{"id":2213891,"date":"2024-04-05T15:30:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T19:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-opposite-day-logic-usa-today-breathlessly-defends-zuckerbucks\/"},"modified":"2024-04-05T15:35:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T19:35:33","slug":"in-opposite-day-logic-usa-today-breathlessly-defends-zuckerbucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-opposite-day-logic-usa-today-breathlessly-defends-zuckerbucks\/","title":{"rendered":"USA Today passionately defends &#8216;Zuckerbucks&#8217; in a piece using Opposite Day Logic"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fin-opposite-day-logic-usa-today-breathlessly-defends-zuckerbucks%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2213891&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article delves into the concept of Opposite Day where\u2062 actions and statements are reversed. It highlights the media&#8217;s perspective on \u2063&#8217;Zuckerbucks,&#8217; emphasizing contrasting views on the injection of\u200c funds into elections. The piece scrutinizes omitted details and partisan connections in the narrative, shedding light \u2062on the complexities surrounding private funding in\u2062 elections. The article explores the Opposite Day concept, where actions are reversed. It examines the media&#8217;s take on &#8216;Zuckerbucks,&#8217; showcasing\u200b differing opinions\u2064 on election fund injections. It \u200ddelves into missed \u200bdetails and partisan ties, shedding light on the intricacies of private funding in\u2062 elections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>You know how kids like to play <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaldaycalendar.com\/national-day\/national-opposite-day-january-25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Opposite Day<\/a>. In the game, the idea is to say and do the exact opposite of what one might normally do. <\/p>\n<p>So, Joe Biden would be alert, competent, and cognizant, for instance \u2014 at least on Opposite Day. Biden\u2019s mouthpiece, Karine Jean-Pierre, would be honest, Miley Cyrus would be talented, and Jimmy Kimmel would be funny. Well, okay. Opposite Day doesn\u2019t have that kind of power. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1099368689\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6cfa2c8088911fde641008f7dd9258b5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6cfa2c8088911fde641008f7dd9258b5\"><\/div>\n<p>The usual suspects in the corporate media have long operated in an opposite world, believing that speaking their truth is, in fact, the truth.\u00a0Take Sudiksha Kochi, the \u201ccongress, campaigns and democracy reporter\u201d for the shortcut to thinking that is USA Today. Following this week\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/02\/voters-prohibit-zuckbucks-style-private-funding-and-staff-from-wisconsin-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rejection<\/a> of \u201cZuckerbucks\u201d by Wisconsin voters, Kochi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2024\/04\/03\/republicans-banning-outside-groups-funding-election-zuckerberg\/73119478007\/\">wrote a CYA piece for the left<\/a> demanding that \u201cTrump and the GOP weaponized Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s donations.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In the reporter\u2019s pretend world, the unprecedented $400 million-plus that Facebook founder and conservative voice silencer Mark Zuckerberg injected into the 2020 elections was simply the noble act of a Big Tech billionaire trying to save democracy from the clutches of covid-19. The piece is rich with leftist sources insisting that conservative criticism of Zuckerbucks is driven by \u201cmisinformation\u201d and \u201cfalse claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s Missing Here?<\/h2>\n<p>Kochi\u2019s sins of omission are as breathtaking as her reliance on leftists to massage her narrative was expected. And the facts she left out are why Wisconsin just joined 27 states in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-committee-passes-bill-to-stop-counties-from-accepting-zuckbucks-2-0-ahead-of-2024-elections\/\" title=\"Georgia Committee Passes Bill To Stop Counties From Accepting \u2018Zuckbucks 2.0\u2019 Ahead Of 2024 Elections\">banning private funding<\/a> in the administration of elections. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s no mention of long-time former Democrat operatives like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/person\/michael-spitzer-rubenstein\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein<\/a>, who offered to cure (or amend) ballot envelopes in Wisconsin\u2019s largest, Democrat-controlled cities and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/10\/how-mark-zuckerbergs-election-money-helped-an-out-of-state-democrat-get-his-hands-on-wisconsins-2020-vote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">was given the keys<\/a> to the storage room that held Green Bay\u2019s absentee ballots on Election Day 2020. