Can someone elaborate on why the Alito flag flying foible is just now coming to light? How is it this weighty story has been neglected (or buried?) for three-plus years?
Yes, I too have wondered why it has taken so long for the Alito flag story to come out. There were pictures taken of it at the time and the neighbors saw it. Anyone driving by would have noticed it.I read that the neighbors feared possible repercussions upon talking about it. Repercussions from a SCOTUS judge? Seems like something is not right in this picture. A Substack reader suggested that postcards be sent to the SCOTUS asking that Alito "Recuse or Resign". The address given to send these postcards to is 1 First St NE Washington, DC 20543. A phone number was listed too as 202-479-3000. I am going to do both the writing and the calling as this situation is just so egregious that doing nothing about it is not an option.
Great information. I called the number listed and a person actually answered! I said that I was calling form California and wanted to register my view that Justice Alito should either recuse or resign over his flying of the insurrectionist's flag.... she told me she would transfer me to instructions on how I can register my complaint. I then received a recorded message with the address you provided. Postcards will soon be on the way!! However, I want to strongly urge all readers to CALL THAT NUMBER!! Let's overwhelm their switchboard with phone calls calling for Alito to resign!! How long will it be before the number is taken down and the business of the court is overwhelmed by our complaints!!
I just called the number and was directly sent to the recorded instructions on how to register a complaint with no time alloted to me to leave a comment.Postcards are coming their way!
Don't write to SCOTUS! They will ignore or trash your communication. Call Sen. Durbin's office and ask him to step up his fight to get Alito to recuse. Durbin will listen to us. His staff is compiling numbers on how many people want Alito to recuse. Call Durbin's office: 202.224.2152
Even better. We have to light a fire under that incompetant boob's ass. If dereliction of duty was a competition, Durbin would win the big prize, hands down.
Got a person, a male, and after I spoke, including requesting that the Senator fulfill his obligation to provide checks and balances in our government, he asked for my zip code. I'm in Colorado and was truthful. I wonder if my message will get through or be discarded based on zip code.
I just called and got a female responder who seemed to listen carefully and said she would pass on my message. She did want my zip code and I proudly said that I was a Californian but that Durbin had to speak for all of us.
HCR recently wrote an article that covered the history of what happens when the media misrepresents what is happening in government - how Benjamin Harrison, the outgoing president, torpedoed Grover Cleveland, the incoming president. Because of the media coverage, people blamed Cleveland, and it took another 20 years for Teddy Roosevelt to enact reforms to fix the problems that the republicans introduced. It makes a difference.
Saying it isn't their job to elect Biden is a bullsh*t excuse. Their job is to report what is happening, and by glossing over the threat to democracy, and neglecting to report on trump's gaffes, they are helping to get trump elected. They are doing a lot to help trump get elected, and when they say helping Biden isn't their job, what they really mean is that they intend to continue helping trump.
Speaking of Heather and the media,(NYT and Sulzberger in particular) I'll insert my comment to that discussion here, as it pertains to this one :
Ransom Rideout
May 15
He is obviously still angry that the silverspoon was tarnished black when it first put the Gerbers in his little mouth. I've known fine newspaper folks in the day. I am cousins of the McClatchy's of the Sac Bee. Phoebe McClatchy's mother was a Rideout, My great grandfather's neice. She married Carlos McClatchy and founded the Fresno Bee. Her sons, CK and James were the publishers of the McClatchy papers until they passed. They were open minded, well educated and commited to journalism that served the people. James was outraged by the 2003 war in Iraq and came out of retirement to be the editor of the editorial page, and his editorials were scorching of the Bush-Cheney cabal. He was by nature, a bit conservative, but to him the truth was all that mattered. That is what journalism is. Anything less is pure propaganda.
I am going to quote two other people in reference to what you are discussing today. Prof Timothy Snyder says, "The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political forces face new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience." https://timothysnyder.org/ This is what we must hope. We should be removing Alito and Thomas from the courts. Impeachment is the answer.
Thank you Robert for your enlightened coverage in the face of a press that has been coopted. The defensiveness of the press is going to be quite a different tune as they all get shut down under Trump, because sucking up to Trump will never be good enough unless it is total. That they are not able to do, so they are risking that they will be taken over by "the State" or shut down completely. Here is the story of a journalist broadcasting under dictatorship. https://confidencial.digital/english/practicing-journalism-under-dictatorship/
Tim Snyder is on the mark. That is why I follow him too. Thank you Linda, for the -under-dictatership link. And to think that Daniel Ortega was our hero years ago.
I agree with all of this, except the bashing of Nicaragua, which is trying its best to recover from the decades long attacks from US forces. Did you know they have a special court for gender crimes against women? There is much going on there that is amazing and inspiring.
