Now 'that's' the spirit Scott ! At several points in the past decade, I've taken to writing directly to broadcast outlets social media pages, bullet pointed 'factoids', which I've made master copies of in order to 'copy and paste' them again - assuming, and accurately that FB minders would bury or delete my messaging. War is war. Forces arrayed opposed mind no 'Geneva Convention' nor any other honorable norms. Why should my messages of simple truth be constrained ?
It may be FB as well (I suspect ALL SocMed sites, including this one, have sleeper agents who hire on as "support" who do what I describe next), but the thing I've been documenting for a decade is that people like me (activists for democracy and voting), and influencers who can be conned with propaganda (like Musk! Watched it happen.), have our computer communication with our ISPs running through hidden VPNs to russian/far right monitoring stations, to block content - both ways - they don't like and feed content they create. One way I can tell when they do it, is when my "Location" on my device runs all over my county (there are 5 Russian troll farms in my rural county of 200,000), and sometimes to large cities all over the US - without me leaving my desk. When I search for things like a specific Climate Change conference, I get nothing but FarRt BS, more that 30 "different" sources..., but if I put a computer that is not logged in to ANYTHING right next to it and type the identical Search, I get Normal Results. I suggest, if you want to test, do exactly the same Search on your own device and at the same time anonymously on another (like on a guest pass in a library - using different WiFi/ISP if possible), and see if you get different Results. If so, your ISP connection is likely hacked (and your phone and everything else. They are really thorough...) TELL LOTS OF PEOPLE, Please!
I hope you’re right. It’s embarrassing to have such a candidate representing our country in front of the world. The rest of the World must think we are INSANE to have a candidate like Trump, he’s a wack job.
This old doc used to diagnose people like him demented on a regular basis. He is one nasty, sick old man with a huge passel of personality disorders dragging on his incipient dementia.
The Republican Party should close shop! I can believe they’re allowing 45/34 (trump) to represent them as a presidential candidate. So sad. He’s only their mouthpiece.
Why don't they think it's necessary to have their own fact checkers? That invites Trump to make outrageously false statements, which many will choose to believe. Example: Trump fans often say online that the inflation rate is still higher than it's ever been when it's actually come down from the highest rate during the pandemic to 3.3, the current rate, and is expected to go down to around 2.0 within the next year. Allowing them to lie without any corrections gives Trump and his followers power.
Many of them do, actually. The Propaganda machine is very complex. However, Washington Post did a study a couple years ago, I think, and put real information in front of people. SURPRISE! Some 60% (!!) of them, mostly women, CHANGED BACK. There really are more good hearts out there than not.
They said that's not a moderator's job. Someone said they think it's because Candy Crowley corrected Romney at a debate and people lost it, and claimed she was on Obama's side, so CNN doesn't want to be accused of that again.
I agree that it's not a moderator's job, but CNN should have other people fact-checking and make corrections to lies at the end of the debate. That's not ideal, but it's better than saying nothing.
sad, just sad there are such liars and evil people out there. Fox news shoukd be shut down. I don't think there is ever any real,news, just lies and more lies to attack sone people and build up other criminal people. They are a despicable lot and serve no purpose whatsoever.
Please see my long reply above, Marianne. There are indeed liars and evil people, but they are a small number using old N*zi/R'n propaganda techniques, fooling millions of good people.
If the Convicted Felon, Traitor actually IS allowed to run for President, and if he should "win," we will eventually see What Happens to the "Media" when one of them, or more, piss off "His Majesty Donald the tRump!!
I'm looking forward to witnessing a profile in contrast. My expectation is that President Biden will demonstrate compassion, competence, and coherence, and while Felonious Trump will be boorish, bombastic, and blathering. As much as I'd like to attribute FT's ramblings to cognitive decline, it implies that he had some cognitivity to begin with.
If he shows..... he will stumble on stage, wave to no one, mutter about shampoo and snakes, manufacture some excuse and bumble away while his vacuous campaign blame Hunter for his poor showing.
Please tell me that America is not truly where the polls are saying.... how on earth can 50/50 even be happening? People are not connecting the dots with the assault on institutions.... look at the media especially WAPO lately, the rigging of the courts, the states "rights " BS on Roe ( lessening federal constitutional rights) attacking every federal institution IRS, DOJ, public schools trying to force religion into public schools, etc etc etc. I never see a media outlet connecting the dots on the erosion of democracy. 6 states are colluding openly about secession..! The billionaire extremes funding Trump? It's called rise of authoritarianism and no one outlet is connecting the dots and saying so
The polls started being corrupted when Karl Rove's ES&S Voting Machines were caught Vote flipping by an Oklahoma University recount of '08 '10 and '12. The results didn't match the polls, so they started changing the polls...
Re the media outlets - every single one now has a FarRt oligarch as the top owner. THEY are the ones directing the censoring of certain info.
the supreme court is getting out of control. I think I heard today that despicable trump placed people in that court fir his own sake, for more piwer, when he got re elected. But he didn;t but they are doing okd ty of damage. I don't know what wecwill do if they do not hold him accountable for the Jan. 6th insurrection or other crimes wecarecwaiting for word on, supposedly coming this monday. I do not believe they will hold him accountable orvwhat we can do if theybdon't. they are crooked, and will get worse.
it is very frightening, that garbage like this has been slowly happening without us really knowing, until it became so frightening we may not be able to stop it. evil was lurking and working overtime and we did not know ?
