Another takeaway here is no one cares about "journalists" who withhold important information in order to sell books. Woodward will always top this list, recording Trump at the onset of a pandemic on target to kill 1 million Americans, but the list is disgustingly long.
This is what infuriates me. And Woodward is the most egregious example. And after that came out he did a press tour of just about every news program imaginable, and I don't recall one person asking him why he sat on that information when revealing it could have saved countless lives and possibly changed the trajectory of the pandemic in the US, and possibly even around the world.
You are right about Woodward. His keeping quiet about Trump telling him that covid was going to be really bad, that lots of people would die was particularly egregious. Woodward should have made that public as soon as Trump started publicly claiming that covid was no big deal, just another flu. He might well have stopped that messaging from Trump and helped save a lot of lives. I think John Bolton is just as bad. He didn’t testify, just put the info in his book to make money.
I have seen several comments on Twitter asking how it’s OK for journalists like Haberman who uncover illegal acts to keep that information to themselves until they are writing a book for $$$. At least Woodward didn’t do that back when he was covering Watergate.
I mean I have to assume that some of this stuff is covered in journalistic ethics courses, no? Like "Hey journalists, if you uncover something so explosive that it's timely release is for the greater good, don't save it for a book...get it out NOW"?
Good question. The media outlets ought to have that standard, too. The WaPo’s motto is “Democracy dies in darkness”! Hiding facts until your book comes out increases the darkness.
I also think journalists ought to expose sources when they find they have been manipulating journalists by feeding them false information for political purposes. For example, no one in the media has been willing to expose those Trump-loving NY FBI agents that even Comey admitted had been leaking information in 2015-16 to damage Hillary. The media also should have told us who was giving them all that bogus information about Whitewater. The Starr investigation made it crystal clear that the media had been played. The story of how the right has been so skillful at manipulating the mainstream media which has badly damaged our democracy is something the public needs to know. Not giving us that information serves to keep the public in that darkness that the WaPo claims to be fighting.
I have good friends who are anything but fools and yet they thought there had to be something to all those Clinton scandals because all of the mainstream “liberal” media said there was. It took quite awhile for some of them to realize just how bad that reporting really was. For most, the Bush administration was the big eye opener. Now they are very skeptical about media coverage. I also know other people who turned to Fox News and are now residents of Crazytown. The few I know well have always been gullible and easily upset by hyped media scare stories.
That's the kind of thing books should be written about! How the right continues to manipulate the media. It's crazy how they'll rush to get out some unsubstantiated story that is clearly been generated by the right wing spin machine, but they will sit on actual news that could save lives and change the course of history for the better.
I was angry at first, but actually do understand the logic. Woodward isn't a daily reporter for the Post anymore and Peril is a terrific book, one of the scariest things I've ever read. Journalists have always written books about sitting, outgoing, and past administrations. There is a fine line about what they know and what they report. And that happens every day with reporters with no desire to write more than their stories.
In looking back, just how would releasing that information have changed anything? It would have been passed on as ho hum by the media, and wouldn't have made a dent in how anyone behaved back then. Most Americans—most journalists!—weren't even paying attention to the pandemic in January and February. Taken with the rest of the material in the book, it added to the sheer horror and danger of this lunatic.
Trump has not only tested our Constitutional fortitude and the limits of our laws and norms, but the media and how it does its job. His ascension has revealed the ugly parts of our society, our weaknesses, and showed us just how unprepared—and unserious we are as a nation—to handle a serious internal threat to our democracy.
Did you bother to actually read the piece? Because it covers the various outlets etc who raised the issue over Woodward's withholding of the information, including journalists/columnists like Margaret Sullivan who questioned Woodward.
No I'm not and I don't accept his BS "I had to check it out". Trump said it, you expose it! And as someone pointed out, this is not a source of a major brouhaha.
Shouting from a rooftop in an abandoned town isn't coverage.
And again, everyone reported on every little utterance from Trump, but this was held back so it could be a bombshell revelation and generate more interest in his book.
Actually I think the media would have given a lot of coverage to Woodward saying that Trump told him covid was really bad because they have him on a pedestal. Other journalists might have been ignored but Woodward is their idol.
You are right about that. The media always defends themselves by claiming that they did cover a positive story about Democrats but usually those stories were buried in the back pages and mentioned once. I remember when the Special Prosecutor Robert Fiske said he had found no wrongdoing by the Clintons in Whitewater, Travelgate and Vince Foster’s death. That story was either buried or completely ignored by some outlets. Most people I know had no idea there had been a Special Prosecutor investigation before Ken Starr was appointed Independent Counsel. I still strongly believe that if the media had given a lot of coverage to Fiske’s findings (and Jay Stephens Madison Guaranty investigation for the Resolution Trust Corporation) Ken Starr would never have been appointed because the public would have been outraged. The public never supported those investigations in the first place.
Downplaying, deflecting and casually dismissing inconvenient facts have become baked in techniques to further original agendas, it seems. Then it’s just a matter of waiting out a news cycle or two:/
We are capitalists to a fault. This quote maybe from Lenin @1955 - “When it comes time to hang the capitalists, they will vie with each other for the rope contract.” Kind of appropriate considering how much ties to Russia Trump has and how so in love with a buck over justice the rest of us are (present company excluded of course).
Which journos HAVE NOT written a book on TFG? These journalists are forfeiting what trust they have left w/their public with this deluge of crappy, money making book writing. Self interest seems to be trumping (😝) their ethical and journalistic standards for $, career advancement. The common good? Not so much. I’m astonished how low Haberman’s reputation has sunk as a result of her snuggling up with this corrupt and craven man. Happens to everyone who cozies up to that guy; soiled reputation, the smell of elitism, playing in the muck. She does a disservice to her readers, herself and the common good. Sad to see.
I think that is often defensible if it helps put the facts in context with background and more information. That makes the issues much clearer for the public. What isn’t OK is sitting on important information that the public has a right to know just to put it in your book.
Jennifer Rubin took time of to write her book “Resistance: How women saved democracy from Donald Trump”. This is her explanation for taking the time to write it:
“We were undergoing a radical transformation of American politics driven by, for, and about women — but one would not know it from the day-to-day reporting in the media.”
She is right about the day-to-day reporting in the media. Rubin has done a lot to put a spotlight on issues most of the media is ignoring — or skewing — but she can’t do that kind of in-depth reporting about a single issue by writing columns. Clearly she felt strongly enough about this one story that she chose to take the time to write it.
Good journalists like to write and they are curious. The very, very good ones want to dig deeper and more extensively into the issues they cover because they want to know and discover more. Rubin is writing another book. Leonig didn't just write two books about Trump, she also did a deep dive into the Secret Service. There is nothing wrong with writing books if you are a journalist. I agree they shouldn't sit on information—just like John Bolton did. But they will debate what is vital and should be reported on, what they discover afterward in their research, and what impact such facts may (or not) have when they are released. It's not black and white.
Same comes to sourcing. They have sources who give them info on background that cannot be printed/reported. If they do, or expose the source, they risk not only burning an outlet for information, but putting the source into the crosshairs, say of Trump's wrath when he was president.
Again, not black and white and made more complicated by the 24-hour-news
Yep, we are seeing the results of the "greed is good" mantra from the Regan years. I know far too many people that care about one thing, money. Sad times.
