I loved Harris dressing down The Pro Palestinian protestors yesterday. What are they thinking? If you did not catch it, they were screaming at her rally. She stopped and spoke directly to them “if you want Donald Trump to win keep doing this” she says, otherwise “I am speaking”. It was perfect.
I loved it as well Adaline. The look she gave them was so familiar- it is the look that many mothers have given their children when showing extreme disapproval.
I understand that she met with 2 founders of the "Uncommitted" movement in the receiving line before the rally. They pushed her on calling for an end to providing funding for weapons and calling for a ceasefire. I heard it was reported in the press that she replied to them "I am open to that". Then they moved on to heckling her, repeatedly. She initially let it go, but they kept up the shouting, so she had to get firm with them.
We need to be mindful of the fact that as a black woman she will be under a lot of scrutiny in everything she does. She handled this well. While the protesters have a first amendment right, she also has a right to be heard.
She also prefaced her "It's my turn to speak" comment by saying that the protestors have a right to be heard. I think that's an important point. After that, she said the line about unless they want Trump to win they need to stop because it's her turn to speak.
I hope they understood how patient and fair she was with them...and how foolish it was to try and harass the only candidate for president who will protect democracy, which includes their right to protest. Talk about "cutting off your nose to spite your face!"
I think she said, "If you want to say that you want Trump to win just say so and we can move on" or closer to that, that she would respect their opinion on their candidate but kindly shut up now. If she had added what YOU added that would have been great!! Yes, she and Biden are the ones in the difficult position of trying to protect democracy and to support negotiations in the region. Trump would just give more bombs to Netanyahu. Isn't Walz familiar with this population in MN? Does he have a more conciliatory way to handle it? But I did like her saying "It's my turn to speak". YES!!!
Here's an excerpt from an article about the speech:
"Harris at first acknowledged the protesters and their right to speak out. “I’m here because we believe in democracy. Everyone’s voice matters, but I am speaking now, I am speaking now,” she said, to applause.
She returned to her topic, the radical changes she said her rival, Donald Trump, would bring if he were elected, but the protesters chanted unabated for 30 seconds.
That prompted a sharp rebuke from Harris.
“You know what?” she said. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.” She leaned back and glowered at the protesters as the rally erupted into applause and cheers."
Regarding The NY Times, it may be that the Times is attacking the Harris/Walz campaign to make money. But the Times is no longer a news organization. Nieman Lab reports "the company is pushing its all-access digital bundle that includes Games, Cooking, Wirecutter, and The Athletic alongside its journalism. At the end of 2023, a little under half — 4.22 million or 43% — of digital-only subscribers were bundle or multi-product subscribers." The Times is profitable, but not as a newspaper. Read the full article from earlier this year:
I totally agree. The Times has become a digital entertainment venue. Today, It's moniker "all the news that's fit to print" belongs to the Substack universe. It's comforting to note that Heather Cox Richardson subscriptions is over 11 million compared to a little less than 10 million for the Times.
Back in the day, when I was a school superintendent, a principal (with the distinctive name of Thomas Jefferson) helped his kids start a school newspaper. The paper's motto: "All the news that fits, we print."
Painfully funny. It's definitely the new slogan of the MAGA Times (formerly the NYT). Robert points out today that the MAGA Times has decided: "It is now time for Harris' honeymoon to end." And also: "We are going to swiftboat Tim Walz, based on hate-filled accusations by two MAGA people." How is that news??
I suspect that HCR reaches even more than her 11 million subscribers, if others do what I do - I share her substack on my FB page and it is shared by readers there as well. So, the NYT is vastly outgunned with readership, thank goodness. I canceled my subscription over a year ago due to bias against Biden and those AWFUL headlines that bear no resemblance to the articles that follow.
Comforting about HCR but not about the status of NYT. Just so much journalistic Cheese Whiz at this point -- and well past its expiration date. We have fallen very far....
"And yet, the toughest criticism from the NYTimes lead article was, “His wide-ranging remarks were sometimes meandering.”
When I read this out loud, my husband exclaimed, "I am so glad we cancelled our subscription!" (back at the first of July.) I miss playing Spelling Bee with my morning coffee, and may get a Gamesand/or Cooking subscription this winter, but I doubt we will ever have an all access subscription again.
There are plenty of great (and often free) games via the internets 😆. I was a big fan of the Bee but willing to give it up. Not another nickel to the Times or WaPo from me. (I actually cancelled WaPo with a $1 every 4 weeks subscription..) Each decides for her/him/their self.
That is being respectful to what Trump said about not knowing anything and still managing to get their leader fired. They swallowed the gaslight whole!! Steven "Himmler" Miller was on Ari Melber also scrubbing the campaign clean of P25 associations -- or trying. Ari didn't play. My guess is the press members were hand selected and instructed beforehand on how to behave. Kind of like that scene in Casablanca where the Nazi's are announcing how the Parisians should act when they march in.
To the NYT's partial credit, they did post this story with an accurate headline yesterday ("That Time Trump Nearly Died in a Helicopter Crash? Didn’t Happen."):
And a sign of the complexity of our country and the precarious nature of a free press. WAPO and the NYT still have a cachet, a brand, that gets repeated and echoed in many other media. Like it or not, we should, in my opinion, do everything we can to influence what and how they cover things.
We can fix this problem by the MAGA media--NYT and WaPo--going out of business. As readers on this thread have pointed out, they have already been replaced by Substack journalists, who already have more subscribers than they do. The times they are a-changin.
A reader here or on HCR commented that it is no longer "news media," but "corporate media." For those of us grounded in a fact-based world, "corporate media" is certainly more accurate.
That’s why I canceled not just the news app but also the cooking app. I admit that I did like the cooking app but in my cancel message, I said I would resubscribe if they confirmed that none of the money from the cooking app went to support the political reporting organization. Haven’t heard back yet!
Trump's rambling and incoherent sentences are deeply worrying. It appears that he is actually losing the ability to string together 2-3 sentences in a row that stay on one topic and are actually real sentences with subject, verb, object. Our allies see this. Our enemies see this. It's a bad and scary look for a future president. And those who remain supportive of his candidacy do not have the best interests of our country in mind.
Perhaps he has gone beyond controlling his disabilities - the behaviors indicate an escalation of the symptoms he has always demonstrated. This is when others must step in or become bystanders to self-destruction. Just my novice point of view.
You have a point, sure. But a trump at the top of his game and with whatever marbles he might have had make for an even worse and scarier look from the perspectives of US allies.
I was lucky enough to get a ticket to VP Harris’ first fundraiser after she became the nominee, in Pittsfield MA, and even though the suggested dress code was “business casual”, I wore my Dems Make Life Better tee shirt! Many people asked where I got my shirt, some people took a photo (front and back, since both sides are great), and I was also able to chat about grassroots activism and our group Markers For Democracy. It’s great that Robert is supporting their terrific efforts!