Lauren, are you saying that Nicaragua is a democracy? It may be undoing the things that happened under the USA CIA backed Contras, but as a leftist country it still is not a democracy. I have a friend that was a pilot in the days of the Sandinistas, and he knew people who knew that Ollie North was running guns for the Contras. That was the horror then. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/reagan-iran/
Do you remember when the USA was backing the Contras under Reagan and things for people in Nicaragua were horrific, leading to a large migration to the US. However here a journalist who is from Nicaragua is saying why he has to report from out of Costa Rica, just as journalists at Independent Russian publications report from Estonia instead of Russia. Is that bashing Nicaragua to speak the truth? Is Nicaragua a democracy?
I don’t think this blog is the place to debate how another country is choosing to go forward. I offer this to interested readers: https://afgj.org/category/nicanotes
More and more it becomes clearer how blessed we are to have Joe Biden as president at this perilous time. The strength and expertise he consistently shows, combined with his faith and honesty, is starting to look like the destiny that hopefully will save us all! Great column, dear Robert. xx's
The key questions in journalism have not changed since I took my first journalism class in high school over 50 years ago: What is news? What makes something newsworthy? As far as I know, there have never been definitive answers to those questions with most people falling back on "I know it when I see/hear it." But the oldest cliche may still be the most instructive: "Dog bites man" is not news; "Man bites dog" is headline news.
Donald Trump has managed to turn his lying, his weaknesses, his lapses in judgment and taste, his misogyny and racism and his poor physical condition and worrisome mental failings into a dog bites man story. He has done it by setting expectations so low and being so consistent in his awfulness that the media sees only the dog biting the man. This is Trump's superpower.
Well, I've wondered about the fact that MAGA people don't read -------- uh the TIMES. But some of my Democratic friends do --- and more than I would like repeat some of the inaccuracies reflecting more worry about Biden. Frankly --- I am usually an optimistic person, but I think that the mainstream media is not redeemable. And as for letting republican congressional members gettin away with repeated lies - the mainstream media fails, fails fails. It's a disgrace.
I agree on most MAGA folk don't read the USA, so go figure that bratty Sulzburger is willing to get rid of everyone who does. Don't agree about the revenue. It might be this way, but it does not need to be. We could have a different funding formula. In Germany the people all have to pay for the radio and television media, as a small monthly fee. Germans therefore left, right and center trust it more for that reason. It gets to be independent but not without any oversight. See this expat's comparison. https://youtu.be/jphacgBLrc0?si=dREkfbXugazm605A
It’s too late unfortunately and the Supreme Court rules years ago about political campaigns funding and dark monies have taken over. The bottom line voting is the last line of defense.
One of the things Roy Cohn, formerly Joe McCarthy’s guru, taught Trump was that the important thing is to be *in* the news, *whether the news stories are favorable or unfavorable*.
Trump is always in the news, in your face; Biden isn’t. Part of the problem for Biden may be that he’s overly modest about shoving his face in front of cameras.
Interesting replies, Stephen and Michael. I assume that nobody doubts that Trump is in the news way too much but why? It's not for the lies (as lies, as opposed to being reported as boasts or, gasp!, facts), the "-ist" comments, the physical and mental mistakes, etc. IOW the coverage is not about the kinds of things that go to his fitness to be president.
You are being too intellectual: The content doesn’t matter; the repeated presence does. That was Roy Cohn’s insight and teaching.
Look at advertising: so much of its success is based on repetition. If Trump is constantly in your face, it lends an air of inevitability, spurious as it might be.
Democrats supposedly have a big financial war chest. They should spend some of it – starting NOW — to place and keep Biden in front of voters (and others).
I agree with that. I think we're talking about different things. You're talking about Trump's ability to attract attention from the media. No question he's a master at that and it serves him well on a daily basis. I'm talking about the failure of the press to report on certain important negative aspects of his qualifications. at the same time they are otherwise fulfilling Trump's great desire for coverage.
Jeff, I think journalism has changed a huge amount. They are interested in revenue, media clicks, sensationalism--that sells. They used to get revenue from ads, but the decentralization provided by the internet has weakened that stream for them. They are perpetuating the echo chamber--if someone reads Topic X, feed them more on Topic X and don't publish anything that contradicts that. Look at news anchors on TV--or heaven forbid, weather reporters. The females are all wearing bustiers and lingerie-type clothing. It's not about what's newsworthy any more. It's about what sells. I think the NYT, who now manufacture their own polling results with Siena, is just creating a profit-centered franchise. It has very little to do with news. That's why Substack is so important. (BTW, this all changed under Ronald Reagan, who disempowered editorial boards in the 80s and empowered the financial people to make editorial decisions.)
Robert, for the record, the incident where Trump stumbled and grabbed for the lectern happened in St. Paul last week,not in Dallas. As you well understand, had Biden stumbled like that during his Morehouse speech, the mainstream media would have led with that video and discussed his fragility. But Trump does it and gets a pass by blaming the workers who built the stage. And then delivers a rambling speech full of lies and disinformation. Gads, what a disappointment mainstream reporting has become!
