Planet America

[Meadmaker]

I just watched an ABC News segment about Georgia poll workers conducting active shooter drills.

[sparks]

What's a Presidential election without a little gun fire? It's UMERCA!!!11

[grayman]

[Admin]

That's 100% true.

Good piece here: https://newrepublic.com/post/188197/tru ... dscape-fox

[Meadmaker]

That's 100% true.

Good piece here: https://newrepublic.com/post/188197/tru ... dscape-fox

There is much truth there, but I think there are also a couple of failings.

For example, there's this quote:

And that is why Donald Trump won. Indeed, the right-wing media is why he exists in our political lives in the first place. Don’t believe me? Try this thought experiment. Imagine Trump coming down that escalator in 2015 with no right-wing media; no Fox News; an agenda still set, and mores still established, by staid old CBS News, the House of Murrow, and The New York Times.

That atmosphere would have denied an outrageous figure like Trump the oxygen he needed to survive and flourish. He just would not have been taken seriously at all. In that world, ruled by a traditional mainstream media, Trump would have been seen by Republicans as a liability, and they would have done what they failed to do in real life—banded together to marginalize him.

That's all true, except the first sentence. Was it the right wing media that enabled him?

I say no.

I say it was CNN.

They gave that dude tons of free air time and pumped him up as if he were a credible candidate. He was on interview programs constantly in 2015, far more so than any other candidate, including Hillary Clinton.

Why did they do it? I have heard two theories.

1. He was such a clown that he was entertaining, and pumped up CNN's ratings.
2. Being liberally biased, they didn't take Trump seriously, but they wanted to pump him up as a disruptive force in order to hurt the Republican nominee, whoever he was going to be, because it certainly wasn't going to be Donald Trump. When he actually got the nomination, they, and the rest of the mainstream media, were happy, because while they did not expect him to get the nomination, they were axtremely confident he was not going to win the election.

I'm certain that number 1 is true, but the two items are not mutually exclusive.

So, I think the author of the article is correct to blame (or credit?) the right wing media for Trump's victory, but you also have to ask why the left wing media, that he calls the "mainstream media", failed to stop it.

[President Bush]

By not amplifying right-wing talking points. Oops, too late.

I used to wonder why Bernie Sanders' rallies back in 2015-2016 weren't extensively covered by television networks the way Trump rallies were. That's where this was all set in motion, or not in the case of Sanders.

[sparks]

Equal coverage used to be the law of the land.

Until Ronnie Rubberhead got hold of the Communications Act of '34 and sucked the life out of it.

Want to blame a group? Blame the Rethuglicunts. A person? Look no further than Bonzo. A goddamned fucking actor. And now Mango for a second term who started off life as a reality TV asshat.

Jesus Titty Fucking Christ this shit has got to fucking well stop. But with the state of the electorates brains, I fear it won't.

Most satisfying thing that could happen would be for dumb stupid idiot Umerca to get exactly what it deserves: Mango pronounces himself King forever and the Republic becomes just another banana land piece of shit hole. Hell, we're half way there already.

[stanky]

The rightward shift, which is a global phenomena, reflects the agenda of wealth,which, at this stage, demands authoritarian governing. America is simply not permitted to elect someone whose agenda is opposed to this wealth transfer. Bernie may as well have been assassinated. Same with Jill Stein and Bobby...who's agenda was interchangeable with Sander's. Funny that the social democrats have had to find homes with the rnc. Tulsi Gabbard is a good example. She mopped the floor with Kamala when they were both running for high office.

We haven't had 2 parties in decades.

[grayman]

Most satisfying thing that could happen would be for dumb stupid idiot Umerca to get exactly what it deserves: Mango pronounces himself King forever and the Republic becomes just another banana land piece of shit hole. Hell, we're half way there already.

According to Bob Woodward, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reportedly said: “Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea. Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in.”

Imagine a time when that becomes law. One becomes subject to arrest by not standing to adore Dear Leader Trump.

"Hey, that guy over there in the wheelchair, he's not standing for me. Take him away!"

Nah, wouldn't happen.

Trump doesn't like the physically challenged anywhere near his events.

[President Bush]

That's 100% true.

Good piece here: https://newrepublic.com/post/188197/tru ... dscape-fox

You might appreciate this, too:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ber-8-2024