‘Money is the root of all evil.’ ‘Money can’t buy you love.’ ‘Money, money money,’ (Cabaret). When I worked summers in a rich, swanky town during my college years, the residents were as miserable a bunch as I’d ever met. Their teenage children were bored, drinking heavily, directionless. ‘Money can’t buy you love🎶.’ Maybe it takes a 74 year old looking back to learn these lessons. Haberman et al best be looking elsewhere for a fulfilling and satisfying life as money isn’t the thing that brings those things. Nor fame. Look at the brickbats she’s been bombarded with for her toilet reporting. Worth it, Maggie?
Maggie is one of those kids; she’s the child of elite, influential New Yorkers. Her dad was a longtime NY Times reporter. Her mother works for an elite communications firm. According to Rudy the firm is known for it’s damage control. Haberman’s mom has even done work for Donald Trump in the past.
Anyone who cancelled their NYT subscription in the last four years knew Haberman’s t4ue colors. None of this is a surprise but does it rise to criminal?
It may not be criminal but it did not aid the public good. It's not a crime to not help a little old ladies cross the street but it's the right thing to do.
Actually there is a federal statute that does make it a crime under some conditions:
“-You have knowledge of the commission of a felony;
-The felony actually occurred; and
-The felony is a federal offense;
If you willfully conceal the commission of a felony federal offense, you can be charged with “misprision of a felony.” Misprision of a felony is a form of obstruction of justice. If you are convicted, you face up to a $250,000 fine, imprisonment up to three years, or both fine and imprisonment.”
Each new book published about TFG dilutes the messages/sales of those books written before and after. Too much info. Too little new. WAY TOO OBVIOUS re: career driven vs truth telling.
Have you read them all? Because I have. They in no way dilute the message. Rather, each one adds detail and depth (and in some cases new information) to the portrait of the madness and makes clear what an absolute danger this monster is. All of these journalists—with one or two exceptions—are absolutely horrified by the deep reporting they did and have made their concerns clear. I for one am glad that Woodward and Costa were everywhere. They wanted to sound the alarms before 2022.
Good points and I haven’t read any of these books. The abundance of them and publishing so many over a fairly short period of time is what bothers me, not to mention the political context we’re in where it all seems rotten to the core. Too much of a good? bad? thing. Appreciate your response. Made me think.
There is still so much we do not know about this administration and I welcome (with a few exceptions) anything that exposes further this fascist charlatan and the lackeys who support him.
Dr David Reiss, Psychiatrist, is an expert in mental fitness evaluations and a contributor to "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump." This is a quote from an article in "Raw Story"
"I am totally unsurprised. But vindication does not soothe the national tragedy or my personal frustration and even bitterness (which are of much less significance) at having been ignored by those who had power to intervene.
No one could have predicted Trump's specific actions while in office or now: His specific behaviors are inherently unpredictable. But the nature of his behaviors, the irrationality of his behaviors, the immaturity of his behaviors and the dangers brought about those behaviors were all quite predictable and in fact, were predicted.
You asked: What do I think will happen to America if Trump runs for office and wins in 2024?
In my opinion, the even more frightening question is this: "What would it mean had happened to the American people and American society if Trump were returned to office in 2024?"
It would mean there had been: 1) a complete breakdown of rationality within the social order; 2) the destruction of our democratic system of elections and government; or 3) that something so horrible had transpired that all hope was lost and, due to fear and desperation, totalitarianism or fascism had been embraced.
As to what would happen afterward, it would depend upon who was actually "pulling the strings" of the totalitarian/fascist regime for which Trump was the figurehead. Trump himself, at age 78 certainly would not actually be in command. I cannot begin to predict the exact manner or type of dystopia that would be enacted. I can predict that it would be beyond our current worst nightmares."
I think that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach when thinking about both the midterms and the 2024 presidential race come from my belief that we've already experienced the complete breakdown of rationality in our society. It's a downhill slide that hasn't stopped. And it's largely ignored by the press.
I believe the media might have between now and the November elections to convince the general public that putting Republicans back in control of Congress would be an absolute disaster for the vast majority of ordinary citizens in this country.
Don't hold your breath. If anything, they will do the opposite, especially when they neglect to mention that inflation isn't Biden's fault but largely contributed to by the Trump stimulus payments in 2020. Economists are now saying they were excessive and overheated the economy.
Probably, and it's not even so much inflation as opportunistic corporate greed.
From Lindsay Owens, PhD:
"As you read today's inflation report, pay close attention to what the CEOs who set prices are saying. We got our hands on the latest batch of earnings reports, and it's a doozy. They're literally bragging about hiking prices while hiding behind "inflation."
CEOs often speak more candidly on earnings calls (held when a new report comes out), in an effort to impress investors, by bragging about their ruthless profit-rigging schemes. It apparently doesn't occur to them that the public might find out about them!
For instance...The company 3M, which produces N95 masks (and other things) crowed on its earnings call that “the team has done a marvelous job in driving price. Price has gone up from 0.1% to 1.4% to 2.6%." The CFO told investors, "We see that to be a tailwind."
Tyson, one of the big 4 meat monopolies Biden is targeting for price-fixing saw profits nearly DOUBLE after price hikes of 32% on beef and 20% on chicken which the CEO attributed to the "continued resilience of our multi-protein portfolio."
In its 4th quarter report, Johnson & Johnson revealed it raised prices…despite raking in billions from COVID vaccine sales. Its CEO told investors that the need for medical care & to “address suffering and death” is part of J&J's “optimism” & “opportunity” for its future.
Kimberly Clark is a mega-corporation manufacturing everything from paper towels to diapers. On its recent earnings call, CEO Mike Hsu crowed to investors about “multiple rounds” of “significant pricing actions” & admitted he plans to continue doing it throughout the year.
If you want to understand the role of corporate greed in price hikes & inflation in America today, you don't have to take the word of watchdogs or critics of corporations. CEO's are admitting it themselves in plain daylight.
The lead story in every newscast is inflation. Nothing about the spectacular economic recovery from COVID induced lows. Record breaking economic news like lowest unemployment in 50 years and highest job creation ever and record corporate profits and stock market all time highs and labor finally getting bargaining power for the first time in decades is either ignored or presented as bad news. The world is upside down, but I guess it was ever thus.
Trump was certainly enabled by power hungry politicians and operatives, but without ladder climbing "journalists" and money obsessed broadcast executives (Les Moonves and Jeff Zucker) Trump would have remained in NYC running his deeply corrupt family business. Woodward sitting on the story that Trump knew CV-19 was deadly doesn't bother me as much as Jonathan Karl and Maggie Haberman withholding legitimate news because those two are active reporters. Woodward has a title with WaPo, and his bosses know he is writing books. Karl and Haberman are, in effect, stealing from their employers by not doing their jobs.
Don't let Maga Maggie off that easily. Karl is one of those journalists who has been sounding the alarm about how dangerous Trump is. Maggie is in perpetual denial. She refuses to go there. She is waaaaaay too close to her main source.
The Times on a Friday ran a piece on the Congressional 1/6 committee having trouble getting Trump’s call logs (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/us/politics/jan-6-trump-calls.html) and somehow four reporters including Haberman and the disgraceful Jonathan Martin fail or choose not to note that what Trump is doing there is illegal.