Dunald's pleased when he can rattle the press and their readers. It gets him off. He wants attention and he doesn't care what kind. Of course he wants to be president again but in the meantime he wants to be in the spotlight. He is displaying his pathology believing that's what his base likes best.
No one knows what will be a bridge too far in the MAGA movement. I predict that his overall health will fail before November. His eyes are bloodshot, his hair is falling out, he's slurring his speech and often doesn't finish his sentences. I foresee a health breakdown. I may have the timing wrong but it's going to happen. Stress!
You are of course right for many, maybe almost all, but some have had it and see in Trump at last not just an old guy, but a mean and dangerous old guy. In a very different moral universe, even people who love Joe Biden began to lose confidence.
Nice point, Patrick. Small wins like that will make a difference in the end. Another way to put it would be -- if 30 more people in each county decides they are now going to show up and vote Blue that would cinch it!! Many times, though, I think it is the non-votes that beat candidates. It happened to Hilary in '16 and Trump in '20. Maybe more so this year.
He doesn't drink alcohol but what he does drink and eat isn't good for anyone's health.
I suspect Dee (above) is correct about his health and state of mind. The question is, when this all will catch up with him? My suspicion is he will quit if this keeps up and his poll #'s keep sinking or he will fake some kind of health problem and drop out an flee to Russia, wouldn't that be fun? Never discount a cornered rat, as crazy as he's becoming anything is possible. Popcorn please:))
I'm inclined to agree with you, but I am even more wary of the malevolent enablers, specially Elon Musk, Stephen Miller, Michael Flynn, Harlan Crowe, and the Anti-government militias who have been stockpiling and training for their race war/Second Civil War. 45 stepping down is not sufficient. Project 2025 is written for whoever the "conservative" candidate is, and the six SCOTUS Justices are part of the plan.
Yes, I want Trump to last until Election Day, because I don't want them to find someone even worse to put in his place. The Trump we have in August is eminently beatable, and will become more so in Sept. and Oct.
If you think he is desperate and overheated now, wait till he loses in November and has to switch into an even higher gear to go at "the stolen election 2.0". He will pop a vessel!!!
I agree and that is why we have to win in November and then keep the pressure on and win into the foreseeable future. I know that is a tall order but what other choice is there?
Malevolent enablers...Love that. Or could call them the SS....It is all one vision, one Reich... National Security establishment better be making plans already...
I've been saying that for a while now, that he won't make it to the election. He has lost weight and I wonder if he is on Ozempic or something? But his sleep patterns are erratic, which is one of many signs of hypomania he displays. The Narcissism and Sociopathy are easy targets, but he has an underlying mood disorder as well. That is the engine of it all, that is where so much of the "flavor" and "tone" comes from. His grandiosity is getting worse by the hour, and I am thinking/hoping so many are finally getting turned off by the hostility, contempt, and haughty arrogance that he spews. He is a miserable, vindictive person and is constantly vigilant to defend his brittle self-esteem against any perceived challenge. And he got shot at, maybe that shook him up a bit?
According to most of the production staff on the Apprentice, Dunald was a prolific user of cocaine. So much so that he had to have his nose repaired. That habit might account for his sleep habits. I know a woman who used a lot of that stuff and has to take ambien now because she can't sleep normally. She also had bowel problems from the baby laxative they use to cut it, (I read that he wore diapers so that makes sense). He was offered that show because no REAL successful businessmen would take it, and it was offered to more than a couple. He was excited that he would be presented as a real estate tycoon, when he had been bankrupt 6 or so times. So many people watched that show and believed it. He has been a con man/bully since he was a small child. It blows my mind that he has pulled off so many lies. And it blows my mind that people believe him! I feel like I'm living in a John Grisham novel...well...we all are.
I believe it about the coke. I am not sure if using coke 30-40 years ago would affect his sleep now -- but his underlying mood disorder would!!! Maybe it accounts for all the sniffing he does.... My guess is that he takes Adderall or some other stimulant, so we are not too far off.
One of the guiding principles for doctors is “ do no harm” and that should be the motto for all journalists. I watched Laurence O’Donnell last night and he was angry and he was right. Trump being Trump is an excuse and the voters like us need to call them out. Then Harris/Waltz team needs to call them out. K
No Harris should demand in her press release to require all journalists not to yell out questions , not to ask back up questions or interrupt and only ask softball questions and treat her exactly like they treat Trump.
Lawrence made the point that the press DOES behave like rabid dogs when they are facing Harris, Biden, or Biden's WH press secretary!! They yell, sneer, talk back, insult them...But for Trump they just roll over. Has anyone looked at if the people asking questions at Mar-A-Lago actually were journalists? Maybe they were actors who got a free buffet and two drinks? He has hired actors before to give the effect of large crowds. Or was the press schooled on how to behave? Or hand-selected? As Kevin Costner said in JFK, "We are through the looking glass, people!"
Yes. I understood that he was very critical of his fellow journalists. I think the biggest criticism was that instead of attending Harris and Walz as they got the UAW endorsement that Biden had cultivated, they covered do nothing Trump in his home. Still choosing rabid dog Trump clicks over covering the news.
Lawrence played the speech at UAW to restore that moment, which was otherwise ignored by msm in favor of watching the Geek debase himself and our country. The UAW speech was a lovely, hopeful, joyous thing, too. Healing, even...
Yes. That is the only reason I know what a big miss it was for MSM! It was magnificent. Biden created that relationship and it is fortunate that they carried it over to Harris/Walz.
Down here in Baghdad By the Sea, a new poll in our county shows Harris ahead by 14 %...." found Harris winning several key voting blocs in Miami-Dade, including 55% of women and 52% of men. Among non-Cuban Hispanic voters, 58% said they plan to support Harris compared to 38% who are backing Trump. Trump still holds the lead among Cuban Americans, who have historically backed Republican candidates; 61% said they will vote for the former president, while 33% plan to support Harris, according to the poll."
Considering that 84,000 Democrats were removed from the voter rolls here since 2022, and we are in the process of re-registering them, we're hoping we can swing the state. Trump won in 2020 by 3.1 %.
My local Gannett paper ( behind a paywall) had an article from Palm Beach Post about Trump’s “wide-ranging news conference” with the headline: “Donald Trump says he has accepted invites for three September debates with Kamala Harris”
At least they included this:
“The anti-Trump group Lincoln Project said the former president was "unhinged and rambling" as he spoke.
“You think this is bad? Now imagine him with full immunity and unfettered power," the group said in a statement. "Democrats need to get out and campaign like it's the last election — because if Trump wins, it might be.”