As for Trump’s claim that he won Minnesota in 2020, I have a news flash for him: I live in the county that had the highest voter turnout in the country at 93%. Our voting records have been repeatedly reviewed; the staff has spent thousands of hours providing evidence of how we voted - to alleged “watch dog” groups: read Republican dark money funded reactionaries. Literally spent millions of taxpayer dollars to make certain the process was fair and the results were accurate. Few anomalies were found and none of them would have changed the outcome even a tiny bit.
Another words, Trump lied again. Bigly. Why? Because the RNC spent more money here in my Congressional district-MN 2- than anywhere else in the country trying to knock off Angie Craig. They lost. All that dark money wasted. Losers. Bigly!
And oddly, no mention from Trump over the weekend of the Dow hitting 40,000 last week briefly. You’d think Republicans would be cheering that level of corporate success and our bustling economy, right? 🤨
Sheila, thank you. Does anyone know where I can get transcripts--line by line transcriptions--of Trump's speeches? We need to do something to do "news reporting" on the actual statements (gibberish?) and occurrences (trips and falls?) that are ocurring. Obviously we won't get any news from the media. Where would transcripts be available?
Ezra Klein wrote this on Sunday “ The mistake Democrats keep making about Trump again and again is to assume that the rest of the country will see Trump as they see Trump. But Trump won in 2016 and he came scarily close in 2020; absent the pandemic, he may well have been re-elected.“. The point of his comments was the Democrats need to get the whole country to see Trump as we see him which means a relentless pushback on all of his lies and outrageous platform. It more than a great Biden speech it is all of us in our own states everyday being as Robert said “ truth warriors”. As Bernie Sanders said recently Biden is not running against God.
See Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse last evening. She leads with a call for Democratic Leaders to speak forcefully and regularly about Trump’s bullshit lies and plans.
Democratic TV advertising could make the point, if official Democrats could get over their allergy to “negative ads”. They could post a Trump quote and follow it with “not true!!” and a pithy explanation of why it’s not true.
Many such ads. Maybe after many, tack on at the end of the ad, “Why does Trump keep lying to you?” (The “to you” is important).
I attended a Somos Votantes meeting that Robert arranged. It's Latino community organizers working to register Latinos to vote. I live in Arizona, where they did a survey: Latinos here are reacting best, most strongly, to factual negative ads about Trump. But we Dems are too pure, too holy, and too above--it-all to get our hands dirty. That's got to change a little in a nice way or we'll lose the country to dictatorship. (Trump now wants three terms? How OLD will he be in 12 years??)
I don’t read the NYT but does Ezra Klein give a roadmap as to how Democrats can “see Trump as we see him.” One would think that would be through the media. But as articulated in every article I read the media will not push back. I don’t watch TV but apparently Kristen Welker had Marco Rubio on MTP yesterday and he refused to commit to accepting the election results. I wonder why anyone who claims to hate Trump would even turn on MTP or any other outlet that allows the Republican and MAGA lies to be amplified. Rather than waste time writing to Alito and Thomas (they won’t see or hear you) or calling for their impeachment (not going to happen) cancel the NYT and turn off the TV and boycott the media that allow the lies to be heard. There are plenty of other sources that will report what Rubio is saying or Trump is saying/doing.
Also call Sen. Durbin's office, 202.224.2152, and register your voice that you want Alito to recuse. Durbin's staff is compiling numbers on how many citizens voice that position.
There’s a powerful documentary called the sixth that is on and off streaming platforms showing what really happened on January 6. Promoting it would be a good thing.
I feel your frustration but we as voters are the only force that change things. We need to get people to vote especially those who are not happy with either candidate. We need to,own the majority.
Steve you are correct and I agree with you. I just asked if Klein has any strategies to throw out. I gave up cable and the NYT (still hang on to WaPo) because I would read/hear a lot of complaining and pontificating but no solutions. It seems “the media” is not the friend of Dems or Biden and we have to forge our own solutions. I just want to see/hear what those, like Klein who have a platform, recommend to own the majority.
Unfortunately, a “relentless pushback” on Trump’s laws may be coming to be viewed as dangerous. The NYT ran a front-page story this morning that said, “a steady undercurrent of violence and physical risk has become a new normal. From City Hall to Congress, public officials increasingly describe threats and harassment as a routine part of their jobs. … the barrage of menace has changed how public officials do their work, terrified their families and driven some from public life altogether.”
I saw a video a few months ago by three ex Trump staffers, all young women, who spoke for 20 minutes about receiving death threats and other threats of harm if they did not "toe the line." I am looking for that video again. If anyone has seen it, please post here. I too fear that threats of harm--look what happened to Pelosi's husband--are driving many legislators and perhaps media to waffle or give pro-Trump lip service. It's like a 1950s banana republic in the US now. And Trump clearly and frequently states it will get worse under him.
