And now we know that Trump has reversed course because the stock market tanked after he rejected the stimulus bill. As Stephanie Ruhle pointed out just a few minutes ago on Morning Joe, the stock market was going up on Monday, not because Trump seemed to be doing OK after getting COVID as he claimed and the media echoed but because big investors were optimistic because they thought the stimulus bill was going to be passed. Ruhle worked for years on Wall Street and has really great contacts with influential people there. Despite that she has no qualms about criticizing them.
That's been my contention. Fox News is bad, of course. But the mainstream media are worst because their influence is more insidious. People who don't pay attention to politics have Today Show or GMA on while they're getting ready for work or getting kids out the door or drying their hair. They're not sitting down and listening. They're hearing bits and pieces of scripts crafted in cliches designed advance a narrative that I believe is designed to undermine people's interest or faith in how their government works. They're hearing "gridlock", "Congress is blocking...", "emails", etc. They don't even consciously realizing what they're hearing. But hearing it day after day those notions of "both sides" and "they're all crooked" and "it doesn't matter who you vote for" will settle into their bones. That audience is much bigger than Fox's audience.
I recently ran across this article by Jay Rosen of NYU’s journalism institute. He describes one of the worst flaws that drives coverage of politics by top political journalists, their admiration for and desire to be “savvy”:
“In politics, our journalists believe, it is better to be savvy than it is to be honest or correct on the facts. It’s better to be savvy than it is to be just, good, fair, decent, strictly lawful, civilized, sincere, thoughtful or humane. Savviness is what journalists admire in others. Savvy is what they themselves dearly wish to be. (And to be unsavvy is far worse than being wrong.)
Savviness is that quality of being shrewd, practical, hyper-informed, perceptive, ironic, “with it,” and unsentimental in all things political. And what is the truest mark of savviness? Winning, of course! Or knowing who the winners are…
Prohibited from joining in political struggles, dedicated to observing what is, regardless of whether it ought to be, the savvy believe that these disciplines afford them a special view of the arena, cured of excess sentiment, useless passion, ideological certitude and other defects of vision that players in the system routinely exhibit. The savvy don’t say: I have a better argument than you. They say: I am closer to reality than you.
I had forgotten how Rosen wrote about “The Church of the Savvy” a few years back. Many on the left blame the failure of the mainstream political to media give the public objective, substantive political coverage solely on pressure from corporate owners but I believe much of it is driven by political journalists goal of being members of the Kool Kids Klub at Beltway High.
Excellent article and excellent point. I very rarely watch MSNBC or CNN but I tuned in today because I wanted to hear more about the plot against Gretchen Whitmer. The discussion I heard focused on the role Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric played in encouraging these militias to plan and execute a plan to harm Whitmer. What I heard in that discussion that (wait for it) economic or personal anxiety is what drives their behaviors. Not one mention of racism or white nationalism.
So while the discussions were good, I think they only partially addressed the magnitude of the movement by failing to discuss race.
The other discussions focused on how Trump's handling of CoVid was creating chaos and fear among White House staffers and other Republicans. Again, valid points were made about how this was hurting Trump's campaign. But what disturbed me was that not one talking head raised the issue of who is in charge? Who's running the country? What is the impact on the country when a President is out of control and his staff members are sick, terrified they or their loved ones will get sick, or terrified that Trump will target them? Reporters had inside info from sources about "what was going on", which was fine as far as it went. But I think a discussion about how all of that could affect our economic, physical or cyber security would be more helpful to viewers.
I did watch MSNBC on and off yesterday just to hear the take on the debate and I heard that conversation about economic and personal anxiety driving the militias as if it was those factors but not the decades of anti-government rhetoric coming from Republicans for decades. When the President of the US tells you the government is the problem, when the NRA calls the government jack-booted thugs, etc. it has an effect on a part of the population. I was furious. That same person also made a point of saying we don’t know their ideology like that was a big mystery. To be fair to MSNBC that exchange was an exception. There was a lot of talk about the issue of Trump’s mental health and the threat it poses, the 25th amendment, etc.
Once again all of this is noise. The Reich does nothing about anything he does. Ever. He gets away with doing and saying anything. And the dems are still just laying around playing it safe. The only thing that could surprise me is if one he bows out of the race or two he leaves after losing the election. Absolutely nothing else is surprising shocking or matters anymore. We are done as a democracy with the courts and the Reich. Done.
Yep! has been going on for years. Have been urging everyone to listen to Gaslit Nation by Sarah Kenzior for years. He's been systematically dismantling the courts, neutering the press (who have very freely allowed themselves to be led like a lemming) and turning citizen against citizen. His description of fellow AMERICANS who don't agree with him "liberals" "democrats" etc casting them as "enemies" is ON PURPOSE. He WANTS his cult to consider anyone who doesn't fall lockstep in line with him an ENEMY of the country! His puppet masters know he is too stupid to come up with plans by himself and that he is easily manipulated-so they give him his marching orders - trump gets his adulation at his "LOVE ONLY ME" rallies so both get what they want.
