Trump will milk the "will he/won't he run" cash cow as long as possible. Declaring one way turns off the spigot, the other way requires donations to be reported to the FEC. As with everything else in this mentally disturbed con man's life, this is a grift. And once again, the media refuse to talk about it. If they cannot bring themselves to honestly report a blatant plot to fleece donors, can it surprise anyone that they won't report a more subtle - but still highly visible - effort to destroy a bedrock principle of democracy?
This assessment is spot on. We learned a bit more yesterday when the Kraken lawyer, Sydney Powell, admitted that the disruption plan on 1/6 was working—but the National Guard showed up sooner than they expected and Nancy reconvened the House to finish the vote when they thought it would have been postponed for several days to give them extra time to uncover “proof” of the “steal.”
What makes the media coverage even more insulting, when they get pushback from readers on social media etc, they say it’s “sour grapes”—oh you want us only to cover the other guy—refusing to understand we aren’t criticizing reporting per se, but their decided “narrative,” the stupid gotcha manufactured crises that dominates their coverage of Dems, their stenography when it comes to the GOP, the imbalance (Meet the Press et al), and the false bothsidism. They refuse to acknowledge their own role and what they do and instead answer with snark. Their Dems terrible “narrative” goes back to Carter and really picked up steam with reporters who came of age beginning in the 80s—and has only gotten worse.
All I suggest is that everyone get involved at the grass roots to help Dems in their districts and states get elected to every office possible. And keep pushing back on bad coverage—call them out in comments to storis in their publications, in letters to the Ed, places like this, and on SM. It’s the (only) power we’ve got.
A common thread among the trumpies in my life; a major majority have little or no idea how our form of democracy is supposed to work. And they don't care to learn. They think "blowing it all up" is an answer to what they see and hear on fox and other right wing players, and revel in sharing their hero's never-ending victimhood. But worse, they actually believe his lies, and seem to think his self dealing over the past 4 years makes him a "winner" and someone to be admired. They're living in a low budget tv sitcom.
As I said last week, this is THE story and our Failed Political Press ™ were ignoring it.
I don’t like conspiratorial thinking, but the facts keep pointing us in that direction. There is an agenda in the media, and I appreciate your ability and willingness to amplify these moments.
And I’d like to point out, too, as if adding insult to injury, Chuck Todd had Meghan McCain on Meet the Press for reasons unknowable, as well as ignoring the story of the Coup Memo. Anyone have any guesses why Upchuck did that?
If there is anything that displays how clueless The NY Times is, it’s “The Conversation” with the ‘comedy’ duo of Gail Collins and Brett “Bedbug” Stephens turning critical issues into a bunch of puerile yuks. (I never felt the need to use the word puerile until reading them this morning.)
Would you believe they’re asking what it will take to give the Biden administration a ‘reset’ or how they can give Kamala Harris a start on becoming a ‘real’ Vice President?
The mainstream media’s addiction to excitement is helping to destroy our democracy. If a competent, extremely well-qualified candidate like Angela Merkel were to run for president here the media would either completely ignore them or have a field day mocking them. In contrast the Germans have just chosen to replace the center-right Christian Democratic Union Merkel with her center-left Social Democrat Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholtz. Scholtz was also Merkel’s Finance Minister. He played a powerful role in the Merkel government. (The assumption is that Scholtz, as head of his party, will replace Merkel and form a coalition with Merkel’s party. That means nothing much has changed.)
Scholtz, like Merkel, is a competent, boring political leader yet I this morning heard a report that it was going to be a shock to have the boring Merkel replaced by this man. Given that he and his Social Democrats have been her reliable coalition partner for years that is a huge exaggeration. Unlike the US media, the German media doesn’t seem to find it strange that people would prefer competence over entertainment.
1. Like the GOP base is addicted to the most unhinged, literally murderous pandering, the mainstream media are addicted to audience growth even if it requires a focus on trivial news or normalizing a pathologically unfit POTUS.