Join United for Democracy and call on your representatives in Congress to rein in the extreme Supreme Court and put power back in the hands of the people, not a few unaccountable elites.
Just in case you think that your voice doesn't matter, Alex Aronson - the former chief counsel for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the executive director of Court Accountability - says the public needs to get involved in any way it can to push back against this extreme court. You can add your voice by clicking on the above-link.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Our job is and always has been to call our representatives (they REPRESENT us!) and tell them what to do. If we don't tell them, how will they know? Please also call Sen. Durbin's office 202.224.2152 and register your instructions: Get Alito to recuse. Durbin is running an effort to lead the recusal crusade, and still has some power in Congress. His staff is compiling numbers.
Thank you Lynell, I used the link above and it sent auto-emails to my reps. I have to laugh, though. One email went to my congressional representative, whom I am ashamed to say is Eli Crane--one of the 11 MAGA extremists. Wonder what he'll do with my request to get the Supreme Court back on track! If my voice disappears from this thread, y'all should know he probably put out a hit on me. -;)
You’d think some brilliant wit would see the irony of 1 candidate swatting flies while the other swats — racism, bigotry, big pharma, authoritarians around the world, etc, etc, etc.
Please give instructions on how to write to various newspapers and Members of Congress to protest unfair press coverage, unnecessary impeachment hearings, etc.
Thank you for keeping me well informed and hopeful for the future of our wonderful country.
Behind every successful man, there is a woman. Alito and Thomas are living prove that that observation by Mark Twain obviously also applies to MAGA justices.
As to the coverage of the respective speeches of the candidates over the weekend it is telling that you had to link to a piece in a British paper reporting on the apparent inability of the defendant to deal with what most probably was a teleprompter glitch (must have been a most unpleasant flight back home for some of his staff). I had seen it already on Twitter over the weekend. Had this happened to Biden it would have been 'Breaking News' with stations interrupting their programs, hastily assembled panels of 'experts' to discuss the President's mental health and screaming headlines, the loudest coming from the NYT, of course.
In addition to the upside down American flag, Alito also made questionable Bud Light stock sales during the Anti-LGBTQ boycott of Bud Light. Will Alito recuse himself from the Supreme Court case which will decide LGBTQ rights? Follow the timeline of Alito's stock sales.
Frozen teleprompter?? Hah!! Not a chance. And if it was frozen, that he could not finish a sentence for 30 seconds is clearly, in my view, a sign of something not working right in his brain. As you point out, Robert, the media is nothing if not consistent. But - I am hopeful that it will feature repeatedly in Democratic ads. It is a beautiful example of 'one video speaks a million words!"
"Oh look honey! Our man, Donnie Ha-Ha hates flies too. Just like us." Many of them are looking to be entertained by their television star, Don Ha-Ha. He's so funny, and cute when he is sleeping in court. Compare, and contrast, a simple science technique which the "godfarter ", as Jo Jo from Jerz calls him (Substack), is revealed as no more than a mentally declining two-bit thug, while President Biden does the work we elected him to do. That's the contrasting part, as for the comparison, it is simply that they are both older white males who wish to be elected POTUS in about six months. The realization that sunk costs are real, is now becoming patently clear to millions of Republican voters.
The media makes the mistake of thinking that calling out MAGA lies is taking sides with Joe Biden. It has that indirect effect; it does benefit Biden, because he is aligning himself with reality and MAGA Republicans are not. But it is a misunderstanding of impartiality to avoid the truth because it helps one side—that is sadly misguided to put it in the kindest possible terms. Impartiality is being on the side of truth, not being “fair and balanced” to each party. The media seem not to understand that. Liars don’t have a side to their story.
I had heard about Trump pushing the lectern over but not the freezing, his claims about vaccines and his claim about winning Minnesota or the 2nd or 3rd term comments. He is truly an idiot. People who think Trump is a better speaker or more intelligent person than Biden at this point can't be swayed or reasoned with.
Can someone elaborate on why the Alito flag flying foible is just now coming to light? How is it this weighty story has been neglected (or buried?) for three-plus years?
Yes, I too have wondered why it has taken so long for the Alito flag story to come out. There were pictures taken of it at the time and the neighbors saw it. Anyone driving by would have noticed it.I read that the neighbors feared possible repercussions upon talking about it. Repercussions from a SCOTUS judge? Seems like something is not right in this picture. A Substack reader suggested that postcards be sent to the SCOTUS asking that Alito "Recuse or Resign". The address given to send these postcards to is 1 First St NE Washington, DC 20543. A phone number was listed too as 202-479-3000. I am going to do both the writing and the calling as this situation is just so egregious that doing nothing about it is not an option.
