This is exactly what they are doing. Kinda what Jews in Germany in the 1930’s (and increasingly I fear here in America) thought. I’m a good German. I fought in the Great War for the country. There is no risk for me. I am a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, an author, a musician, etc. so no worries. If the media thinks that even if they tone down negative coverage of Trump that they would be immune from his retribution, they should read about what Fascism entails. If they remain naive, they do so at their own peril.
I don’t think they are afraid as much as they have overlords who like Trump a lot. Some journalists don’t realize how much of a pass they give the Donald, or maybe they are afraid. If the latter, they need to find a new job. News finding is not for the faint of heart. Many wonderful journalists have died for the cause.
There was talk that Trump was paying people to attend his rallies, but only for a little while. Then they could leave. Evidence was not forthcoming, but it is not out of the realm of possibility.
I think it is clever of Harris to go on lots of podcasts and different types of shows. It will get new listeners talking to their friends and so on and so on…
The journalists don’t necessarily call the tune on reporting - or decide if their reporting gets air time, printed or how it is edited. CEOs from CBS and CNN said out loud in 2016, 2017 trump was good for business. In 2018 Forbes did an article “love it or hate it” that said the same. The Nation in 2023 said CNN had a love/hate relationship with DJT. I would call it symbiotic or a few other things.
There’s no reason to think other media channels are any different.
Thank you for that. If they devoted equal time to the two candidates, they might find people were actually getting bored with Trump. I don’t know why people are leaving his rallies early—I suspect he is not ranting but rather rambling, and that doesn’t have the same power of compulsion.
Now Giuliani says he won’t sue Trump for the $2 million he is owed before the election because he doesn’t want to put Trump in a bad light. It is a light of Trump’s own making. He seems to suffer no consequences, and the result will be that we all suffer. This climate change denial nonsense is just one example.
Nobody seems to remember poor Shaye Moss or Ruby Freeman anymore. Their lives were
destroyed by Giuliani lying on Trump’s behalf.
Russia and WWII are my areas of academic expertise. Trump, from the totality of vast amounts of evidence, really is functioning as a Russian asset. Yet no one in the government seems inclined to move on that. If anyone thinks for a moment Putin will be satisfied with zUkraine, they are a fool. He will keep going until he is stopped. He aspires to be a great man. But he is going to have to do another call up because he is losing something like 1,100 men a day. A call up will be very unpopular. Just think how happy he would be if Trump let Ukraine sink. Sorry. The whole thing is a debacle. So much for free and fair elections.
Wasn’t it Tim Ryan (ex VP candidate) that commented that most Repub politicians were also in the pocket of the Russians? (Or something to that affect?)
Chances are people leave his rallies early because of that & because he often arrives very late and has doubled his speaking time.
I’ll be interested in what else Woodward’s book has on DJT and Putin. I didn’t know he was doing another book.
Giuliani lies a lot. He has sues a lot - including Biden for saying he was a “Russian pawn.” He had a snowball’s chance of proving a verbal contract for legal fees with DJT. Giuliani’s creditors were interested in the bankruptcy court forcing him to do it. I believe Giuliani said the RNC or campaign owed $$ to him. DJT held a fundraiser for him.
To be honest, I don’t think lack of ‘equal time’ keeps people from caring about what DJT says. He’s had a lot of free coverage since 2015. Even before that as a non-candidate. The most valuable to his fake image was probably The Apprentice.
DJT undeniably lost the debate with Harris so badly his advisors, Christopher Rufo & Laura Ingraham were among those who acknowledged it. His cringiest activists explained it as Harris used witchcraft.
I’ll be interested in the rest of Woodward’s book.
Unless they are on drugs, I really don’t see how all Trump supporters can believe we can control hurricanes or there is witchcraft. Believing there is a deep state is weird but possible. But the rest of this stuff is lunatic fringe material
I hope karma will eventually intervene and the rest of the perpetrators will get house by their own petard. Hubris, as we know, eventually leads to a fall. It would be helpful in the meantime if the justice system could find ways to curtail Trump’s behavior.He simply cannot be President again.
