GOOD THING: This morning, Joe Scarborough was hyper-excoriating Senate Republicans for not pressuring Trump to allow for daily intel briefings for Pres.-Elect Biden. I wonder how many of them are watching.
What Trump is doing is so anti-American, antipatriotic, anti-democratic, it goes beyond the pale, and, worse yet, his supporters, all who have reaped the benefits of the US Constitution for their entire lives, simply don't care, or have forgotten our country's principles.
Yes Joe was doing really well. Then he and Donnie D. had to start talking about how this is s center-right country which is a false narrative. Poll after poll over the last few years have shown that a majority of Americans want to keep abortion legal, want universal affordable health care with no penalty for pre-existing conditions, support same-sex marriage, oppose tax breaks for the wealthy, etc. There is nothing to the right about any of those positions.
But I give Joe credit for calling out the cowardice of Republicans. I wish someone would point out that these men are afraid to jeopardize their jobs to defend out democracy but they routinely expect other people to literally risk their lives doing that.
Theodora30 — yes, point taken. No, for sure, Scarborough frustrates me as much as he can 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 inspire me with what I mentioned above. But he does have an audience of folks in Congress who pay attention to him and, so, for being direct and talking them down, kudos — where others in the media, to Eric's point, are clearly cowering.
That is why I watch him, too. He is definitely what they call an “influencer” in political circles. And I really do appreaciate the fact that he has been calling out Republicans for quite awhile now. But he still also often pushes Beltway conventional wisdom like the “center right”baloney that has been so damaging to Democrats but he sure beats Chuck Todd.
And now some in the media are helping Charles Koch with his “I regret being partisan makeover”. Compare the this WaPo article which helps Koch with PR makeover by just repeating Koch’s claims to be a reasonable, fair player but ignores all the evidence that he is lying:
Reminds me of when I was a teenager and read about how Nixon had hired PR experts to give him an image makeover and sell him as the new Nixon. I was shocked that the media bought it. They had reported on the artificial PR makeover but later began reporting about the “New Nixon” as if he really had changed. I was dumbfounded that journalists bought what was obviously only a change in style, not substance. It was years before I realized that appearance not reality is what matters most to our shallow political journalists and pundits. There is no way they would give an American version of an Angela Merkel the time of day.
I don't know, Eric. I find reporters just mindlessly asking R senators over and over again when they're going to talk to President-Elect Biden fascinating and a very good use of my time. /s
It is absolutely maddening. Is it that the press is also fearful of the Trump mob? Gladly Trump is going away. And if electors were to cast their votes for Trump when their state went to Biden, I do believe the outrage would spark a hot civil war. Doubtful that will happen but I'm saying that with 98 percent certainly, not 100. And that's because there are 72 million folks who after four years of racist white supremacist rhetoric, throwing immigrant babies in cages, being impeached for strong-arming a foreign sovereign nation to get dirt on a political opponent, failing miserably to handle a pandemic that has killed close to a quarter million fellow Americans, wanted four more years of this sick man. Trump didn't create these people. They have been hiding in plain site forever. They are the Frankenstein monster that got out of the lab and now no one can put back. Trump was simply the catalyst who gave the mob the ability to say it's okay to come out of the closet. Who was Dr. Frankenstein? The Republican Party for one, who blew the dog whistle for 30 years that the dark skin people are coming to get you and that the Democrats are demons. The other is the press who for decades have sided with the Republicans because that's where the money is and they by and large own the media outlets. So is the press now afraid to come out against the monster they helped to create? Are journalists frightened of being a target of an attack? Perhaps that's part of the reason. It certainly is for the Republicans who long ago gave up on the idea of governance. Rep. Senators have calculated it is better for their reelections to side with a coup attempt than to support the Constitution that they have taken an oath. I can't stress enough to relatives and friends at how important these two senate races are in Georgia. The only way we begin to turn the tide is to control the House, the Senate, and the Oval Office. We're two thirds of the way there with a really shot at pulling this off.
The one thing that the occupant of the Oval Office may have gotten right was when he referred to some members of the media as the enemies of the people. It's just that he got the wrong ones.