Great information. I called the number listed and a person actually answered! I said that I was calling form California and wanted to register my view that Justice Alito should either recuse or resign over his flying of the insurrectionist's flag.... she told me she would transfer me to instructions on how I can register my complaint. I then received a recorded message with the address you provided. Postcards will soon be on the way!! However, I want to strongly urge all readers to CALL THAT NUMBER!! Let's overwhelm their switchboard with phone calls calling for Alito to resign!! How long will it be before the number is taken down and the business of the court is overwhelmed by our complaints!!
I just called the number and was directly sent to the recorded instructions on how to register a complaint with no time alloted to me to leave a comment.Postcards are coming their way!
Try DOJ, a party, that can put objections on the record.
Thank you
Well, I guess they wasted no time in taking the human out of the process - I bet she was getting an earful!!! :-)
Don't write to SCOTUS! They will ignore or trash your communication. Call Sen. Durbin's office and ask him to step up his fight to get Alito to recuse. Durbin will listen to us. His staff is compiling numbers on how many people want Alito to recuse. Call Durbin's office: 202.224.2152
Even better. We have to light a fire under that incompetant boob's ass. If dereliction of duty was a competition, Durbin would win the big prize, hands down.
Got a person, a male, and after I spoke, including requesting that the Senator fulfill his obligation to provide checks and balances in our government, he asked for my zip code. I'm in Colorado and was truthful. I wonder if my message will get through or be discarded based on zip code.
I just tried calling. You get a recorded message telling you to call back later.
I just called and got a female responder who seemed to listen carefully and said she would pass on my message. She did want my zip code and I proudly said that I was a Californian but that Durbin had to speak for all of us.
Thank you Victoria, I'll get on it.
And how can Thomas' gifts from wealthy patrons be buried for Twenty Years?!?
Excellent question, Ada.
HCR recently wrote an article that covered the history of what happens when the media misrepresents what is happening in government - how Benjamin Harrison, the outgoing president, torpedoed Grover Cleveland, the incoming president. Because of the media coverage, people blamed Cleveland, and it took another 20 years for Teddy Roosevelt to enact reforms to fix the problems that the republicans introduced. It makes a difference.
Saying it isn't their job to elect Biden is a bullsh*t excuse. Their job is to report what is happening, and by glossing over the threat to democracy, and neglecting to report on trump's gaffes, they are helping to get trump elected. They are doing a lot to help trump get elected, and when they say helping Biden isn't their job, what they really mean is that they intend to continue helping trump.
Speaking of Heather and the media,(NYT and Sulzberger in particular) I'll insert my comment to that discussion here, as it pertains to this one :
Ransom Rideout
May 15
He is obviously still angry that the silverspoon was tarnished black when it first put the Gerbers in his little mouth. I've known fine newspaper folks in the day. I am cousins of the McClatchy's of the Sac Bee. Phoebe McClatchy's mother was a Rideout, My great grandfather's neice. She married Carlos McClatchy and founded the Fresno Bee. Her sons, CK and James were the publishers of the McClatchy papers until they passed. They were open minded, well educated and commited to journalism that served the people. James was outraged by the 2003 war in Iraq and came out of retirement to be the editor of the editorial page, and his editorials were scorching of the Bush-Cheney cabal. He was by nature, a bit conservative, but to him the truth was all that mattered. That is what journalism is. Anything less is pure propaganda.
Exactly so, Barrytre!
I am going to quote two other people in reference to what you are discussing today. Prof Timothy Snyder says, "The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political forces face new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience." https://timothysnyder.org/ This is what we must hope. We should be removing Alito and Thomas from the courts. Impeachment is the answer.
Thank you Robert for your enlightened coverage in the face of a press that has been coopted. The defensiveness of the press is going to be quite a different tune as they all get shut down under Trump, because sucking up to Trump will never be good enough unless it is total. That they are not able to do, so they are risking that they will be taken over by "the State" or shut down completely. Here is the story of a journalist broadcasting under dictatorship. https://confidencial.digital/english/practicing-journalism-under-dictatorship/
Let us hope it does not come to that in the USA.
Tim Snyder is on the mark. That is why I follow him too. Thank you Linda, for the -under-dictatership link. And to think that Daniel Ortega was our hero years ago.
I agree with all of this, except the bashing of Nicaragua, which is trying its best to recover from the decades long attacks from US forces. Did you know they have a special court for gender crimes against women? There is much going on there that is amazing and inspiring.