Working to GOTV with ➡️ Is He Ok?/Trump and Amendment 4/reproductive rights on the ballot in Florida ! 🌊🌊🌊
It is stupefying that SCOMAGA gave near-total immunity to an individual who committed so many obvious crimes and acts of treason. Is that some new kind of theory of jurisprudence or human psychology? Tell criminals "We won't prosecute you for anything under $1000.00" and what happened? Tell Donald Trump "Go ahead and shoot someone on 5th Avenue while you are talking about your tax plan -- and you're good!" What were they thinking? Same as the jurists in Nuremberg in 1935, most likely. This is the sound of institutions collapsing in advance, complying ahead of the takeover. Thank goodness for our three who are really the ones writing for the ages....
Trump's eternal false claims of the "illegal alien invasion with countries emptying out their insane asylums, prisons" and such should have been challenged the first time he made the statements, coming down the escalator. Instead the thin thread of truth ties to the 1970s Cuban Boat Lifts (I may not have the terms right, I am going off of memory here). Fidel Castro did indeed allow desperate Cubans to leave the island bound for the United States during that one period of time. However, there is NO EVIDENCE of such things happening now. And Vice President Harris's role NOT as "Immigration Czar" but in going to the source countries in Central and South America HAS INDEED BEEN EFFECTIVE in identifying and addressing the underlying reasons Immigration and asylum-seeking continues. If your bathtub is overflowing, FIRST TURN OFF THE FAUCET. Donald also appears to confuse and equate "asylum seekers" with "insane asylums."
And WHO is responsible for closing mental health facilities in the United States? Ronald Reagan.
Trump's early statements after the escalator ride down --- a ride on which we have all been unwilling passengers -- were challenged!! The ones about immigrants, about McCain, making fun of the disabled journalist, Russia if you're listening, grab 'em by...etc. All were criticized, people were aghast, Trump was shameless and coarse and unpresidential. Didn't help. That's the real story. Many candidates have done far less offensive things and gotten bounced into the dustbin of history. Why not Trump? Why not in USA of 2015/2016? Or 2024 for that matter. Why is it all so normalized? Why does the press and a sizeable number of people go along with it and grease the wheels of it?
I believe Reagan might have been Governor in CA when the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) act was passed in mid-60s but maybe it was Pat Brown (D)? But that was passed by the California House and Senate, too, to be fair. At the time it was viewed as being a Humanitarian act and about a person's basic rights against unlawful detainment-- often for decades-- in state facilities. It did not "close" mental health facilities. It set up rules for temporary hospitalization in emergencies per specific criteria, but also funded the opening of community mental health centers so that people could get treatment without being tossed into the hospital indefinitely. It is actually the opposite of what you are saying. Has it always worked out well? Maybe not. But it was better than what went before -- witness the movie "Frances" or "Cuckoos Nest". That was pre-LPS time.
Mental Health is a perennial "football" for politics but let's not just toss it out of bounds... Now, it is homelessness-- often linked to people who "should be in the hospital" not being institutionalized -- but the problem is far, far beyond just mental health now. And the SCOMAGA made it illegal to be homeless, and homeless can be more easily arrested. Is that a better solution? In CA there was a major vote this year to fund more treatment for adults who need it-- but realistically, it will take money from children's programs and repurpose it, at least for the short term. It's a system that is still under siege. The needs are so huge...Everywhere....
ADENDUM: I wanted to correct a couple of things. The LPS law was passed in 1967 and was signed by then Gov Reagan. The LPS act was focused on the procedures and safeguards around involuntary commitment and conservatorship. There were other acts in CA, passed earlier, that focused on funding and building networks of community mental health centers.
It was instant karma that John Hinckley Jr was locked up in a psychiatric institution for about 3 decades after the shooting. Who needs mental institutions anyway? Reagan was discouraged from going to visit him. Hinckley
wanted a visit from Jodie Foster. You're right about Dunald's word association, which is just one more indication of his interesting IQ.
Daniel, I posted a large comment below with a video. Please copy and repost if you agree. I am no longer on some forums. Dr Arlene gave me a better perspective, as I had not been able to characterize the phenomena of this rise. It is a tide.
Thanks Daniel!!! GOP loves to cheat. You can count on it.
What about integrity at the polls at the precinct level? I worry about Dem voters getting turned away or given provisional ballots that will get round-filed.
Thank you so much for your consistent sharing of your acuity and commitment, Robert Hubbell. Could not agree more with you - and with Lawrence O'Donnell.
"The MORAL COLLAPSE of the press corps covering trump" seems right on.
Also want to raise the possibility of a stunted and/ or immature moral development to suggest this: that inter-human ethical sense, discernment and conviction do not actually exist for many of them.
As trump's behavior and language, among other things, consistently reveal a mindset devoid of compassion and generosity, likewise the behavior and language of many of these press corps reveal a mindset that is ethically (and also cognitively?) limited. Bottomline, Democratic ideals inhere an inter-human ethic. When you don't get that, when the real complexity of effecting a vital democratic republic is not acknowledged, it is easy to be lost, as well as fearful of the loud, the mean, and the retributive, and not know how - or yes, also, have the courage to - hold Others accountable to honoring our unalienable human rights.
May commitment to democratic respect hope joy and action prevail! VP Harris and Gov. Walz are walking the talk!
As well as your own excellent reporting of the news of the day, Robert, I continue to be impressed with your ability to find other credible sources for us to read. Many thanks, always.
Thanks to our self serving corporate press many, many years of our fellow citizens lives were led down a destructive path so the corporate heads could enrich themselves. I miss some of the reporters
and columnists that I loved to read but I’ll never go near those rags again. I try not to smirk when I get emails from the NYT begging me to come back.
I wish I could feel sorry for Trump but I remind myself that you reap what you sow and this self-centered, entitled being hurt so many people. Might his family help him? They learned from him that he was their cash cow but only if they towed his line. Paid off big as in 2 billion for Jared and Ivanka without even an investigation of that corrupt deal.
As I read your newsletter at the crack of dawn I am reminded of the benefits of age (77 here). I can remember when politics was fun and it was a benefit to run outside and scoop up the paper. It is so important to pass this on to younger generations so they know it didn’t have to be this way.
There’s so much in all you write and I will hold on to your newsletters and those of several substack writers so I never forget the good in life. I am especially grateful to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz every time I hear them speak and can see how Trump and the corporate media worked to erase the joy we were meant to have in our lives. It’s back and let’s keep it!
BTW if I can be an optimist and believe we have turned the corner from a hateful rhetoric to the good it is a bonus for me to read Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s newsletter. He is so sane and smart about life in general.
