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Politics in the Media


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21 minutes ago, Pixel said:

I'm surprised he didn't call them out for misspelling "Unpresidented".

lol.  Funny thing is that book has been out for nearly a month. I have it--haven't read it.  But the cover photo of Trump is perfectly nice--except for one thing:  his very, very big double (almost triple) chin.  That tweet is a good reminder of how those kinds of photos make him crazy.  C'mon media--let's see many more just like them!

Those kinds of photos will be a reminder for him of the reality of the presidency and a free press that can publish whatever the hell kinds of pictures they want to. He wanted the job, now he's got it and he isn't going to be able to control everything anymore like he has in the past. More jowls!

ETA: "Hope it does well" explains why I haven't felt like reading it.

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2 hours ago, fishcakes said:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/815989154555297792

SRthXPt.jpg

He's right. They used a picture that shows his face.

Our next president actually tweeted this?  He should be spending his time studying up on the hellish responsibilities coming his way in 3 weeks, not tweeting about which photo of himself that a broadcasting company uses on its book.  Y'know what, fellow Americans?  This isn't going to go very well.  He's obviously going to be a "front" and I'm very concerned about who actually is going to be president of our country.

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Heh....he's referring to Joe Scarborough...

Weaver is worth a follow if you're on Twitter.  He's Kasich's former campaign strategist, but also a #neverTrump 'er.  He's been (along w/ McMullin) leading the charge for bi-partisan resistance a/c #RussianHack.

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Hey, stewedsquash! It happened! I finally clicked on one of the twitchy.com links (re: Chuck Todd whom I've grown to like).

The tweet was:  Chuck Todd ✔ @chucktodd    "You're so vain, you probably think this tweet is about you. New Year's resolution for all media (concierge&combative): you aren't the story!"

Since I can't stand Joe Scarborough (and took this to be aimed at him), I'm glad Todd tweeted it.  But I was interested in his use of "concierge media", a term I just heard from him for the first time yesterday on MTP. Apparently, it is the members of the media who act like concierges for Trump, directing problems away from him, directing positive things to him. When he mentioned it yesterday, he said only "They're at all networks" but my thought was first to Joe Scarborough & Mika Brezezhinski (sp).

This tweet confirms that's how he thinks of them, as "concierge media for Trump".  It fits, too.  (Go, Chuck!)

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I heart you, Dan Rather.  

Quote

 

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/a-lie-is-a-lie-is-a-lie-dan-rather-shreds-wsj-editor-for-reluctance-to-call-out-trumps-bullsht/

‘A lie, is a lie, is a lie’: Dan Rather shreds WSJ editor for reluctance to call out Drumpf’s bullsh*t

gendary CBS newsman Dan Rather lit into the Wall Street Journal’s editor-in-chief for saying he was reluctant to call out obvious lies by Donald Drumpf by saying one had to consider the president-elect’s “moral intent.”

On Sunday’s Meet The Press, WSJ’s Gerard Baker was asked about Drumpf’s penchant to blurt or tweet things off the top of his head that have no basis in reality. According to the Baker, calling those things a “lie” would be going too far.

“I’d be careful about using the word, ‘lie.’” Baker said. “‘Lie’ implies much more than just saying something that’s false. It implies a deliberate intent to mislead…I think if you start ascribing a moral intent, as it were, to someone by saying that they’ve lied, I think you run the risk that you look like you are, like you’re not being objective.”

On Facebook, Rather blasted Baker by opening with “A lie, is a lie, is a lie.”

“Journalism, as I was taught it, is a process of getting as close to some valid version of the truth as is humanly possible. And one of my definitions of news is information that the powerful don’t want you to know,” Rather wrote.

“It is not the proper role of journalists to meet lies—especially from someone of Mr. Drumpf’s stature and power—by hiding behind semantics and euphemisms. Our role is to call it as we see it, based on solid reporting. When something is, in fact, a demonstrable lie, it is our responsibility to say so,” he continued. “As I have said before and will say as long as people are willing to listen, this is a gut check moment for the press. We are being confronted by versions of what are claimed to be ‘the truth’ that resemble something spewed out by a fertilizer-spreader in a wind tunnel. And there is every indication that this will only continue in the Tweets and statements of the man who will now hold forth from behind the Great Seal of the President of the United States.”