2. The collapse of functional, responsive democracies should be a huge story. Unfortunately, the mainstream would never report it honestly. tl;dr version: Many states, of which the US is one, have failed (or chosen not) to be responsive to the needs of the majority of their respective peoples. (In our case, we’re incapable of a complete national response to Covid. When a state can’t respond as required to a health emergency of a global pandemic, it’s pretty f***ing sad. Well, far worse than sad.)
Thanks Eric. In 2002 and 2003 the Bush Admin OLC issued the infamous "Torture memos." They were leaked to the press in 2004. (Abu Ghraib prisoner scandal ). Signatories John Yoo is a law professor; Jay Bybee a Federal Judge.
I don't think we need to reach back to Nixon for analogies to the 6-page Coup Memo, nor hold our collective breath for accountability. Normalizing an insurrection seems analogous to normalizing torture. So John Eastman may have to choose between law professor and Judge but he won't face consequences.
That said, there are some voices bubbling up speaking to the authoritarian push towards chaos. (Once we have complete chaos we will need "order.")
Oh, and a shout-out to Nancy Pelosi for reconvening and finishing the vote.
Wake up msm, the sky really IS falling. The Dems and the press are what stand in the way of this not so silent autocratic coup creeping across our country a bit at a time, day by day, and right before our eyes (or should I say the Manchin and Sinemas in our party). This is not a secret. We are on the verge of losing voting rights, abortion rights, freedom of the press, all enabled by the fourth estate and R political hacks who lack any iota of integrity nor love for the Constitution nor the country, contrary to their bloviating about ‘freedom.’ Headlines across the media spectrum should be screaming every day about the threats of a coup by THE ex PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and his acolytes. If there’s nothing more important to the country than this, I can’t imagine what is. Oops. Forgot. The most important news of the days are often about the poor souls in diners who refuse covid vaccinations and the FG who leads them around by the nose w/his lies and whether or not he might or might not run again. They’ve all lost their minds and are bringing ruin to the US.
Growing up as a boy in the 1960s, it was easy to assume that the end would come as a result of nuclear weapons. It would have been hard to imagine that decades later, the United States would end as a result of a narcissistic psychopath that spewed lies constantly and a press corp that saw it fit not to call it out to the level required, instead enjoying the profit made from keeping the con going. Where's the front page story today in the New York Times and Washington Post that Trump lied about winning the Arizona recount after it was determined that Biden actually gained votes? He lied about it at his rally, a complete lie right in the wake of the embarrassing news yet the stories remain if he will run again. Look folks, our democracy is over. Let's face the facts. Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema are not coming to the rescue. We will not see the voting rights bill passed. With Republican state run legislative voting bills being passed, gerrymandering, and the Big Lie continuing to be the Republican mantra, we are likely to lose the House and Senate next year. Not enough Democrats are taking this threat seriously enough and the press is cheerleading the coup.
I had to do a Google search just to see who did and did not cover the 6 page memo (not that I don't trust you - I was just stunned). The NYT printed the entire document and then said not a single word about it. No analysis, no op ed, no opinion piece. Nada.
I think it's high time that we organize a boycott of these papers so they know that their Trumpism is unacceptable. I have about zero following in social media but would love to team up with someone to get this going. A few dozen people cancelling their subscriptions doesn't get the job done. We need a mass movement. Oddly enough it's the more liberal, educated people who actually pay for these papers (NYT, WaPo) so a mass boycott might actually be effective.
Also, hope springs eternal that Rump will be indicted in a serious way and will be ineligible to run. But most of me thinks that is just never going to happen, clear crimes uncovered notwithstanding. :-(
The Hungarian word for prostitute is kurva, except it's uttered with contempt and rolling the r. It's a beautiful word for describing the occupants of the DC political media brothel, led by its madam, the chief chucktodd of them all, who rivals only Senator Huckleberry Adolf Pederasty of South Carolina in his love for all things McCain.
If there has been a more glaring journalistic failure than the barely visible coverage of the John Eastman coup memo, I can't recall it. I want to see newsroom leaks about this issue. No way I buy the idea that there weren't reporters and editors enraged and embarrassed by this.