Obama had to give up his Blackberry because it wasn't secure, but Trump kept and used his cell phone (which is likely why the call logs have all those 1/6 gaps), and Ivanka and Jared used their personal phones and email accounts to conduct official business. Jim Jordan and his ilk "forgot" to be outraged.
The American mainstream media establishment rightly deserves to be scorned and dragged through the mud for failing to do their job.
As I've written before in my previous posts, my country (the Philippines) paid dearly for electing an authoritarian misogynist thug whose horrible & vulgar behavior was covered by the Filipino media establishment with very little pushback, and later normalized with his endless stream of obscenties made within the halls of government.
Your country's profit-driven media establishment doesn't even realize that the supposedly-treasured press freedom that they taken for granted for many years will surely be taken away by Trump & the GOP if and when they establish a minority-white run authoritarian government.
Seriously, both Trump & Duterte have brought out the worst in Americans & Filipinos.
Right now, my country will be holding its national elections on May 9, 2022.
Volunteers are campaigning their butts off to put a competent & capable person to the presidency in the form of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo.
Her biggest opponent is Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.,the son of the dictator, thief & human rights violator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. who is somehow the frontrunner in the surveys.
Saving democracy here in my country is a matter of life & death. It's disappointing & frustrating that your mainstream media doesn't seem that alarmed and believes it's "business as usual."
Good luck in May. So many important examples in countries like yours. Many here are sounding the authoritarian alarm but too few relative to the media profit centers’ churning out propaganda.
From my experience of living in Egypt, the reason Junior Marcos is ahead is the same reason Sisi was elected in 2014 - a lot of people choose authoritarian governments because they want security more than they want freedom.
Well, Junior Marcos' campaign is running on a phony message of positivity & unity despite being the total opposite.
The campaign won't attack their opponents in public. However, it will be the well-funded army of online trolls that will do the dirty work.
The Marcos family has been engaged in the long game of rehabilitating their image since they returned to the Philippines in 1992.
Although, this went into overdrive six years ago when Junior Marcos ran for vice-president (he lost). Aside from the aforementioned troll army, they engaged in "historical revisionism" (an inaccurate term according to local historians, it's more like a combination of Holocaust denial & the "Lost Cause of the Confederacy" narrative) by putting out well-produced but lie-filled videos, and they allegedly got the services of the now-defunct Cambridge Analytica for remake their image.
The enabling of Trump by the MSM and the DOJ is simply mind boggling. The message it sends is that no matter how criminal, how corrupt, you will get away with the most outlandish crimes as long as you have the money. Just imagine where Barack Obama would be if he committed the transgressions of Trump. Would the press have looked away then and made absurd excuses for him? We all know the answer and the fact is, we don't have to imagine. Just look at what the MSM did to Hillary Clinton. They prevented perhaps the most prepared candidate in American history from becoming president in favor of a narcissistic sociopath by chasing her email stories that ultimately and predictably proved to be nothing. The United States is very ill, on life support. The family has gathered around the bed, the priest is about to give her last rights. The DOJ better be working on the case of the century to put these criminals in prison otherwise we are toast.
I agree but also think the media and the authorities get very squeamish about calling for former presidents to be held to account, and in Trump's case doubly so because he's still very powerful within the GOP. And he's a man. Hillary is a woman, and among other things, the misogyny against her was profound.
If nothing happens to Trump it's because Americans stopped caring long ago. For decades, only 30% of eligible adults actually voted while the rest trusted that the country would take care of itself. They didn't understand that democracy demands the participation of all of us, or else it falls apart. This country will die of neglect before it succumbs to anything else.
Then they've failed at what the Founders had intended. And you are correct the 70 percent will get the government they deserve. (Sadly we'll get that government too.)
Trump stealing classified information as he fled the White House is being normalized by our Failed Political Press ™, and Maggie Haberman withholding crucial information about document destruction to further her book sales, so nothing to see here.
I repeat my demand: journalists need something akin to the American Bar Association to accredit and license reporters, and periodically re-certify them to practice. There needs to be professional conduct.
There stories are huge ethical breaches and journalism malpractice.
So once again, WE get to figure out whether Donald Trump is an active criminal or he was too stupid to know what the law is. And once again, if WE can’t figure out which it was, we’re expected to pretend it’s neither.
Of course, this dynamic goes back to Reagan, so whole generations of reporters have grown up on it.
The story about Trump tearing up documents was first reported in 2018, but of course, the media has a short memory.
In reading about this arrogant attempt to steal 15 boxes of documents, I noticed that the Washington Post went out of its way to make the same claims as the NY Times, that the theft was unintentional and resulted from the last-minute frenzy to vacate the WH. I thought, OK, now we see how utterly convinced the core group of acolytes was that Trump actually won the election and would refuse to leave when the time came. This could also explain why he refused to hand over 15 boxes of official papers, including the letter from Obama and the "love letters" from Kim Jong Un.
And I wondered why nobody cared, that more of a fuss could be made over Hillary's emails than the fact that Trump, as a private citizen, filched a shitload of official government documents, some of which were top secret. The fact is, it's obvious that he had no intention of returning them after a year had passed and he made no effort to do so. It also begs the question of whether he destroyed or kept more than he's letting on. But it's all good because Trump trained the press to report only what he wants them to report, and in the proper deferential tones.
Something even more disturbing, in one of the early stories jr level staffers (that's all who were left at the end) decided themselves what docs should be destroyed without consulting others.
More to the point of this thread, here's another quote from the same article in "Raw Story" by Psychotherapist Elizabeth Mika, also a contributor to the best-selling book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump"
"The "revelations" really just confirm what we have known about Trump for years, long before he was elected. People with his character defect, malignant narcissism, are sadly predictable: They are driven by insatiable drives for adulation and power, and an unceasing desire for revenge on those who may interfere (or be perceived as interfering) with the realization of those drives.
It is really too bad that our media, broadly speaking, has remained in the dark about Trump's well-defined character pathology. Therefore, many journalists, mostly among the mainstream news media, continue to be shocked by these "revelations" as if unable and/or unwilling to finally arrive at an understanding of Trump's disordered character.
If Trump runs and wins in 2024, we will see an accelerated continuation of our demise. Every negative trend we are experiencing now will be augmented, especially our polarization, inequality and violence.
As of now, 21 million Americans believe that Trump, whose presidency was stolen from him, should be restored by violent force — and they are ready to make it happen."
If Dean "One of the Dumbest Men in the World of Journalism" Baquet had the editorial sense, he would have found a way for the NYT to discuss Trump's very obvious mental illness without offending mental health advocacy groups and people living with mental illness.
What? You expect anyone to write more than an op-ed about Trump's personality disorder? Would anyone want to face the backlash of calling the President of the United States mentally ill?
The bigger failure among journalists is that they chose not to write the truth about Trump's past, much of which was searchable on Google. I remember Trump from the early 1980's, and a lot was reported about his dubious business practices. And let's also not forget the Access Hollywood tape, which the press dispensed with in favor of obsessing over James Comey reopening the investigation into Hillary's emails 6 days before the election.
I understand your point about the challenge of saying a former president is mentally ill despite the audiovisual evidence that point to probable signs of mental illness.
I do agree that the journalists have ignored almost 5 decades of reporting regarding the Trump family & organization's shady business practices. The fools somehow ignored Trump the corrupt businessman because they were too busy focusing on Trump the loudmouthed reality TV star.
