Speaking in front of Republican fat cats this weekend, Trump openly mused about disguising American warplanes with Chinese markings and "bombing the shit" out of Russian troops in Ukraine. "Then sit back and watch." Yeah, he was doing one of his stream of consciousness raps, but this isn't the drunk at the end of the bar, this is the head of the Republican party and a guy for whom the presidential nomination in 2024 is his for the taking. It underscores once again how astoundingly unfit for office this illiterate clown is, and THAT should be the focal point of every news item about him. Obviously the GOP is not bothered by his corruption, but one would think his profound ignorance on virtually all topics would be a disqualifier.
I hope the 30-40 percent of Americans for Trump are taking a good hard look at what is happening in Russia and Ukraine. This is the future United States they will be voting for. Sadly, they probably know it and feel more comfortable with a future more in line with Russia's vs. living along side of liberals, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. As for the media, their actions of constantly normalizing Trump and the right wing and claiming the next fart is another crises for Biden is also angling us toward an ominous Russian future right here at home. They better wake up before one day soon some of our journalists find themselves behind bars or worse.
Trump's dream of (absolute) control of the press was high on his agenda for his second term (which I also believe he would have tried to end the two-term limit on the presidency) right after he abandoned NATO. We certainly dodged a kill shot there...
TFG is Putin minus the total autocratic powers. They are one and the same; malignant narcissists hell bent on ruling the world, and even that hypothetical accomplishment will fail to fill the black holes that substitute for their souls. MSM wake up! This is not a gotcha game anymore. The horrors and impact of Putin’s evil motives are previews of the worst that can happen to us if we are not more vigilant. The press is enabling TFG’s re-election. Be very careful what you wish for 🇺🇦.
Will Dean Baquet of the New York Times finally have that horrifying nightmare over the loss of press freedom in America under Trump & the GOP that he wakes up jittering & sweaty from the thought and type up an editorial memo that they will officially state Trump's disinformaton as lies?
Honestly, I doubt this will happen to him and the other spineless idiots in American mainstream media because they're somehow convinced in their delusional minds that it won't happen in the good ol' U.S. of A.
Really wondering what will it take for the American mainstream media establishment to realize that many of them aren't doing their job of actual reporting, and are too busy writing negatively-slanted & clickbait-y headlines portraying Biden as a Jimmy Carter-Gerald Ford combo rather than ACTUALLY looking into what his administration has accomplished & its current challenges such dealing with Russia's unjustified & unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
I remember that my favorite editorial name, Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee, said that he spent more time as The Washington Post's top editor worrying about the First Amendment than he would have preferred. Interestingly, his successor there and his counterpart at The New York Times obviously do not worry about it, because they still don't grasp that if republicans gain control again in 2025, it. Will. Happen. Here.
And it won't matter whether it is Orange Hitler. This is the republican party.
As a nation, we created the notion of a free press when Jefferson lead the war of 1800 against the Federalists and, among other things, their Alien and Sedition laws and put new substance on the words in the First Amendment. There has been much discussion about Trump's incompetence and fear that a competent Trump would get away with more. Probably true. Yet, the notion of a free press is so deeply ingrained in the American psyche that I doubt anyone can succeed in killing it. Certainly Trump went far, but the press reacted too. If I thought that they did a great job, I would not be a very loyal Press Run subscriber. As annoying as the MSM can be, in the end they protect the basic right to say what they want without fear of imprisonment or official censorship. We may limp from time-to-time but we will run again. Be well, everyone; we are still in difficult times.
“Trump’s team is finding ways to shrewdly approximate Putin’s capacity to shape narratives and create alternative realities,” noted Vanity Fair in 2017.
Wow. That sure is a mouthful when one word would have sufficed: Propaganda. I will never get over the hoops the media jumped through to avoid calling Trump a liar and a propagandist. To avoid using the words “liar” and “propaganda,” when that is exactly what it is and it is in the public’s best interest to be informed of this fact. And I am astounded the media has not learned its lesson and are not treating this latest assault more aggressively. I know Trump is great for ratings and clicks, but does the media really think that’s worth sacrificing democracy and ushering in a new crop of dictators, at home and abroad?
Without a doubt, the RW is itching to change the laws protecting the media, including Sullivan v. NYT, making the practice of real journalism even more precarious (anyone remember the Red Lion v. ABC trial)?
But not every conservative judge feels the same as the Thomases and Alitos, thank goodness, and though they are embattled, press freedoms still do exist and will, at least for a while. I absolutely agree Trump wants control, but he won't be as blatant as Putin because he needs the press as much as they need him. He needs an enemy to keep his base—which thrives on hate—fired up. Having an albeit weakened oppositional media is the ideal enemy.