Remember, though, he's got ol' Ronny Jackson dispensing drugs since he was in office.
Like EVERY single one of their accusations, they are Projection. LET'S CHECK HIS EYES!
They ALWAYS tell you what they are doing, by describing someone else as doing it.
The Stupidity astounds me. I say investigate them for EVERYTHING they say, including Vote Flipping. I mean, they've described their entire program by screaming "cheating".
This Election, let's RECOUNT *EVERY PRECINCT, EVERY RACE*. I guarantee you will will find cheating on machines that weren't replaced since 2018 - machines that don't have HAND-MARKED paper ballots.
That is what we all need to do! Let's take over some of the BS. Just like the Times mentioned in Dan's newsletter. I'm done with them. I will mention negative facts against them any time I can.
JOE BIDEN: “Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person, eh, uh, eligible … for what I've been able to do with, the uh, covid, excuse me, with umm dealing with everything we had to deal with. Uh. Look, if … we finally beat Medicare!”
JAKE TAPPER: “Thank you, President Biden.” (quickly cuts mike).
We are watching the last gasps of the traditional media as they struggle for ratings and relevance by turning journalism into a surreal sitcom struggling for eyeballs, clicks, and ratings.
I can only pray that this dereliction of the sacred role of the Fourth Estate does not kill democracy.
"They" sacrificed any honor they held on the altar of gold. When we get to the other side of this, honorable folks on common ground of any greater good will need band together and erect firewalls to enforce truth and honor upon any outlet that would dare assume the constitutional protections of 'freedoms of the press'. I have learned that in my human life, that responsibility comes with my liberties and protections afforded. Why should it be any different for any fourth estate, SCOTUS, or any others enjoying protections ?
After Trump loses, what cheap entertainment will the MSM come up with to fuel the clicks and fill the coffers? Could we actually see a return to responsible investigative journalism? It would be a welcome shock.
Are you kidding? Trump is like heroin. If he loses (fingers crossed), there will be 3 months of covering him insisting that he won. That will lead into the 3 CRIMINAL CASES that his Justices, judges and a state appellate court delayed until late 2024-early 2025, so he'll be headlines for another 6-18 months or so of 2025-2026....then sentencing....Once he's done, MSM be following Don Jr. or Ivanka around, or trying to find (or create) the next "Trump."
That would be an unfortunate probability. Were we just to hear ABOUT him rather than FROM him would be a change, though you're quite likely correct. It was more a stated dream than a reality.
I don't think it'll be Flynn. He will be nearly 70 years old during the 2028 election and I think people will be looking at younger people - like Adam Kinzinger. who will be 50 or Eric Swalwell who will be 48. Gavin Newsom will be pushing it at 60 in 2028.
Sorry, I wasn't clear. Trump is failing mentally. If he loses it before/during THIS election, or even if he wins, they will likely assassinate him and blame the left.
Flynn is so popular that they may try to 'install' him or something. Look for T's VP pick to be someone who is full MAGA, but controllable by both oligarchs/2025 architects AND Putin.
Everyone you've named would not be a MAGA replacement (only one is conservative - though I do like him a lot). Until the 2025 people are eliminated from the GOP, no reasonable conservative has chance, this election or the next several.
This is a long-term Coup that they've been working on for 60+ years, ever since Khrushchev's sleeper agents managed to join the kids of the hidden nazis with the disaffected white southerners to form the CNP, and then went after the church goers. Look up Paul Weyrich, to start. It's ALL Russia.
It seems like the media is definitely trying to kill democracy and they don't seem to understand that they won't have their jobs if they don't start writing the truth again.
They’ll have jobs in advertising, which is what mainstream is doing right now, they are advertising candidates as if they will do something for the working person. All advertisers, corporate owned, corporate run and they aim to rule. These entities have contempt for human life.
Hopefully, our vote still counts. We have to keep showing up and not buying their product. Support small business… every little bit we can do to stop buying
They are turning the screws… housing/ homelessness is a product of corporate agreement to dangle unreasonable rents, junk fees.
Corporate rule defies dignity. We must not let this happen.
Well put, Patricia. I keep hoping they'll wake up to the fact that their means are self-destructive. If their continuing dereliction results in the return of the Convicted Felon to the Oval Office, their services will no longer be required.
What has caused me much anxiety lately- the tabloid style of the WAPO and who even understands the NYX rabid for negative Biden commentary passing as news articles. Journalism is being attacked from inside and outside the country and it's happening at a rapid pace. Independent journalism is our last refuge (even though it's always been a recipient of my meager donation dollars). Look at the film The Apprentice about Trumps origin- even Hollywood is running scared of a film that every other country in the world is going to watch, and that got 8 minutes of standing applause at Cannes Film Festival recently... it's starring one of their own latest and greatest- Jeremy Strong- who's performance is being hailed as academy award winning. It's opening in Japan, Canada, the UK , every country in the EU and so many more, but yet not in The USA?