Rather concluded by warning news consumers, “You as the paying, subscribing public, can use your leverage and pocketbooks to keep those who should be honest brokers of information, well, honest. ”

 

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6 hours ago, backformore said:

And this is exactly what is WRONG with this picture.   The man who is going to become president of the USA - he says something, and then his "team"  has to have a spokesperson (I guess KAC was busy, so Spicer was on call)  Explain, interpret, and  tell us exactly how we are supposed to think and feel about what the president said (but didn't mean).  And they explain it in a way that denotes that anyone who takes Trump at face value - believing that the words he says/tweets mean what they actually mean - are guilty of purposely distorting Trump's words to fit an agenda. 

And this is a man whose supporters liked because he "means what he says, he says what he means."  if that were even half-true -  why does he need a team of interpreters?  

I am sometimes reminded of a great movie, "Being There". 

Oh, you mean like the ones whose lamentations are documented on Trumpgrets for all to see?  Like the ones who are begging in exasperation that he stop tweeting and start acting "precedential."  Or, like the ones bemoaning his immaturity and whining, "pleased don't make me regret voting for you!"

My question has always been, didn't this shit bother you during the campaign, or were you too busy lapping up that Kool-Aid and gloating because you didn't have two fucks to give?

I've had my fill of the Crypt Mistress, the aging satyr Newt Gingrich, Spiceless and Drumpf's other surrogates falling all over themselves to convince us that up is down and down is up.  The only consolation is that we are no longer being subjected to Governor Christie or Ghouliani anymore now that their respective reigns as Drumpf's testicle (however tiny) carriers have come to such inglorious and abrupt ends.

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10 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

Related to the above link, Krauthammer's opinion about it and China by way of Trump's and Obama's feud:

It's not a "feud" when one person's making racist, petty attacks and the other person's ignoring it as much as he can and trying to help the other person cause the least amount of damage to others.

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Monday night: House Republicans gut their own oversight

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In one of their first moves of the new Congress, House Republicans have voted to gut their own independent ethics watchdog — a huge blow to cheerleaders of congressional oversight and one that dismantles major reforms adopted after the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Monday's effort was led, in part, by lawmakers who have come under investigation in recent years.

 

Tuesday morning: House GOP scraps plan to gut ethics watchdog after emergency meeting

Quote

 

House Republicans at an emergency conference meeting on Tuesday withdrew a proposal to gut an ethics watchdog.

The new Congress hadn't even formally gaveled in on before GOP leaders held an emergency conference meeting to discuss the blowback against the party's vote Monday evening to gut the chamber's independent ethics watchdog.

 

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Update on that Ethics vote, sadly many in the media are crediting Trump for quashing that proposal because he Tweeted criticism of the *timing* but not the substance of what they were doing. The actual reason for it was Congress being flooded with calls.

So once again the media finds it easier to pretend the world revolves around Trump rather than deal with what's going on in the actual country.

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2 minutes ago, sistermagpie said:

Update on that Ethics vote, sadly many in the media are crediting Trump for quashing that proposal because he Tweeted criticism of the *timing* but not the substance of what they were doing. The actual reason for it was Congress being flooded with calls.

So once again the media finds it easier to pretend the world revolves around Trump rather than deal with what's going on in the actual country.

Wasn't all that rucuss a set-up anyway? Like that proposal would never pass, Trump comes out of that shit as the one who still wants to drain the swamp to counterattack with the awful press he got with his appointments. And voilà, another president-elect great victory?
 

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And CNN's headline: "House Republicans pull plan to gut independent ethics panel after Trump tweets." (emphasis mine)

Ugh. They never learn. See, this is how they get away with it. There is nothing about that sentence that is actually incorrect. Trump did tweet, and we have learned that the House pulled the plan. But no one involved said that the latter was because of the former -- but that's exactly what that headline implies.

Meanwhile, NPR phrased their story as: "After Backlash, Including From Trump, House GOP Drops Weakening Of Ethics Office." (emphasis mine)

This actually tells the real story.

Sometimes I don't blame people for distrusting the mainstream media. They set you up. The worst part is, they know they're doing it. I know they know. They're called out on it repeatedly. But they don't care. They just want the scoop-y headline.

