First, we would not be facing these issues if Merrick Garland were alive.
Second, we would not be facing these issues if there were more than five reporters in Washington, DC, and elsewhere who actually cover politics. Instead, we have a bunch of stenographers for whom the L word is not liberal, but lazy.
A few journalist friends have pointed to investigative reporters. First, they do not cover politics. They cover corruption and do it well. That's their job. Compare them with, say, Carl Hulse, the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, who is always hawking bipartisanship as he did recently with a celebration of MAGA Moses Mike deciding after six months of bleeding in Ukraine that maybe the intelligence estimates were correct and he ought to fulfill his constitutional oath.
Second, Dan Rather once said it: Investigative reporting should be a redundancy. All reporting should be investigative. The Habes and her buddies couldn't investigate a one-horse race.
If this is flying under the radar, I guess I am too, because I've heard it reported plenty of times. What I haven't heard much reality-based discussion of is how Trump plans to accomplish all this. The short answer is that Trump is demonstrably, monumentally bad at long-term planning, or even short-term planning beyond "Be there. Will be wild!"
The cabal behind Project 2025, OTOH, is pretty damn good at long-term planning -- for instance, packing the Supreme Court with Catholic reactionaries didn't happen overnight, although three of them did get confirmed during the Trump administration. (Does anyone think that Trump hand-picked Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett?) Project 2025 isn't going anywhere if Trump doesn't get elected, but it can still provide valuable clues to how the anti-democratic right thinks -- and has been thinking for quite a while now.
At the same time I get the problem: a scary, bewildering percentage of prospective voters seem ignorant of what went down in the Trump administration and of what Trump has been saying since he left office, so it's a pipe dream to expect them to grasp the significance of Project 2025. (I also suspect that plenty of Trump voters would applaud Project 2025 if they knew about it: they're only "pro-democracy" as long as white native-born Christians are running the show.)
Perhaps if the maga voters were told that they have been "groomed" to fall victim to authoritarianism by "the media" that they already distrust, some of them may come out of the mental torpor they've been "rallied" into. Words are powerful. Turn theirs back at them.
I dunno. What I've noticed about true believers is that they aren't easily swayed by words -- in fact, they're very good at explaining potentially disagreeable facts away. My personal experience is more with anti-vaxxers and chemtrail aficionados but the MAGA phenomenon seems related. And I can't begin to understand the theology driving the devotion of so many white evangelical Christians to Trump. It has something to do with the Second Coming and/or the Rapture, but that's as far as I get.
Seems like a strange irony is at play with the evangelicals, the folks who eschew elites while themselves believing they are a special elite who will be swooped up to Heaven if only the right abortion and homosexual hating messianic world leader can foul things up in the ME enough to cause the destruction and end of this world. Only they, the so-called pro-lifers who want all life to end, will be allowed into the heavenly gated community.
Heh. I do like "the so-called pro-lifers who want all life to end." Well put. It would be fun if they wound up in the same paradise as the Muslim men looking for their 72 virgins, but I'm pretty sure I won't be there to see it.
It's a waste of time to try to convince the dedicated MAGATs. Those aren't the ones getting the information out there about his plans should consider their audience. After all, the dedicated cultists won't be watching anyway.
I too think they are largely a lost cause, but then my own sister-in-law has actually come around after voting for Trump twice because "he isn't just another politician." We've had civilized disagreements. But the kickers for her were Trump's undiminished love of Putin and his filching classified and top secret documents. By the way, I'm her ride and have been for the past decade, so she was captive to my narratives.
Here's how I see it. Trump is full of shit from his bulging ankles to whatever that is on his chemically stained head. He'll say anything if he thinks it makes him look better, and 24 hours later he'll say the opposite for the same reason. What he says doesn't bother me because he is stuffed with bullshit There is no reason whatsoever to believe a word of it. The only truth in all his bullshit is that if he can gain revenge or make a buck he'll do it. That's it. Whatever these psychopaths are feeding him he will do if it leads him to revenge or money - the only currency he believes in.
Like others here I am less concerned about Trump the Figurehead than about the legions of lazy-brained supporters of their totem who himself is being manipulated by the dark force control freaks of the radical right wing. Seems to me that the Dems need to deal in stark, very stark contrasts and comparisons in their messaging. The Lincoln Project has leaned some in that direction, but the Biden campaign needs amp up the differences: Joe, the family man who's done things for ordinary Americans compared to Trump, a prodigal who's wife has been repeatedly humiliated. Joe and Kamala, reflecting more accurately the diversity in America, and Trump and Whoever, tools of the oligarchic wrecking crew that has been "grooming" the country into loving a neo-feudal system. Joe, who knew how to deal with a pandemic and its aftermath and who himself didn't get Covid contrasted with the hospitalized Trump who had nothing to offer except sappy happy talk and misinformation as tens of thousands died every day and millions lost their jobs. And on and on. Double-screen it all on TV every day. And finally, use the current studies showing not only the efficacy of the Covid vaccine but the prospects of a vaccine against melanoma cancer and possibly other cancers as a salvo against JFKjr.