Sorry hit the wrong button, I too watched the Lawrence O’Donnell summary of the press conference that Trump gave and the contrast that he showed between that and one with Biden and the other with his elegant press secretary shows the mainstream media as both bullies and cowards. I did love the contrast where Vice President Harris spoke with reporters before boarding her plane when asked about her response to the press conference and I paraphrase that “ she does not have time (implying to waste) to follow Trumps news conferences ( imply his ramblings) because she is too busy speaking to voters”. She is smiling as she says this. I would also second watching Tim Miller and Adam Kitzinger’s discussion on the Bulwark yesterday regarding Tim Walz’s military record. It’s so obvious that the GOP cannot discuss issues of policy (project 2025) and flood the zone with so much disinformation (aka merde and excuse my French) because of convictions and upcoming continuation of J6 pre trial hearings and NY sentencing. I know Judge Merchean is in a politically awkward position but like everyone else from the Supreme Court and the corporate media I hope he does not feel pressured to go lightly on Trump. Thanks Robert and again incredible pictures.
All the wasted words and time 45 spends at rallies and golf course are evidence he is not getting any actual work done. He has no plans.
I love when "government" quietly works as people, we all, go about our daily lives, and it is there to help in times of need, protection, disaster response, epidemic or similar crisis.
I LONG for the days of not waking up, wondering what fresh hell 45 has spewed into the social media universe in the middle of the night on his toilet!
Our national mental health has been harmed. In fact, globally. Other countries are preparing to protect themselves from a possible second term, in an "end of the world" type of way!
Why did MSNBC cover the WHOLE thing? I was just shaking my head.... While we are trashing the NYT why is MSNBC sticking it out for garbage events like that? Yes, the hosts will feed on it all day and night like birds of prey, but should it be platformed on MSNBC? Maybe. There is some value to sunlight....But sometimes you have to boo and walk out!!
I did watch Lawrence O’Donnell’s commentary, which as usual was articulate and incisive, and as Robert stated, "shames reporters who reported that “Trump answered questions” at the press conference. He did not. He responded in Elvish gibberish—which the reporters in attendance obediently transcribed and published."
On a lighter note, as a lifelong fan of LOTR (and neither far right nor even right as Rachel Maddow has mistakenly broadly characterized LOTR fans), I would not describe tffg's speech and vocabulary as "Elvish gibberish" but rather "Orkish" gibberish, since Orcs do not have their own language but instead speak in a mishmash of other languages.
Have been a fan of Stephen Colbert for many years, especially after hearing that one of his sons earned his Eagle Scout rank, but he is way beyond me in LOTR fandom.
I must add that tffg is more Orc than Elf, fitting the description by J.R.R.Tolkien:
"In J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, Orcs were cruel, sadistic, black-hearted, vicious, and hateful of most things, particularly of those who were orderly and prosperous.[3]"
And I've never seen tffg ever laugh in a joyful positive manner. He's almost to be pitied.
"For all that race were bred by Melkor of the subterranean heats and slime. Their hearts were of granite and their bodies deformed; foul their faces which smiled not, but their laugh that of the clash of metal, and to nothing were they more fain than to aid in the basest of the purposes of Melkor."
Excellent summary. However, I don’t think we should simply assume that the press is grievously failing to cover Trump as they covered Biden because they simply want clicks or believe they’ll sell more papers if they have a horse race. It’s so flagrant that something else seems to be at work. I keep thinking of Epstein-related kompromat on media executives. Or some such. What we’re witnessing is just too dug-in, persistent and extreme for benign assumptions
Lawrence O'Donnel laid into the press last night and rightly so, you also know right away when he is really pissed off. Last night was classic Lawrence and it's the one of the reasons I love his program and commentary.
Yes, Bill, Lawrence O'Donnell really hit the media, that allegedly covered Trump's ramblings, right between the eyes. And those "reporters" deserved his harsh reproach.
I was so impressed and appreciative that I looked up a way to thank Lawrence and did so today. If anyone would like to leave Lawrence a message about his great commentary last night, you can call MSNBC on their "dedicated customer service phone number" at 1-212-664-4444. It's open Monday through Friday between 9 and 5 EST.
I called in and praised Lawrence O'Donnell for his outspoken courage. I left a message telling him that he reminds me of Edward R. Murrow. The Republican Party's national platform is one of demagoguery and deceit. I believe that's a statement from the time of Edward R. Murrow and now we have the same situation. It was Joseph McCarthy back then and now it's Dunold Trump. djt has a connection to McCarthy through Roy Cohn who represented McCarthy and sat next to him in the congressional hearings. History repeats itself. Joseph McCarthy sort of just disappeared after everything and I'm hoping that Dunald will fade into the woodwork in the same way.
My email to Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Shane Goldmacher at the NYTs
Appalling
Your efforts to "normalize" a delusional rapist, felon, grifter, seditionist traitor is absolutely appalling. You and your colleagues took on the task of driving one of America's great presidents out of race. You write about Trump like he's just a normal, odd guy running for President.
I think also that the NYT helped create his celebrity status in the first place. They like hucksters! And as long as we (the masses) keep being outraged but somewhat accepting and then defeated by this, then the real power brokers are getting away with their master plans and schemes behind this lack of reporting. I'm glad you and others on these Substack forums are speaking out and taking action.
I loved Harris dressing down The Pro Palestinian protestors yesterday. What are they thinking? If you did not catch it, they were screaming at her rally. She stopped and spoke directly to them “if you want Donald Trump to win keep doing this” she says, otherwise “I am speaking”. It was perfect.
I loved it as well Adaline. The look she gave them was so familiar- it is the look that many mothers have given their children when showing extreme disapproval.
I understand that she met with 2 founders of the "Uncommitted" movement in the receiving line before the rally. They pushed her on calling for an end to providing funding for weapons and calling for a ceasefire. I heard it was reported in the press that she replied to them "I am open to that". Then they moved on to heckling her, repeatedly. She initially let it go, but they kept up the shouting, so she had to get firm with them.
We need to be mindful of the fact that as a black woman she will be under a lot of scrutiny in everything she does. She handled this well. While the protesters have a first amendment right, she also has a right to be heard.
She also prefaced her "It's my turn to speak" comment by saying that the protestors have a right to be heard. I think that's an important point. After that, she said the line about unless they want Trump to win they need to stop because it's her turn to speak.
I hope they understood how patient and fair she was with them...and how foolish it was to try and harass the only candidate for president who will protect democracy, which includes their right to protest. Talk about "cutting off your nose to spite your face!"
I think she said, "If you want to say that you want Trump to win just say so and we can move on" or closer to that, that she would respect their opinion on their candidate but kindly shut up now. If she had added what YOU added that would have been great!! Yes, she and Biden are the ones in the difficult position of trying to protect democracy and to support negotiations in the region. Trump would just give more bombs to Netanyahu. Isn't Walz familiar with this population in MN? Does he have a more conciliatory way to handle it? But I did like her saying "It's my turn to speak". YES!!!
Here's an excerpt from an article about the speech:
"Harris at first acknowledged the protesters and their right to speak out. “I’m here because we believe in democracy. Everyone’s voice matters, but I am speaking now, I am speaking now,” she said, to applause.
She returned to her topic, the radical changes she said her rival, Donald Trump, would bring if he were elected, but the protesters chanted unabated for 30 seconds.