Edited by Chicken Wing
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6 minutes ago, Pollock said:

Wasn't all that rucuss a set-up anyway? Like that proposal would never pass, Trump comes out of that shit as the one who still wants to drain the swamp to counterattack with the awful press he got with his appointments. And voilà, another president-elect great victory?

If it is the media's in it. He didn't even have to criticize the move, just say the timing was wrong and people are giving him credit for not only stopping the whole thing with a Tweet but for actually coming out against corruption when he didn't.

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Here are the actual tweets:

Now, maybe my reading comprehension is terrible, but as others have noted, the only "backlash" I'm seeing from Trump is regarding the timing.  He calls the Office of Congressional Ethics "unfair," but states that dismantling it shouldn't be their main priority.  Instead, we've got to make sure that the poor and middle class lose their health insurance and get screwed over come tax time.  Priorities, people!

No, I don't believe he had ANYTHING to do with Republicans changing their minds.  I believe it came down to worried voters calling their representatives:

Edited by SonofaBiscuit
Added additional tweet
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I looked for the forum, but i cant find it.

it is sort of related anyway....i am glad megyn Kelly is leaving Fox. she seems to be too smart for them. I am confused at her on and off 'relationship' with Trump, though. she seems to defend her work and then in others, she sort of laughs off what he did to her and says he is actually nice, etc.

odd

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3 hours ago, backgroundnoise said:

Really.  The headlines should be "TRUMP CONSIDERS ETHICS INVESTIGATIONS "UNFAIR."

Well, he certainly doesn't want Congress to worry about ethics. They might start to focus on his. 

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14 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I really like Leslie but I like Milo also. I hope they settle their differences.

Their differences? You mean the disgusting racist and sexist attack he spearheaded on Twitter against her? Yeah, I don't think those "differences" are going to be settled considering that piece of trash Milo (and his supporters) don't think he did anything wrong.

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I have a question that I'm sure someone here can answer: What is the best way to contact legislators, newscasters, newspapers, etc. - letter? email? phone call?

I'm ready to go to war and want to send a message to a whole bunch of people in the groups noted above. I want to use the means that will have the best chance of getting to the people I'm targeting. I'm currently putting my thoughts together, and I hope you all don't mind that I've helped myself to some of your ideas. I see posts that make me think "Oh, I want to touch on that too!" There are so many things I'm livid about so it will be a challenge to try to keep it short enough that I don't lose my audience.

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23 minutes ago, parisprincess said:

I have a question that I'm sure someone here can answer: What is the best way to contact legislators, newscasters, newspapers, etc. - letter? email? phone call?

I'm ready to go to war and want to send a message to a whole bunch of people in the groups noted above. I want to use the means that will have the best chance of getting to the people I'm targeting. I'm currently putting my thoughts together, and I hope you all don't mind that I've helped myself to some of your ideas. I see posts that make me think "Oh, I want to touch on that too!" There are so many things I'm livid about so it will be a challenge to try to keep it short enough that I don't lose my audience.

I've read that calling them by phone is generally the better way to go there.

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Basically, your contact is weighted by how much effort you put into it: adding your name to a pre-written email gets tallied at the lowest weight, then sending your own email, then sending a fax, then calling, then writing a letter and sending it via USPS.  But that has changed over the years; messages via Facebook or Twitter have to be slotted in there somewhere, and it's now commonly said that calling carries the most weight.  And that way you get to talk to a staffer and may get some good feedback - or at least judge by their attitude - on how many other constituents are reaching out with your (or the opposite) message.

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1 hour ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

Their differences? You mean the disgusting racist and sexist attack he spearheaded on Twitter against her? Yeah, I don't think those "differences" are going to be settled considering that piece of trash Milo (and his supporters) don't think he did anything wrong.

And that their problem with Leslie Jones is thinking she, as a black woman, gets to exist and be successful. Jeez. Leslie didn't actually do anything to anybody.