We are now at the line---unofficial censorship territory is happening right here right now and nothing except an opinion piece in NYX
I still maintain there won’t be a debate. His handlers don’t want to unleash him untethered upon the world stage the way he’s been behaving lately, especially after sundown when he’s even more deranged. Worst case scenario he’ll show up and then stomp offstage the first time they mute his mic so they can claim that liberal CNN is violating his freedom of speech. See if they don’t.
I think so too. There will be some absurd explanation about how the moderators are part of the Democrats vendetta against him and he’ll be believed by his cronies.
The moderators will not have control of the mute button, the Technical Director or someone like the TD is going to have the mute button. Whoever’s turn to speak will have the microphone, when it’s not their turn it will be off, it’s simple and takes the Moderator out of it. Everyone clearly knew going into this “debate” what the rules are, look for Biden to act like a sane man and the orange turd to be incoherent.
Dr "Pill Pusher"Jackson described their medication plan, the DOD report on the former administration WH pharmacy prescription log reflected Provigil (one of the drugs he named on air) as being repeatedly doled out in '19 along with Fentanyl and massive allotments of Ambian (2000 at a time!) so lets hope they don't get the dosage right and the curtain is pulled back to reveal the snake oil con man.
are you saying that all these drugs including deadly destructive fentanyl whatever provigil is, was given out from or at the White House to trump and others?? Would that account for his lunacy and the hell he has put us and our country through? Why was this not public knowledge? Druggies are not supposed to be running our country, as in this case running it into the sewer. Horrifying .....
Yes, there was some coverage of the DOD report of prescription drug abuse in the Trump WH pharmacy by MSM, others here on Substack did a better job (Wonkette did another piece today that was great) but here is an excerpt from NBC piece linked below;
From 2017 to 2019, the unit spent about $46,500 on Ambien, a sleeping medication, which the report says is “174 times more expensive than the generic equivalent.” The clinic also spent nearly $100,000 during that period on Provigil, a stimulant that is “55 times more expensive than the generic equivalent,” the report said.
Absolutely, per Noel Caster who worked on the set of The Apprentice (which should have been their career highlight) the drug use was long standing, free flowing and the DOD report reflected rampant abuse. I'd love it if they provided a comparative report, to the current administration, pre election.
I think TRump has to show up because he really doesn't like being called a coward. He will override his handlers and do exactly what he shouldn't do, which is debate Biden. His true colors will show and maybe those undecided voters will see just what a nut job TRump is. We can only hope at this point.
If Trump should walk off the stage , that will be prove to the undecided voters that he's weak and incompetent. A convicted felon who is still in denial about the January 6th insurrection and who is still in denial that Biden won the 2020 election has no credibility in this country.
he does not have to walk off the stage for us to know and remember that he is weak, a coward and one of the worst pathological liars ever. during this even, within 90 minutes, he told about 50 lies. check it out..... evil evil man
I have to admit this is exactly the plan I'd come up with, if I were them......it's exactly how they roll. I'm hoping lip readers and an unchecked evil ego will save the day. Personally I don't think I could stomach scrutinizing the motions of that nasty mouth; I don't envy the task.
Triple 'liked' Lucy. I feel everyday Dan deserves to know how much we honor and deeply appreciate him and his efforts. He 'earned' our trust the old fashioned way.
Dan shares: "His extemporaneous speeches have become a mishmash of incoherent tangents. Calling it word salad would be a disservice to lettuce." I don't get why the NYT doesn't have a page 1, above the fold headline that says "Trump appears to have lost it!" Or, mosre substantively, "Trump's word salad in his speeches is so discombobulated that we now can be certain that policy will have to be the product of the fever dreams of Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Don Jr., and Mike Flynn". I believe in my heart that Trump listens to Fox and OAN and that's it. I don't believe he reads either the NYT or the WSJ. I don't think he actually thinks or considers anything. He only, ever, reacts to immediate images. He;s like a shallow flat screen TV. There's no depth or moral compass.
Except, his policies have ALWAYS been the "fever dreams of Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Don Jr., and Mike Flynn". Well actually, they are all 2nd tier; soldiers. Or rather, HANDLERS. For oligarchs. For the CNP.
#1=Putin, who had nearly daily 3am calls on a burner phone all during his presidency, and likely still, often. And Roger Stone is his #1 minion.
Stone is the most dangerous and effective of everyone, possibly a Khruschev-direct or 1st-tier soviet agent. He was conning NIXON. And Reagan. Et al.
#2=Koch, through Hannity; no idea if that is continuing. Koch is still pulling strings.
#3=Miller - Trump handler for White Nazionalists/Heritage/Weyrich.
#4 MIke Johnson - for Evangelicals. WAS Pence, he's out.
#5+#6 - tied, Bannon and Flynn - for MAGA - the lost, and the disaffected unintelligent, and militias, and infiltrating the military/police (Stone is the one steering all these, tho).
#7- Don Jr + Eric are just useful idiots. Someone has threatened Tiffany.
And the list goes on: e.g., ALL CNP members and Far Rt sycophants, e.g. in the House and Senate.
He is the McDonalds of humankind. But if they admitted all of that, they'd have to scrounge and muss and fuss and identify a new "champion," and Heritage, the Federalist gang, etc, are already well situated with Trump and family, have their talons in deep, and dislike dirtying their mitts by switching it up at this stage...