That prompted a sharp rebuke from Harris.
“You know what?” she said. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.” She leaned back and glowered at the protesters as the rally erupted into applause and cheers."
https://www.timesofisrael.com/walking-tightrope-kamala-harris-listens-to-anti-israel-activists-then-shushes-them/
Thanks for clarifying the sequence, CC!
Time to question some of the press assigned to Trump.
Subscribe to The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor and/ or any other news outlet that is making a decent effort to represent what they observe.
Regarding The NY Times, it may be that the Times is attacking the Harris/Walz campaign to make money. But the Times is no longer a news organization. Nieman Lab reports "the company is pushing its all-access digital bundle that includes Games, Cooking, Wirecutter, and The Athletic alongside its journalism. At the end of 2023, a little under half — 4.22 million or 43% — of digital-only subscribers were bundle or multi-product subscribers." The Times is profitable, but not as a newspaper. Read the full article from earlier this year:
https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/the-new-york-times-made-more-than-1-billion-from-digital-subscriptions-in 2023/#:~:text=The%20Times%20now%20makes%20more,totaled%20%241.09%20billion%20in%202023.&text=The%20New%20York%20Times%2C%20we,it's%20all%20about%20The%20Bundle.
I totally agree. The Times has become a digital entertainment venue. Today, It's moniker "all the news that's fit to print" belongs to the Substack universe. It's comforting to note that Heather Cox Richardson subscriptions is over 11 million compared to a little less than 10 million for the Times.
That is comforting, indeed . . .
Back in the day, when I was a school superintendent, a principal (with the distinctive name of Thomas Jefferson) helped his kids start a school newspaper. The paper's motto: "All the news that fits, we print."
Painfully funny. It's definitely the new slogan of the MAGA Times (formerly the NYT). Robert points out today that the MAGA Times has decided: "It is now time for Harris' honeymoon to end." And also: "We are going to swiftboat Tim Walz, based on hate-filled accusations by two MAGA people." How is that news??
I suspect that HCR reaches even more than her 11 million subscribers, if others do what I do - I share her substack on my FB page and it is shared by readers there as well. So, the NYT is vastly outgunned with readership, thank goodness. I canceled my subscription over a year ago due to bias against Biden and those AWFUL headlines that bear no resemblance to the articles that follow.
That stat is a very good to know. Thank you.
Comforting about HCR but not about the status of NYT. Just so much journalistic Cheese Whiz at this point -- and well past its expiration date. We have fallen very far....
"And yet, the toughest criticism from the NYTimes lead article was, “His wide-ranging remarks were sometimes meandering.”
When I read this out loud, my husband exclaimed, "I am so glad we cancelled our subscription!" (back at the first of July.) I miss playing Spelling Bee with my morning coffee, and may get a Gamesand/or Cooking subscription this winter, but I doubt we will ever have an all access subscription again.
The New York Times has become, in my opinion, a puzzle delivery system.
Hilarious!!!
There are plenty of great (and often free) games via the internets 😆. I was a big fan of the Bee but willing to give it up. Not another nickel to the Times or WaPo from me. (I actually cancelled WaPo with a $1 every 4 weeks subscription..) Each decides for her/him/their self.
I agree Robin, but I'm not cancelling. The behavior of the press at the Mar-a-Lago shindig was shameful. No questions about Project 2025 that I heard.
That is being respectful to what Trump said about not knowing anything and still managing to get their leader fired. They swallowed the gaslight whole!! Steven "Himmler" Miller was on Ari Melber also scrubbing the campaign clean of P25 associations -- or trying. Ari didn't play. My guess is the press members were hand selected and instructed beforehand on how to behave. Kind of like that scene in Casablanca where the Nazi's are announcing how the Parisians should act when they march in.
To the NYT's partial credit, they did post this story with an accurate headline yesterday ("That Time Trump Nearly Died in a Helicopter Crash? Didn’t Happen."):
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/us/politics/trump-helicopter-willie-brown.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Bk4.Fkq2.50rZjorKosOX&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
And a sign of the complexity of our country and the precarious nature of a free press. WAPO and the NYT still have a cachet, a brand, that gets repeated and echoed in many other media. Like it or not, we should, in my opinion, do everything we can to influence what and how they cover things.
Great advice, Patrick. It's always much better to fix a problem than to fix the blame.
We can fix this problem by the MAGA media--NYT and WaPo--going out of business. As readers on this thread have pointed out, they have already been replaced by Substack journalists, who already have more subscribers than they do. The times they are a-changin.
A very good point and it’s all about advertising and the criticism actually helps the.
We can hope it matters.
A reader here or on HCR commented that it is no longer "news media," but "corporate media." For those of us grounded in a fact-based world, "corporate media" is certainly more accurate.
It's Cheeze-Whiz media!
That’s why I canceled not just the news app but also the cooking app. I admit that I did like the cooking app but in my cancel message, I said I would resubscribe if they confirmed that none of the money from the cooking app went to support the political reporting organization. Haven’t heard back yet!
Can someone please help Barbara with another cooking app? :)
That would be great! I’m back to cookbooks at the moment.
And more than that, we need to get them to stop claiming--the root of claim means to pretend--to be a news outlet.
Trump's rambling and incoherent sentences are deeply worrying. It appears that he is actually losing the ability to string together 2-3 sentences in a row that stay on one topic and are actually real sentences with subject, verb, object. Our allies see this. Our enemies see this. It's a bad and scary look for a future president. And those who remain supportive of his candidacy do not have the best interests of our country in mind.
Perhaps he has gone beyond controlling his disabilities - the behaviors indicate an escalation of the symptoms he has always demonstrated. This is when others must step in or become bystanders to self-destruction. Just my novice point of view.
You are right-- it's called "deterioration" with "prognosis poor, guarded at best". Maybe he needs a conservator?
You have a point, sure. But a trump at the top of his game and with whatever marbles he might have had make for an even worse and scarier look from the perspectives of US allies.
I think Trump, in any variation, scares our allies. NATO will withold crucial information for fear it'll be a pipeline to Putin.
I was lucky enough to get a ticket to VP Harris’ first fundraiser after she became the nominee, in Pittsfield MA, and even though the suggested dress code was “business casual”, I wore my Dems Make Life Better tee shirt! Many people asked where I got my shirt, some people took a photo (front and back, since both sides are great), and I was also able to chat about grassroots activism and our group Markers For Democracy. It’s great that Robert is supporting their terrific efforts!
I, too, am a walking billboard of message t-shirts these days.
Once we WIN, I intend to make an historic t-shirt quilt out of them!
Dunald's pleased when he can rattle the press and their readers. It gets him off. He wants attention and he doesn't care what kind. Of course he wants to be president again but in the meantime he wants to be in the spotlight. He is displaying his pathology believing that's what his base likes best.