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9ba10b8c7d95ae8d8d706b7f136ff9c5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9ba10b8c7d95ae8d8d706b7f136ff9c5\"><\/div>\n<p>There\u2019s no mention of the far-left voting activist \u201cpartners\u201d who were required by suspect contracts to be involved in functions that are by law reserved for elections officials. They worked as a swell team, laughing late election night when Democrat stronghold Milwaukee, as it so often does, finally counted all the votes that gave Democrat Joe Biden victory over the left\u2019s No. 1 nemesis, President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cD-mn, Claire, you have a flair for drama, delivering just the margin needed at 3:00 a.m.,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/jp.reuters.com\/article\/idUSKBN2II171\/\">wrote <\/a>Ryan Chew of the left-leaning Elections Group in an email to the city elections chief Claire Woodall. \u201cI bet you had those votes counted at midnight, and just wanted to keep the world waiting!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The USA Today story mentions none of these details or suspect players. It does quote Tianna Epps-Johnson, founder of the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), the \u201cnonpartisan\u201d nonprofit that received $328 million from Zuckerberg and his wife, Pricilla Chan, in 2020. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What About The Wisconsin 5?<\/h2>\n<p>Epps-Johnson told Kochi that CTCL\u2019s grant-making processes weren\u2019t tainted with partisan consideration, and that was good enough for the intrepid reporter. She did note a study by Michael Toner, a Republican and former chairman of the FEC \u201cthat found that more grants were given to jurisdictions who voted for Trump rather than Biden in 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/files\/legal\/murs\/7946\/7946_22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to an FEC report.<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-113e05c47678fae17a6c9822d91d91d8 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-113e05c47678fae17a6c9822d91d91d8\"><\/div>\n<p>Zuckerberg, by the way, tapped Toner to complete the report. Missing from the story is the fact that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1268658\/zuckerberg-funded-elections-group-awarded-more-grants-to-gop-counties\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> grants in Trump country paled in comparison <\/a>to the huge sums delivered to the biggest Democrat-controlled cities in swing states like Wisconsin that ultimately decided the election. <\/p>\n<p>In the Badger State, the largest five cities \u2014 Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, and Racine \u2014 received nearly 86 percent of the $10 million-plus in Zuckerbucks \u201csafe election\u201d grants handed out by CTCL, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/will-law.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/WillLawFINGER-ON-THE-SCALE.6.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. <\/p>\n<p>Milwaukee, Wisconsin\u2019s largest city \u2014 and one of its bluest \u2014 received more than $3.4 million, better than one-third of the CTCL windfall. That amounts to $13.82 per voter. Conservative-leaning Waukesha, Wisconsin\u2019s 7th most populated city, received $42,100, about $1.18 per voter. Democrat-heavy Green Bay, the third-largest city, grabbed $1.6 million in grant money, or $36 per voter. Racine, another leftist bastion, pocketed nearly $1.7 million, for a whopping $53.41 per voter. <\/p>\n<p>Dubbed the \u201cWisconsin 5\u201d by CTCL community organizers, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nolte-72-of-americans-say-cancel-culture-is-out-of-control\/\" title=\"Nolte: 72% of Americans Say Cancel Culture Is 'Out of Control'\">deep blue cities<\/a> are all led by far-left Democrat mayors. They all also signed a contract that allowed leftist \u201cvoting rights\u201d activists to infiltrate their election offices. <\/p>\n<p>The Wisconsin 5 cities, like other Democrat-laden communities elsewhere, used significant portions of their CTCL funds for get-out-the-vote initiatives targeting Democrat voters. Racine, for instance, purchased a \u201cpolling booth on wheels\u201d that traveled to neighborhoods dominated by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/erick-erickson-the-november-numbers-game\/\" title=\"Erick Erickson: The November Numbers Game\">left-leaning voters<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/the-wisconsin-purchase\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">documents<\/a> obtained by Wisconsin Spotlight, the city sought, among other things, $250,000 in Zuckerbucks to purchase a mobile voting precinct (RV) \u201cso the city can travel around the city to community centers and strategically chosen partner locations and enable people to vote in this accessible (ADA compliant) secure, and completely portable polling booth on wheels.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>The story was the same in other critical swing states. Georgia received more than $45 million in Zuckerbucks, and 75 percent of those funds went to left-leaning counties, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefga.org\/one-pagers\/zuckerbucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a> by the Foundation for Government Accountability. Pennsylvania raked in more than $25 million, with 90 percent of the money going to counties that Biden won. In Michigan, $7 million of the total $15 million in Zuckerbucks went to Democrat stronghold Detroit, according to FGA.  <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What About That \u2018Nonpartisan\u2019 CTCL?<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at CTCL\u2019s deeply partisan connections, something USA Today failed to note.\u00a0The center\u2019s funding spigots, beyond Zuckerberg and wife, include leftist groups such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/skoll-foundation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Skoll Foundation<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/democracy-fund\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democracy Fund<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/new-venture-fund\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New Venture Fund<\/a>, according to nonprofit tracker InfluenceWatch. <\/p>\n<p>CTCL was founded by Epps-Johnson, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/person\/donny-bridges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donny Bridges<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/person\/whitney-may\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Whitney May<\/a>. They all previously worked at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/new-organizing-institute\/\">New Organizing Institute (NOI)<\/a> which was described by the Washington Post as \u201cthe Democratic Party\u2019s Hogwarts for digital wizardry.\u201d As InfluenceWatch notes, NOI \u201cwas a major training center for left-of-center digital activists over the decade of its existence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEpps-Johnson was also part of the inaugural class of fellows at former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/person\/barack-obama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Barack Obama<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/obama-foundation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Obama Foundation<\/a>,\u201d the activist tracker <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/person\/tiana-epps-johnson\/\">reports<\/a>. Seems like an important detail when insisting that Trump and the GOP have \u201cweaponized\u201d poor Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s donations. <\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s no surprise that Kochi relies on a leftist from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/william-j-brennan-center-for-justice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brennan Center <\/a>in lamenting that without the donations of Big Tech tyrants like Zuckerberg, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-zuckerberg-broke-law-with-dropboxes\/\" title=\"Trump: Zuckerberg 'Broke Law' with Dropboxes\">local election offices<\/a> will be forced to live with \u201coutdated voting equipment, to make security investments in their voter registry technology \u2026 to open more polling places, whatever it may be.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>All of this private donor money was sold to us as urgently needed to save democracy from covid, as the same \u201csaviors\u201d of democracy locked us all down. Even Biden says the emergency is over.\u00a0But somehow the left\u2019s defense of Zuckerbucks goes on, with the ready assistance of accomplice media players like USA Today. <\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s another important point Kochi missed: At least some Democrats voted to put a ban on private donations in election administration in Wisconsin\u2019s constitution. All it took was approaching the issue from their point of view, with questions like, how would you like the National Rifle Association or Elon Musk cutting checks to local election offices? They didn\u2019t much care for that. <\/p>\n<p>In the real world, voters are understandably concerned about left-wing and right-wing groups meddling in elections, which is what Zuckerberg and his leftist pals at CTCL did in 2020 \u2014 and CTCL is still doing in 2024, where allowed. <\/p>\n<p>But in Opposite Day world, Kochi is an excellent journalist and USA Today is a beacon of balanced journalism. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c790eaf5a07e4e9f0fc2fad16907dec7 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-c790eaf5a07e4e9f0fc2fad16907dec7\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kids enjoy playing Opposite Day where they say and do the opposite of the norm. On this day, Joe Biden might appear alert and competent, his spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre honest, and Miley Cyrus reserved. It&#8217;s a fun twist where everything is turned around for a playful take on reality<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":2213892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Zuckerberg2-1024x683.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2213891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Zuckerberg2-1024x683.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2213892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}