Apparently, Biden rebuffed the New York Times and wouldn't do an in-depth interview with one of the head writers and they've had a bee in their bonnet ever since. Petty.
According to his own staff trump doesn't read - anything longer than 3 lines, even his briefings had to be condensed. According to the late Ivana, the only book on his night stand wa a synopsis of Hitlers speeches.
The media mentioned in the above post is probably running scared regarding accurately portraying trump to have lost it, etc. They know that if they do print the real truth, trump's lawyers will be on them in a New York minute suing them for slander.
Trump is 78 and Biden 81. Why is there such emphasis on Biden over a 3-4 age difference. Trump's behavior is extremely impaired and has been for years. The age difference is just a red herring.
Same reason that the new talking point is that Biden is on performance enhancing drugs. If you throw enough "spaghetti" at the wall some of it might stick.
We already know that ketchup and maybe remains of the hamberder do stick to walls. The out-of-control child has used them in tantrums before. After the "debate" expect more to fly.
Exactly! Trump is the one who seems senile not Biden! Trump goes off on crazy fantasies and tangents about all sorts of off the wall subjects and seems completely senile and dangerous. He will destroy this country like Hitler did Germany and who will help us recover?
This isn't the first time he has lost it about water. I seem to remember him talking a out water pressure and how new houses don't have any a few years ago!
Thank you for your reporting. I no longer think the NYT is a great paper. They continually put out articles that, even if the article itself is halfway fair, have headlines that are completely misleading. The Post and other papers have misleading headlines and articles, too, but don't seem as consistently unfair and misleading.
Janet, so true. The NYT and I parted ways in 2021. A lifelong, third generation reader, I regretfully pointed out to the subscription department that they were publishing fiction and cited several examples of outright misstatements with facts (and video) to support my point.
They offered me a discount on my subscription (sigh).
I'm close to cancelling it, but I've been subscribing for pretty much all my long life, and I can't imagine not being able to read it. Plus there are other, non-political things it covers well.
The major media outlets use to be family owned and operated with a sense of responsibility as the 4th estate in our democracy. Not anymore. They are all corporations now with an eye on transitioning to the cyber interface with their clients and that interface is a click-bait world where interesting form trumps (no pun intended) fact; juicy trumps valid; and emphasis crushes proportionate. The lurid leads and bleeds all over thoughtful commentary.
We are awash in the difference between newspaper print and colored videos, Times New Roman and eye-candy! The emphasis shifts from informing to entertaining. Money dumbs down everything.
But as corporations the media, consciously or not, will be influenced by monetary concerns and their bottom line. We are in the midst of a national struggle between our constitutional democracy and an extreme capitalism that would happily run roughshod over principles for profit and power.
Why else would we be presented with a convicted felon leading in the polls (which I don’t trust and for good reason) against a life-long political public servant who recognizes climate change and is actively leading efforts globally to avert it.
Trump, the far right’s useful idiot, like Nero would haplessly run his mouth while the USA burns !
I've read the WaPo for years (since Nixon) but am disappointed in them now, except for Jennifer Rubin and a couple of other journalists who aren't afraid to speak the truth. I mostly read the Guardian, Heather, Joyce and Dan! And the Daily Chatter for Foreign News.
Sounds like me. I canceled NYTimes several years ago, pick & choose on WaPo and read Steady, Civil Discourse, Wake Up To Politics, The Guardian, Responsible Statecraft, Why It Matters and Campaign Trails.
I cancelled my NYT subscription several months ago. I miss Krugman and Friedman but I got tired of the click-bait headlines clearly biased against Biden. I tried sending reader letters to call this out and got no response. I won't support that. Worse still, they keep it up and it seems like it's getting worse based on the NYT headlines I see posted in Twitter.
Let’s face facts. There have been actual debates since Kennedy - Nixon. Maybe Bush - Clinton but not since then. Since that time we have seen nothing more than candidates regurgitate stump speeches, rarely if ever directly addressing a question. Who’s to blame for this? An abandonment of decorum. Fear of the gotcha question. The talking head panels, Post debate telling us what we have all just seen.
Now people will watch this hoping to see a train wreak. Not for actual information but for entertainment.
I won’t be watching. I will wait and let some talking head tell me what disaster took place.
All I know is that this made for TV spectacle won’t change my mind. I am voting for Democracy.
“In 2016, Trump said outrageous things at his campaign rallies to be entertaining. In 2024, his tangents raise serious questions about his mental fitness,” according to The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson.
Why does his mental “fitness” matter? He’s a convicted criminal. He was impeached, TWICE. He tried to overthrow the election. My god, he’s the MOST unqualified man on the planet!!!
I agree now we need a Constitutional Amendment that states NO FELON can hold office in the Federal Government. This was a thought so far fetched and repugnant to the Founding Father's they felt no need to address it!
We can thank Garland that trump is even allowed to run. Had he done his job from day one and opened investigations into trump’s corrupt (and his equally corrupt administration’s) actions while in office instead of only doing so after being shamed into it by the excellent work of the Jan 6 Committee, we wouldn’t be in this mess now.
Trump 's mouth is his own worst enemy. Assuming he shows up for the so-called debate, if he acts as he usually does, it will magnify his crazy. It might even make up the minds of some voters who still claim to be on the fence.