There are a variety of beliefs among religious groups. These comments are for a very specific group. Yes, I know people who believe these things as ‘god’s word’ which doesn’t require logical explanation. When religion marries politics we really do have a devil of a time.
This mostly made news because JD Vance appeared at an event after this statement. He began the Seven Mountains movement or “Dominionism”.
My first thought when you said “compliance in advance “ was Timothy Snyder’s book. I read that long ago, but it really made an impression on me. It’s still in my Kindle, I think I’ll reread it.
I consider myself a "curbside observer" who participates in civic discourse daily. I lay no claim to fame or notoriety. But I persist in speaking my voice as I have done since my days as a young U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant. For a very long time I have commented on how the MEDIA handles Trump with kid gloves. Some MEDIA actually seem to celebrate Trump. I am not sure if that is out of fear-obedience or out of a greedy push for more sales and thus more income.
The fact is, I lost respect for and faith and trust in the MEDIA long ago. My take on it is that they are out to sell news, fake or otherwise. Or, they want to sell personality, even when personality behaves in the most abhorrent and egregious ways. Anyone who has kept close watch on Trump knows full well he is at his core a cruel, malicious lying fascist Nazi. “Substacker” Steve Schmidt (The Warning) is one of the few brave and bold enough to call out Trump for what Trump is.
We need not only "aggressive" journalism. We need journalism that is fearless but honest and correct. We need journalists with spine and cojones. Where are the sharp-tongued Madeleine Albrights and Ruth Ginsburgs? Why has that aggression you speak about been bequeathed to the females of our species? Where have all the bold and brave men gone? The truth will set us free.
Read Rick Wilson here on substack for sharp tongued reporting on thump! He wrote the book “Everything Trump Touches Dies”
Heather Cox Richardson has a HUGE readership and lays out the facts. Maybe not as “sharp tongued” as you’d prefer, but maybe shaping more minds this way?
I hold deep respect and admiration for both. But I do not see them as "main stream", because their followers are a "select" group. I also follow Steve Schmidt (The Warning). The larger media outlets fail to disrobe Trump's tyranny and treachery.
I honestly think it all boils down to money. They aren't afraid of the orange-sadist-traitor. At worst, they just have to keep covering him as they have been, or however he wants them to. At best, they'll continue to make tons of money but pay no taxes on it. The victims are Truth and us/U.S.
As usual, you bring up vital points. Thank you so much. Now I am deep breathing till my bp returns to normal. If only media and journalists would focus and report the truth.
Wait a second. The media is normalizing TFG? Not exactly a newsflash. Great discussion, but the MSM has a commitment only to profits, so they're incentivized by "balancing" and "both-sidesism". They have normalized this POS and his lies and his hate since 2015. It's disgusting and despicable.
1) MSM companies are owned by folks who have ties to big money. Many of them don’t care about democracy or normal issues. They are looking to maximize profits. We need a reinvigoration of the fairness doctrine to keep them honest
2) I do believe they are also trying not to burn their bridges if Trump somehow manages a win. It makes a mockery of journalism.
It is unbelievable that we’ve stooped to this level.
Steven, As usual your right. The Media is acting cowardly…apparently afraid of their position with tRump should he win or, their Owners are…for reasons most of us would find offensive! Now we are faced with a paradox…a State’s Governor (DeSantis’s) is using Taxpayer funds to stifle the Freedom of the Press to voice opposition to the passage of a Law he doesn’t agree with. Additionally, we have a lunatic running neck and neck for the Office of the President all the while promising the most dangerous and vile consequences if elected. To a Judicial System aiding and abetting the election of our very own Convicted Felon. Thereby endorsing the aforementioned dangerous and vile consequences. To make matters even worse…virtually half the Country’s electorate is knowingly or, stupidly, also endorsing said consequences. Frankly, where the Hell is this Country going.