I suppose I must be dense. Trump's apparent strategy of urging immediate confirmation of his supreme court pick but waiting for a stimulus vote until after he is elected assumes that these two endeavors cannot be pursued at the same time. Why not?
Trump only cares about the markets because wrongly equates them with the economy. These days stocks are one of the few places to put money for the wealthy. They know the Fed will step in to support stocks if they start to tank too much so stock market growth is not a reflection of real economic growth. Stocks have gone up as gdp contracted.
And why hasn't this been pointed out to press over and over and over??? MILLIONS of working mothers who juggle a gajillion things at once are laughing at this asshat and his crony congress who can't seem to walk and chew gum at same time!
Trump called off the stimulus negotiations as a walk away from the table tactic. In his drug addled haze he forgot the consequences to equity markets would produce a serious cross current. When that reality dawned on him he careened back to whatever crazed position he is currently holding. None of this makes real sense because he is higher than Venus. The Supreme Court only matters to him if the election is close. It’s looking like it won’t be. He may not be able to absorb that knowledge.
From some comments from WH insiders he thought the market went up because he was (supposedly) getting better. He didn’t realize that it was because of the passage stimulus bill looking more likely. He has never really understood the markets or anything else about finance, trade, economics, etc.
I vacillate between if Trump is just a complete nincompoop or is he an evil genius. For example does he actually get it that he can't possible win this election as the polls are showing? Therefore his only option is to get Barrett on the court to hopefully vote him in as president if the GOP lawyers can prove, somehow, that the election was fraudulent? Or is he just a complete moron who has no f#!king clue as to what he is doing? What sense does it make to not supply a stimulus if you are looking for more votes? So did he tweet the thwarting of the stimulus just to throw a shiny object for the media to chase. Of course that's something the press simply can't ignore with this madman/evil genius in the White House.
Mr. Boehlert, I think you miss the bigger story here.
Trump is playing at being President while under the influence of mood altering drugs. We know that steroids can increase aggression. I've heard that one of the unpronounceable drugs Trump was given can lead to feelings of grandiosity.
Not that Trump needs help with either; but imagine what little restraint he has removed by the effects of the drugs he's taking.
Perhaps a sober Trump will reconsider the stimulus.
But mood altered Trump still has access to the nuclear codes.
Of course, he would never do that. And let's face facts: republicans could have invoked the 25th a long time ago, and it begs the question of why not. Consider: Would Mike Pence have appointed more liberal judges or sought more business and environmental regulation? Truthfully, the policy differences domestically would be negligible, including immigration. It comes down to this: Every single republican in Congress is guilty of treason. Not only for endangering the country by allowing this but why, and the answer is simple: Russia. It isn't limited to the presidential campaign of 2016. It goes much deeper. And it isn't hard to explain why or how.
Can we get off the narrative a short course of CORTICOSTEROIDS (dexamethasone) cause aggression?? Chronic ANABOLIC steroids have been associated with aggression. and which drug did you "hear" causes feelings of grandiosity? from a conspiracy source?? Trump is an idiot ALL BY HIMSELF but it does NOT help ANYONE to try to flame nonexistent flames with so easily disproven hearsay
Check it out. The under Mayo Clinic’s list of more common side effects many are psychological including aggression, anxiety, irritability, trouble thinking and mood changes although how we can tell if Trump’s behavior is the result of his medication or his freak out over the polls which insiders say he definitely reads.
A couple of points. One is that Trump doesn't just need a court that will let him steal the election. He needs a Supreme Court that will block the release of his taxes.
The other is the latest gimmick this morning, where he's claiming he'll sign a stand alone bill. Basically he wants everyone to get a check with his name on it in big letters just before the election. Could he be any more blatant?
And now we know that Trump has reversed course because the stock market tanked after he rejected the stimulus bill. As Stephanie Ruhle pointed out just a few minutes ago on Morning Joe, the stock market was going up on Monday, not because Trump seemed to be doing OK after getting COVID as he claimed and the media echoed but because big investors were optimistic because they thought the stimulus bill was going to be passed. Ruhle worked for years on Wall Street and has really great contacts with influential people there. Despite that she has no qualms about criticizing them.