Former FL Rep David Jolly said on "Deadline White House" that President Biden should have immediately declined a debate with trump from the moment he became a convicted felon with the statement that "to stand on stage with a convicted felon as the President of the US, is beneath the office of the President" and refuse to debate. While he may be the "presumptive" GOP nominee, we as a party or a nation don't have to give him credibility to debate.
I agree. I worry Biden will go off on one of his curse laden responses after being needled repeatedly by trump, which, while understandable, will only make him look bad. It’s nothing compared to trump’s dementia and incoherence but our no longer legitimate MSM will pounce on Biden.
I am mystified as to why the mainstream media, and the American public in general is so obsessed with Biden’s age. Going into the next four years is not about the President’s gait or his vocabulary. It’s about protecting and defending us and making the right decisions in good times and in times of crisis. And it’s about putting together the right support staff for planning and guidance. Biden will surround himself with intelligent and sound minded people. Trump will surround himself with sycophants who will do whatever he wants whenever he wants to whomever he wants. And the media needs to blast the Trump blunders as loud as a marching band. You’re correct Dan. The media needs to cover this fool loudly and often and make all see how messed up his mind is.
And I hope CNN is prepared for the unpredictable. Because I think that clown might pull something totally outlandish. Imagine would turn this event might take if SCOTUS releases the immunity ruling on Thursday?
Janis, I totally agree with you on the media's obsession with Biden's age... and why his age should not be an issue.
T****p's friends are already investigating civil servants -- people hired based on their merits, not those in leadership positions -- to determine their political views. These federal workers are supposed to be loyal to the Constitution, not to a specific person.
Thank you, Ellen. Age should only be an issue in job performance if one can’t perform their duties. A surgeon with the shakes is legitimate. An airline pilot with macular degeneration is legitimate. But a brief pause in midsentence is not. How quickly one walks is not an issue. I have a friend, male in gender who is 6’3” and an exfootball player. I am a 5’2” woman with no athletic training. I walk faster than he does. Just the way we’re made up. Biden is soft spoken (so was Bill Clinton). Trump is loud and full of bluster. How that translates to competency is beyond me. Ageism is rampant in this country. What a shame. Biden with his sensibility, intelligence, and experience has a host of things to offer this country….namely protection of our democracy and freedoms. Let’s Go Joe!
I’ve been ranting at the lack of coverage re Trump’s ravings and lunacy for years now. What is going on. If I were press I’d be reporting every crazy thing he does or says. He is a danger to our democracy and our country yet we have failed to stop him. It’s way past the time he should have been held accountable
Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post did a very good article on this very subject recently. It's true, we need to see a lot more journalism such as this.
Biden is going to come out ahead. He could just show up and he'll be ahead. DT is just ranting now, he makes even less sense than he has in the past. I will never understand how people can listen to/follow what he says. And believe ANY of his drivel.
There is a big part of me that doesn't want to watch "the debates" because seeing Trump is revolting period. Watching Trump demean and denigrate President Biden, who we the people elected fairly and by a large margin, would add insult to injury. There is a big part of me that simply wants to put my head down, turn off the tube, and write get-out-the-vote postcards for Biden and the many solid democrats up and down the ballot who are willing to try to get us back onto Planet Earth and off the reality TV universe we have been unwillingly thrust into. Biden has more moral courage in his little finger than Trump has in his massive, flatulent body.
My father was a malignant narcissist, just like Trump. Tried to kill my mother twice in fits of rage. So, I am intimately familiar with this personality type. Of course, Trump is also an associate of an international effort to destroy democracy… Which my father was not. My father only destroyed any semblance of democracy within the family, where the only opinion that counted was his and no one was allowed to develop self-esteem, including me because his self-esteem was so poor and could not be challenged.
The media’s inability to report on Trump as a threat rather than as a political opponent is a crime against our country as great as any being perpetrated by the MAGA GOP. The media should be saying that electing Trump is like electing the head of the KGB to sit in the White House… Inviting Putin to take over our country without firing a shot.
This is so far beyond 2016 election in which CBS’s Les Moonves famously said “Trump may be bad for America, but he’s great for CBS”. You could say CBS didn’t know how bad Trump would be for America back then. CBS and the other networks do know now. Just read Project 2025!
There’s no excuse for the kind of reporting taking place across America’s media/journalism landscape.
Biden is going to dominate Trump. It won’t even be close.
Willing to wager that by Friday am, the media is showing clips of Trump's few coherent points and writing articles on how he won the debate.
We will be louder. 🤓👍👍
Now 'that's' the spirit Scott ! At several points in the past decade, I've taken to writing directly to broadcast outlets social media pages, bullet pointed 'factoids', which I've made master copies of in order to 'copy and paste' them again - assuming, and accurately that FB minders would bury or delete my messaging. War is war. Forces arrayed opposed mind no 'Geneva Convention' nor any other honorable norms. Why should my messages of simple truth be constrained ?
The truth deserves to be told, again and again in order to counter the lies.