"trump rambling" brings up the story right away, top hit.
I can't really fathom why any media mogul thinks placating trump NOW would do anything to stop his vindictiveness should he become president over the slightest thing. The only way to protect themselves from him is to be sure he doesn't have the power to go after them. I keep wondering about the reasons of course, and I have to agree with many that greed, the gathering of looks at pages with ads, is the main reason.
We should also note that journalists, reporters & program hosts are limited by their network policies, actions & budgets and whether a network stands with them if DJT attacks. That can include no factchecking if the network caves to DJT’s terms. NBC got public on air pushback from several of its most popular hosts (at MSNBC/NBC). After announcing decision to hire Ronna McDaniel as an NBC news analyst, it dumped her. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/26/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc-exit-00149193
Here are a few not so subtle hints about why news (actually entertainment) corporations give DJT so many free passes.
• Donald Trump Thinks the Freedom of the Press Is ‘Disgusting’ — To sum up, this is a page periodically updated by the ACLU that provides samples of DJT’s bigotry & threats against the media
This is absolutely outrageous: that the mainstream media, through their anticipatory obedience, are going to be complicit in the election of Trump.
Where, in all of this, is courage, where is integrity? Where, in all of this, does the pursuit of truth figure?
This is exactly what they are doing. Kinda what Jews in Germany in the 1930’s (and increasingly I fear here in America) thought. I’m a good German. I fought in the Great War for the country. There is no risk for me. I am a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, an author, a musician, etc. so no worries. If the media thinks that even if they tone down negative coverage of Trump that they would be immune from his retribution, they should read about what Fascism entails. If they remain naive, they do so at their own peril.
I don’t think they are afraid as much as they have overlords who like Trump a lot. Some journalists don’t realize how much of a pass they give the Donald, or maybe they are afraid. If the latter, they need to find a new job. News finding is not for the faint of heart. Many wonderful journalists have died for the cause.
There was talk that Trump was paying people to attend his rallies, but only for a little while. Then they could leave. Evidence was not forthcoming, but it is not out of the realm of possibility.
I think it is clever of Harris to go on lots of podcasts and different types of shows. It will get new listeners talking to their friends and so on and so on…
The journalists don’t necessarily call the tune on reporting - or decide if their reporting gets air time, printed or how it is edited. CEOs from CBS and CNN said out loud in 2016, 2017 trump was good for business. In 2018 Forbes did an article “love it or hate it” that said the same. The Nation in 2023 said CNN had a love/hate relationship with DJT. I would call it symbiotic or a few other things.
There’s no reason to think other media channels are any different.
Thank you for that. If they devoted equal time to the two candidates, they might find people were actually getting bored with Trump. I don’t know why people are leaving his rallies early—I suspect he is not ranting but rather rambling, and that doesn’t have the same power of compulsion.
Now Giuliani says he won’t sue Trump for the $2 million he is owed before the election because he doesn’t want to put Trump in a bad light. It is a light of Trump’s own making. He seems to suffer no consequences, and the result will be that we all suffer. This climate change denial nonsense is just one example.
Nobody seems to remember poor Shaye Moss or Ruby Freeman anymore. Their lives were
destroyed by Giuliani lying on Trump’s behalf.
Russia and WWII are my areas of academic expertise. Trump, from the totality of vast amounts of evidence, really is functioning as a Russian asset. Yet no one in the government seems inclined to move on that. If anyone thinks for a moment Putin will be satisfied with zUkraine, they are a fool. He will keep going until he is stopped. He aspires to be a great man. But he is going to have to do another call up because he is losing something like 1,100 men a day. A call up will be very unpopular. Just think how happy he would be if Trump let Ukraine sink. Sorry. The whole thing is a debacle. So much for free and fair elections.
Wasn’t it Tim Ryan (ex VP candidate) that commented that most Repub politicians were also in the pocket of the Russians? (Or something to that affect?)