No one knows what will be a bridge too far in the MAGA movement. I predict that his overall health will fail before November. His eyes are bloodshot, his hair is falling out, he's slurring his speech and often doesn't finish his sentences. I foresee a health breakdown. I may have the timing wrong but it's going to happen. Stress!
The problem is that for the MAGAlomaniacs, there IS no bridge too far. It's the one thing he built that so far has been indestructible.
You are of course right for many, maybe almost all, but some have had it and see in Trump at last not just an old guy, but a mean and dangerous old guy. In a very different moral universe, even people who love Joe Biden began to lose confidence.
If just 30 people in every county in NC decide not to vote for Trump, victory becomes easier. See https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/vps-team-launches-republicans-for-harris-in-effort-to-win-over-anti-trump-gop-voters
Nice point, Patrick. Small wins like that will make a difference in the end. Another way to put it would be -- if 30 more people in each county decides they are now going to show up and vote Blue that would cinch it!! Many times, though, I think it is the non-votes that beat candidates. It happened to Hilary in '16 and Trump in '20. Maybe more so this year.
After January 6, I don't think there is a bridge too far for MAGA.
Wait till Jan 6, 2025... Last time was just a rehearsal. I am very concerned.
But look how MAGA has scrubbed Jan 6 clean...it's remarkable. Frightening.
From your lips to god's ears....
If it wasn't well known that he doesn't drink alcohol, I'd suspect him of being drunk. He is definitely not healthy.
He doesn't drink alcohol but what he does drink and eat isn't good for anyone's health.
I suspect Dee (above) is correct about his health and state of mind. The question is, when this all will catch up with him? My suspicion is he will quit if this keeps up and his poll #'s keep sinking or he will fake some kind of health problem and drop out an flee to Russia, wouldn't that be fun? Never discount a cornered rat, as crazy as he's becoming anything is possible. Popcorn please:))
I'm inclined to agree with you, but I am even more wary of the malevolent enablers, specially Elon Musk, Stephen Miller, Michael Flynn, Harlan Crowe, and the Anti-government militias who have been stockpiling and training for their race war/Second Civil War. 45 stepping down is not sufficient. Project 2025 is written for whoever the "conservative" candidate is, and the six SCOTUS Justices are part of the plan.
Yes, I want Trump to last until Election Day, because I don't want them to find someone even worse to put in his place. The Trump we have in August is eminently beatable, and will become more so in Sept. and Oct.
Totally!!!
If you think he is desperate and overheated now, wait till he loses in November and has to switch into an even higher gear to go at "the stolen election 2.0". He will pop a vessel!!!
I agree and that is why we have to win in November and then keep the pressure on and win into the foreseeable future. I know that is a tall order but what other choice is there?
Vital.
Malevolent enablers...Love that. Or could call them the SS....It is all one vision, one Reich... National Security establishment better be making plans already...
Maybe not, because he is running to stay out of jail and probably doesn’t trust anyone else to win and pardon him.
I've been saying that for a while now, that he won't make it to the election. He has lost weight and I wonder if he is on Ozempic or something? But his sleep patterns are erratic, which is one of many signs of hypomania he displays. The Narcissism and Sociopathy are easy targets, but he has an underlying mood disorder as well. That is the engine of it all, that is where so much of the "flavor" and "tone" comes from. His grandiosity is getting worse by the hour, and I am thinking/hoping so many are finally getting turned off by the hostility, contempt, and haughty arrogance that he spews. He is a miserable, vindictive person and is constantly vigilant to defend his brittle self-esteem against any perceived challenge. And he got shot at, maybe that shook him up a bit?
According to most of the production staff on the Apprentice, Dunald was a prolific user of cocaine. So much so that he had to have his nose repaired. That habit might account for his sleep habits. I know a woman who used a lot of that stuff and has to take ambien now because she can't sleep normally. She also had bowel problems from the baby laxative they use to cut it, (I read that he wore diapers so that makes sense). He was offered that show because no REAL successful businessmen would take it, and it was offered to more than a couple. He was excited that he would be presented as a real estate tycoon, when he had been bankrupt 6 or so times. So many people watched that show and believed it. He has been a con man/bully since he was a small child. It blows my mind that he has pulled off so many lies. And it blows my mind that people believe him! I feel like I'm living in a John Grisham novel...well...we all are.
I believe it about the coke. I am not sure if using coke 30-40 years ago would affect his sleep now -- but his underlying mood disorder would!!! Maybe it accounts for all the sniffing he does.... My guess is that he takes Adderall or some other stimulant, so we are not too far off.
And apparently, he cannot hear. The videos of that "press conference" show him repeatedly asking for questions to be repeated.
Or, it is a technique of disrespect and evasion.
In addition to your insightful comments, I must now thank you for my new interest in astronomy!!
"Look up!"
One of the guiding principles for doctors is “ do no harm” and that should be the motto for all journalists. I watched Laurence O’Donnell last night and he was angry and he was right. Trump being Trump is an excuse and the voters like us need to call them out. Then Harris/Waltz team needs to call them out. K
Yes. However, no interviews until the press behaves like balanced journalists instead of rabid dogs in heat!
No Harris should demand in her press release to require all journalists not to yell out questions , not to ask back up questions or interrupt and only ask softball questions and treat her exactly like they treat Trump.
a tiger does not change it's stripes or don't get into a challenge with a skunk or you will come away stinking like the skunk
Lawrence made the point that the press DOES behave like rabid dogs when they are facing Harris, Biden, or Biden's WH press secretary!! They yell, sneer, talk back, insult them...But for Trump they just roll over. Has anyone looked at if the people asking questions at Mar-A-Lago actually were journalists? Maybe they were actors who got a free buffet and two drinks? He has hired actors before to give the effect of large crowds. Or was the press schooled on how to behave? Or hand-selected? As Kevin Costner said in JFK, "We are through the looking glass, people!"
Yes. I understood that he was very critical of his fellow journalists. I think the biggest criticism was that instead of attending Harris and Walz as they got the UAW endorsement that Biden had cultivated, they covered do nothing Trump in his home. Still choosing rabid dog Trump clicks over covering the news.
Lawrence played the speech at UAW to restore that moment, which was otherwise ignored by msm in favor of watching the Geek debase himself and our country. The UAW speech was a lovely, hopeful, joyous thing, too. Healing, even...
Yes. That is the only reason I know what a big miss it was for MSM! It was magnificent. Biden created that relationship and it is fortunate that they carried it over to Harris/Walz.
💯
Fantastic article. Thanks, as always. We can sleep when we are dead!
Blue tsunami can drown them. https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Down here in Baghdad By the Sea, a new poll in our county shows Harris ahead by 14 %...." found Harris winning several key voting blocs in Miami-Dade, including 55% of women and 52% of men. Among non-Cuban Hispanic voters, 58% said they plan to support Harris compared to 38% who are backing Trump. Trump still holds the lead among Cuban Americans, who have historically backed Republican candidates; 61% said they will vote for the former president, while 33% plan to support Harris, according to the poll."