Recall the fairy tale in which the town criers felt it too risky to report the royal nakedness. Did they serve the community or their own self interest in not irritating the naked emperor? And yes, Trump had dozens of disqualifying skeletons in his closet, but it was fun for the media to let him do his PT Barnum act while bashing Hillary to show they were unbiased.
GOP strategy on attacking Dems depends on the age of their target.
For older Dems like Biden, they'll keep questioning their mental competency despite evidence to the contrary and they ignore his stutter.
The Faux, Newsmax, OANN & other right-wing/alt-right pundits have also accused Biden's economic & social policies of leaning left despite its popularity with many Americans, even Republicans!
( Sidenote: Sen. Dianne Feinstein's mental faculties have been called into question in some reports)
For younger Dems like AOC, they'll accuse her of being naive, idealistic, uncompromising, and a threat to the (White) American way of life with her socialist ideas.
She knew Trump personally, and she and Bill attended at least one Trump wedding, if what I read was correct. She knew he wasn't fit to be president - he lacked the intelligence, compassion, critical thinking skills and diplomacy necessary to be the most powerful person in the world.
IMO, the "media", broadly or specifically speaking has NEVER been in the dark about Trump's character. He has provided them with their biggest/best stories for decades! He always controlled the narrative. [The National Enquirer] Not one 'journalist' (using the term loosely) has EVER been shocked by DJT's behavior. It's incumbent upon them to continue the sham for ratings, which pays off for the corporations that control them. It's been profoundly astounding to those of us w local knowledge of Trump to see how he continues to control the narrative, or rather it's being controlled for him. What is most frightening is that there are too few willing to say "The Emperor Has No Clothes".
Two big problems, IMO: 1 - The greed-driven complicity (and gross irresponsibility) of both the corporate media and the Republican political establishment; 2 - The general lack of understanding of abnormal human psychology that is necessary in order for average citizens to recognize and fully appreciate the catastrophic potential of having a sadistic psychopath in the most powerful political office in the world.
I think the media is missing what most people are seeing: Republicans look crazier than ever. Every night I see something on network or cable news that is damaging to their party. The media give the disgraced ex-president and his anonymous sources a pass but are the people who are reading and watching this play out? Removal of classified information from the White House is so serious a crime that most cannot even begin to unravel the legal ramifications.* But everyone understands the following: TFG flushed "top secret" info down the toilet. It's nice, it's neat and it will stick. Republicans are scared. Mitch McConnell looks as if he is having a slow motion stroke. (*Yes, I think at the right time Merrick Garland and DOJ are going to pull the string. Be patient.)
Honestly, I find incredible that we're even discussing this latest Trump scandal. Endless news cycles have been spent analyzing the minutia of Trump's 'intent' in destroying/removing classified information. This is typical Haberman crap of distracting from criminal action with tidbits of scandal. Trump invited a violent mob that tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power. Trump admitted to the world that he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Of course he committed endless other crimes that legal analysts will spend endless news cycles explaining can't be prosecuted because [fill in the blank]. I never again want to hear the phrase that 'no one is above the law'. It's a lie. Mueller did everything in his power to avoid charging Trump with a crime. The Senate twice refused to impeach Trump for his crimes. The endlessly-lauded 'brave cowboys' of the SDNY have been in hiding for 5 years, allowing statutes of limitations for Trump crimes to expire (never mind 40 years of averting their gaze from money-laundering and fraud by the Trump family). Cy Vance ran out the Manhattan DA's clock without prosecuting Trump (walking away with an almost perfect record of allowing white collar criminals to skate). Now we arrive at AG Garland, who clearly has adopted the stance that he will not prosecute crimes detailed by Mueller, or investigate the unfathomable of levels of criminality stating him in the face (complete with confessions of criminal intent). With those in power refusing to hold Trump to account, the Democrats refusing to explain to the country the dangers of Trumpism, we're left with idiotic stories about Trump eating/tearing/flushing classified information.
Thank you, Eric. I appreciate you mentioning the foolishness of Trump people saying it was all inadvertent and the result of "a 'frenzied packing process' in the wake of Trump’s defeat." Puhleeze - the frighteningly long transition period we have is supposedly to give the outgoing Prez time to pack and go and help the next Administration get set up.
True. It was actually the incoming administration that was squeezed for time getting up and running due to the obstructionism and delays by the Trump crime organization. It was another fantastic accomplishment for Biden to overcome all the roadblocks put in his path, including the chaos created by the Stop the Steal and 1/6 insurrection fiasco and all the logistical challenges presented by the gross negligence of the Trump pandemic response. That is another thing the media seems to choose to ignore - the incredible difficulty Biden had simply making what has always been mostly a smoothly-facilitated transition from one administration to the next.
Great point - I don't know how the Biden team pulled off the transition so seamlessly in the face of the Trump folks' obstruction and refusing to even admit the election was won by Biden to free up transition funds. Biden and team are real professionals, clearly!
We'll probably find out (in the distant future) that Haberman told the FBI while researching her book and that the FBI simply added the nugget to the evidence being gathered in any one of the myriad cases against TFG. At that point, Haberman was probably asked not to tell The Public what she knew (because of all of those ongoing investigations) but negotiated a date after which she could allow that particular tidbit to be excerpted from her book. That way, all the blame will be placed on the FBI or various Congressional committees doing the investigating.
May I suggest you read "Maggie Duranty"? "Maggie’s coverage of the Trump and Kushner families is Duranty-level apologist spin. As long as the NYTimes values a reporter's access over their integrity, this will continue."
Thanks Eric.
Another takeaway here is no one cares about "journalists" who withhold important information in order to sell books. Woodward will always top this list, recording Trump at the onset of a pandemic on target to kill 1 million Americans, but the list is disgustingly long.
Trump books have been incredibly destructive to journalism, indeed
This is what infuriates me. And Woodward is the most egregious example. And after that came out he did a press tour of just about every news program imaginable, and I don't recall one person asking him why he sat on that information when revealing it could have saved countless lives and possibly changed the trajectory of the pandemic in the US, and possibly even around the world.
there’s no good defense
Absolutely indefensible! When lives or democracy are at stake, morals must triumph over book sales!
Right up there w/Pence seeing what was going on re: 1/6 - not reporting it - and waiting til it was in his best interest to act. 100% normalized.
You are right about Woodward. His keeping quiet about Trump telling him that covid was going to be really bad, that lots of people would die was particularly egregious. Woodward should have made that public as soon as Trump started publicly claiming that covid was no big deal, just another flu. He might well have stopped that messaging from Trump and helped save a lot of lives. I think John Bolton is just as bad. He didn’t testify, just put the info in his book to make money.
I have seen several comments on Twitter asking how it’s OK for journalists like Haberman who uncover illegal acts to keep that information to themselves until they are writing a book for $$$. At least Woodward didn’t do that back when he was covering Watergate.
I mean I have to assume that some of this stuff is covered in journalistic ethics courses, no? Like "Hey journalists, if you uncover something so explosive that it's timely release is for the greater good, don't save it for a book...get it out NOW"?
Good question. The media outlets ought to have that standard, too. The WaPo’s motto is “Democracy dies in darkness”! Hiding facts until your book comes out increases the darkness.
