Trump has governed so recklessly, so cruelly, and so publicly out of bounds that even renewed scrutiny of his ties to a pedophile can feel like a distraction from the larger catastrophe.
Thank you for your unminced words. I appreciate everything you write. The whole rotten crowd does nothing but lie, lie about their lies, and lie some more. Thank you for keeping track so persistently and clearly.
The Haitian person he is describing is the mirror image of his own self with the only difference being that he has others do his dirty work. He has been committing murders for a long time now. Mass murders of innocent people. Of children. And of people he has known when they have become inconvenient...Jeffrey Epstein did NOT commit suicide, I am sure. And I am also sure there have been others. That California golf course he owns needs to be dug up at the 19th hole. His dementia is in it's end stages and this does not bode well for all of us...y'all better be calling reps and senators to get him removed either by the 25th or impeachment...capital switchboard: 1-202-224-3121
excellent post. But what I have noticed about MSM (not the TV kind, I don't watch) is that it actually can do a pretty good job of discussing the resulting horrors from whatever is causing trump to become increasingly....weird, even by trumpian standards. I don't see a whole lot of "sanewashing' in the reporting of the events that are happening. The casualty figures are there, the attempted domination of NATO and the Pope, the various corruptions, what other public figures are saying, what is behind suits being filed, etc.
I have to admit that I use MSM mostly to double check things I see on Substack and BlueSky, --or following up on something I've seen on a "recent news" site that links to the news. So maybe there is more being left out than I think. But what I find overall is a focus on reality happening in the world, with the sanewashing mostly being of trump's own words: there is not enough use of the word "deranged" except in quotes from others. And all of this is true even of the often Bezos-blasted WaPo. Even there, the Editorial Board can take a pretty nasty stand even about trump.
In other words, the sanewashing, at least by now, mainly seems to be about trump himself, not the changes in the world his erratic behavior is bringing about. I really doubt that many people outside the core Cult believe much of what trump says nowadays. One thing about reality is that when it bops YOU on the head, you notice. And when he lies about the same old things that just bopped you, you don't really need to care a lot about whether the NYT tells you it a "lie" or just "misleading." You already know.
I get a bit perturbed by people going "look at what the NY Time said today" and then quoting an obvious OpEd. OpEd have always been with us; I don't mind them, ignore them if they are dumb, use them to sharpen my analytic skills the same way I'd analyze case law when I practiced--and as I do now more and more after being 17 years retired.
I am way more worried about what isn't even being touched on--for the same reasons that wide-audience news has always not touched on--the quiet, boring, but significant stuff. The changes in the CFRs quietly going on, the court opinions that are really going to affect things we care about (e.g. the 5th and 8th circuits on mandatory detention of migrants, that bonkers OLC opinion on the Presidential Records Act (both NYT and WaPo covered the latter; I don't know if TV did).
We all have to realize that we really, as aware citizens, have to remember the difference between actuality and analysis, between fact and opinion. There are a lot of things for which we don't have firm facts, but we can judge the way others frame what we do know, whether the arguments about what the firm facts might be makes internal sense
I like your posts because you are good at that last part, good at insight into the significance of what we DO know pretty firmly--all done with a marvelous way with words
The AP is still gold standard for straight fastball facts. This moment calls for more from our institutions committed to publishing truth and serving public interest.
"The message is not merely that he is indifferent to suffering. It is that he finds suffering useful."
I'm afraid he actually finds suffering to be entertainment. Like he probably enjoyed torturing insects and small animals, before he moved onto children, and eventually all of us 😢
His vile behaviors are why MAGA thinks he’s so great. I was flipping through channels the other night and watched a couple of minutes of Swamp People. MAGA at its best.
Yes, this is the amazing fact: "the story is not really about one man’s health, though his health may matter enormously. It is about a political movement, a party, a media apparatus, and a governing class that looked at all of this and decided not merely to tolerate it, but to organize itself around it. That is the scandal hiding inside every other scandal." Budapest, Tel Aviv and Washington all have the crushing problem of too many enablers. And our man can blow up the world.
Yes, everything you wrote. Spot on.
Thank you for your unminced words. I appreciate everything you write. The whole rotten crowd does nothing but lie, lie about their lies, and lie some more. Thank you for keeping track so persistently and clearly.