It may be FB as well (I suspect ALL SocMed sites, including this one, have sleeper agents who hire on as "support" who do what I describe next), but the thing I've been documenting for a decade is that people like me (activists for democracy and voting), and influencers who can be conned with propaganda (like Musk! Watched it happen.), have our computer communication with our ISPs running through hidden VPNs to russian/far right monitoring stations, to block content - both ways - they don't like and feed content they create. One way I can tell when they do it, is when my "Location" on my device runs all over my county (there are 5 Russian troll farms in my rural county of 200,000), and sometimes to large cities all over the US - without me leaving my desk. When I search for things like a specific Climate Change conference, I get nothing but FarRt BS, more that 30 "different" sources..., but if I put a computer that is not logged in to ANYTHING right next to it and type the identical Search, I get Normal Results. I suggest, if you want to test, do exactly the same Search on your own device and at the same time anonymously on another (like on a guest pass in a library - using different WiFi/ISP if possible), and see if you get different Results. If so, your ISP connection is likely hacked (and your phone and everything else. They are really thorough...) TELL LOTS OF PEOPLE, Please!
I understand your meanings Flow as I too am a documenter and explorer so to speak. Rock on..
Whoa
OMG! No wonder we are so divided.
We MUST be louder I feel. They are setting thus country upside down.
We will be. There will be a catalyst.
When? The doomsday clock is running.
What are you waiting for? I write letters and emails just as Mr. Rather stated. Get started.
And THIS:
https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=1175359&post_id=146049145&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=mrpzy&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozODI0NDk1OCwicG9zdF9pZCI6MTQ2MDQ5MTQ1LCJpYXQiOjE3MTk1MDQ1ODEsImV4cCI6MTcyMjA5NjU4MSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTExNzUzNTkiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.iJPZo5vpLEpvNMA0RmohUJdJvPu_ACSdArGVa5HmPq0
See my reply above.
Trump is going to vomit, fart and stomp off stage you watch.
I hope you’re right. It’s embarrassing to have such a candidate representing our country in front of the world. The rest of the World must think we are INSANE to have a candidate like Trump, he’s a wack job.
This old doc used to diagnose people like him demented on a regular basis. He is one nasty, sick old man with a huge passel of personality disorders dragging on his incipient dementia.
I know. I chronicled it in my book, “Donald’s Vanity Tantrums.”
You got that right Doc!!!
Watching from Canada. It is indeed embarrassing and terrifying.
Wow! Is THAT right, Suzy!
The Republican Party should close shop! I can believe they’re allowing 45/34 (trump) to represent them as a presidential candidate. So sad. He’s only their mouthpiece.
Yes most of the rest of the wlrld
Won’t be the first time but likely the last
But his followers will cheer wildly!
We can only hope - and PRAY.
What if he had a stroke?!
We can only hope.
🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Fact checkers had better get busy. They'll have their hands full (as usual).
CNN already said their "moderators" will not be doing any fact-checking; that will be up to President Biden to correct tRump on rebuttal.
Why don't they think it's necessary to have their own fact checkers? That invites Trump to make outrageously false statements, which many will choose to believe. Example: Trump fans often say online that the inflation rate is still higher than it's ever been when it's actually come down from the highest rate during the pandemic to 3.3, the current rate, and is expected to go down to around 2.0 within the next year. Allowing them to lie without any corrections gives Trump and his followers power.
That's his modus operandi: Lies, lies, and more lies. And MAGAs just eat it up, not bothering to research the truth for themselves.
OH, they research. Like crazy. But what they find is corrupted, and they believe it. See my Long Reply above.
Because they already know what is going to happen. Too bad they don't want to help democracy.
Many of them do, actually. The Propaganda machine is very complex. However, Washington Post did a study a couple years ago, I think, and put real information in front of people. SURPRISE! Some 60% (!!) of them, mostly women, CHANGED BACK. There really are more good hearts out there than not.
They said that's not a moderator's job. Someone said they think it's because Candy Crowley corrected Romney at a debate and people lost it, and claimed she was on Obama's side, so CNN doesn't want to be accused of that again.
I agree that it's not a moderator's job, but CNN should have other people fact-checking and make corrections to lies at the end of the debate. That's not ideal, but it's better than saying nothing.
sad, just sad there are such liars and evil people out there. Fox news shoukd be shut down. I don't think there is ever any real,news, just lies and more lies to attack sone people and build up other criminal people. They are a despicable lot and serve no purpose whatsoever.
Please see my long reply above, Marianne. There are indeed liars and evil people, but they are a small number using old N*zi/R'n propaganda techniques, fooling millions of good people.
If the Convicted Felon, Traitor actually IS allowed to run for President, and if he should "win," we will eventually see What Happens to the "Media" when one of them, or more, piss off "His Majesty Donald the tRump!!
I hope not.
I'm looking forward to witnessing a profile in contrast. My expectation is that President Biden will demonstrate compassion, competence, and coherence, and while Felonious Trump will be boorish, bombastic, and blathering. As much as I'd like to attribute FT's ramblings to cognitive decline, it implies that he had some cognitivity to begin with.
"Boorish, bombastic, and blathering" Brilliant!
I updated my description of President Biden to be equally alliterative: "compassion, competence, and coherence."
Like. (I can't use the Like button with my old OS on my old iMac.)
LOL!!!
he was worse than that, he was pure evil towards President Biden.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Boom! Great point!
