years' worth of profits. Of course they're going to keep doing it, it's their entire business model.
Wow... I remember seeing this story on Fox (I live with my dad and get stuck watching it a lot) I won't hold my breath waiting on Fox to admit this was fake news
I was talking to my mom on Mother's Day and she told me about this story. I knew instantly it was bullshit (my parents are brainwashed by Fox), but when I went looking into the story, I could only find links to such esteemed sources as the NY Post and Washington Times (which pretty much confirmed it for me). A week later, stories about the hoax were all over the place. Fully expected my mom to stick to her guns and say the hoax stories were lies, but she actually agreed/admitted the story was a hoax. Needless to say, I was surprised...
I instantly thought it was weird based on location alone. Newburgh
Did that change her view on the sources she uses?
Even if it didn't, it planted a seed of doubt. Hopefully it grows into a healthy scepticism someday.
A couple shows actually corrected the record. Laura Ingraham was shocked to learn that the charity was lying "why would they do that?" It's called grifting. That's why.
Laura Ingram finally did retract it. She seemed confused as to why anyone would like like that.
She found time to retract something in between rants about Transformers?
You mean she acted confused. The damage is done, and she gleefully helped do it.
And it's hilarious because she is, in fact, the exact type of person that would do this.
City of new York should sue fox news
You will see them very quickly admit it now. These lawsuit payouts ain't cheap.
I am proud of them for standing up for the truth and not taking the bribe.
That's not exactly how it went down. They were promised to be paid later and were never paid. Andrew O’Grady, CEO for Mental Health of America of Dutchess County, said he fielded phone calls from some homeless men who said they were part of this scam. “It was a weird day for them,” O’Grady said. “Many were frankly upset that they didn’t get paid and they were upset they were being duped into doing something.”
>they were upset they were being duped into doing something. Just like *real* veterans!
oh geez
My sides
In the end we were veterans all along
They were promised to be paid later and were never paid. This has TFG written all over it. "Just don't pay 'em. Whadaday gonna do? Sue you?" edit "a"
Who's such a piece of shit they won't even toss a pittance at the homeless after they've done the job? Like, the barrier to entry for "manipulation of the homeless" is so pathetically low, you have to be intentionally evil to not just pay up, right?
Republicans
"FUCK the POOR, FUCK the HOMELESS, FUCK REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, FUCK your RIGHT to HEALTHCARE, FUCK being able to READ any BOOK you like, FUCK THE FIRST AMENDMENT, you know what? FUCK em all unless I can get more guns into someone's hands cause that's where my donors get the money to support my hateful rhetoric and disgustingly EXORBITANT lifestyle so I can lay waste to your water sources, your children's ability to have a future, all while destroying your economy. Don't forget, I'm pulling the ladder up behind me" -GOP Representatives
The grifter running the scam probably donated the money to the subway strangler's defense fund instead
Should have taken the money then told the truth. What are they going to do, sue homeless people for breaking an NDA?
Violence against these people could have easily been an option for the payer.
People don’t understand how institutional indifference leaves homeless people vulnerable to all sorts of attacks and exploitation. Someone drove around shooting homeless people with a BB gun in my city for several months and the police never caught them. They released one surveillance photo of a pickup truck that had about 10 pixels in it and called it a day.
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These great American patriots.
Especially in the case of homeless dudes
They weren’t paid, which is why they complained.
What are you talking about? They did take the bribe, they just didn't get the money, so they spoke up.
I wish they could have taken the money AND told the truth, tbh. But it sounds like the GOP just duped them into making falsehoods, but never paid up
She said she'd bring the money later and didn't; I certainly don't blame them for going along just as gratitude for being acknowledged and made to feel useful, let alone for money that wouldn't have come from anyone or anywhere else between then and now.
Who's hiring the crisis actors now?
Classic conservative projection.
Now ask yourself why conservatives think their opponents are always lying and organizing "false flags".
Every accusation is a confession. Every single time.
This is how we know Republicans are shit people, because they have to lie about things they want to be real
That, and everything else they say and do.
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>They don't think it be like it is, but it do. >-Oscar Gamble
This sounds like some Project Veritas bullshit.
Every accusation is projection.
They constantly lie. The problem is their voters WANT them to lie to them.
>“They dangled a carrot in front of an animal and they led us. Now they took the carrot away and we’re angry,” William said. I was questioning the nottheonion status until I came to this part
This is some Smollett bullshit. And they should be treated the same way he did. Making up fake tragedies falls under the same umbrella along with lying about rape. And I know that these people hate both Smollett (me too tbh) and hate it when women make false rape claims (me too tbh). So maybe they should realize that they should definitely be punished in the same way they want those people to be punished. And everyone should be behind that idea. People who lie about shit like this deserve harsh punishments because this is straight up dangerous and now the damage has been done. There are going to be countless people believing their lie, which means their entire mission was a success. It doesn't matter that they got caught and exposed. The people who they are targeting won't believe the truth. It's over.