I also think journalists ought to expose sources when they find they have been manipulating journalists by feeding them false information for political purposes. For example, no one in the media has been willing to expose those Trump-loving NY FBI agents that even Comey admitted had been leaking information in 2015-16 to damage Hillary. The media also should have told us who was giving them all that bogus information about Whitewater. The Starr investigation made it crystal clear that the media had been played. The story of how the right has been so skillful at manipulating the mainstream media which has badly damaged our democracy is something the public needs to know. Not giving us that information serves to keep the public in that darkness that the WaPo claims to be fighting.
The problem is frankly the public is a majority of fools that don’t care that they’ve been fooled.
I have good friends who are anything but fools and yet they thought there had to be something to all those Clinton scandals because all of the mainstream “liberal” media said there was. It took quite awhile for some of them to realize just how bad that reporting really was. For most, the Bush administration was the big eye opener. Now they are very skeptical about media coverage. I also know other people who turned to Fox News and are now residents of Crazytown. The few I know well have always been gullible and easily upset by hyped media scare stories.
That's the kind of thing books should be written about! How the right continues to manipulate the media. It's crazy how they'll rush to get out some unsubstantiated story that is clearly been generated by the right wing spin machine, but they will sit on actual news that could save lives and change the course of history for the better.
You are wrong. It was a major brouhaha when the news broke and there were numerous discussions about ethics etc. Here's a good piece from Poynter:
https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2020/was-it-unethical-bob-woodward-to-withhold-trumps-coronavirus-interviews-for-months/
I was angry at first, but actually do understand the logic. Woodward isn't a daily reporter for the Post anymore and Peril is a terrific book, one of the scariest things I've ever read. Journalists have always written books about sitting, outgoing, and past administrations. There is a fine line about what they know and what they report. And that happens every day with reporters with no desire to write more than their stories.
In looking back, just how would releasing that information have changed anything? It would have been passed on as ho hum by the media, and wouldn't have made a dent in how anyone behaved back then. Most Americans—most journalists!—weren't even paying attention to the pandemic in January and February. Taken with the rest of the material in the book, it added to the sheer horror and danger of this lunatic.
Trump has not only tested our Constitutional fortitude and the limits of our laws and norms, but the media and how it does its job. His ascension has revealed the ugly parts of our society, our weaknesses, and showed us just how unprepared—and unserious we are as a nation—to handle a serious internal threat to our democracy.
Sadly poynter.org is not a source for a major brouhaha.
Did you bother to actually read the piece? Because it covers the various outlets etc who raised the issue over Woodward's withholding of the information, including journalists/columnists like Margaret Sullivan who questioned Woodward.
No need to be rude. I read it. My point, which I thought was obvious, is Poynter doesn’t get wide distribution.
My intention wasn't to be rude, so apologies. And I agree. Poynter should be better known along with CRJ.
No I'm not and I don't accept his BS "I had to check it out". Trump said it, you expose it! And as someone pointed out, this is not a source of a major brouhaha.
So, it didn't make enough coverage for you so that means there was no coverage or pushback?
Shouting from a rooftop in an abandoned town isn't coverage.
And again, everyone reported on every little utterance from Trump, but this was held back so it could be a bombshell revelation and generate more interest in his book.
Actually I think the media would have given a lot of coverage to Woodward saying that Trump told him covid was really bad because they have him on a pedestal. Other journalists might have been ignored but Woodward is their idol.
And then the story would have been gone, overtaken by another outrage. Unless they give the “But her emails” kind of coverage, it doesn’t permeate.
You are right about that. The media always defends themselves by claiming that they did cover a positive story about Democrats but usually those stories were buried in the back pages and mentioned once. I remember when the Special Prosecutor Robert Fiske said he had found no wrongdoing by the Clintons in Whitewater, Travelgate and Vince Foster’s death. That story was either buried or completely ignored by some outlets. Most people I know had no idea there had been a Special Prosecutor investigation before Ken Starr was appointed Independent Counsel. I still strongly believe that if the media had given a lot of coverage to Fiske’s findings (and Jay Stephens Madison Guaranty investigation for the Resolution Trust Corporation) Ken Starr would never have been appointed because the public would have been outraged. The public never supported those investigations in the first place.
Good point also…
Indeed. It would have been everywhere. Way too hard to ignore! Even if it saved 1 life that's more important than a damn book!
Valid points - thanks
Downplaying, deflecting and casually dismissing inconvenient facts have become baked in techniques to further original agendas, it seems. Then it’s just a matter of waiting out a news cycle or two:/
We are capitalists to a fault. This quote maybe from Lenin @1955 - “When it comes time to hang the capitalists, they will vie with each other for the rope contract.” Kind of appropriate considering how much ties to Russia Trump has and how so in love with a buck over justice the rest of us are (present company excluded of course).
Great quote.
And late-stage capitalists to boot :/
Which journos HAVE NOT written a book on TFG? These journalists are forfeiting what trust they have left w/their public with this deluge of crappy, money making book writing. Self interest seems to be trumping (😝) their ethical and journalistic standards for $, career advancement. The common good? Not so much. I’m astonished how low Haberman’s reputation has sunk as a result of her snuggling up with this corrupt and craven man. Happens to everyone who cozies up to that guy; soiled reputation, the smell of elitism, playing in the muck. She does a disservice to her readers, herself and the common good. Sad to see.
The top two TFG books were written by teams of WaPo journos - they had time?
I think that is often defensible if it helps put the facts in context with background and more information. That makes the issues much clearer for the public. What isn’t OK is sitting on important information that the public has a right to know just to put it in your book.
Jennifer Rubin took time of to write her book “Resistance: How women saved democracy from Donald Trump”. This is her explanation for taking the time to write it:
“We were undergoing a radical transformation of American politics driven by, for, and about women — but one would not know it from the day-to-day reporting in the media.”
She is right about the day-to-day reporting in the media. Rubin has done a lot to put a spotlight on issues most of the media is ignoring — or skewing — but she can’t do that kind of in-depth reporting about a single issue by writing columns. Clearly she felt strongly enough about this one story that she chose to take the time to write it.
Agree.
Good journalists like to write and they are curious. The very, very good ones want to dig deeper and more extensively into the issues they cover because they want to know and discover more. Rubin is writing another book. Leonig didn't just write two books about Trump, she also did a deep dive into the Secret Service. There is nothing wrong with writing books if you are a journalist. I agree they shouldn't sit on information—just like John Bolton did. But they will debate what is vital and should be reported on, what they discover afterward in their research, and what impact such facts may (or not) have when they are released. It's not black and white.
Same comes to sourcing. They have sources who give them info on background that cannot be printed/reported. If they do, or expose the source, they risk not only burning an outlet for information, but putting the source into the crosshairs, say of Trump's wrath when he was president.
Again, not black and white and made more complicated by the 24-hour-news
cycle and social media.
Yep, we are seeing the results of the "greed is good" mantra from the Regan years. I know far too many people that care about one thing, money. Sad times.
‘Money is the root of all evil.’ ‘Money can’t buy you love.’ ‘Money, money money,’ (Cabaret). When I worked summers in a rich, swanky town during my college years, the residents were as miserable a bunch as I’d ever met. Their teenage children were bored, drinking heavily, directionless. ‘Money can’t buy you love🎶.’ Maybe it takes a 74 year old looking back to learn these lessons. Haberman et al best be looking elsewhere for a fulfilling and satisfying life as money isn’t the thing that brings those things. Nor fame. Look at the brickbats she’s been bombarded with for her toilet reporting. Worth it, Maggie?