If he shows..... he will stumble on stage, wave to no one, mutter about shampoo and snakes, manufacture some excuse and bumble away while his vacuous campaign blame Hunter for his poor showing.
No one wants him to show on his team. No one. But I think Biden hurt Donald’s ego so he feels he has to show.
Please tell me that America is not truly where the polls are saying.... how on earth can 50/50 even be happening? People are not connecting the dots with the assault on institutions.... look at the media especially WAPO lately, the rigging of the courts, the states "rights " BS on Roe ( lessening federal constitutional rights) attacking every federal institution IRS, DOJ, public schools trying to force religion into public schools, etc etc etc. I never see a media outlet connecting the dots on the erosion of democracy. 6 states are colluding openly about secession..! The billionaire extremes funding Trump? It's called rise of authoritarianism and no one outlet is connecting the dots and saying so
You can't believe the polls, Marsha, they say whatever who purchased them wants them to say.
I could make an argument for letting the south half of Florida and all of Texas go...cheaper wall by far, I think.
The polls started being corrupted when Karl Rove's ES&S Voting Machines were caught Vote flipping by an Oklahoma University recount of '08 '10 and '12. The results didn't match the polls, so they started changing the polls...
Re the media outlets - every single one now has a FarRt oligarch as the top owner. THEY are the ones directing the censoring of certain info.
the supreme court is getting out of control. I think I heard today that despicable trump placed people in that court fir his own sake, for more piwer, when he got re elected. But he didn;t but they are doing okd ty of damage. I don't know what wecwill do if they do not hold him accountable for the Jan. 6th insurrection or other crimes wecarecwaiting for word on, supposedly coming this monday. I do not believe they will hold him accountable orvwhat we can do if theybdon't. they are crooked, and will get worse.
it is very frightening, that garbage like this has been slowly happening without us really knowing, until it became so frightening we may not be able to stop it. evil was lurking and working overtime and we did not know ?
TALK to people. Register Voters. Hang Posters. Put small ads in local papers (if they will let you!)
Turns out there are MILLIONS of poorer people who don't think voting counts. ESPECIALLY register Young Women - they don't know what's coming.
Taylor Swift has a great Meme: If ALL Young Women Voted, They could take over the country! It's TRUE!
Person to person, local, is how we will win.
Which six states?
He might also blame the sharks, electric boats, and batteries. We have no idea what he'll say, though we know it won't make any sense.
I have felt all along that Trump will back out. With his recent dementia infused rants I can’t imagine how his ‘people’ would allow him to attempt it.
Let’s not forget the flatulence he emitted during his trial.
He learned it from Rudy. Now let's see his makeup start dripping so it appears as often in the media as Rudy's dripping hair dye.
An orange meltdown, with blonde highlights. Now that would be cool! Like an insanely animated ice cream Push-Up.
Remember, though, he's got ol' Ronny Jackson dispensing drugs since he was in office.
Like EVERY single one of their accusations, they are Projection. LET'S CHECK HIS EYES!
They ALWAYS tell you what they are doing, by describing someone else as doing it.
The Stupidity astounds me. I say investigate them for EVERYTHING they say, including Vote Flipping. I mean, they've described their entire program by screaming "cheating".
This Election, let's RECOUNT *EVERY PRECINCT, EVERY RACE*. I guarantee you will will find cheating on machines that weren't replaced since 2018 - machines that don't have HAND-MARKED paper ballots.
I hope you are right!!
I think it’s ok for us to walk with some swagger after all we’ve been through.🥳 🌊
That is what we all need to do! Let's take over some of the BS. Just like the Times mentioned in Dan's newsletter. I'm done with them. I will mention negative facts against them any time I can.
Careful, Scott. Don't count your chickens before...
I’m not. Just optimistic for good reason 🤓👍👍🥳
I wholeheartedly agree!
Fingers crossed.
IF YOU SEE DEMENTIA, REPORT DEMENTIA - says the Dork
JOE BIDEN: “Making sure that we’re able to make every single solitary person, eh, uh, eligible … for what I've been able to do with, the uh, covid, excuse me, with umm dealing with everything we had to deal with. Uh. Look, if … we finally beat Medicare!”
JAKE TAPPER: “Thank you, President Biden.” (quickly cuts mike).
Hahahahaha!!!
What a dork you are - what a perfect name you have.
Scott, there are several comments in Newest that could use your attention.
Oh, and this:
https://open.substack.com/pub/steady/p/if-you-see-crazy-report-crazy?r=mrpzy&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=60075826
We are watching the last gasps of the traditional media as they struggle for ratings and relevance by turning journalism into a surreal sitcom struggling for eyeballs, clicks, and ratings.
I can only pray that this dereliction of the sacred role of the Fourth Estate does not kill democracy.
"They" sacrificed any honor they held on the altar of gold. When we get to the other side of this, honorable folks on common ground of any greater good will need band together and erect firewalls to enforce truth and honor upon any outlet that would dare assume the constitutional protections of 'freedoms of the press'. I have learned that in my human life, that responsibility comes with my liberties and protections afforded. Why should it be any different for any fourth estate, SCOTUS, or any others enjoying protections ?