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article290877469.html#storylink=cpy
Considering that 84,000 Democrats were removed from the voter rolls here since 2022, and we are in the process of re-registering them, we're hoping we can swing the state. Trump won in 2020 by 3.1 %.
My local Gannett paper ( behind a paywall) had an article from Palm Beach Post about Trump’s “wide-ranging news conference” with the headline: “Donald Trump says he has accepted invites for three September debates with Kamala Harris”
At least they included this:
“The anti-Trump group Lincoln Project said the former president was "unhinged and rambling" as he spoke.
“You think this is bad? Now imagine him with full immunity and unfettered power," the group said in a statement. "Democrats need to get out and campaign like it's the last election — because if Trump wins, it might be.”
Working to GOTV with ➡️ Is He Ok?/Trump and Amendment 4/reproductive rights on the ballot in Florida ! 🌊🌊🌊
It is stupefying that SCOMAGA gave near-total immunity to an individual who committed so many obvious crimes and acts of treason. Is that some new kind of theory of jurisprudence or human psychology? Tell criminals "We won't prosecute you for anything under $1000.00" and what happened? Tell Donald Trump "Go ahead and shoot someone on 5th Avenue while you are talking about your tax plan -- and you're good!" What were they thinking? Same as the jurists in Nuremberg in 1935, most likely. This is the sound of institutions collapsing in advance, complying ahead of the takeover. Thank goodness for our three who are really the ones writing for the ages....
Trump's eternal false claims of the "illegal alien invasion with countries emptying out their insane asylums, prisons" and such should have been challenged the first time he made the statements, coming down the escalator. Instead the thin thread of truth ties to the 1970s Cuban Boat Lifts (I may not have the terms right, I am going off of memory here). Fidel Castro did indeed allow desperate Cubans to leave the island bound for the United States during that one period of time. However, there is NO EVIDENCE of such things happening now. And Vice President Harris's role NOT as "Immigration Czar" but in going to the source countries in Central and South America HAS INDEED BEEN EFFECTIVE in identifying and addressing the underlying reasons Immigration and asylum-seeking continues. If your bathtub is overflowing, FIRST TURN OFF THE FAUCET. Donald also appears to confuse and equate "asylum seekers" with "insane asylums."
And WHO is responsible for closing mental health facilities in the United States? Ronald Reagan.
Trump's early statements after the escalator ride down --- a ride on which we have all been unwilling passengers -- were challenged!! The ones about immigrants, about McCain, making fun of the disabled journalist, Russia if you're listening, grab 'em by...etc. All were criticized, people were aghast, Trump was shameless and coarse and unpresidential. Didn't help. That's the real story. Many candidates have done far less offensive things and gotten bounced into the dustbin of history. Why not Trump? Why not in USA of 2015/2016? Or 2024 for that matter. Why is it all so normalized? Why does the press and a sizeable number of people go along with it and grease the wheels of it?
I believe Reagan might have been Governor in CA when the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) act was passed in mid-60s but maybe it was Pat Brown (D)? But that was passed by the California House and Senate, too, to be fair. At the time it was viewed as being a Humanitarian act and about a person's basic rights against unlawful detainment-- often for decades-- in state facilities. It did not "close" mental health facilities. It set up rules for temporary hospitalization in emergencies per specific criteria, but also funded the opening of community mental health centers so that people could get treatment without being tossed into the hospital indefinitely. It is actually the opposite of what you are saying. Has it always worked out well? Maybe not. But it was better than what went before -- witness the movie "Frances" or "Cuckoos Nest". That was pre-LPS time.
Mental Health is a perennial "football" for politics but let's not just toss it out of bounds... Now, it is homelessness-- often linked to people who "should be in the hospital" not being institutionalized -- but the problem is far, far beyond just mental health now. And the SCOMAGA made it illegal to be homeless, and homeless can be more easily arrested. Is that a better solution? In CA there was a major vote this year to fund more treatment for adults who need it-- but realistically, it will take money from children's programs and repurpose it, at least for the short term. It's a system that is still under siege. The needs are so huge...Everywhere....
ADENDUM: I wanted to correct a couple of things. The LPS law was passed in 1967 and was signed by then Gov Reagan. The LPS act was focused on the procedures and safeguards around involuntary commitment and conservatorship. There were other acts in CA, passed earlier, that focused on funding and building networks of community mental health centers.
It was instant karma that John Hinckley Jr was locked up in a psychiatric institution for about 3 decades after the shooting. Who needs mental institutions anyway? Reagan was discouraged from going to visit him. Hinckley
wanted a visit from Jodie Foster. You're right about Dunald's word association, which is just one more indication of his interesting IQ.
As an x-Floridian, I so hope you are correct. Losing FL would be the ultimate humiliation for sticking with Trump.
Daniel, I posted a large comment below with a video. Please copy and repost if you agree. I am no longer on some forums. Dr Arlene gave me a better perspective, as I had not been able to characterize the phenomena of this rise. It is a tide.
Thanks Daniel!!! GOP loves to cheat. You can count on it.
What about integrity at the polls at the precinct level? I worry about Dem voters getting turned away or given provisional ballots that will get round-filed.
Thank you so much for your consistent sharing of your acuity and commitment, Robert Hubbell. Could not agree more with you - and with Lawrence O'Donnell.
"The MORAL COLLAPSE of the press corps covering trump" seems right on.
Also want to raise the possibility of a stunted and/ or immature moral development to suggest this: that inter-human ethical sense, discernment and conviction do not actually exist for many of them.
As trump's behavior and language, among other things, consistently reveal a mindset devoid of compassion and generosity, likewise the behavior and language of many of these press corps reveal a mindset that is ethically (and also cognitively?) limited. Bottomline, Democratic ideals inhere an inter-human ethic. When you don't get that, when the real complexity of effecting a vital democratic republic is not acknowledged, it is easy to be lost, as well as fearful of the loud, the mean, and the retributive, and not know how - or yes, also, have the courage to - hold Others accountable to honoring our unalienable human rights.
May commitment to democratic respect hope joy and action prevail! VP Harris and Gov. Walz are walking the talk!
A massive BLUE WAVE can wash away the toxic RED TIDE!
That is soooo negative. I say we have a job to do here. Don’t die until November 6.
That’s my personal goal.
As well as your own excellent reporting of the news of the day, Robert, I continue to be impressed with your ability to find other credible sources for us to read. Many thanks, always.
Thanks to our self serving corporate press many, many years of our fellow citizens lives were led down a destructive path so the corporate heads could enrich themselves. I miss some of the reporters
and columnists that I loved to read but I’ll never go near those rags again. I try not to smirk when I get emails from the NYT begging me to come back.