Indeed, a hallmark of Trump is confusion and never really knowing where he stands on key issues
Finally a study that shows its the mainstream media that is helping Trump spread his disinformation to moderates who are not that politically engaged.
https://cyber.harvard.edu/publication/2020/Mail-in-Voter-Fraud-Disinformation-2020
Margaret Sullivan has a good summary.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/trump-doesnt-need-russian-trolls-to-spread-disinformation-the-mainstream-media-does-it-for-him/2020/10/06/9612d602-07da-11eb-9be6-cf25fb429f1a_story.html
That's been my contention. Fox News is bad, of course. But the mainstream media are worst because their influence is more insidious. People who don't pay attention to politics have Today Show or GMA on while they're getting ready for work or getting kids out the door or drying their hair. They're not sitting down and listening. They're hearing bits and pieces of scripts crafted in cliches designed advance a narrative that I believe is designed to undermine people's interest or faith in how their government works. They're hearing "gridlock", "Congress is blocking...", "emails", etc. They don't even consciously realizing what they're hearing. But hearing it day after day those notions of "both sides" and "they're all crooked" and "it doesn't matter who you vote for" will settle into their bones. That audience is much bigger than Fox's audience.
I recently ran across this article by Jay Rosen of NYU’s journalism institute. He describes one of the worst flaws that drives coverage of politics by top political journalists, their admiration for and desire to be “savvy”:
“In politics, our journalists believe, it is better to be savvy than it is to be honest or correct on the facts. It’s better to be savvy than it is to be just, good, fair, decent, strictly lawful, civilized, sincere, thoughtful or humane. Savviness is what journalists admire in others. Savvy is what they themselves dearly wish to be. (And to be unsavvy is far worse than being wrong.)
Savviness is that quality of being shrewd, practical, hyper-informed, perceptive, ironic, “with it,” and unsentimental in all things political. And what is the truest mark of savviness? Winning, of course! Or knowing who the winners are…
Prohibited from joining in political struggles, dedicated to observing what is, regardless of whether it ought to be, the savvy believe that these disciplines afford them a special view of the arena, cured of excess sentiment, useless passion, ideological certitude and other defects of vision that players in the system routinely exhibit. The savvy don’t say: I have a better argument than you. They say: I am closer to reality than you.
https://pressthink.org/
I had forgotten how Rosen wrote about “The Church of the Savvy” a few years back. Many on the left blame the failure of the mainstream political to media give the public objective, substantive political coverage solely on pressure from corporate owners but I believe much of it is driven by political journalists goal of being members of the Kool Kids Klub at Beltway High.
Excellent article and excellent point. I very rarely watch MSNBC or CNN but I tuned in today because I wanted to hear more about the plot against Gretchen Whitmer. The discussion I heard focused on the role Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric played in encouraging these militias to plan and execute a plan to harm Whitmer. What I heard in that discussion that (wait for it) economic or personal anxiety is what drives their behaviors. Not one mention of racism or white nationalism.
So while the discussions were good, I think they only partially addressed the magnitude of the movement by failing to discuss race.
The other discussions focused on how Trump's handling of CoVid was creating chaos and fear among White House staffers and other Republicans. Again, valid points were made about how this was hurting Trump's campaign. But what disturbed me was that not one talking head raised the issue of who is in charge? Who's running the country? What is the impact on the country when a President is out of control and his staff members are sick, terrified they or their loved ones will get sick, or terrified that Trump will target them? Reporters had inside info from sources about "what was going on", which was fine as far as it went. But I think a discussion about how all of that could affect our economic, physical or cyber security would be more helpful to viewers.
I did watch MSNBC on and off yesterday just to hear the take on the debate and I heard that conversation about economic and personal anxiety driving the militias as if it was those factors but not the decades of anti-government rhetoric coming from Republicans for decades. When the President of the US tells you the government is the problem, when the NRA calls the government jack-booted thugs, etc. it has an effect on a part of the population. I was furious. That same person also made a point of saying we don’t know their ideology like that was a big mystery. To be fair to MSNBC that exchange was an exception. There was a lot of talk about the issue of Trump’s mental health and the threat it poses, the 25th amendment, etc.
Once again all of this is noise. The Reich does nothing about anything he does. Ever. He gets away with doing and saying anything. And the dems are still just laying around playing it safe. The only thing that could surprise me is if one he bows out of the race or two he leaves after losing the election. Absolutely nothing else is surprising shocking or matters anymore. We are done as a democracy with the courts and the Reich. Done.
Yep! has been going on for years. Have been urging everyone to listen to Gaslit Nation by Sarah Kenzior for years. He's been systematically dismantling the courts, neutering the press (who have very freely allowed themselves to be led like a lemming) and turning citizen against citizen. His description of fellow AMERICANS who don't agree with him "liberals" "democrats" etc casting them as "enemies" is ON PURPOSE. He WANTS his cult to consider anyone who doesn't fall lockstep in line with him an ENEMY of the country! His puppet masters know he is too stupid to come up with plans by himself and that he is easily manipulated-so they give him his marching orders - trump gets his adulation at his "LOVE ONLY ME" rallies so both get what they want.