Trump will milk the "will he/won't he run" cash cow as long as possible. Declaring one way turns off the spigot, the other way requires donations to be reported to the FEC. As with everything else in this mentally disturbed con man's life, this is a grift. And once again, the media refuse to talk about it. If they cannot bring themselves to honestly report a blatant plot to fleece donors, can it surprise anyone that they won't report a more subtle - but still highly visible - effort to destroy a bedrock principle of democracy?
This assessment is spot on. We learned a bit more yesterday when the Kraken lawyer, Sydney Powell, admitted that the disruption plan on 1/6 was working—but the National Guard showed up sooner than they expected and Nancy reconvened the House to finish the vote when they thought it would have been postponed for several days to give them extra time to uncover “proof” of the “steal.”
What makes the media coverage even more insulting, when they get pushback from readers on social media etc, they say it’s “sour grapes”—oh you want us only to cover the other guy—refusing to understand we aren’t criticizing reporting per se, but their decided “narrative,” the stupid gotcha manufactured crises that dominates their coverage of Dems, their stenography when it comes to the GOP, the imbalance (Meet the Press et al), and the false bothsidism. They refuse to acknowledge their own role and what they do and instead answer with snark. Their Dems terrible “narrative” goes back to Carter and really picked up steam with reporters who came of age beginning in the 80s—and has only gotten worse.
All I suggest is that everyone get involved at the grass roots to help Dems in their districts and states get elected to every office possible. And keep pushing back on bad coverage—call them out in comments to storis in their publications, in letters to the Ed, places like this, and on SM. It’s the (only) power we’ve got.
A common thread among the trumpies in my life; a major majority have little or no idea how our form of democracy is supposed to work. And they don't care to learn. They think "blowing it all up" is an answer to what they see and hear on fox and other right wing players, and revel in sharing their hero's never-ending victimhood. But worse, they actually believe his lies, and seem to think his self dealing over the past 4 years makes him a "winner" and someone to be admired. They're living in a low budget tv sitcom.
Thank-you Eric!
As I said last week, this is THE story and our Failed Political Press ™ were ignoring it.
I don’t like conspiratorial thinking, but the facts keep pointing us in that direction. There is an agenda in the media, and I appreciate your ability and willingness to amplify these moments.
And I’d like to point out, too, as if adding insult to injury, Chuck Todd had Meghan McCain on Meet the Press for reasons unknowable, as well as ignoring the story of the Coup Memo. Anyone have any guesses why Upchuck did that?
If there is anything that displays how clueless The NY Times is, it’s “The Conversation” with the ‘comedy’ duo of Gail Collins and Brett “Bedbug” Stephens turning critical issues into a bunch of puerile yuks. (I never felt the need to use the word puerile until reading them this morning.)
Would you believe they’re asking what it will take to give the Biden administration a ‘reset’ or how they can give Kamala Harris a start on becoming a ‘real’ Vice President?
Facepalm.
The mainstream media’s addiction to excitement is helping to destroy our democracy. If a competent, extremely well-qualified candidate like Angela Merkel were to run for president here the media would either completely ignore them or have a field day mocking them. In contrast the Germans have just chosen to replace the center-right Christian Democratic Union Merkel with her center-left Social Democrat Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholtz. Scholtz was also Merkel’s Finance Minister. He played a powerful role in the Merkel government. (The assumption is that Scholtz, as head of his party, will replace Merkel and form a coalition with Merkel’s party. That means nothing much has changed.)
Scholtz, like Merkel, is a competent, boring political leader yet I this morning heard a report that it was going to be a shock to have the boring Merkel replaced by this man. Given that he and his Social Democrats have been her reliable coalition partner for years that is a huge exaggeration. Unlike the US media, the German media doesn’t seem to find it strange that people would prefer competence over entertainment.
Two quick points to add:
1. Like the GOP base is addicted to the most unhinged, literally murderous pandering, the mainstream media are addicted to audience growth even if it requires a focus on trivial news or normalizing a pathologically unfit POTUS.
