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"Alternative Facts": Trump's War on the Media

Although I've probably focused on exposing Trump to an unhealthy degree, it seems I did make 2 predictions months ago that seem to have been born out by time and events.

I said the Russian story was the most important aspect to the 2016 election. At the time, I was only thinking in terms of Russian interference in our sovereignty. I simply imagined history would surely focus on that aspect. I thought it would be a bigger story then it was. Periodically, it would rise to the top of the news, only to sink like a rock still again. No more, apparently. Thanks to leaks, that likely represent elements in the intelligence community delivering payback to Trump, it's at the top of the news again. Rightly or wrongly, justly or not, beside the point or not(thinking of Siro's observations here), the Russian story is now blowing up. The GOP leadership may yet bury it. Or not. But I nailed it here.

The other prediction I made that has come to pass is I said Trump would govern via Twitter, TV appearances he could control, and that he would continue to hold campaign style rallies. At the time, I felt he would hold rallies because his ego needed live crowds. What I did not realize is these rallies would actually be in service to re-election in 2020. So today, Friday, 2-17-17, Trump will be holding his first rally of the 2020 election in Florida. When have we ever seen such a thing? One month into his first term, Trump is holding a rally for the 2020 election. Rallies it is, and they will continue. I nailed it. It is a clever ploy, especially if the media, as usual, cover his appearance. He gets to rally his followers and sling alternative facts all over the air waves. Just as I thought, he will govern in part through rallies.

Here is a link to Trump's unannounced press conference on 2-16-17. The Q and A portion begins at the 24:30 mark, and that's when it gets highly entertaining. For someone like myself, I get to see The Big Lie being laid out by Trump for public consumption. That public being his supporters. But, I tried listening to this through the eyes of a supporter as well, and I think supporters will love his performance here. I think it was the Washington Post who called this "a press conference for the ages", and of course CNN came under fire like never before. The narrative laid out by Trump is that the intelligence leaks were real, but the mainstream news about those leaks is fake. Once the Q and A begin, it's journalistic truths vs Trump truths, aka alternative facts. Just as Trump predicts here, the mainstream is saying he ranted and raved. Yet I think he did a masterful job in his attempt to kill the Russian story and make the story about illegal leaks of classified material.

So, if you think Trump and his surrogates are promoting The Big Lie, that confirmation bias is here for the taking. But Trump supporters will love this performance as well. If the media cannot regain more credibility in these matters, he will continue to pummel their mainstream representatives. Today's rally in Florida should witness the crowds wildly cheering his attacks on the dishonest, lying mainstream media.

Anyway, this presser was over an hour long. But, whichever side of our nation's great divide that you are on, this really was a jaw dropping event, especially once the Q and A's start. I doubt anyone has ever seen a press conference quite like this.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jL3yF9wYR3U
 
Correction: the Florida election rally will be held on Saturday, 2/18, not Friday....
 
DutchJazzer said:
why?

beause he is playing 4d chess and starting his campaign now, while the democrats are in dissaray?
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There are a ton of things I'd rather have him focus on instead of a campaign 4 years in advance. His record will be his biggest campaign strength or weakness.

Immigration
Jobs
Military
Russia
Education
Trade deals
Energy...
 
How that trump thingie workin out? Has the wall been built? Have all the poor uneducated people in Kentucky and West Virginia seen their jobs come back? Is America not sick but great again???

Get Educated
 
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DutchJazzer said:
why?

beause he is playing 4d chess and starting his campaign now, while the democrats are in dissaray?
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Democrats in disarray? You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Here, let me educate you:

First, Donald Trump has been a godsend for democrats. By Clinton losing and Donald trump winning it forces the democrats to seek out new and more progressive blood. Had Clinton won, it would have sustained the pragmatic GOP lite that the Clinton's ascribe to. Clearly, the democratic base wants a younger more progressive host of leaders.

Second, Donald Trump is cancer for the GOP. Every week the *** hole embarrasses himself and this county. He already has a disapproval rating in 4 weeks that took Bush nearly 6 years to earn. Every week that goes by without his major party leaders calling him out erodes the public's confidence in the GOP. Personally, I hope Donald makes it to November of 2018 so repubs can take it on the chin! The worst thing IMO would be to impeach him too quickly and allow Pence to steady this ship. Trump isn't accomplishing anything. Seriously, look at the facts. Aside from his temporary executive orders, he hasn't passed any legislation nor has he even filled his cabinet. All he's doing is dividing the Republican Party and eroding the public's confidence in his party.

Lastly, the 1964 election was a disaster for the GOP. Yet it's effects are still being felt. If United several groups incapable of being United prior. Likewise, Donald's Election and obscene behavior is turning off millions of moderates and conservatives. Those who previously wouldn't have given a progressive a chance are now giving ear to their message. My in-laws are perfect examples of this. Born and raised in Utah, they've always been staunch defenders of the GOP. Not anymore. They see the craziness of republican fake news, the behavior of trump, and the indifference shown by Ryan and McConnell, and are quickly finding themselves liking the DNC and the moderate progressive message more and more. The DNC doesn't necessarily need to panic. Just be a organized party and maintain the messages preserving social security and Medicaid, fair taxes, and equality and the GOP will hang itself. Hell, just look at the demographics. America isn't becoming less diverse, but more diverse. Trump never appealed to young people, and his presidency isn't doing anything for them. Demographics is a science that the GOP seems completely oblivious to.