Axios is designed to be, “Just the facts”. It tries to avoid argument or opinion in favor of straight news. We do not condemn Clayton Kershaw for not hitting .300. It’s not what he does.
That said two of the ten morning stories report a meeting of CEOs to determine what they’d to in the event of a Trump coup and President Obama’s thoughts on the issue.
Given the Axios structure; that’s about as on board as they can get.
Finally, I would point out that Axios broke a number of stories on Trump statements and malfeasance.
ah interesting point re: Axios structure. But I guess the question is how do they deal w/ just-the-facts approach when the facts in play are so radical and dangerous to democracy ?
Well, how about an article of a meeting of 500(?) major CEOs discussing how to prevent or react to a Trump attempt to remain in power? How about an article about President Obama condemning Trump’s actions?
In point of fact, Mr. Boehlert, what has Trump “done”? Not what he’s “talked”. Not what others are “talking”. What’s he done? He’s fired a number of officials. He’s filed a dozen(?) failed lawsuits. This is bad, no question. But is it a coup?
Has Trump’s inherent incompetence alerted enough Americans to insure the failure of an attempted coup?
Sir what is happening is his actions are for his followers who on any given day will pick up arms against our country. Every GOP member who says nothing is inviting civil unrest. If you stand for wrong you'll stand for anything, so the GOP is at anything.
I am not sure how people being aware of Trump's inherent incompetence will avert a coup, but I suspect Trump's inherent laziness will assure that a coup planned by him will be another sloppy failure.
It’s that Trump’s incompetence has alerted us to watch for and prevent a coup. Whooda thunk the President would steal the election? Now you see him trying it. We’re ready. We’re fighting back.
The “Four Seasons” debacle ought to be proof enough. Trump sends his minions to the Capitol and they’ll wind up going to the Capital Center.
A few minutes ago I saw a repost of this article on Twitter. There are all kinds of experts out there- policy, academic, legal and otherwise. Not long ago I fell upon Dr. Bandy Lee, a forensic psychiatrist from Yale whose expertise has been assessing the destructive influence of personality disorders by cult leaders, child soldiers recruited by despots and the like. As a trained mental health professional who is no longer threatened by the politics of professional organizations that try to quell our observations of the lunatic cult of Trump, I’ve found a new energy and understanding from Dr. Lee’s work and the platform she holds. In spite of the WAPO and NYT’s attempts to squash her efforts by giving voice to a toxic and politically motivated psychiatrist who is the former head of the APA, she has persisted (“nevertheless”) and is gaining traction in the public discourse. She sees this as her civic duty to expose the psychology, behavioral observations (Tweets & actions) of Trump and all of his followers and most I’m importantly SOLUTIONS and recommendations for policy makers and all of us who will have to endure this monster created by media (Scarborough, Celebrity Apprentice, FOX, Limbaugh), Republicans and his followers for years to come! I don’t know her, but I know SHE KNOWS what she’s trying to tell all of his.
If there is one type of article I would like retired by the media, forever, it's the "we need to understand the Trump voter" article. Read several just today, and it was horrifying. I was shocked how easily they made their racist and bigoted comments, and no more excuses or trying to hide the racism and bigotry. Even using their full names, because now they have nothing to hide.
Yet the media continues to peddle this nonsense that we just need to understand them. It's just hate, pure simple hate [with a whole lot of hypocrisy thrown in].
The inconsistencies among reports and media are what bother me. No one can seem to take a stance and hold to it. So much knee-jerk reacting is going to mean replacement surgery!
Maybe soonish there will be some up-and-coming journalists with balls, brains, and backing enough to start a respectable, mass-read, "newspaper" that just tells the truth, in a way even a Rethuglicon can understand.
One big problem comes with Opinion pieces getting too much traction when they're not necessarily even representing a particular rag. Those pieces have been rather dangerous these past four years. To me, they're usually pot-stirring, thoughtless work disguised as journalism.
I have no problem for people wanting power so they can improve our lives and our democracy. It is power for ego or for anti-democratic ideology that I take issue with.
GOOD THING: This morning, Joe Scarborough was hyper-excoriating Senate Republicans for not pressuring Trump to allow for daily intel briefings for Pres.-Elect Biden. I wonder how many of them are watching.