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I think I'm in love with Sen. Chuck Schumer, the new Senate Minority Leader.  On Rachel Maddow tonight, he was vey adamant about holding the Republicans' and Trump's feet to the fire whenever they try to pull shit. It looks like the Dems aren't going to make the confirmation process of Trump's cabinet picks easy. Sen. Schumer seems to be eager to deal with the Republicans and his attitude make me feel hopeful rather than defeated.  It's about time they started using the same tactics as the right, because being the nice guys has gotten them nowhere.

its comical how eager the Republican Congress is to get to work, especially since they sat with their thumbs up their asses for the last eight years while collecting their big salaries. I still can't believe they had six years to come up with an alternative to the ACA, yet the geniuses are going to get rid of it with no plan in place. I just hope that Sen. Schumer can rally the troops to give those clowns the same treatment they've received for the past eight years.

Thanks to those who answered my questions about contacting elected officials. If I was concerned about a single issue, I would definitely call, but I want to address several issues, so I guess I'll be writing a lot of letters.

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hahahaha:

Quote

Kelly’s use of the word “journalists” to describe her future colleagues may be the best indication yet of why she decided to leave Fox after a dozen years.
Following the first presidential debate this past fall, Kelly said on Fox, “We’ve got Trump speaking to our own Sean Hannity. We’ll see whether he speaks to the journalists in this room after that interview.”

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I wish someone had followed up with what Kelly wrote in her book about someone at her network who gives Trump the questions before the interview "including one or two hard ones so he can 'maintain his reputation as a journalist'".  Definitely not Hannity.  Could be Wallace, but I thought it was more likely O'Reilly, since he always asks one or two "tough ones" that Trump never seems very surprised by.

(Also interesting in her book was how, when Trump supporters were giving her death threats after his tweets, the FOX lawyers had to patiently explain to Trump's lawyer how "it'll be bad for his brand if she gets killed"--because otherwise it was like, "Who cares?")

I've never thought of Schumer as much of a fighter, but you guys are giving me hope.

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I was watching CNN with Chris and Alyson this morning and they had on a variety of political pundits.

One common thread, fat ass is in for a rude awakening when he has to own all the things he's promised and all the things that will happen on his watch that he has blown off.

The intelligent community seems to be pretty pissed off at him and he's going to have to change his tune with them when he has to depend on them.  All his blabbering about, I know more than the generals, believe me and have information no one else has ain't gonna fly.

Also a topic of concern is all his business dealings, which the pundits say his followers have given him a pass on until of course their lives haven't changed and he can't live up to his BS. 

The ACA?  All pundits agree this is going to be almost impossible for fat ass to repeal on day one, if ever, as promised.

And at the end, Jake brought up my favorite thing to hate:  The CNN countdown clock.  Which was funny (IMO) when he said it would be counting down to when you no longer have health coverage.

Edited by stormy
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The headlines are just crazy for Trump.  Did the media do this when Obama was President-elect?  Did they report his every utterance, every breath and sigh as though it were NEWS!! that needed to be reported on?  Have they ever reported on anything as much as they report Trump's fact-free Tweets without qualification?

I guess this is what we can look forward to from the media for the next 4 years: Trump Says Dog Ate His Homework!

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13 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

He didn't tweet anything racist to her and she kept it going and then got slammed by trolls. Blamed Milo, got him temporarily banned, then he was reinstated.

I"m confident Ms. Jones understands exactly how Milo the popular white supremacist leader feels about her and her trolling.

Perhaps Milo will speak out to all those terrible trolls and really explain to them how the white race is not superior and the male gender is not superior and their racist, misogyny is a bad thing. That might help resolve those differences. 

Edited by sistermagpie
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1 hour ago, izabella said:

The headlines are just crazy for Trump.  Did the media do this when Obama was President-elect?  Did they report his every utterance, every breath and sigh as though it were NEWS!! that needed to be reported on?  Have they ever reported on anything as much as they report Trump's fact-free Tweets without qualification?

I guess this is what we can look forward to from the media for the next 4 years: Trump Says Dog Ate His Homework!

trump: I think a science doctor dude found cure for cancer

media: TRUMP CURES CANCER

Edited by Lana X
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17 minutes ago, Lana X said:

trump: I think a science doctor dude found cure for cancer

media: TRUMP CURES CANCER

twitter egg: Not even precedent yet and Trump already saving lives! #MAGA #GoTrump #LibtardTears

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3 hours ago, Duke Silver said:

I particularly love the picture here - because the pictured one will not! 