Trump is the DNC's best weapon.

Get Educated
 
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^^ If shouting loudly to silence opposing opinions is a sign of progressivism, then I'm sure Trump's presidency energized the progressives. The rest is the same old story about youths and demographics that said Trump will lose and the GOP will never win again. And look where we are now.

But please, do carry on educating the masses.
 
Siro said:
I like John Oliver a lot. I think he's more or less an independent thinker (who happens to be liberal), and his show often goes against the narrative of the zeitgeist to tackle real issues based on original research. That's why we get almost nothing about trivial progressive causes, like the Keystone pipeline, and more about actually significant issues, like special districts.

But in this episode, he has joined the narrative. I wouldn't be surprised if his next episode is about Trump's ties to Russia. And that is unfortunate.

The progressives who create most of the content in mass media has become hung up on Trump's stupidity. Ya, we get it. The man is uninformed. But in their outrage at Trump's character, they can no longer see the forest for the trees.

A lot of the stuff, although far from all, that Trump talks about are in fact real issues. That he talks about them in a stupid way doesn't make them any less real. A lot of his complaints have historically been shared by the left, but has now been abandoned because of their adoption by Trump. When Trump talks about the high crime rate, he's practically right. He's not literally right, as liberals love to point out. Crime is at an historic low. Yeah, but nonetheless, the US has a serious crime problem. By far the highest in the developed world. In some areas, it can fairly be called a crisis. But we're no longer interested in talking about that, because we want to talk about how stupid Trump is instead. I think I liked it better when the conversation was about gun control. As shallow a solution as that is, at least both sides acknowledged that the US has a crime problem.

The same applies to Trump's comments about blacks. Blacks ARE disproportionately poor. Black neighborhood DO have disproportionately high crime. It is a serious issue looking for a solution. But we no longer care about that. We care about self-righteous lovey dovey **** about how blacks can be found in all strata of society, and how hateful Trump's generalizations are.

Most importantly, I fully understand the gripe Trump's supporters have with the workings of the economy. "The economy recovered under President Obama, and we're basically at full employment". LOL. Line, hook, and sinker! In reality, we have significant unemployment (when you count ALL unemployed people, not just those who meet the complex criteria to be counted), and we have a ton of underemployed people. We also have a ****-ton of unskilled and semi-skilled workers who are wage slaves working 60+ hours a week to be able to provide a basic life for their family, while others continue to become richer and richer from the fruits of the poor sobs labor. And we managed to make this into some kind of nationalist creed, as if it's something to be proud of. Sad (Trump voice).

The thing with Trump is not that he's wrong about the problems the US is facing. It is that he doesn't understand the causes of these problems, and thus he's unable to provide meaningful solutions. The media should be providing input on why what he's doing won't work, and explain why certain alternatives might be better. But no. They validate Trump's supporters suspicion that the media and the government establishment are in cahoots, and that they don't have the good of the American people on their mind.

I think this is the biggest tragedy of Trump's presidency. The opposition has turned into ideology-cheerleaders who just want to see Trump fail. Trump's issues WERE their issues a few months ago. But now they're the issues of Trump and his stupid Nazi supporters. **** em. Let's just laugh at them!

I only have an hour before bed, and I'd like to smoke some weed and read a bit before falling asleep. So that was a very condensed version of what could have been a much longer rant. Good night. :)
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Problem with Oliver is that he's become a Clintonite.

Also, you're talking about tackling those issues with substance.

Unfortunately, almost all of the issues you listed (save for gun control) are issues that most mainstream politicians are against tackling, given the oligarchic nature of American politics.

It'll be the same, unless the left either makes their own party or steals the Dems from the rich
 
I bet if we keep voting for "right to work legislation", give billionaires handouts, and refuse to embrace green technology, workers will have their wages restored.

As much as people want to claim that trump talked about those issues (despite his spewing BS about them) and that's why he won seems to underscore the fact that most candidates talked about wealth inequality and wages. Trump was the only one who actively used racism and xenophobia to campaign.

CNN a few weeks ago did a report on this all white community in Kentucky suffering in economic plight. Most were excited about trump and praised what he was doing. Had he created a single job? Many reluctantly admitted that he had done nothing to help out their economically depressed down. But what had he done? He had just issued the immigration ban executive order.

LBJ said it best:

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
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This is the source of trump's popularity, not economics.

Get Educated
 
Stoked said:
There are a ton of things I'd rather have him focus on instead of a campaign 4 years in advance. His record will be his biggest campaign strength or weakness.

Immigration
Jobs
Military
Russia
Education
Trade deals
Energy...
Click to expand...


and that is true, but he has been going at cutthroat pace, the media cant catch up to him and all the things he does.
or maybe its propaganda
 
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