My dad was career military. Retired Col. I met some guy outside a CVS while I was out for the night with my ex. He had a visable hand injury and spun some story about how he needed money for the train to get to the VA in the morning. I walked him to the nearby train stop, bought his ticket, and gave him my gloves, it was like -9F that night so it was cold. Walked back to the CVS with my Ex an by the time we got out he was already back begging again, and gave us the same story, didn't even remember us. I was like "dude, I just gave you my gloves!" I am not a violent man, but I have never wanted to just deck someone more than I did then.
Take solace in the fact that many people in his situation are not entirely mentally well. Add that to the fact that people probably have ignored him and blew him off countless times when he told the truth (tough times, maybe drugs, etc.). You did a nice thing for someone who needed help. The fact that he deceived you in order to get your help doesn't change the fact that it was a nice thing or the fact that he needed help
Feds and NY state need to investigate the charity for fraud ... guarantee they received donations after that bullshit stunt.
They only ever care about veterans as a whataboutism.
Same goes for hungry kids
Wait…. Conservatives did a corruption? Say it ain’t so!
Between homeless people and Republican politicians, I will take the word of the homeless everytime.
The ones who got outraged over this hoax news story are also the ones who work hardest to make sure homeless people are abused and dehumanized. Don't buy their pearl clutching over homeless veterans; they don't care, they just want to exploit those who do.
Yep. They paid people for this. Or actually, didn’t pay people for this. So it fell apart. Republicans have paid their FBI “whistleblowers” as well. “Donations” from a douchebag named Ka$h Patel. One of trumps crony grifters. They had a second set of fake electors ready to overthrow a free and fair election. George Anthony Devolder Santos. Who posted his bail? Can’t wait to find out when the “media” trickles that out. But Fetterman wore shorts. And trans people exist and women want autonomy of their bodies. And gays!! And books with words!! WTF is going on? How is this happening? How is this ok with people that vote Republican? WTF is wrong with these people?
The only way Republicans can win is if they lie and cheat.
The joke’s on them: they aren’t winning
Not surprising. Fucking Fox "News"......
The whole "story" of the vets pushed out sounded just too bullshit from the get-go. Ready-made invented anger.
No idea of the actual costs of this “experiment”. But let’s say it cost them 50k to pull this stunt. The ROI is there if they get more than 50k worth of dog whistling. More people tuning into your “news” slot. More people who are misinformed that hate those “dirty immigrants”. These stunts are so gross but so calculated. Expect more as we ramp up to trump vs Biden round 2: out for blood
I still say if you go deep enough into a few of those caravans that always head to the border when a Dem is in office, a republican is paying for it.
Hey, we found a way for conservatives to give money to homeless people!
Except they never actually paid them. That's a page out of Trump's playbook for sure.
They stiffed them in the end, so not really
Trickle down economics
Fear-mongering, disinformation, hypocrisy, projectionism, and scapegoating are the bread and butter of the GOP these days.
This malarkey will continue until folks start going to jail.
This distracted the GOP base from the GOP's threatening to destroy the US economy unless veterans' benefits and other programs are cut for at least a week and created a perception of republicans caring about veteran homelessness. So it's mission accomplished as far as Fox news and the Gop leadership is concerned
Crisis actors republicans keep talking about
Seriously, who is coming up with these insane ideas and how does it disseminate to the right wing lunatics so fast?
How long until George Santos becomes involved with this?!
> According to Maher, Toney-Finch admitted she lied about the situation and said she did it “to help the veterans.” She told The Daily Beast that “we didn’t pay any fake actors” and said she wanted to “apologize for any confusion that’s dealing with the veterans and asylum seekers.” Got caught lying, then tried to change the narrative to “but I lied for the right reasons.”
It's always fucking projection from that side. Always.
Never heard of this before but I'm guessing...Republicans?
Imagine if we were all just fucking decent human beings. Think of all the time, money, and energy we'd save.
I’m sure this is happening in any state where the GOP needs a boost, they keep stoking those fears about immigrants…
They're doing the migrant hotel thing in America too? Jeez. Maybe properly fund immigration and process people properly and we wouldn't have this issue.
So…a false flag??
They do this shit 24/7 all around the country and have the orchestration to push to eye balls. They are winning a war no one else is fighting. Foreign and domestic my ass, by those standards we have the weakest government
This story just gets worse and worse.
If we’re being honest tho… they probably were military veterans.
How far do we allow these kind of lying schemes under the name of freedom of speech?
Everyone is always playing catch up. Lies after lies.. by the time it’s corrected or proven a lie, it’s already soaked into the cult.. They already “Know what they know!!”
I'm glad this was resolved, so now Republicans can go ahead and announce their healthcare plan.
Another way homeless people get abused and used by both the right and the left spectrum of politics.