Maggie is one of those kids; she’s the child of elite, influential New Yorkers. Her dad was a longtime NY Times reporter. Her mother works for an elite communications firm. According to Rudy the firm is known for it’s damage control. Haberman’s mom has even done work for Donald Trump in the past.
Don’t forget: “Money, get back - I'm all right, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack”…
Anyone who cancelled their NYT subscription in the last four years knew Haberman’s t4ue colors. None of this is a surprise but does it rise to criminal?
It may not be criminal but it did not aid the public good. It's not a crime to not help a little old ladies cross the street but it's the right thing to do.
Actually there is a federal statute that does make it a crime under some conditions:
“-You have knowledge of the commission of a felony;
-The felony actually occurred; and
-The felony is a federal offense;
If you willfully conceal the commission of a felony federal offense, you can be charged with “misprision of a felony.” Misprision of a felony is a form of obstruction of justice. If you are convicted, you face up to a $250,000 fine, imprisonment up to three years, or both fine and imprisonment.”
https://www.wklaw.com/knowing-about-a-crime-and-not-saying-anything/
Does anyone know if journalists are exempt from that law?
Each new book published about TFG dilutes the messages/sales of those books written before and after. Too much info. Too little new. WAY TOO OBVIOUS re: career driven vs truth telling.
Have you read them all? Because I have. They in no way dilute the message. Rather, each one adds detail and depth (and in some cases new information) to the portrait of the madness and makes clear what an absolute danger this monster is. All of these journalists—with one or two exceptions—are absolutely horrified by the deep reporting they did and have made their concerns clear. I for one am glad that Woodward and Costa were everywhere. They wanted to sound the alarms before 2022.
Good points and I haven’t read any of these books. The abundance of them and publishing so many over a fairly short period of time is what bothers me, not to mention the political context we’re in where it all seems rotten to the core. Too much of a good? bad? thing. Appreciate your response. Made me think.
There is still so much we do not know about this administration and I welcome (with a few exceptions) anything that exposes further this fascist charlatan and the lackeys who support him.
👍
But…We’re ALL ‘in’ on the savvy corporate mindset… (they’d be ‘stupid’ not to take advantage of an opportunity like that…)😒
Dr David Reiss, Psychiatrist, is an expert in mental fitness evaluations and a contributor to "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump." This is a quote from an article in "Raw Story"
"I am totally unsurprised. But vindication does not soothe the national tragedy or my personal frustration and even bitterness (which are of much less significance) at having been ignored by those who had power to intervene.
No one could have predicted Trump's specific actions while in office or now: His specific behaviors are inherently unpredictable. But the nature of his behaviors, the irrationality of his behaviors, the immaturity of his behaviors and the dangers brought about those behaviors were all quite predictable and in fact, were predicted.
You asked: What do I think will happen to America if Trump runs for office and wins in 2024?
In my opinion, the even more frightening question is this: "What would it mean had happened to the American people and American society if Trump were returned to office in 2024?"
It would mean there had been: 1) a complete breakdown of rationality within the social order; 2) the destruction of our democratic system of elections and government; or 3) that something so horrible had transpired that all hope was lost and, due to fear and desperation, totalitarianism or fascism had been embraced.
As to what would happen afterward, it would depend upon who was actually "pulling the strings" of the totalitarian/fascist regime for which Trump was the figurehead. Trump himself, at age 78 certainly would not actually be in command. I cannot begin to predict the exact manner or type of dystopia that would be enacted. I can predict that it would be beyond our current worst nightmares."
I think that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach when thinking about both the midterms and the 2024 presidential race come from my belief that we've already experienced the complete breakdown of rationality in our society. It's a downhill slide that hasn't stopped. And it's largely ignored by the press.
I believe the media might have between now and the November elections to convince the general public that putting Republicans back in control of Congress would be an absolute disaster for the vast majority of ordinary citizens in this country.
Don't hold your breath. If anything, they will do the opposite, especially when they neglect to mention that inflation isn't Biden's fault but largely contributed to by the Trump stimulus payments in 2020. Economists are now saying they were excessive and overheated the economy.
Probably, and it's not even so much inflation as opportunistic corporate greed.
From Lindsay Owens, PhD:
"As you read today's inflation report, pay close attention to what the CEOs who set prices are saying. We got our hands on the latest batch of earnings reports, and it's a doozy. They're literally bragging about hiking prices while hiding behind "inflation."
CEOs often speak more candidly on earnings calls (held when a new report comes out), in an effort to impress investors, by bragging about their ruthless profit-rigging schemes. It apparently doesn't occur to them that the public might find out about them!
For instance...The company 3M, which produces N95 masks (and other things) crowed on its earnings call that “the team has done a marvelous job in driving price. Price has gone up from 0.1% to 1.4% to 2.6%." The CFO told investors, "We see that to be a tailwind."
Tyson, one of the big 4 meat monopolies Biden is targeting for price-fixing saw profits nearly DOUBLE after price hikes of 32% on beef and 20% on chicken which the CEO attributed to the "continued resilience of our multi-protein portfolio."
In its 4th quarter report, Johnson & Johnson revealed it raised prices…despite raking in billions from COVID vaccine sales. Its CEO told investors that the need for medical care & to “address suffering and death” is part of J&J's “optimism” & “opportunity” for its future.
Kimberly Clark is a mega-corporation manufacturing everything from paper towels to diapers. On its recent earnings call, CEO Mike Hsu crowed to investors about “multiple rounds” of “significant pricing actions” & admitted he plans to continue doing it throughout the year.
If you want to understand the role of corporate greed in price hikes & inflation in America today, you don't have to take the word of watchdogs or critics of corporations. CEO's are admitting it themselves in plain daylight.
And they're betting they can get away with it."
The lead story in every newscast is inflation. Nothing about the spectacular economic recovery from COVID induced lows. Record breaking economic news like lowest unemployment in 50 years and highest job creation ever and record corporate profits and stock market all time highs and labor finally getting bargaining power for the first time in decades is either ignored or presented as bad news. The world is upside down, but I guess it was ever thus.
And sadly, there will probably never be any real overall "justice" in the world without first having economic justice.
Times even ran an op-ed that "That Big Job Gains May Not Be Real."
Trump was certainly enabled by power hungry politicians and operatives, but without ladder climbing "journalists" and money obsessed broadcast executives (Les Moonves and Jeff Zucker) Trump would have remained in NYC running his deeply corrupt family business. Woodward sitting on the story that Trump knew CV-19 was deadly doesn't bother me as much as Jonathan Karl and Maggie Haberman withholding legitimate news because those two are active reporters. Woodward has a title with WaPo, and his bosses know he is writing books. Karl and Haberman are, in effect, stealing from their employers by not doing their jobs.
Karl and Haberman have editors directing their reportage.
Don't let Maga Maggie off that easily. Karl is one of those journalists who has been sounding the alarm about how dangerous Trump is. Maggie is in perpetual denial. She refuses to go there. She is waaaaaay too close to her main source.
Re the Good Stuff: WaPo expands coverage of a couple of issues to attract subscribers, the Times does so by buying The Athletic and Wordle.
Anyway.