Another one out of the loving park..... What is tragic to me is that many of us in this group (and similar shebeens across the metaverse) have been aware of most of this for some time. Indeed, the only new item I learned from the excellent TIME article was the bit about monitoring pregnant women and checking their papers at the state line.....still nice to have it all in one place, dictated by the man himself for educational purposes. The tide is beginning to turn as far as news coverage (though not yet at the Grey Lady) - I am seeing more accurate reporting about what Trump has said he will do if reelected - but, Lord, the tide runs slowly, and the country does not have that much time.....
I don’t know how these polls are conducted but they probably don’t go door to door. I who will vote for Joe and Kamala this year would never give a response to a pollster. I just don’t trust anybody is who they claim to be. I’m a normal kind of citizen and voter and still believe that right now our Biden voters are staying mumm, like me. There is going to be a surge of the real silent majority come November. We will blow the lid off into the stratosphere and win by many, many millions of votes without question. It’s the quiet people of our America coming to the rescue to save our democracy. You watch.
“He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.”
As many know, yesterday was the first day our draconian Florida abortion ban was in effect.Today it was reported that our local ( “pro-life”/adoption is the “humane compromise” for women who have been raped )Republican Executive Committee will host Governor Noem at a dinner later this month. Included in the ticket price is a copy of her book.
I think we need a barrage of interviews with the most moronic of his politician supporters like the one on CNN--where their inanities and hypocrisies are called out. Letting them damn themselves seems to be more important than fear of giving them "air time." These interviews should be on whatever media independent voters--or even "low information voters"--most watch.
Every one of those interviewed should be first asked why they support trump--let them ramble--and then asked specifically about whether they support the statements in the Time interview, one by one. That interview has given the media a road map for piercing and specific questions which both expose the surrogates AND get the information out to the public.
There are many who don't know what the stakes are. We have been warned, but so many "See no evil, Hear no evil, but won't acknowledge warnings that feel like an anvil dropping on our heads.
I have said this before and will say it again.
First, we would not be facing these issues if Merrick Garland were alive.
Second, we would not be facing these issues if there were more than five reporters in Washington, DC, and elsewhere who actually cover politics. Instead, we have a bunch of stenographers for whom the L word is not liberal, but lazy.
A few journalist friends have pointed to investigative reporters. First, they do not cover politics. They cover corruption and do it well. That's their job. Compare them with, say, Carl Hulse, the chief Washington correspondent for The New York Times, who is always hawking bipartisanship as he did recently with a celebration of MAGA Moses Mike deciding after six months of bleeding in Ukraine that maybe the intelligence estimates were correct and he ought to fulfill his constitutional oath.
Second, Dan Rather once said it: Investigative reporting should be a redundancy. All reporting should be investigative. The Habes and her buddies couldn't investigate a one-horse race.
Hear, hear!!! Yes and AMEN!!! Thank you, Mr. Green!
If this is flying under the radar, I guess I am too, because I've heard it reported plenty of times. What I haven't heard much reality-based discussion of is how Trump plans to accomplish all this. The short answer is that Trump is demonstrably, monumentally bad at long-term planning, or even short-term planning beyond "Be there. Will be wild!"
The cabal behind Project 2025, OTOH, is pretty damn good at long-term planning -- for instance, packing the Supreme Court with Catholic reactionaries didn't happen overnight, although three of them did get confirmed during the Trump administration. (Does anyone think that Trump hand-picked Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett?) Project 2025 isn't going anywhere if Trump doesn't get elected, but it can still provide valuable clues to how the anti-democratic right thinks -- and has been thinking for quite a while now.
Right on all points.
At the same time I get the problem: a scary, bewildering percentage of prospective voters seem ignorant of what went down in the Trump administration and of what Trump has been saying since he left office, so it's a pipe dream to expect them to grasp the significance of Project 2025. (I also suspect that plenty of Trump voters would applaud Project 2025 if they knew about it: they're only "pro-democracy" as long as white native-born Christians are running the show.)
Perhaps if the maga voters were told that they have been "groomed" to fall victim to authoritarianism by "the media" that they already distrust, some of them may come out of the mental torpor they've been "rallied" into. Words are powerful. Turn theirs back at them.
I dunno. What I've noticed about true believers is that they aren't easily swayed by words -- in fact, they're very good at explaining potentially disagreeable facts away. My personal experience is more with anti-vaxxers and chemtrail aficionados but the MAGA phenomenon seems related. And I can't begin to understand the theology driving the devotion of so many white evangelical Christians to Trump. It has something to do with the Second Coming and/or the Rapture, but that's as far as I get.
