Why It Doesn’t Matter Whether North Korea Hacked Sony

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The most important part of the Sony story was never the identity of the hackers. It was how Sony, the media and major theater chains reacted.

If it turns out that the Sony hack was carried out by North Korea, Joe Biden in an Ambien daze, Koko the gorilla or a bored Sony employee, that will be significant to investigators, but it won’t change how major corporations allowed themselves to be bullied into pulling a movie from theaters based on some leaked emails and empty threats.

This isn’t a whodunit. It’s a whydidtheyreacthatway.

The Sony hack consisted of a typical media cycle in which the media first blew up a scandal, sourcing controversial material from the emails from clickhole sites like Buzzfeed and Gawker, taking private information that was illegally hacked and using it to accuse Sony execs of racism. This was behavior just as illegitimate as reprinting private celebrity photos in a previous Hollywood hack.

Once the mission had been accomplished, the media pivoted to calling Sony cowards for pulling The Interview and cheered its release.

This is a typical media scam in which the media creates a scandal and then creates a backlash to the scandal reporting.

But Sony did indeed allow itself to be bullied by a combination of viral stories and hacker threats. So did major theaters who are part of the ironically named NATO.

Paramount cut off attempts to screen Team America World Police.

The larger problem is that this was the tip of the iceberg. China had already bullied Hollywood into favorable portrayal in movies. North Korea was the only remaining safe enemy. Now that’s done too.

Hollywood acts tough when it comes to bashing America, but it’s afraid to take on any actual enemy nations. That’s what the Sony hack showed yet again.

  • Hard Little Machine

    Wait for someone to make a movie lampooning the assassination of Obama…all of a sudden this will be an evil thing.

  • Pete

    If you want to f__k over the U.S. it is simple.

    (1) Do it, (2) get caught, and then (3) leave them guessing.

    The important thing is to f__k over the U.S. cooperatively. If Russia, China, Iran and North Korea get together launch an operation they can do damage.
    Being somewhat competent our security services will we discover at least one of the perpetrators. There will be the usual debates about an appropriate response, do we respond, we’re no better if we respond, we’re hypocrites if we respond, we brought on ourselves, proportionate response.

    - We have process monkeys.
    - We have the blame America 1st crowd.

    And then it gets better. You leak a little bit more out showing that another country was involved besides the first perp caught. It casts doubt on whether we caught the right perpetrator. The Left or moderates or RINOs will really never believe it is a cooperative effort. So our political system gets tied up in knots, paralyzed. Leftists sites have a field day. Politically, it is worse than any initial damage.

    G-d knows that the 5 I’s did not cooperate during WW2 or thereafter. China & Russia can cooperate economically and in foreign policy. Russia, China & North Korea cooperated fully during the Korean War. Al Qaeda and Iran have cooperated. Pakistan cooperates with the Taliban who cooperate with Al Qaeda.
    Oh, what a tangle web we weave.

    Yet, you can get a f__king liberal like Americana to go full tard and advocate to not go after anyone because it is complicated, it is nuanced, …
    Sometimes when you get hit it is simple. You hit all the usual suspects as best you can so the no longer wan to play or cannot play. You simplify things.

  • http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/ Edward Cline

    The Sony hack episode was a “Wag the Dog” raid from beginning to end. Create a fictive incident for the purpose of achieving political gains and to preserve the status quo in which Hollywood can continue smearing America without consequence. I bet one of Obama’s favorite movies is “Independence Day,” in which fascist, capitalist, pro-fracking aliens with magic weapons attack Earth. But, going by Sony”s hacked emails, he’d probably want to make President Bill Pullman black and the aliens colorized white, and Hollywood would go along with that. The new director, of course, would be Al Sharpton. He’d introduce racial strife where none existed before.

  • Texas Patriot

    Hollywood has always been about having fun and making money. Under normal circumstances, it can’t really be expected to go too far in the direction of solving the problems of the world. On the other hand, if we ever get around to formally declaring war against the forces of Islamic Jihad, I am confident that Hollywood will follow suit. When America goes to war, Hollywood is always there in the trenches.

    • JR Kipling

      Hollywood had been Red since the 1920s. That’s where Reagan got his start ..when he realized that the entire industry was riddled with the KGB

      • Texas Patriot

        JRK: Hollywood had been Red since the 1920s. That’s where Reagan got his start ..when he realized that the entire industry was riddled with the KGB

        Maybe so, maybe not. But it sure didn’t stop them from making some great Westerns and War Movies. Ever seen Casablanca?

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfxJCdBFuLk

  • JR Kipling

    It sounded fake from the moment it hit. And it hit at the moment Obama was really selling out to Communists in Cuba. Any mention of what the cultural al exchange of Cuban intelligence agents will do for Leftist activism across America? Just think of the bumbling Ferguson and Occupy , Trayvon and La Raza, attempts raised to the level of real Marxist insurgency.

  • Anne Courtney

    It didn’t even occur to Sony to not wimp out.