Laffy
My eye is on the mend, so of course, first thing to do is post a thread of comments from @emptywheel.
Preface: I did not, will not watch #CNN’s disgusting airing of serial sexual assaulter and traitor, #Trump, and his fawning audience.
Marcy’s thread: 1/… 🪡
I feel like the media is making a grave category error with Trump and the Town Hall.
Yes, he lied non-stop. But fact-checking, while necessary, is insufficient, because Trump's power depends on his performed ability to defy truth.
JGW
@DavidPetraitis @GottaLaff @emptywheel
When the masses still believe in a 'liberal' media without being able to point out one middle class person that owns a media conglomerate...and we know those who own the media are also those that own the GOP and benefit from their tax cuts for the rich policies...
We know we need to invest even more in public education in general and media literacy more specifically at every educational level in this (and every) country.
DavidPetraitis
@GottaLaff @emptywheel
You need to start thinking about CNN in the frame of 'controlled opposition.' They will use clips of this town hall to simultaneously criticize IQ45 and platform him. All to better profit from the coming billion dollar Presdential ad streams. The elite owners of 'news' outlets are no longer liberals, or even neoliberals. They align with the goals of the frankly authoritarian elites.
Laffy
5/ LOLOLOL. Chris Licht doesn't know the difference between "making news" and "making spectacle."
What a fucking bozo.
Brian Stelter:
"You do not have to like the former president's answers, but you can't say that we didn't get them," Licht tells staffers, many of whom are angry about the town hall. "Kaitlan pressed him again and again and made news. Made a LOT of news." And "that is our job."
Laffy
6/ Remember, this is all from Marcy.
And frankly, any outlet that covers PROSPECTIVE pardons without talking about his past pardons, is engaged in malpractice.
Trump quite literally pardoned his way out of RU crimes. And yet no one talks about that.
Amanda Carpenter:
No matter how many times people say it, it is NOT “news” that Trump wants to pardon the Jan 6 rioters. He’s been floating the idea for a year. We’ve been covering it at the Bulwark for quite some time.
Laffy
7/ Why wouldn't CNN mention that Trump, again, quite literally, pardoned a guy who cheated a bunch of Trump voters?
Trump rewarded Steve Bannon for defrauding his own supporters.
"Why did you reward Steve Bannon with a pardon for lying to your voters about building a wall? Do you hate your voters so much that you reward others who defraud them?" would have been an interesting question for a GOP town hall.
Laffy
3/ Take note: Raising E Jean Carroll verdict, for Trump, was an invitation to demean a jury that included a Tim Pool fan. Raising Jan6ers was an invitation to attack all DC-based investigations.
Trump's GOAL is to completely undermine the legal system any such Q is premised on.
Trump not only doesn't VALUE the trappings of small-l liberal government, his ability to command followers DEPENDS on upending it.
Laffy
4/ And to the extent he can perform doing so, he will continue to appeal to people who've lost patience or faith in the value of democracy.
Trump (and the long-term trends he exploited) convinced a huge number of Americans to value Trumpism over America, all while claiming the label of "Patriot." Anything he can do to reinforce that tribalism--and beating up journalisms does that--reinforces his power and allure.
Laffy
2/ @emptywheel:
It is senseless to talk about Trump in terms of "policy" -- unless, by policy, you mean authoritarianism built off policed loyalty and gleeful abuse of vulnerable people.
It is senseless to raise Trump's specific legal woes. The stakes of this election are his goal--significantly pursued in his first Admin--of replacing rule of law with mob enforcement.
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