So this isn't me talking about any one particular thing, just a common theme I keep bumping into and feel like addressing today:

"I know X is a horrible abuser/nazi-resource/etc. and normally I'd never trust them, but Y is Actually Really Bad so it's OK this one time!" is wrong.

Again, I see this a LOT, in various permutations. People who consider themselves to be level-headed, objective, good people, and will happily condemn what I'm just going to shorten to Scumbags for expediency's sake, will frequently have a little asterisk on that condemnation any

time treating a Scumbag as a reliable source is personally convenient in tearing someone or something down who, they will insist, really is that bad.

It's rare that they'll ever admit it, of course. At least not fully. "I know KF isn't trustworthy, but I independently researched

this" is an excuse I've seen pulled out quite often, and it's plainly obvious that the "research" involved consists solely of double checking that whatever twitter posts or blog entries they include screenshots of actually exist and aren't just completely faked.

So this leads to

the first reason trusting X "just this one time, about Y" doesn't fly. Scumbags misrepresent the hell out of everything. That's their whole MO. Again, sticking with KF as an example, the standard grift is to write these big long threads of ridiculous fanfiction about targets, and

mix in random bits of actual truth here and there, none of which really support their fiction, but make it look like they've done Serious Research. Which is the same thing people cherry picking from them are doing. You can totally make the argument that Y hates Z by pulling out a

random 5 year old tweet of Y saying "I don't want to say who, but I am really mad at this one scumbag." Thing is, you can also make the argument that Y hates literally any other person who ever lived with the same "evidence." Saying it's about Z is a matter of Scumbag spin, and

that's the "research" Scumbags are actually doing for you there. Which also has the side effect of, you know, being smears they pull out of their ass and not actually something to trust even if you retrace their steps.

The next problem of course is that when you take Scumbags'

word about any given thing, you are signing off on a whole legacy of Scumbag logic, and their logic is always designed to maximize collateral damage. Anyone paying attention when this one persistent stalker was really digging into me should know this: https://twitter.com/SecretGamerGrrl/status/1228074678993989632