Why Haberman not telling us about Trump’s use of the toilet not mattering:
https://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2022/02/elite-journalism-is-broken-but-so-is.html
The Times on a Friday ran a piece on the Congressional 1/6 committee having trouble getting Trump’s call logs (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/10/us/politics/jan-6-trump-calls.html) and somehow four reporters including Haberman and the disgraceful Jonathan Martin fail or choose not to note that what Trump is doing there is illegal.
And that’s exactly how we got to this point.
Obama had to give up his Blackberry because it wasn't secure, but Trump kept and used his cell phone (which is likely why the call logs have all those 1/6 gaps), and Ivanka and Jared used their personal phones and email accounts to conduct official business. Jim Jordan and his ilk "forgot" to be outraged.
Expecting Republicans and Democrats to be treated equally is un-American.
Yes. Because in America Republicans are above the law.
The American mainstream media establishment rightly deserves to be scorned and dragged through the mud for failing to do their job.
As I've written before in my previous posts, my country (the Philippines) paid dearly for electing an authoritarian misogynist thug whose horrible & vulgar behavior was covered by the Filipino media establishment with very little pushback, and later normalized with his endless stream of obscenties made within the halls of government.
Your country's profit-driven media establishment doesn't even realize that the supposedly-treasured press freedom that they taken for granted for many years will surely be taken away by Trump & the GOP if and when they establish a minority-white run authoritarian government.
Seriously, both Trump & Duterte have brought out the worst in Americans & Filipinos.
Right now, my country will be holding its national elections on May 9, 2022.
Volunteers are campaigning their butts off to put a competent & capable person to the presidency in the form of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo.
Her biggest opponent is Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.,the son of the dictator, thief & human rights violator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. who is somehow the frontrunner in the surveys.
Saving democracy here in my country is a matter of life & death. It's disappointing & frustrating that your mainstream media doesn't seem that alarmed and believes it's "business as usual."
Good luck in May. So many important examples in countries like yours. Many here are sounding the authoritarian alarm but too few relative to the media profit centers’ churning out propaganda.
From my experience of living in Egypt, the reason Junior Marcos is ahead is the same reason Sisi was elected in 2014 - a lot of people choose authoritarian governments because they want security more than they want freedom.
Well, Junior Marcos' campaign is running on a phony message of positivity & unity despite being the total opposite.
The campaign won't attack their opponents in public. However, it will be the well-funded army of online trolls that will do the dirty work.
The Marcos family has been engaged in the long game of rehabilitating their image since they returned to the Philippines in 1992.
Although, this went into overdrive six years ago when Junior Marcos ran for vice-president (he lost). Aside from the aforementioned troll army, they engaged in "historical revisionism" (an inaccurate term according to local historians, it's more like a combination of Holocaust denial & the "Lost Cause of the Confederacy" narrative) by putting out well-produced but lie-filled videos, and they allegedly got the services of the now-defunct Cambridge Analytica for remake their image.
OT / Might be of interest: https://www.cnn.com/audio/podcasts/reliable-sources/episodes/79b18465-ed91-483a-bc1d-ae3900286690
The enabling of Trump by the MSM and the DOJ is simply mind boggling. The message it sends is that no matter how criminal, how corrupt, you will get away with the most outlandish crimes as long as you have the money. Just imagine where Barack Obama would be if he committed the transgressions of Trump. Would the press have looked away then and made absurd excuses for him? We all know the answer and the fact is, we don't have to imagine. Just look at what the MSM did to Hillary Clinton. They prevented perhaps the most prepared candidate in American history from becoming president in favor of a narcissistic sociopath by chasing her email stories that ultimately and predictably proved to be nothing. The United States is very ill, on life support. The family has gathered around the bed, the priest is about to give her last rights. The DOJ better be working on the case of the century to put these criminals in prison otherwise we are toast.
I can remember a time (barely) when I would have considered your post to be hyperbole. Not any more.
I agree but also think the media and the authorities get very squeamish about calling for former presidents to be held to account, and in Trump's case doubly so because he's still very powerful within the GOP. And he's a man. Hillary is a woman, and among other things, the misogyny against her was profound.
If nothing happens to Trump it's because Americans stopped caring long ago. For decades, only 30% of eligible adults actually voted while the rest trusted that the country would take care of itself. They didn't understand that democracy demands the participation of all of us, or else it falls apart. This country will die of neglect before it succumbs to anything else.
Then they've failed at what the Founders had intended. And you are correct the 70 percent will get the government they deserve. (Sadly we'll get that government too.)
Trump stealing classified information as he fled the White House is being normalized by our Failed Political Press ™, and Maggie Haberman withholding crucial information about document destruction to further her book sales, so nothing to see here.
I repeat my demand: journalists need something akin to the American Bar Association to accredit and license reporters, and periodically re-certify them to practice. There needs to be professional conduct.
There stories are huge ethical breaches and journalism malpractice.
So once again, WE get to figure out whether Donald Trump is an active criminal or he was too stupid to know what the law is. And once again, if WE can’t figure out which it was, we’re expected to pretend it’s neither.
Of course, this dynamic goes back to Reagan, so whole generations of reporters have grown up on it.
But…We’re ALL a part of the most recent Reality TV episode… (stay tuned - we have no idea what he’ll try next!)…
The story about Trump tearing up documents was first reported in 2018, but of course, the media has a short memory.
In reading about this arrogant attempt to steal 15 boxes of documents, I noticed that the Washington Post went out of its way to make the same claims as the NY Times, that the theft was unintentional and resulted from the last-minute frenzy to vacate the WH. I thought, OK, now we see how utterly convinced the core group of acolytes was that Trump actually won the election and would refuse to leave when the time came. This could also explain why he refused to hand over 15 boxes of official papers, including the letter from Obama and the "love letters" from Kim Jong Un.
And I wondered why nobody cared, that more of a fuss could be made over Hillary's emails than the fact that Trump, as a private citizen, filched a shitload of official government documents, some of which were top secret. The fact is, it's obvious that he had no intention of returning them after a year had passed and he made no effort to do so. It also begs the question of whether he destroyed or kept more than he's letting on. But it's all good because Trump trained the press to report only what he wants them to report, and in the proper deferential tones.
Something even more disturbing, in one of the early stories jr level staffers (that's all who were left at the end) decided themselves what docs should be destroyed without consulting others.
More to the point of this thread, here's another quote from the same article in "Raw Story" by Psychotherapist Elizabeth Mika, also a contributor to the best-selling book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump"
"The "revelations" really just confirm what we have known about Trump for years, long before he was elected. People with his character defect, malignant narcissism, are sadly predictable: They are driven by insatiable drives for adulation and power, and an unceasing desire for revenge on those who may interfere (or be perceived as interfering) with the realization of those drives.
It is really too bad that our media, broadly speaking, has remained in the dark about Trump's well-defined character pathology. Therefore, many journalists, mostly among the mainstream news media, continue to be shocked by these "revelations" as if unable and/or unwilling to finally arrive at an understanding of Trump's disordered character.
If Trump runs and wins in 2024, we will see an accelerated continuation of our demise. Every negative trend we are experiencing now will be augmented, especially our polarization, inequality and violence.
As of now, 21 million Americans believe that Trump, whose presidency was stolen from him, should be restored by violent force — and they are ready to make it happen."