Lauren, are you saying that Nicaragua is a democracy? It may be undoing the things that happened under the USA CIA backed Contras, but as a leftist country it still is not a democracy. I have a friend that was a pilot in the days of the Sandinistas, and he knew people who knew that Ollie North was running guns for the Contras. That was the horror then. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/reagan-iran/
Do you remember when the USA was backing the Contras under Reagan and things for people in Nicaragua were horrific, leading to a large migration to the US. However here a journalist who is from Nicaragua is saying why he has to report from out of Costa Rica, just as journalists at Independent Russian publications report from Estonia instead of Russia. Is that bashing Nicaragua to speak the truth? Is Nicaragua a democracy?
I don’t think this blog is the place to debate how another country is choosing to go forward. I offer this to interested readers: https://afgj.org/category/nicanotes
More and more it becomes clearer how blessed we are to have Joe Biden as president at this perilous time. The strength and expertise he consistently shows, combined with his faith and honesty, is starting to look like the destiny that hopefully will save us all! Great column, dear Robert. xx's
He gave an amazing speech at Morehouse College this weekend. Did the media report on it? I think not.
The key questions in journalism have not changed since I took my first journalism class in high school over 50 years ago: What is news? What makes something newsworthy? As far as I know, there have never been definitive answers to those questions with most people falling back on "I know it when I see/hear it." But the oldest cliche may still be the most instructive: "Dog bites man" is not news; "Man bites dog" is headline news.
Donald Trump has managed to turn his lying, his weaknesses, his lapses in judgment and taste, his misogyny and racism and his poor physical condition and worrisome mental failings into a dog bites man story. He has done it by setting expectations so low and being so consistent in his awfulness that the media sees only the dog biting the man. This is Trump's superpower.
Don’t agree. The media needs revenue and Trump coverage makes them money. Funny most MAGA folks probably don’t read the NYT
Well, I've wondered about the fact that MAGA people don't read -------- uh the TIMES. But some of my Democratic friends do --- and more than I would like repeat some of the inaccuracies reflecting more worry about Biden. Frankly --- I am usually an optimistic person, but I think that the mainstream media is not redeemable. And as for letting republican congressional members gettin away with repeated lies - the mainstream media fails, fails fails. It's a disgrace.
I agree on most MAGA folk don't read the USA, so go figure that bratty Sulzburger is willing to get rid of everyone who does. Don't agree about the revenue. It might be this way, but it does not need to be. We could have a different funding formula. In Germany the people all have to pay for the radio and television media, as a small monthly fee. Germans therefore left, right and center trust it more for that reason. It gets to be independent but not without any oversight. See this expat's comparison. https://youtu.be/jphacgBLrc0?si=dREkfbXugazm605A
It’s too late unfortunately and the Supreme Court rules years ago about political campaigns funding and dark monies have taken over. The bottom line voting is the last line of defense.
One of the things Roy Cohn, formerly Joe McCarthy’s guru, taught Trump was that the important thing is to be *in* the news, *whether the news stories are favorable or unfavorable*.
Trump is always in the news, in your face; Biden isn’t. Part of the problem for Biden may be that he’s overly modest about shoving his face in front of cameras.
Interesting replies, Stephen and Michael. I assume that nobody doubts that Trump is in the news way too much but why? It's not for the lies (as lies, as opposed to being reported as boasts or, gasp!, facts), the "-ist" comments, the physical and mental mistakes, etc. IOW the coverage is not about the kinds of things that go to his fitness to be president.
You are being too intellectual: The content doesn’t matter; the repeated presence does. That was Roy Cohn’s insight and teaching.
Look at advertising: so much of its success is based on repetition. If Trump is constantly in your face, it lends an air of inevitability, spurious as it might be.
Democrats supposedly have a big financial war chest. They should spend some of it – starting NOW — to place and keep Biden in front of voters (and others).
I agree with that. I think we're talking about different things. You're talking about Trump's ability to attract attention from the media. No question he's a master at that and it serves him well on a daily basis. I'm talking about the failure of the press to report on certain important negative aspects of his qualifications. at the same time they are otherwise fulfilling Trump's great desire for coverage.
Jeff, I think journalism has changed a huge amount. They are interested in revenue, media clicks, sensationalism--that sells. They used to get revenue from ads, but the decentralization provided by the internet has weakened that stream for them. They are perpetuating the echo chamber--if someone reads Topic X, feed them more on Topic X and don't publish anything that contradicts that. Look at news anchors on TV--or heaven forbid, weather reporters. The females are all wearing bustiers and lingerie-type clothing. It's not about what's newsworthy any more. It's about what sells. I think the NYT, who now manufacture their own polling results with Siena, is just creating a profit-centered franchise. It has very little to do with news. That's why Substack is so important. (BTW, this all changed under Ronald Reagan, who disempowered editorial boards in the 80s and empowered the financial people to make editorial decisions.)
Robert, for the record, the incident where Trump stumbled and grabbed for the lectern happened in St. Paul last week,not in Dallas. As you well understand, had Biden stumbled like that during his Morehouse speech, the mainstream media would have led with that video and discussed his fragility. But Trump does it and gets a pass by blaming the workers who built the stage. And then delivers a rambling speech full of lies and disinformation. Gads, what a disappointment mainstream reporting has become!