I suppose I must be dense. Trump's apparent strategy of urging immediate confirmation of his supreme court pick but waiting for a stimulus vote until after he is elected assumes that these two endeavors cannot be pursued at the same time. Why not?
Good point! Truth is if Trump wanted a second Covid relief bill it would’ve been done months ago. fact: at least 20 GOP senators oppose it
Trump only cares about the markets because wrongly equates them with the economy. These days stocks are one of the few places to put money for the wealthy. They know the Fed will step in to support stocks if they start to tank too much so stock market growth is not a reflection of real economic growth. Stocks have gone up as gdp contracted.
And why hasn't this been pointed out to press over and over and over??? MILLIONS of working mothers who juggle a gajillion things at once are laughing at this asshat and his crony congress who can't seem to walk and chew gum at same time!
Trump called off the stimulus negotiations as a walk away from the table tactic. In his drug addled haze he forgot the consequences to equity markets would produce a serious cross current. When that reality dawned on him he careened back to whatever crazed position he is currently holding. None of this makes real sense because he is higher than Venus. The Supreme Court only matters to him if the election is close. It’s looking like it won’t be. He may not be able to absorb that knowledge.
“higher than Venus” indeed!
From some comments from WH insiders he thought the market went up because he was (supposedly) getting better. He didn’t realize that it was because of the passage stimulus bill looking more likely. He has never really understood the markets or anything else about finance, trade, economics, etc.
I vacillate between if Trump is just a complete nincompoop or is he an evil genius. For example does he actually get it that he can't possible win this election as the polls are showing? Therefore his only option is to get Barrett on the court to hopefully vote him in as president if the GOP lawyers can prove, somehow, that the election was fraudulent? Or is he just a complete moron who has no f#!king clue as to what he is doing? What sense does it make to not supply a stimulus if you are looking for more votes? So did he tweet the thwarting of the stimulus just to throw a shiny object for the media to chase. Of course that's something the press simply can't ignore with this madman/evil genius in the White House.
I used to vacillate and have come down firmly in the noncompoop camp. But yes, it’s confusing to watch it all unfold—it could be either one!
According to the radio news, Trump has changed his mind, again, and wants a stimulus he can take credit for.
I suggest you & Throdora demand a dichotomy that doesn’t exist.
Trump is very good at a number of things. Publicity, TV, sales. He’s not good at other things. Geography or spelling.
By no means is he a complete nincompoop. We ignore his talents at our peril.
He’s an evil nincompoop
Mr. Boehlert, I think you miss the bigger story here.
Trump is playing at being President while under the influence of mood altering drugs. We know that steroids can increase aggression. I've heard that one of the unpronounceable drugs Trump was given can lead to feelings of grandiosity.
Not that Trump needs help with either; but imagine what little restraint he has removed by the effects of the drugs he's taking.
Perhaps a sober Trump will reconsider the stimulus.
But mood altered Trump still has access to the nuclear codes.
and this is precisely what (25th Amendment is for. at the least, he should transfer power to Pence while so heavily medicated
Yes, or Pence should take the steps.
Give Trump a week off “to recover his strength”.
Of course, he would never do that. And let's face facts: republicans could have invoked the 25th a long time ago, and it begs the question of why not. Consider: Would Mike Pence have appointed more liberal judges or sought more business and environmental regulation? Truthfully, the policy differences domestically would be negligible, including immigration. It comes down to this: Every single republican in Congress is guilty of treason. Not only for endangering the country by allowing this but why, and the answer is simple: Russia. It isn't limited to the presidential campaign of 2016. It goes much deeper. And it isn't hard to explain why or how.
Can we get off the narrative a short course of CORTICOSTEROIDS (dexamethasone) cause aggression?? Chronic ANABOLIC steroids have been associated with aggression. and which drug did you "hear" causes feelings of grandiosity? from a conspiracy source?? Trump is an idiot ALL BY HIMSELF but it does NOT help ANYONE to try to flame nonexistent flames with so easily disproven hearsay
Check it out. The under Mayo Clinic’s list of more common side effects many are psychological including aggression, anxiety, irritability, trouble thinking and mood changes although how we can tell if Trump’s behavior is the result of his medication or his freak out over the polls which insiders say he definitely reads.
A couple of points. One is that Trump doesn't just need a court that will let him steal the election. He needs a Supreme Court that will block the release of his taxes.
The other is the latest gimmick this morning, where he's claiming he'll sign a stand alone bill. Basically he wants everyone to get a check with his name on it in big letters just before the election. Could he be any more blatant?
I've written up some further thoughts about this here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/10/7/1984353/-Why-did-Trump-kill-the-Stimulus-talks-The-better-to-steal-the-election-and-a-few-other-things?_=2020-10-07T08:13:06.833-07:00