2. The collapse of functional, responsive democracies should be a huge story. Unfortunately, the mainstream would never report it honestly. tl;dr version: Many states, of which the US is one, have failed (or chosen not) to be responsive to the needs of the majority of their respective peoples. (In our case, we’re incapable of a complete national response to Covid. When a state can’t respond as required to a health emergency of a global pandemic, it’s pretty f***ing sad. Well, far worse than sad.)
Thanks Eric. In 2002 and 2003 the Bush Admin OLC issued the infamous "Torture memos." They were leaked to the press in 2004. (Abu Ghraib prisoner scandal ). Signatories John Yoo is a law professor; Jay Bybee a Federal Judge.
I don't think we need to reach back to Nixon for analogies to the 6-page Coup Memo, nor hold our collective breath for accountability. Normalizing an insurrection seems analogous to normalizing torture. So John Eastman may have to choose between law professor and Judge but he won't face consequences.
That said, there are some voices bubbling up speaking to the authoritarian push towards chaos. (Once we have complete chaos we will need "order.")
Oh, and a shout-out to Nancy Pelosi for reconvening and finishing the vote.
Wake up msm, the sky really IS falling. The Dems and the press are what stand in the way of this not so silent autocratic coup creeping across our country a bit at a time, day by day, and right before our eyes (or should I say the Manchin and Sinemas in our party). This is not a secret. We are on the verge of losing voting rights, abortion rights, freedom of the press, all enabled by the fourth estate and R political hacks who lack any iota of integrity nor love for the Constitution nor the country, contrary to their bloviating about ‘freedom.’ Headlines across the media spectrum should be screaming every day about the threats of a coup by THE ex PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and his acolytes. If there’s nothing more important to the country than this, I can’t imagine what is. Oops. Forgot. The most important news of the days are often about the poor souls in diners who refuse covid vaccinations and the FG who leads them around by the nose w/his lies and whether or not he might or might not run again. They’ve all lost their minds and are bringing ruin to the US.
With each passing day the Press Corpse proves just how complicit they are with the Republican push to rig elections.
Growing up as a boy in the 1960s, it was easy to assume that the end would come as a result of nuclear weapons. It would have been hard to imagine that decades later, the United States would end as a result of a narcissistic psychopath that spewed lies constantly and a press corp that saw it fit not to call it out to the level required, instead enjoying the profit made from keeping the con going. Where's the front page story today in the New York Times and Washington Post that Trump lied about winning the Arizona recount after it was determined that Biden actually gained votes? He lied about it at his rally, a complete lie right in the wake of the embarrassing news yet the stories remain if he will run again. Look folks, our democracy is over. Let's face the facts. Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema are not coming to the rescue. We will not see the voting rights bill passed. With Republican state run legislative voting bills being passed, gerrymandering, and the Big Lie continuing to be the Republican mantra, we are likely to lose the House and Senate next year. Not enough Democrats are taking this threat seriously enough and the press is cheerleading the coup.
I had to do a Google search just to see who did and did not cover the 6 page memo (not that I don't trust you - I was just stunned). The NYT printed the entire document and then said not a single word about it. No analysis, no op ed, no opinion piece. Nada.
I think it's high time that we organize a boycott of these papers so they know that their Trumpism is unacceptable. I have about zero following in social media but would love to team up with someone to get this going. A few dozen people cancelling their subscriptions doesn't get the job done. We need a mass movement. Oddly enough it's the more liberal, educated people who actually pay for these papers (NYT, WaPo) so a mass boycott might actually be effective.
Also, hope springs eternal that Rump will be indicted in a serious way and will be ineligible to run. But most of me thinks that is just never going to happen, clear crimes uncovered notwithstanding. :-(
The Hungarian word for prostitute is kurva, except it's uttered with contempt and rolling the r. It's a beautiful word for describing the occupants of the DC political media brothel, led by its madam, the chief chucktodd of them all, who rivals only Senator Huckleberry Adolf Pederasty of South Carolina in his love for all things McCain.
If there has been a more glaring journalistic failure than the barely visible coverage of the John Eastman coup memo, I can't recall it. I want to see newsroom leaks about this issue. No way I buy the idea that there weren't reporters and editors enraged and embarrassed by this.
Where is the Facebook button?