Seems like a strange irony is at play with the evangelicals, the folks who eschew elites while themselves believing they are a special elite who will be swooped up to Heaven if only the right abortion and homosexual hating messianic world leader can foul things up in the ME enough to cause the destruction and end of this world. Only they, the so-called pro-lifers who want all life to end, will be allowed into the heavenly gated community.
Heh. I do like "the so-called pro-lifers who want all life to end." Well put. It would be fun if they wound up in the same paradise as the Muslim men looking for their 72 virgins, but I'm pretty sure I won't be there to see it.
They hate the same people. I know them
It's a waste of time to try to convince the dedicated MAGATs. Those aren't the ones getting the information out there about his plans should consider their audience. After all, the dedicated cultists won't be watching anyway.
I too think they are largely a lost cause, but then my own sister-in-law has actually come around after voting for Trump twice because "he isn't just another politician." We've had civilized disagreements. But the kickers for her were Trump's undiminished love of Putin and his filching classified and top secret documents. By the way, I'm her ride and have been for the past decade, so she was captive to my narratives.
Captive works sometimes
Persistence pays off!
Bravo Tom. Bravo!
Now to just wake up a lot more of the country.
Here's how I see it. Trump is full of shit from his bulging ankles to whatever that is on his chemically stained head. He'll say anything if he thinks it makes him look better, and 24 hours later he'll say the opposite for the same reason. What he says doesn't bother me because he is stuffed with bullshit There is no reason whatsoever to believe a word of it. The only truth in all his bullshit is that if he can gain revenge or make a buck he'll do it. That's it. Whatever these psychopaths are feeding him he will do if it leads him to revenge or money - the only currency he believes in.
Calm down and vote.
I can't calm down when I think of his sycophants and enablers...Stephen Miller for example.
Like others here I am less concerned about Trump the Figurehead than about the legions of lazy-brained supporters of their totem who himself is being manipulated by the dark force control freaks of the radical right wing. Seems to me that the Dems need to deal in stark, very stark contrasts and comparisons in their messaging. The Lincoln Project has leaned some in that direction, but the Biden campaign needs amp up the differences: Joe, the family man who's done things for ordinary Americans compared to Trump, a prodigal who's wife has been repeatedly humiliated. Joe and Kamala, reflecting more accurately the diversity in America, and Trump and Whoever, tools of the oligarchic wrecking crew that has been "grooming" the country into loving a neo-feudal system. Joe, who knew how to deal with a pandemic and its aftermath and who himself didn't get Covid contrasted with the hospitalized Trump who had nothing to offer except sappy happy talk and misinformation as tens of thousands died every day and millions lost their jobs. And on and on. Double-screen it all on TV every day. And finally, use the current studies showing not only the efficacy of the Covid vaccine but the prospects of a vaccine against melanoma cancer and possibly other cancers as a salvo against JFKjr.
Another one out of the loving park..... What is tragic to me is that many of us in this group (and similar shebeens across the metaverse) have been aware of most of this for some time. Indeed, the only new item I learned from the excellent TIME article was the bit about monitoring pregnant women and checking their papers at the state line.....still nice to have it all in one place, dictated by the man himself for educational purposes. The tide is beginning to turn as far as news coverage (though not yet at the Grey Lady) - I am seeing more accurate reporting about what Trump has said he will do if reelected - but, Lord, the tide runs slowly, and the country does not have that much time.....
I don’t know how these polls are conducted but they probably don’t go door to door. I who will vote for Joe and Kamala this year would never give a response to a pollster. I just don’t trust anybody is who they claim to be. I’m a normal kind of citizen and voter and still believe that right now our Biden voters are staying mumm, like me. There is going to be a surge of the real silent majority come November. We will blow the lid off into the stratosphere and win by many, many millions of votes without question. It’s the quiet people of our America coming to the rescue to save our democracy. You watch.
Great post, TC. 📣 Yes,the silent part out loud….
“He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.”
As many know, yesterday was the first day our draconian Florida abortion ban was in effect.Today it was reported that our local ( “pro-life”/adoption is the “humane compromise” for women who have been raped )Republican Executive Committee will host Governor Noem at a dinner later this month. Included in the ticket price is a copy of her book.
Please share. 📣
⬇️
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/672448-brevard-republicans-announce-puppy-killer-kristi-noem-will-keynote-annual-dinner/
😝😡😫
🤢🤮
I think we need a barrage of interviews with the most moronic of his politician supporters like the one on CNN--where their inanities and hypocrisies are called out. Letting them damn themselves seems to be more important than fear of giving them "air time." These interviews should be on whatever media independent voters--or even "low information voters"--most watch.
Every one of those interviewed should be first asked why they support trump--let them ramble--and then asked specifically about whether they support the statements in the Time interview, one by one. That interview has given the media a road map for piercing and specific questions which both expose the surrogates AND get the information out to the public.
Olbermann was all over this on his podcast.
There are many who don't know what the stakes are. We have been warned, but so many "See no evil, Hear no evil, but won't acknowledge warnings that feel like an anvil dropping on our heads.