The Haitian person he is describing is the mirror image of his own self with the only difference being that he has others do his dirty work. He has been committing murders for a long time now. Mass murders of innocent people. Of children. And of people he has known when they have become inconvenient...Jeffrey Epstein did NOT commit suicide, I am sure. And I am also sure there have been others. That California golf course he owns needs to be dug up at the 19th hole. His dementia is in it's end stages and this does not bode well for all of us...y'all better be calling reps and senators to get him removed either by the 25th or impeachment...capital switchboard: 1-202-224-3121
The joke's on everyone
Yeah, there are riots in Ireland due to fuel shortages.
excellent post. But what I have noticed about MSM (not the TV kind, I don't watch) is that it actually can do a pretty good job of discussing the resulting horrors from whatever is causing trump to become increasingly....weird, even by trumpian standards. I don't see a whole lot of "sanewashing' in the reporting of the events that are happening. The casualty figures are there, the attempted domination of NATO and the Pope, the various corruptions, what other public figures are saying, what is behind suits being filed, etc.
I have to admit that I use MSM mostly to double check things I see on Substack and BlueSky, --or following up on something I've seen on a "recent news" site that links to the news. So maybe there is more being left out than I think. But what I find overall is a focus on reality happening in the world, with the sanewashing mostly being of trump's own words: there is not enough use of the word "deranged" except in quotes from others. And all of this is true even of the often Bezos-blasted WaPo. Even there, the Editorial Board can take a pretty nasty stand even about trump.
In other words, the sanewashing, at least by now, mainly seems to be about trump himself, not the changes in the world his erratic behavior is bringing about. I really doubt that many people outside the core Cult believe much of what trump says nowadays. One thing about reality is that when it bops YOU on the head, you notice. And when he lies about the same old things that just bopped you, you don't really need to care a lot about whether the NYT tells you it a "lie" or just "misleading." You already know.
I get a bit perturbed by people going "look at what the NY Time said today" and then quoting an obvious OpEd. OpEd have always been with us; I don't mind them, ignore them if they are dumb, use them to sharpen my analytic skills the same way I'd analyze case law when I practiced--and as I do now more and more after being 17 years retired.
I am way more worried about what isn't even being touched on--for the same reasons that wide-audience news has always not touched on--the quiet, boring, but significant stuff. The changes in the CFRs quietly going on, the court opinions that are really going to affect things we care about (e.g. the 5th and 8th circuits on mandatory detention of migrants, that bonkers OLC opinion on the Presidential Records Act (both NYT and WaPo covered the latter; I don't know if TV did).
We all have to realize that we really, as aware citizens, have to remember the difference between actuality and analysis, between fact and opinion. There are a lot of things for which we don't have firm facts, but we can judge the way others frame what we do know, whether the arguments about what the firm facts might be makes internal sense
I like your posts because you are good at that last part, good at insight into the significance of what we DO know pretty firmly--all done with a marvelous way with words
The AP is still gold standard for straight fastball facts. This moment calls for more from our institutions committed to publishing truth and serving public interest.
Thank you, once again, for your clear-eyed analysis of the surreal situation in the US.
Because I enjoy speculation... The first thing I thought when Melania spoke was, "Hummmmm, revenge much?"
I have nothing to back this up, but it would make my petty, little heart grow a size.
Quite true... Seeing the video that he posted yesterday after Melania's " statement", I wondered if Mar a Lardo has stairs...
"The message is not merely that he is indifferent to suffering. It is that he finds suffering useful."
I'm afraid he actually finds suffering to be entertainment. Like he probably enjoyed torturing insects and small animals, before he moved onto children, and eventually all of us 😢
Yes, we are the frogs, dropped into cold water and left to come to a slow boil over 10 years time. Now sedated to whatever happens to us.
Sometimes I think if I just close my eyes real tight and scream inside my head, it will all go away.
His vile behaviors are why MAGA thinks he’s so great. I was flipping through channels the other night and watched a couple of minutes of Swamp People. MAGA at its best.
Yes, this is the amazing fact: "the story is not really about one man’s health, though his health may matter enormously. It is about a political movement, a party, a media apparatus, and a governing class that looked at all of this and decided not merely to tolerate it, but to organize itself around it. That is the scandal hiding inside every other scandal." Budapest, Tel Aviv and Washington all have the crushing problem of too many enablers. And our man can blow up the world.
Thank you for your diligence and clarity, your perspicacity and bravery, Mary. You are a north star to many.