As for Trump’s claim that he won Minnesota in 2020, I have a news flash for him: I live in the county that had the highest voter turnout in the country at 93%. Our voting records have been repeatedly reviewed; the staff has spent thousands of hours providing evidence of how we voted - to alleged “watch dog” groups: read Republican dark money funded reactionaries. Literally spent millions of taxpayer dollars to make certain the process was fair and the results were accurate. Few anomalies were found and none of them would have changed the outcome even a tiny bit.
Another words, Trump lied again. Bigly. Why? Because the RNC spent more money here in my Congressional district-MN 2- than anywhere else in the country trying to knock off Angie Craig. They lost. All that dark money wasted. Losers. Bigly!
And oddly, no mention from Trump over the weekend of the Dow hitting 40,000 last week briefly. You’d think Republicans would be cheering that level of corporate success and our bustling economy, right? 🤨
Thanks for the clarification! I will make the correction in the online version of the newsletter.
Sheila, thank you. Does anyone know where I can get transcripts--line by line transcriptions--of Trump's speeches? We need to do something to do "news reporting" on the actual statements (gibberish?) and occurrences (trips and falls?) that are ocurring. Obviously we won't get any news from the media. Where would transcripts be available?
Ezra Klein wrote this on Sunday “ The mistake Democrats keep making about Trump again and again is to assume that the rest of the country will see Trump as they see Trump. But Trump won in 2016 and he came scarily close in 2020; absent the pandemic, he may well have been re-elected.“. The point of his comments was the Democrats need to get the whole country to see Trump as we see him which means a relentless pushback on all of his lies and outrageous platform. It more than a great Biden speech it is all of us in our own states everyday being as Robert said “ truth warriors”. As Bernie Sanders said recently Biden is not running against God.
See Joyce Vance, Civil Discourse last evening. She leads with a call for Democratic Leaders to speak forcefully and regularly about Trump’s bullshit lies and plans.
Democratic TV advertising could make the point, if official Democrats could get over their allergy to “negative ads”. They could post a Trump quote and follow it with “not true!!” and a pithy explanation of why it’s not true.
Many such ads. Maybe after many, tack on at the end of the ad, “Why does Trump keep lying to you?” (The “to you” is important).
I attended a Somos Votantes meeting that Robert arranged. It's Latino community organizers working to register Latinos to vote. I live in Arizona, where they did a survey: Latinos here are reacting best, most strongly, to factual negative ads about Trump. But we Dems are too pure, too holy, and too above--it-all to get our hands dirty. That's got to change a little in a nice way or we'll lose the country to dictatorship. (Trump now wants three terms? How OLD will he be in 12 years??)
I don’t read the NYT but does Ezra Klein give a roadmap as to how Democrats can “see Trump as we see him.” One would think that would be through the media. But as articulated in every article I read the media will not push back. I don’t watch TV but apparently Kristen Welker had Marco Rubio on MTP yesterday and he refused to commit to accepting the election results. I wonder why anyone who claims to hate Trump would even turn on MTP or any other outlet that allows the Republican and MAGA lies to be amplified. Rather than waste time writing to Alito and Thomas (they won’t see or hear you) or calling for their impeachment (not going to happen) cancel the NYT and turn off the TV and boycott the media that allow the lies to be heard. There are plenty of other sources that will report what Rubio is saying or Trump is saying/doing.
Also call Sen. Durbin's office, 202.224.2152, and register your voice that you want Alito to recuse. Durbin's staff is compiling numbers on how many citizens voice that position.
There’s a powerful documentary called the sixth that is on and off streaming platforms showing what really happened on January 6. Promoting it would be a good thing.
I feel your frustration but we as voters are the only force that change things. We need to get people to vote especially those who are not happy with either candidate. We need to,own the majority.
Steve you are correct and I agree with you. I just asked if Klein has any strategies to throw out. I gave up cable and the NYT (still hang on to WaPo) because I would read/hear a lot of complaining and pontificating but no solutions. It seems “the media” is not the friend of Dems or Biden and we have to forge our own solutions. I just want to see/hear what those, like Klein who have a platform, recommend to own the majority.
Unfortunately, a “relentless pushback” on Trump’s laws may be coming to be viewed as dangerous. The NYT ran a front-page story this morning that said, “a steady undercurrent of violence and physical risk has become a new normal. From City Hall to Congress, public officials increasingly describe threats and harassment as a routine part of their jobs. … the barrage of menace has changed how public officials do their work, terrified their families and driven some from public life altogether.”