Trump absolutely would weaken the press the way he always does, through the courts, using an AG even more pliant and amoral than Billy Barr. While many of these lawsuits will inevitably fail for the reason stated above, Trump will still win. He will use a judgment against him to drum up more hatred: "I am surrounded by enemies everywhere." A few of these cases will be successful, and ultimately harm the press. and that's scary. What is also scary is that there will be no difference in the "reporting" his base see on Fox et al, so Trump and the GOP can say, see? The lame stream media is lying. We aren't limiting the media's freedom, when in reality, they will be.
"Right before traveling to Helsinki in 2018 to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Trump went off on a tirade, declaring much of the U.S. media to be the 'enemy of the people.'"
Warning: My usual rant's coming, but first: On those rare occasions the right's correct about something, it's for the wrong reason. Trump complains about the media on the relatively rare occasion that they make a serious effort to hold him accountable. Meanwhile, real enemy of the people media fails is ignoring that a couple hundred Covid deaths are due to Trump's refusal to engage with a health crisis. He's literally a killer, by definition, and now his party is as well. Query what the results would be electorally if that reality had been reported in the run up to 2020 election. I'd guess it wouldn't ave been a vote getter. But like an actual enemy of the people, it couldn't be reported because protecting the GOP was the priority, not honest reporting.
Meanwhile:
We have CNN and MSNBC running in the background here and a conservative estimate is 90% of what they're spewing is pure fact-free propaganda. There's one way the Ukrainian crisis ends -- submission -- but you'd never know it. Nor that sanctions are not assured -- make that possible -- to raise the cost to Russia for invading so high that they'll have to withdraw. (Not an endorsement or anything I say with joy. Just that there's no other outcome.) Nor, for that matter, that Russia can impose counter-sanctions and reduce the amount of gas and oil shipped to Western Europe. And so on and so forth. Oh, bonus: Our government's efforts to brand Russia war criminals for killing civilians is limited because we are literally killing civilians in Yemen as a service for our leaders' favorite allies, the Saudis.
Which, I guess, is a segue: I can't get all that bothered about the state-repressed media in Russia when our own privately-owned media are doing the same thing for no better reason that it's good for their business. That it's not as good for us or the nation or the world is clearly not a concern.
And for full disclosure: Something I contemplate is how well a state serves its people, that is the most important way to judge a nation and not by the nature of its government. So we have Russia which has gotten its economic house in great order in the last couple of years -- that is, it's served its people -- albeit possibly as a protection from a sanctions regime exactly such as being imposed now in response to the invasion. That is, the economic policies quite possibly weren't imposed for the good of the people but as war reparation. Meanwhile, the greatest democracy the world has ever known has essentially banned the federal government from imposing any nationwide responses to a global pandemic and has established something of a right for state governments to subvert elections and worse.
Ghandi, I believe, said, "I believe in equality for all except reporters and photographers!" In a bizarre way, the US media, or the frantic shark, pretends to cover news while devouring soundbites and news like sharks in a feeding frenzy. It just so happens that Trump provides the bait so that they can eat incessantly in order to provide them with 'news.'
It's not breaking news. It's filth. That is the problem with the US's big three media conglomerates: they report sludge, information that is smeared with decadent waste depending on whose mouth it is coming from.
The actions of the US media are not surprising. They are owned by the archangels of greed, corrupt billionaires and corporations. The media is not interested in covering mews, but rather in making money; how can we make the most money by pretending to cover news?
The soup created by the billionaires will result in a government of wolves and the likes of Trump.
I am so weary of all things Trump, and the fact that we're still cringing in dread whenever his name is mentioned. Yes, the press did a cowardly job of covering his malignant presidency, but at least we still have a Constitution that protects freedom of the press. Trump would not be able to shut down media outlets and throw journalists in prison. Otherwise, he would have done so during his toxic reign.
The 2024 Republican nomination, imho, is not a slam-dunk for Trump. At his last fundraiser dinner he regaled his moneyed guests with the same old Trump shtick, which was pretty stupid of him considering the excellent health the economy is in on Biden's watch. I read that his speech was 80 minutes long, contained the usual incoherent whining, and that guests began leaving halfway through it. There have been several runoff elections in red states where Trump-endorsed candidates were defeated. I watch but I'm not buying into the "be very afraid" stuff.