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-2024-2655269936/?xrs=RebelMouse_fb&ts=1634142769&fbclid=IwAR3KOKGXQJr252f_fisQ0Qfnhj2heHLYsgiLkS-XlDnacdSDIc80uNODGhM#comments_section_start
along w/ refusing to call Trump a liar fir 4 yes, refusing to address his personality disorders as a news story was a media hallmark
Dean Baquet didn't think the patent mental illness of the president was newsworthy.
If Dean "One of the Dumbest Men in the World of Journalism" Baquet had the editorial sense, he would have found a way for the NYT to discuss Trump's very obvious mental illness without offending mental health advocacy groups and people living with mental illness.
What? You expect anyone to write more than an op-ed about Trump's personality disorder? Would anyone want to face the backlash of calling the President of the United States mentally ill?
The bigger failure among journalists is that they chose not to write the truth about Trump's past, much of which was searchable on Google. I remember Trump from the early 1980's, and a lot was reported about his dubious business practices. And let's also not forget the Access Hollywood tape, which the press dispensed with in favor of obsessing over James Comey reopening the investigation into Hillary's emails 6 days before the election.
I understand your point about the challenge of saying a former president is mentally ill despite the audiovisual evidence that point to probable signs of mental illness.
I do agree that the journalists have ignored almost 5 decades of reporting regarding the Trump family & organization's shady business practices. The fools somehow ignored Trump the corrupt businessman because they were too busy focusing on Trump the loudmouthed reality TV star.
Recall the fairy tale in which the town criers felt it too risky to report the royal nakedness. Did they serve the community or their own self interest in not irritating the naked emperor? And yes, Trump had dozens of disqualifying skeletons in his closet, but it was fun for the media to let him do his PT Barnum act while bashing Hillary to show they were unbiased.
Nobody, including Trump, expected him to win.
Too sensitive; ‘I’m not a psychologist so I can’t comment….’ I call BS
While seriously reporting on the GOP's demand that Biden take a competency test over and over again.
GOP strategy on attacking Dems depends on the age of their target.
For older Dems like Biden, they'll keep questioning their mental competency despite evidence to the contrary and they ignore his stutter.
The Faux, Newsmax, OANN & other right-wing/alt-right pundits have also accused Biden's economic & social policies of leaning left despite its popularity with many Americans, even Republicans!
( Sidenote: Sen. Dianne Feinstein's mental faculties have been called into question in some reports)
For younger Dems like AOC, they'll accuse her of being naive, idealistic, uncompromising, and a threat to the (White) American way of life with her socialist ideas.
Hillary knew!
She knew Trump personally, and she and Bill attended at least one Trump wedding, if what I read was correct. She knew he wasn't fit to be president - he lacked the intelligence, compassion, critical thinking skills and diplomacy necessary to be the most powerful person in the world.
IMO, the "media", broadly or specifically speaking has NEVER been in the dark about Trump's character. He has provided them with their biggest/best stories for decades! He always controlled the narrative. [The National Enquirer] Not one 'journalist' (using the term loosely) has EVER been shocked by DJT's behavior. It's incumbent upon them to continue the sham for ratings, which pays off for the corporations that control them. It's been profoundly astounding to those of us w local knowledge of Trump to see how he continues to control the narrative, or rather it's being controlled for him. What is most frightening is that there are too few willing to say "The Emperor Has No Clothes".
Two big problems, IMO: 1 - The greed-driven complicity (and gross irresponsibility) of both the corporate media and the Republican political establishment; 2 - The general lack of understanding of abnormal human psychology that is necessary in order for average citizens to recognize and fully appreciate the catastrophic potential of having a sadistic psychopath in the most powerful political office in the world.
Many days, TFG gets more print than Biden.
I think the media is missing what most people are seeing: Republicans look crazier than ever. Every night I see something on network or cable news that is damaging to their party. The media give the disgraced ex-president and his anonymous sources a pass but are the people who are reading and watching this play out? Removal of classified information from the White House is so serious a crime that most cannot even begin to unravel the legal ramifications.* But everyone understands the following: TFG flushed "top secret" info down the toilet. It's nice, it's neat and it will stick. Republicans are scared. Mitch McConnell looks as if he is having a slow motion stroke. (*Yes, I think at the right time Merrick Garland and DOJ are going to pull the string. Be patient.)
Because they are playing to a totally different audience. If MTG is the most sought after endorsement, I mean…
I think people are tuned out.
Honestly, I find incredible that we're even discussing this latest Trump scandal. Endless news cycles have been spent analyzing the minutia of Trump's 'intent' in destroying/removing classified information. This is typical Haberman crap of distracting from criminal action with tidbits of scandal. Trump invited a violent mob that tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power. Trump admitted to the world that he tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Of course he committed endless other crimes that legal analysts will spend endless news cycles explaining can't be prosecuted because [fill in the blank]. I never again want to hear the phrase that 'no one is above the law'. It's a lie. Mueller did everything in his power to avoid charging Trump with a crime. The Senate twice refused to impeach Trump for his crimes. The endlessly-lauded 'brave cowboys' of the SDNY have been in hiding for 5 years, allowing statutes of limitations for Trump crimes to expire (never mind 40 years of averting their gaze from money-laundering and fraud by the Trump family). Cy Vance ran out the Manhattan DA's clock without prosecuting Trump (walking away with an almost perfect record of allowing white collar criminals to skate). Now we arrive at AG Garland, who clearly has adopted the stance that he will not prosecute crimes detailed by Mueller, or investigate the unfathomable of levels of criminality stating him in the face (complete with confessions of criminal intent). With those in power refusing to hold Trump to account, the Democrats refusing to explain to the country the dangers of Trumpism, we're left with idiotic stories about Trump eating/tearing/flushing classified information.
NYT is basically establishment Breitbart.
Thank you, Eric. I appreciate you mentioning the foolishness of Trump people saying it was all inadvertent and the result of "a 'frenzied packing process' in the wake of Trump’s defeat." Puhleeze - the frighteningly long transition period we have is supposedly to give the outgoing Prez time to pack and go and help the next Administration get set up.
True. It was actually the incoming administration that was squeezed for time getting up and running due to the obstructionism and delays by the Trump crime organization. It was another fantastic accomplishment for Biden to overcome all the roadblocks put in his path, including the chaos created by the Stop the Steal and 1/6 insurrection fiasco and all the logistical challenges presented by the gross negligence of the Trump pandemic response. That is another thing the media seems to choose to ignore - the incredible difficulty Biden had simply making what has always been mostly a smoothly-facilitated transition from one administration to the next.
Great point - I don't know how the Biden team pulled off the transition so seamlessly in the face of the Trump folks' obstruction and refusing to even admit the election was won by Biden to free up transition funds. Biden and team are real professionals, clearly!
We'll probably find out (in the distant future) that Haberman told the FBI while researching her book and that the FBI simply added the nugget to the evidence being gathered in any one of the myriad cases against TFG. At that point, Haberman was probably asked not to tell The Public what she knew (because of all of those ongoing investigations) but negotiated a date after which she could allow that particular tidbit to be excerpted from her book. That way, all the blame will be placed on the FBI or various Congressional committees doing the investigating.
May I suggest you read "Maggie Duranty"? "Maggie’s coverage of the Trump and Kushner families is Duranty-level apologist spin. As long as the NYTimes values a reporter's access over their integrity, this will continue."
I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve been disillusioned by the whole lot of them.
Brilliant and likely true.
Well just take a look at The Washington Post with another puff piece on DeSadist...