I saw a video a few months ago by three ex Trump staffers, all young women, who spoke for 20 minutes about receiving death threats and other threats of harm if they did not "toe the line." I am looking for that video again. If anyone has seen it, please post here. I too fear that threats of harm--look what happened to Pelosi's husband--are driving many legislators and perhaps media to waffle or give pro-Trump lip service. It's like a 1950s banana republic in the US now. And Trump clearly and frequently states it will get worse under him.
Laws or lies?
Oops! Good catch.
Thanks.
Join United for Democracy and call on your representatives in Congress to rein in the extreme Supreme Court and put power back in the hands of the people, not a few unaccountable elites.
https://unitedfordemocracy.us/get-involved/
Just in case you think that your voice doesn't matter, Alex Aronson - the former chief counsel for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the executive director of Court Accountability - says the public needs to get involved in any way it can to push back against this extreme court. You can add your voice by clicking on the above-link.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Our job is and always has been to call our representatives (they REPRESENT us!) and tell them what to do. If we don't tell them, how will they know? Please also call Sen. Durbin's office 202.224.2152 and register your instructions: Get Alito to recuse. Durbin is running an effort to lead the recusal crusade, and still has some power in Congress. His staff is compiling numbers.
Thank you Lynell, I used the link above and it sent auto-emails to my reps. I have to laugh, though. One email went to my congressional representative, whom I am ashamed to say is Eli Crane--one of the 11 MAGA extremists. Wonder what he'll do with my request to get the Supreme Court back on track! If my voice disappears from this thread, y'all should know he probably put out a hit on me. -;)
LOL, Christina, I think!
Thanks for the update about Durbin. Will be in contact with him. Let's never stop talking/writing til we get what we want!
You’d think some brilliant wit would see the irony of 1 candidate swatting flies while the other swats — racism, bigotry, big pharma, authoritarians around the world, etc, etc, etc.
Dear Robert,
Please give instructions on how to write to various newspapers and Members of Congress to protest unfair press coverage, unnecessary impeachment hearings, etc.
Thank you for keeping me well informed and hopeful for the future of our wonderful country.
Lynell posted this link, Carole. It's very easy to email your reps using it:
https://unitedfordemocracy.us/get-involved/
Behind every successful man, there is a woman. Alito and Thomas are living prove that that observation by Mark Twain obviously also applies to MAGA justices.
As to the coverage of the respective speeches of the candidates over the weekend it is telling that you had to link to a piece in a British paper reporting on the apparent inability of the defendant to deal with what most probably was a teleprompter glitch (must have been a most unpleasant flight back home for some of his staff). I had seen it already on Twitter over the weekend. Had this happened to Biden it would have been 'Breaking News' with stations interrupting their programs, hastily assembled panels of 'experts' to discuss the President's mental health and screaming headlines, the loudest coming from the NYT, of course.
'Proof', of course.
In addition to the upside down American flag, Alito also made questionable Bud Light stock sales during the Anti-LGBTQ boycott of Bud Light. Will Alito recuse himself from the Supreme Court case which will decide LGBTQ rights? Follow the timeline of Alito's stock sales.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/05/19/alitos-questionable-bud-light-stock-sales-follow-the-timeline/
Frozen teleprompter?? Hah!! Not a chance. And if it was frozen, that he could not finish a sentence for 30 seconds is clearly, in my view, a sign of something not working right in his brain. As you point out, Robert, the media is nothing if not consistent. But - I am hopeful that it will feature repeatedly in Democratic ads. It is a beautiful example of 'one video speaks a million words!"
"Oh look honey! Our man, Donnie Ha-Ha hates flies too. Just like us." Many of them are looking to be entertained by their television star, Don Ha-Ha. He's so funny, and cute when he is sleeping in court. Compare, and contrast, a simple science technique which the "godfarter ", as Jo Jo from Jerz calls him (Substack), is revealed as no more than a mentally declining two-bit thug, while President Biden does the work we elected him to do. That's the contrasting part, as for the comparison, it is simply that they are both older white males who wish to be elected POTUS in about six months. The realization that sunk costs are real, is now becoming patently clear to millions of Republican voters.
The media makes the mistake of thinking that calling out MAGA lies is taking sides with Joe Biden. It has that indirect effect; it does benefit Biden, because he is aligning himself with reality and MAGA Republicans are not. But it is a misunderstanding of impartiality to avoid the truth because it helps one side—that is sadly misguided to put it in the kindest possible terms. Impartiality is being on the side of truth, not being “fair and balanced” to each party. The media seem not to understand that. Liars don’t have a side to their story.
I had heard about Trump pushing the lectern over but not the freezing, his claims about vaccines and his claim about winning Minnesota or the 2nd or 3rd term comments. He is truly an idiot. People who think Trump is a better speaker or more intelligent person than Biden at this point can't be swayed or reasoned with.
Yes, you are right that these people cannot be reasoned with.Instead, they need to be deprogrammed.
Or voted out of office, wherever they hold one.