Speaking in front of Republican fat cats this weekend, Trump openly mused about disguising American warplanes with Chinese markings and "bombing the shit" out of Russian troops in Ukraine. "Then sit back and watch." Yeah, he was doing one of his stream of consciousness raps, but this isn't the drunk at the end of the bar, this is the head of the Republican party and a guy for whom the presidential nomination in 2024 is his for the taking. It underscores once again how astoundingly unfit for office this illiterate clown is, and THAT should be the focal point of every news item about him. Obviously the GOP is not bothered by his corruption, but one would think his profound ignorance on virtually all topics would be a disqualifier.
I hope the 30-40 percent of Americans for Trump are taking a good hard look at what is happening in Russia and Ukraine. This is the future United States they will be voting for. Sadly, they probably know it and feel more comfortable with a future more in line with Russia's vs. living along side of liberals, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. As for the media, their actions of constantly normalizing Trump and the right wing and claiming the next fart is another crises for Biden is also angling us toward an ominous Russian future right here at home. They better wake up before one day soon some of our journalists find themselves behind bars or worse.
I wouldn't think this would be possible in the US if not for the right wing Justices on the SC. Does the First Amendment even mean anything to them?
Trump's dream of (absolute) control of the press was high on his agenda for his second term (which I also believe he would have tried to end the two-term limit on the presidency) right after he abandoned NATO. We certainly dodged a kill shot there...
TFG is Putin minus the total autocratic powers. They are one and the same; malignant narcissists hell bent on ruling the world, and even that hypothetical accomplishment will fail to fill the black holes that substitute for their souls. MSM wake up! This is not a gotcha game anymore. The horrors and impact of Putin’s evil motives are previews of the worst that can happen to us if we are not more vigilant. The press is enabling TFG’s re-election. Be very careful what you wish for 🇺🇦.
The Russian police arresting demonstrators are calling them enemies of the people.
Will Dean Baquet of the New York Times finally have that horrifying nightmare over the loss of press freedom in America under Trump & the GOP that he wakes up jittering & sweaty from the thought and type up an editorial memo that they will officially state Trump's disinformaton as lies?
Honestly, I doubt this will happen to him and the other spineless idiots in American mainstream media because they're somehow convinced in their delusional minds that it won't happen in the good ol' U.S. of A.
Really wondering what will it take for the American mainstream media establishment to realize that many of them aren't doing their job of actual reporting, and are too busy writing negatively-slanted & clickbait-y headlines portraying Biden as a Jimmy Carter-Gerald Ford combo rather than ACTUALLY looking into what his administration has accomplished & its current challenges such dealing with Russia's unjustified & unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
I remember that my favorite editorial name, Benjamin Crowninshield Bradlee, said that he spent more time as The Washington Post's top editor worrying about the First Amendment than he would have preferred. Interestingly, his successor there and his counterpart at The New York Times obviously do not worry about it, because they still don't grasp that if republicans gain control again in 2025, it. Will. Happen. Here.
And it won't matter whether it is Orange Hitler. This is the republican party.
I suspect this new edict from Putin will have no impact on Fox News: Professional Courtesy dictates an exception for them.
As a nation, we created the notion of a free press when Jefferson lead the war of 1800 against the Federalists and, among other things, their Alien and Sedition laws and put new substance on the words in the First Amendment. There has been much discussion about Trump's incompetence and fear that a competent Trump would get away with more. Probably true. Yet, the notion of a free press is so deeply ingrained in the American psyche that I doubt anyone can succeed in killing it. Certainly Trump went far, but the press reacted too. If I thought that they did a great job, I would not be a very loyal Press Run subscriber. As annoying as the MSM can be, in the end they protect the basic right to say what they want without fear of imprisonment or official censorship. We may limp from time-to-time but we will run again. Be well, everyone; we are still in difficult times.
“Trump’s team is finding ways to shrewdly approximate Putin’s capacity to shape narratives and create alternative realities,” noted Vanity Fair in 2017.
Wow. That sure is a mouthful when one word would have sufficed: Propaganda. I will never get over the hoops the media jumped through to avoid calling Trump a liar and a propagandist. To avoid using the words “liar” and “propaganda,” when that is exactly what it is and it is in the public’s best interest to be informed of this fact. And I am astounded the media has not learned its lesson and are not treating this latest assault more aggressively. I know Trump is great for ratings and clicks, but does the media really think that’s worth sacrificing democracy and ushering in a new crop of dictators, at home and abroad?
Without a doubt, the RW is itching to change the laws protecting the media, including Sullivan v. NYT, making the practice of real journalism even more precarious (anyone remember the Red Lion v. ABC trial)?
But not every conservative judge feels the same as the Thomases and Alitos, thank goodness, and though they are embattled, press freedoms still do exist and will, at least for a while. I absolutely agree Trump wants control, but he won't be as blatant as Putin because he needs the press as much as they need him. He needs an enemy to keep his base—which thrives on hate—fired up. Having an albeit weakened oppositional media is the ideal enemy.