More seriously, I think writing to representatives is good, but writing to the media is too, especially those you subscribed/used to subscribe to. Maybe writing to ad companies/ad posters could be useful too.  

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16 hours ago, Padma said:

I wish someone had followed up with what Kelly wrote in her book about someone at her network who gives Trump the questions before the interview "including one or two hard ones so he can 'maintain his reputation as a journalist'".  Definitely not Hannity.  Could be Wallace, but I thought it was more likely O'Reilly, since he always asks one or two "tough ones" that Trump never seems very surprised by.

(Also interesting in her book was how, when Trump supporters were giving her death threats after his tweets, the FOX lawyers had to patiently explain to Trump's lawyer how "it'll be bad for his brand if she gets killed"--because otherwise it was like, "Who cares?")

I've never thought of Schumer as much of a fighter, but you guys are giving me hope.

Interesting...so the Fanta Fuhrer's rabid stormtroopers go on a rampage, and the concern is not that their behavior is illegal, dangerous and downright deranged.  The concern isn't even for Megyn Kelly's safety or the safety of her family (because they usually come for folks' relatives also).  Faux News' lawyers were more concerned about conveying the message that the future fuhrer's brand would be damaged if Kelly was killed.  Gee--they are all heart, aren't they?  And, how many years of service did she give to that network?

It goes a long way toward explaining the attitude of the Drumpf nuggets, Uday, Qusay and Ivanka the Terrible.  Everything is all about their "brand" and they don't give a shit unless their respective "brands" are affected.

As for Kelly herself, I'm sorry and this may be an unpopular opinion.  But, I'm not getting aboard this love train.  She spent most of the election withholding vital information about the fact that her former boss was obviously shilling for the future fuhrer to receive more positive coverage.  She was also less than forthcoming about the offer of "gifts" by the Orange Oaf, which were "clearly meant to shape coverage."  While at Faux, she used White racial anxiety to further her career and pushed out the same right wing lies as the rest of the "journalists" at Faux did.  She pushed the pernicious lie that the Obama administration refused to pursue charges against the New Black Panther Party for racial and political reasons.  She pushed bigotry against transgender people.  She even complained about the "thug mentality" in Black communities (while normalizing an orange one) and sneered at protestors. True, she had a very public feud with the future fuhrer--for which she received lavish praise in some quarters and death threats in others.  But, let's not get it twisted.  Weeks before the debate, Kelly gave the Tang Turd a welcoming platform on her show and sometimes defended his racist remarks about immigrants by citing Ann "Adam's Apple" Coulter's book, Adios America.    

I get that she kept silent because she was afraid for her family's safety, but I thought journalists had a responsibility to provide news that really matters to the American public--not to use said information to shill a book.  So--no.  I'm not a fan and will never be.  

To me, it's just another boneheaded move by the idiots in charge at NBC.  As if the self-aggrandizing Joe Squinty Scarborough and his Bond villainness henchwoman, Miss Galore, weren't bad enough in trying to normalize their future Glorious Leader.  I'm also hearing that MSNBC may hire Greta Van Susteren for its 6 p.m. slot.  Now, this shit here.  The holdouts so far are those in the 8 - 10 p.m. time slots.  As someone said elsewhere, NBC is becoming an acronym for Normalizing Bullshit Central.

Edited by MulletorHater
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Nothing like NBC lying. They called Obamacare an 'unpopular mandate'. Thing is, it's not unpopular. It's only unpopular to those who've been convinced it is bad and by Republicons in office who've been obsessed with trying to repeal it.

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1 hour ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

No, what makes people mad is that he's a white supremacist who believes that white males are superior to everyone.

"Fake feminists" sounds like one of those right wing things where they take something that people have begun to see as a good thing (like equality for women or non-white people) and come up with a convoluted reason for why the people defending those things are the "real" racists/sexists whatever and the way to be a real feminist is to celebrate rigid gender roles where women know their place.

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1 hour ago, Pixel said:

Well, we certainly don't have to worry about someone who doesn't even know how to use a computer using a crappy password. I'm sure he has a plan to secure those courier envelopes. A wax stamp embossed by his signet ring, mayhaps. 

That would be a wax stamp embossed by his GOLD signet ring, amirite?  You know, the ring so big & heavy it keeps slipping off his abnormally small fingers.

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