I wish I could feel sorry for Trump but I remind myself that you reap what you sow and this self-centered, entitled being hurt so many people. Might his family help him? They learned from him that he was their cash cow but only if they towed his line. Paid off big as in 2 billion for Jared and Ivanka without even an investigation of that corrupt deal.
As I read your newsletter at the crack of dawn I am reminded of the benefits of age (77 here). I can remember when politics was fun and it was a benefit to run outside and scoop up the paper. It is so important to pass this on to younger generations so they know it didn’t have to be this way.
There’s so much in all you write and I will hold on to your newsletters and those of several substack writers so I never forget the good in life. I am especially grateful to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz every time I hear them speak and can see how Trump and the corporate media worked to erase the joy we were meant to have in our lives. It’s back and let’s keep it!
BTW if I can be an optimist and believe we have turned the corner from a hateful rhetoric to the good it is a bonus for me to read Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s newsletter. He is so sane and smart about life in general.
Sorry hit the wrong button, I too watched the Lawrence O’Donnell summary of the press conference that Trump gave and the contrast that he showed between that and one with Biden and the other with his elegant press secretary shows the mainstream media as both bullies and cowards. I did love the contrast where Vice President Harris spoke with reporters before boarding her plane when asked about her response to the press conference and I paraphrase that “ she does not have time (implying to waste) to follow Trumps news conferences ( imply his ramblings) because she is too busy speaking to voters”. She is smiling as she says this. I would also second watching Tim Miller and Adam Kitzinger’s discussion on the Bulwark yesterday regarding Tim Walz’s military record. It’s so obvious that the GOP cannot discuss issues of policy (project 2025) and flood the zone with so much disinformation (aka merde and excuse my French) because of convictions and upcoming continuation of J6 pre trial hearings and NY sentencing. I know Judge Merchean is in a politically awkward position but like everyone else from the Supreme Court and the corporate media I hope he does not feel pressured to go lightly on Trump. Thanks Robert and again incredible pictures.
All the wasted words and time 45 spends at rallies and golf course are evidence he is not getting any actual work done. He has no plans.
I love when "government" quietly works as people, we all, go about our daily lives, and it is there to help in times of need, protection, disaster response, epidemic or similar crisis.
I LONG for the days of not waking up, wondering what fresh hell 45 has spewed into the social media universe in the middle of the night on his toilet!
Our national mental health has been harmed. In fact, globally. Other countries are preparing to protect themselves from a possible second term, in an "end of the world" type of way!
Why did MSNBC cover the WHOLE thing? I was just shaking my head.... While we are trashing the NYT why is MSNBC sticking it out for garbage events like that? Yes, the hosts will feed on it all day and night like birds of prey, but should it be platformed on MSNBC? Maybe. There is some value to sunlight....But sometimes you have to boo and walk out!!
Boo! Then VOTE! (As Obama used to say, and the Harris/Walz ticket has revived)
I did watch Lawrence O’Donnell’s commentary, which as usual was articulate and incisive, and as Robert stated, "shames reporters who reported that “Trump answered questions” at the press conference. He did not. He responded in Elvish gibberish—which the reporters in attendance obediently transcribed and published."
On a lighter note, as a lifelong fan of LOTR (and neither far right nor even right as Rachel Maddow has mistakenly broadly characterized LOTR fans), I would not describe tffg's speech and vocabulary as "Elvish gibberish" but rather "Orkish" gibberish, since Orcs do not have their own language but instead speak in a mishmash of other languages.
(paraphrased from https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Orkish#:~:text=Orkish%20was%20a%20general%20term,other%20languages%20of%20Middle%2Dearth.)
"Orkish was a general term for the jumble of languages used by the Orcs, composed from corrupted borrowings from other languages of Middle-earth."
Let the orc memes begin!
You and Stephen Colbert would make good buddies (and engrossing dinner conversations)!
Have been a fan of Stephen Colbert for many years, especially after hearing that one of his sons earned his Eagle Scout rank, but he is way beyond me in LOTR fandom.
I must add that tffg is more Orc than Elf, fitting the description by J.R.R.Tolkien:
"In J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, Orcs were cruel, sadistic, black-hearted, vicious, and hateful of most things, particularly of those who were orderly and prosperous.[3]"
And I've never seen tffg ever laugh in a joyful positive manner. He's almost to be pitied.
"For all that race were bred by Melkor of the subterranean heats and slime. Their hearts were of granite and their bodies deformed; foul their faces which smiled not, but their laugh that of the clash of metal, and to nothing were they more fain than to aid in the basest of the purposes of Melkor."
—J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fall of Gondolin
https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Orcs
Excellent summary. However, I don’t think we should simply assume that the press is grievously failing to cover Trump as they covered Biden because they simply want clicks or believe they’ll sell more papers if they have a horse race. It’s so flagrant that something else seems to be at work. I keep thinking of Epstein-related kompromat on media executives. Or some such. What we’re witnessing is just too dug-in, persistent and extreme for benign assumptions
Agree!
Lawrence O'Donnel laid into the press last night and rightly so, you also know right away when he is really pissed off. Last night was classic Lawrence and it's the one of the reasons I love his program and commentary.
We should ALL be so RIGHTEOUSLY ANGRY!!!
Yes, Bill, Lawrence O'Donnell really hit the media, that allegedly covered Trump's ramblings, right between the eyes. And those "reporters" deserved his harsh reproach.
I was so impressed and appreciative that I looked up a way to thank Lawrence and did so today. If anyone would like to leave Lawrence a message about his great commentary last night, you can call MSNBC on their "dedicated customer service phone number" at 1-212-664-4444. It's open Monday through Friday between 9 and 5 EST.
I called in and praised Lawrence O'Donnell for his outspoken courage. I left a message telling him that he reminds me of Edward R. Murrow. The Republican Party's national platform is one of demagoguery and deceit. I believe that's a statement from the time of Edward R. Murrow and now we have the same situation. It was Joseph McCarthy back then and now it's Dunold Trump. djt has a connection to McCarthy through Roy Cohn who represented McCarthy and sat next to him in the congressional hearings. History repeats itself. Joseph McCarthy sort of just disappeared after everything and I'm hoping that Dunald will fade into the woodwork in the same way.
OH, C C, thank you for the number!
Thank you I will do that. 😊
Lawrence joined Threads and the community piled on with high praise last night. His takedown of the press was epic!
My email to Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan and Shane Goldmacher at the NYTs
Appalling
Your efforts to "normalize" a delusional rapist, felon, grifter, seditionist traitor is absolutely appalling. You and your colleagues took on the task of driving one of America's great presidents out of race. You write about Trump like he's just a normal, odd guy running for President.
Pathetic!
🥇
I think also that the NYT helped create his celebrity status in the first place. They like hucksters! And as long as we (the masses) keep being outraged but somewhat accepting and then defeated by this, then the real power brokers are getting away with their master plans and schemes behind this lack of reporting. I'm glad you and others on these Substack forums are speaking out and taking action.