What Trump is doing is so anti-American, antipatriotic, anti-democratic, it goes beyond the pale, and, worse yet, his supporters, all who have reaped the benefits of the US Constitution for their entire lives, simply don't care, or have forgotten our country's principles.
yes, that’s a good sign. The more voices the better
Yes Joe was doing really well. Then he and Donnie D. had to start talking about how this is s center-right country which is a false narrative. Poll after poll over the last few years have shown that a majority of Americans want to keep abortion legal, want universal affordable health care with no penalty for pre-existing conditions, support same-sex marriage, oppose tax breaks for the wealthy, etc. There is nothing to the right about any of those positions.
But I give Joe credit for calling out the cowardice of Republicans. I wish someone would point out that these men are afraid to jeopardize their jobs to defend out democracy but they routinely expect other people to literally risk their lives doing that.
Theodora30 — yes, point taken. No, for sure, Scarborough frustrates me as much as he can 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 inspire me with what I mentioned above. But he does have an audience of folks in Congress who pay attention to him and, so, for being direct and talking them down, kudos — where others in the media, to Eric's point, are clearly cowering.
That is why I watch him, too. He is definitely what they call an “influencer” in political circles. And I really do appreaciate the fact that he has been calling out Republicans for quite awhile now. But he still also often pushes Beltway conventional wisdom like the “center right”baloney that has been so damaging to Democrats but he sure beats Chuck Todd.
And now some in the media are helping Charles Koch with his “I regret being partisan makeover”. Compare the this WaPo article which helps Koch with PR makeover by just repeating Koch’s claims to be a reasonable, fair player but ignores all the evidence that he is lying:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/13/daily-202-charles-koch-congratulates-biden-says-he-wants-work-together-many-issues-possible/
to this one in Vanity Fair which gives facts about what Koch has been doing, instead of regurgitating what he says he believes:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/11/charles-koch-what-a-mess
Reminds me of when I was a teenager and read about how Nixon had hired PR experts to give him an image makeover and sell him as the new Nixon. I was shocked that the media bought it. They had reported on the artificial PR makeover but later began reporting about the “New Nixon” as if he really had changed. I was dumbfounded that journalists bought what was obviously only a change in style, not substance. It was years before I realized that appearance not reality is what matters most to our shallow political journalists and pundits. There is no way they would give an American version of an Angela Merkel the time of day.
I don't know, Eric. I find reporters just mindlessly asking R senators over and over again when they're going to talk to President-Elect Biden fascinating and a very good use of my time. /s
Ha! agreed
It is absolutely maddening. Is it that the press is also fearful of the Trump mob? Gladly Trump is going away. And if electors were to cast their votes for Trump when their state went to Biden, I do believe the outrage would spark a hot civil war. Doubtful that will happen but I'm saying that with 98 percent certainly, not 100. And that's because there are 72 million folks who after four years of racist white supremacist rhetoric, throwing immigrant babies in cages, being impeached for strong-arming a foreign sovereign nation to get dirt on a political opponent, failing miserably to handle a pandemic that has killed close to a quarter million fellow Americans, wanted four more years of this sick man. Trump didn't create these people. They have been hiding in plain site forever. They are the Frankenstein monster that got out of the lab and now no one can put back. Trump was simply the catalyst who gave the mob the ability to say it's okay to come out of the closet. Who was Dr. Frankenstein? The Republican Party for one, who blew the dog whistle for 30 years that the dark skin people are coming to get you and that the Democrats are demons. The other is the press who for decades have sided with the Republicans because that's where the money is and they by and large own the media outlets. So is the press now afraid to come out against the monster they helped to create? Are journalists frightened of being a target of an attack? Perhaps that's part of the reason. It certainly is for the Republicans who long ago gave up on the idea of governance. Rep. Senators have calculated it is better for their reelections to side with a coup attempt than to support the Constitution that they have taken an oath. I can't stress enough to relatives and friends at how important these two senate races are in Georgia. The only way we begin to turn the tide is to control the House, the Senate, and the Oval Office. We're two thirds of the way there with a really shot at pulling this off.
The one thing that the occupant of the Oval Office may have gotten right was when he referred to some members of the media as the enemies of the people. It's just that he got the wrong ones.