Entirely possible. But I don’t know what the basis was for that. There is no live lost in that quarter.
Chances are people leave his rallies early because of that & because he often arrives very late and has doubled his speaking time.
I’ll be interested in what else Woodward’s book has on DJT and Putin. I didn’t know he was doing another book.
Giuliani lies a lot. He has sues a lot - including Biden for saying he was a “Russian pawn.” He had a snowball’s chance of proving a verbal contract for legal fees with DJT. Giuliani’s creditors were interested in the bankruptcy court forcing him to do it. I believe Giuliani said the RNC or campaign owed $$ to him. DJT held a fundraiser for him.
To be honest, I don’t think lack of ‘equal time’ keeps people from caring about what DJT says. He’s had a lot of free coverage since 2015. Even before that as a non-candidate. The most valuable to his fake image was probably The Apprentice.
DJT undeniably lost the debate with Harris so badly his advisors, Christopher Rufo & Laura Ingraham were among those who acknowledged it. His cringiest activists explained it as Harris used witchcraft.
I’ll be interested in the rest of Woodward’s book.
Unless they are on drugs, I really don’t see how all Trump supporters can believe we can control hurricanes or there is witchcraft. Believing there is a deep state is weird but possible. But the rest of this stuff is lunatic fringe material
I hope karma will eventually intervene and the rest of the perpetrators will get house by their own petard. Hubris, as we know, eventually leads to a fall. It would be helpful in the meantime if the justice system could find ways to curtail Trump’s behavior.He simply cannot be President again.
There are a variety of beliefs among religious groups. These comments are for a very specific group. Yes, I know people who believe these things as ‘god’s word’ which doesn’t require logical explanation. When religion marries politics we really do have a devil of a time.
This mostly made news because JD Vance appeared at an event after this statement. He began the Seven Mountains movement or “Dominionism”.
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/04/nx-s1-5123626/christian-nationalist-election-workers-lance-wallnau
But this is nothing new. Trump had Paula White in the WH as a spiritual advisor of sorts who had rather startling prayers for a person in that position. He has known her for some time. https://www.newsweek.com/trump-spiritual-adviser-paula-white-prays-against-presidents-opponents-suggests-they-operate-1470197
I didn’t know that about Paula White. The plot thickens.
My first thought when you said “compliance in advance “ was Timothy Snyder’s book. I read that long ago, but it really made an impression on me. It’s still in my Kindle, I think I’ll reread it.
I consider myself a "curbside observer" who participates in civic discourse daily. I lay no claim to fame or notoriety. But I persist in speaking my voice as I have done since my days as a young U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant. For a very long time I have commented on how the MEDIA handles Trump with kid gloves. Some MEDIA actually seem to celebrate Trump. I am not sure if that is out of fear-obedience or out of a greedy push for more sales and thus more income.
The fact is, I lost respect for and faith and trust in the MEDIA long ago. My take on it is that they are out to sell news, fake or otherwise. Or, they want to sell personality, even when personality behaves in the most abhorrent and egregious ways. Anyone who has kept close watch on Trump knows full well he is at his core a cruel, malicious lying fascist Nazi. “Substacker” Steve Schmidt (The Warning) is one of the few brave and bold enough to call out Trump for what Trump is.
We need not only "aggressive" journalism. We need journalism that is fearless but honest and correct. We need journalists with spine and cojones. Where are the sharp-tongued Madeleine Albrights and Ruth Ginsburgs? Why has that aggression you speak about been bequeathed to the females of our species? Where have all the bold and brave men gone? The truth will set us free.
Read Rick Wilson here on substack for sharp tongued reporting on thump! He wrote the book “Everything Trump Touches Dies”
Heather Cox Richardson has a HUGE readership and lays out the facts. Maybe not as “sharp tongued” as you’d prefer, but maybe shaping more minds this way?