Trump absolutely would weaken the press the way he always does, through the courts, using an AG even more pliant and amoral than Billy Barr. While many of these lawsuits will inevitably fail for the reason stated above, Trump will still win. He will use a judgment against him to drum up more hatred: "I am surrounded by enemies everywhere." A few of these cases will be successful, and ultimately harm the press. and that's scary. What is also scary is that there will be no difference in the "reporting" his base see on Fox et al, so Trump and the GOP can say, see? The lame stream media is lying. We aren't limiting the media's freedom, when in reality, they will be.
"Right before traveling to Helsinki in 2018 to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Trump went off on a tirade, declaring much of the U.S. media to be the 'enemy of the people.'"
Warning: My usual rant's coming, but first: On those rare occasions the right's correct about something, it's for the wrong reason. Trump complains about the media on the relatively rare occasion that they make a serious effort to hold him accountable. Meanwhile, real enemy of the people media fails is ignoring that a couple hundred Covid deaths are due to Trump's refusal to engage with a health crisis. He's literally a killer, by definition, and now his party is as well. Query what the results would be electorally if that reality had been reported in the run up to 2020 election. I'd guess it wouldn't ave been a vote getter. But like an actual enemy of the people, it couldn't be reported because protecting the GOP was the priority, not honest reporting.
Meanwhile:
We have CNN and MSNBC running in the background here and a conservative estimate is 90% of what they're spewing is pure fact-free propaganda. There's one way the Ukrainian crisis ends -- submission -- but you'd never know it. Nor that sanctions are not assured -- make that possible -- to raise the cost to Russia for invading so high that they'll have to withdraw. (Not an endorsement or anything I say with joy. Just that there's no other outcome.) Nor, for that matter, that Russia can impose counter-sanctions and reduce the amount of gas and oil shipped to Western Europe. And so on and so forth. Oh, bonus: Our government's efforts to brand Russia war criminals for killing civilians is limited because we are literally killing civilians in Yemen as a service for our leaders' favorite allies, the Saudis.
Which, I guess, is a segue: I can't get all that bothered about the state-repressed media in Russia when our own privately-owned media are doing the same thing for no better reason that it's good for their business. That it's not as good for us or the nation or the world is clearly not a concern.
And for full disclosure: Something I contemplate is how well a state serves its people, that is the most important way to judge a nation and not by the nature of its government. So we have Russia which has gotten its economic house in great order in the last couple of years -- that is, it's served its people -- albeit possibly as a protection from a sanctions regime exactly such as being imposed now in response to the invasion. That is, the economic policies quite possibly weren't imposed for the good of the people but as war reparation. Meanwhile, the greatest democracy the world has ever known has essentially banned the federal government from imposing any nationwide responses to a global pandemic and has established something of a right for state governments to subvert elections and worse.
May we live in interesting times indeed.
Ghandi, I believe, said, "I believe in equality for all except reporters and photographers!" In a bizarre way, the US media, or the frantic shark, pretends to cover news while devouring soundbites and news like sharks in a feeding frenzy. It just so happens that Trump provides the bait so that they can eat incessantly in order to provide them with 'news.'
It's not breaking news. It's filth. That is the problem with the US's big three media conglomerates: they report sludge, information that is smeared with decadent waste depending on whose mouth it is coming from.
The actions of the US media are not surprising. They are owned by the archangels of greed, corrupt billionaires and corporations. The media is not interested in covering mews, but rather in making money; how can we make the most money by pretending to cover news?
The soup created by the billionaires will result in a government of wolves and the likes of Trump.
Fantastic Frontline piece on Putin’s background (abt 4 years old). Riveting:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk9igTqTx9s&pp=QAFIAQ%3D%3D
I am so weary of all things Trump, and the fact that we're still cringing in dread whenever his name is mentioned. Yes, the press did a cowardly job of covering his malignant presidency, but at least we still have a Constitution that protects freedom of the press. Trump would not be able to shut down media outlets and throw journalists in prison. Otherwise, he would have done so during his toxic reign.
The 2024 Republican nomination, imho, is not a slam-dunk for Trump. At his last fundraiser dinner he regaled his moneyed guests with the same old Trump shtick, which was pretty stupid of him considering the excellent health the economy is in on Biden's watch. I read that his speech was 80 minutes long, contained the usual incoherent whining, and that guests began leaving halfway through it. There have been several runoff elections in red states where Trump-endorsed candidates were defeated. I watch but I'm not buying into the "be very afraid" stuff.