A minor quibble with you today, Mr. Boehlert.
Axios is designed to be, “Just the facts”. It tries to avoid argument or opinion in favor of straight news. We do not condemn Clayton Kershaw for not hitting .300. It’s not what he does.
That said two of the ten morning stories report a meeting of CEOs to determine what they’d to in the event of a Trump coup and President Obama’s thoughts on the issue.
Given the Axios structure; that’s about as on board as they can get.
Finally, I would point out that Axios broke a number of stories on Trump statements and malfeasance.
ah interesting point re: Axios structure. But I guess the question is how do they deal w/ just-the-facts approach when the facts in play are so radical and dangerous to democracy ?
Well, how about an article of a meeting of 500(?) major CEOs discussing how to prevent or react to a Trump attempt to remain in power? How about an article about President Obama condemning Trump’s actions?
In point of fact, Mr. Boehlert, what has Trump “done”? Not what he’s “talked”. Not what others are “talking”. What’s he done? He’s fired a number of officials. He’s filed a dozen(?) failed lawsuits. This is bad, no question. But is it a coup?
Has Trump’s inherent incompetence alerted enough Americans to insure the failure of an attempted coup?
Sir what is happening is his actions are for his followers who on any given day will pick up arms against our country. Every GOP member who says nothing is inviting civil unrest. If you stand for wrong you'll stand for anything, so the GOP is at anything.
I am not sure how people being aware of Trump's inherent incompetence will avert a coup, but I suspect Trump's inherent laziness will assure that a coup planned by him will be another sloppy failure.
It’s that Trump’s incompetence has alerted us to watch for and prevent a coup. Whooda thunk the President would steal the election? Now you see him trying it. We’re ready. We’re fighting back.
The “Four Seasons” debacle ought to be proof enough. Trump sends his minions to the Capitol and they’ll wind up going to the Capital Center.
Build a mob. Feed a mob. Fear a mob. Craven.
A few minutes ago I saw a repost of this article on Twitter. There are all kinds of experts out there- policy, academic, legal and otherwise. Not long ago I fell upon Dr. Bandy Lee, a forensic psychiatrist from Yale whose expertise has been assessing the destructive influence of personality disorders by cult leaders, child soldiers recruited by despots and the like. As a trained mental health professional who is no longer threatened by the politics of professional organizations that try to quell our observations of the lunatic cult of Trump, I’ve found a new energy and understanding from Dr. Lee’s work and the platform she holds. In spite of the WAPO and NYT’s attempts to squash her efforts by giving voice to a toxic and politically motivated psychiatrist who is the former head of the APA, she has persisted (“nevertheless”) and is gaining traction in the public discourse. She sees this as her civic duty to expose the psychology, behavioral observations (Tweets & actions) of Trump and all of his followers and most I’m importantly SOLUTIONS and recommendations for policy makers and all of us who will have to endure this monster created by media (Scarborough, Celebrity Apprentice, FOX, Limbaugh), Republicans and his followers for years to come! I don’t know her, but I know SHE KNOWS what she’s trying to tell all of his.
If there is one type of article I would like retired by the media, forever, it's the "we need to understand the Trump voter" article. Read several just today, and it was horrifying. I was shocked how easily they made their racist and bigoted comments, and no more excuses or trying to hide the racism and bigotry. Even using their full names, because now they have nothing to hide.
Yet the media continues to peddle this nonsense that we just need to understand them. It's just hate, pure simple hate [with a whole lot of hypocrisy thrown in].
The inconsistencies among reports and media are what bother me. No one can seem to take a stance and hold to it. So much knee-jerk reacting is going to mean replacement surgery!
Maybe soonish there will be some up-and-coming journalists with balls, brains, and backing enough to start a respectable, mass-read, "newspaper" that just tells the truth, in a way even a Rethuglicon can understand.
One big problem comes with Opinion pieces getting too much traction when they're not necessarily even representing a particular rag. Those pieces have been rather dangerous these past four years. To me, they're usually pot-stirring, thoughtless work disguised as journalism.
I have no problem for people wanting power so they can improve our lives and our democracy. It is power for ego or for anti-democratic ideology that I take issue with.