I hold deep respect and admiration for both. But I do not see them as "main stream", because their followers are a "select" group. I also follow Steve Schmidt (The Warning). The larger media outlets fail to disrobe Trump's tyranny and treachery.
I honestly think it all boils down to money. They aren't afraid of the orange-sadist-traitor. At worst, they just have to keep covering him as they have been, or however he wants them to. At best, they'll continue to make tons of money but pay no taxes on it. The victims are Truth and us/U.S.
As usual, you bring up vital points. Thank you so much. Now I am deep breathing till my bp returns to normal. If only media and journalists would focus and report the truth.
Mary Trump had a good post:
https://www.marytrump.org/p/harris-doesnt-care-what-politico?utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
Yes
The corporate media is like some tarted up old hooker. Not worth the time of effort.
Wait a second. The media is normalizing TFG? Not exactly a newsflash. Great discussion, but the MSM has a commitment only to profits, so they're incentivized by "balancing" and "both-sidesism". They have normalized this POS and his lies and his hate since 2015. It's disgusting and despicable.
I think there are 2 reasons:
1) MSM companies are owned by folks who have ties to big money. Many of them don’t care about democracy or normal issues. They are looking to maximize profits. We need a reinvigoration of the fairness doctrine to keep them honest
2) I do believe they are also trying not to burn their bridges if Trump somehow manages a win. It makes a mockery of journalism.
It is unbelievable that we’ve stooped to this level.
Steven, As usual your right. The Media is acting cowardly…apparently afraid of their position with tRump should he win or, their Owners are…for reasons most of us would find offensive! Now we are faced with a paradox…a State’s Governor (DeSantis’s) is using Taxpayer funds to stifle the Freedom of the Press to voice opposition to the passage of a Law he doesn’t agree with. Additionally, we have a lunatic running neck and neck for the Office of the President all the while promising the most dangerous and vile consequences if elected. To a Judicial System aiding and abetting the election of our very own Convicted Felon. Thereby endorsing the aforementioned dangerous and vile consequences. To make matters even worse…virtually half the Country’s electorate is knowingly or, stupidly, also endorsing said consequences. Frankly, where the Hell is this Country going.
"trump rambling" brings up the story right away, top hit.
I can't really fathom why any media mogul thinks placating trump NOW would do anything to stop his vindictiveness should he become president over the slightest thing. The only way to protect themselves from him is to be sure he doesn't have the power to go after them. I keep wondering about the reasons of course, and I have to agree with many that greed, the gathering of looks at pages with ads, is the main reason.
Absolutely dead on!
We should also note that journalists, reporters & program hosts are limited by their network policies, actions & budgets and whether a network stands with them if DJT attacks. That can include no factchecking if the network caves to DJT’s terms. NBC got public on air pushback from several of its most popular hosts (at MSNBC/NBC). After announcing decision to hire Ronna McDaniel as an NBC news analyst, it dumped her. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/26/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc-exit-00149193
Here are a few not so subtle hints about why news (actually entertainment) corporations give DJT so many free passes.
• Leslie Moonves on Donald Trump: “It May Not Be Good for America, but It’s Damn Good for CBS” — Hollywood Reporter, 2016 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/leslie-moonves-donald-trump-may-871464/
• CNN International Chief Says Trump Is “Good for Business” — Hollywood Reporter, 2017 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/cnn-international-chief-says-trump-is-good-business-1031985/
• Love It Or Hate It, The Trump Show Has Been Very Good For Media Business — Forbes, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dbloom/2018/11/05/happy-election-season-media-donald-trump-has-been-very-good-for-you/
• The Suits at CNN Have Always Loved Trump — The Nation, 2023 https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/cnn-licht-promote-profit-trump/
• Donald Trump Thinks the Freedom of the Press Is ‘Disgusting’ — To sum up, this is a page periodically updated by the ACLU that provides samples of DJT’s bigotry & threats against the media
https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/donald-trump-thinks-freedom-press-disgusting