A bit more political stuff.
The media outlets DEFINITELY had something to do with the outcome of the elections. They did it openly, unapologetically, and most of them are U.S. based (although they use International reporters and commentators). Plus, they usually play to their audiences, so I doubt that many minds (or votes) were changed by them.
'Bad Actors' from other countries did it covertly - and may have done whatever they could to influence election outcome. But, then, there were 'bad actors' domestically who also did what they could to change the election output. And, FWIW, it may seem difficult to separate what the political parties do to effect election results -- that's what they do. As long as they don't resort to dirty tricks, it's all part of the game.
And, Agian, I don't know why I would have gotten hostile - we seem to agree on more than we disagree about (not that I would get hostile if I didn't agree with you).