After Trump loses, what cheap entertainment will the MSM come up with to fuel the clicks and fill the coffers? Could we actually see a return to responsible investigative journalism? It would be a welcome shock.
Are you kidding? Trump is like heroin. If he loses (fingers crossed), there will be 3 months of covering him insisting that he won. That will lead into the 3 CRIMINAL CASES that his Justices, judges and a state appellate court delayed until late 2024-early 2025, so he'll be headlines for another 6-18 months or so of 2025-2026....then sentencing....Once he's done, MSM be following Don Jr. or Ivanka around, or trying to find (or create) the next "Trump."
That would be an unfortunate probability. Were we just to hear ABOUT him rather than FROM him would be a change, though you're quite likely correct. It was more a stated dream than a reality.
Beware of Flynn...
I don't think it'll be Flynn. He will be nearly 70 years old during the 2028 election and I think people will be looking at younger people - like Adam Kinzinger. who will be 50 or Eric Swalwell who will be 48. Gavin Newsom will be pushing it at 60 in 2028.
Sorry, I wasn't clear. Trump is failing mentally. If he loses it before/during THIS election, or even if he wins, they will likely assassinate him and blame the left.
Flynn is so popular that they may try to 'install' him or something. Look for T's VP pick to be someone who is full MAGA, but controllable by both oligarchs/2025 architects AND Putin.
Everyone you've named would not be a MAGA replacement (only one is conservative - though I do like him a lot). Until the 2025 people are eliminated from the GOP, no reasonable conservative has chance, this election or the next several.
This is a long-term Coup that they've been working on for 60+ years, ever since Khrushchev's sleeper agents managed to join the kids of the hidden nazis with the disaffected white southerners to form the CNP, and then went after the church goers. Look up Paul Weyrich, to start. It's ALL Russia.
It seems like the media is definitely trying to kill democracy and they don't seem to understand that they won't have their jobs if they don't start writing the truth again.
They’ll have jobs in advertising, which is what mainstream is doing right now, they are advertising candidates as if they will do something for the working person. All advertisers, corporate owned, corporate run and they aim to rule. These entities have contempt for human life.
Hopefully, our vote still counts. We have to keep showing up and not buying their product. Support small business… every little bit we can do to stop buying
They are turning the screws… housing/ homelessness is a product of corporate agreement to dangle unreasonable rents, junk fees.
Corporate rule defies dignity. We must not let this happen.
See comment above about WHO the top owners are now...
Well put, Patricia. I keep hoping they'll wake up to the fact that their means are self-destructive. If their continuing dereliction results in the return of the Convicted Felon to the Oval Office, their services will no longer be required.
What has caused me much anxiety lately- the tabloid style of the WAPO and who even understands the NYX rabid for negative Biden commentary passing as news articles. Journalism is being attacked from inside and outside the country and it's happening at a rapid pace. Independent journalism is our last refuge (even though it's always been a recipient of my meager donation dollars). Look at the film The Apprentice about Trumps origin- even Hollywood is running scared of a film that every other country in the world is going to watch, and that got 8 minutes of standing applause at Cannes Film Festival recently... it's starring one of their own latest and greatest- Jeremy Strong- who's performance is being hailed as academy award winning. It's opening in Japan, Canada, the UK , every country in the EU and so many more, but yet not in The USA?
We are now at the line---unofficial censorship territory is happening right here right now and nothing except an opinion piece in NYX
REGISTER Young Women to Vote, especially poorer ones. They could make the difference, IF they can be shown how to discern propaganda.
Exactly what I posted about. It makes me sick!
A very sad thought. I keep having it.
Well said, Patricia!
This. Exactly this. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I still maintain there won’t be a debate. His handlers don’t want to unleash him untethered upon the world stage the way he’s been behaving lately, especially after sundown when he’s even more deranged. Worst case scenario he’ll show up and then stomp offstage the first time they mute his mic so they can claim that liberal CNN is violating his freedom of speech. See if they don’t.
I think so too. There will be some absurd explanation about how the moderators are part of the Democrats vendetta against him and he’ll be believed by his cronies.
UUUUGGGHHHH!!!!
they cannot really be believing him, can they? They are stupider than we thought if that is true.
"Hopefully" the moderators are quick and firm on the "mute" buttons - yet smart enough to separately record any further blather.
The moderators will not have control of the mute button, the Technical Director or someone like the TD is going to have the mute button. Whoever’s turn to speak will have the microphone, when it’s not their turn it will be off, it’s simple and takes the Moderator out of it. Everyone clearly knew going into this “debate” what the rules are, look for Biden to act like a sane man and the orange turd to be incoherent.
i think the moderators were terrible, as many others think so too. very sad
Dr "Pill Pusher"Jackson described their medication plan, the DOD report on the former administration WH pharmacy prescription log reflected Provigil (one of the drugs he named on air) as being repeatedly doled out in '19 along with Fentanyl and massive allotments of Ambian (2000 at a time!) so lets hope they don't get the dosage right and the curtain is pulled back to reveal the snake oil con man.
are you saying that all these drugs including deadly destructive fentanyl whatever provigil is, was given out from or at the White House to trump and others?? Would that account for his lunacy and the hell he has put us and our country through? Why was this not public knowledge? Druggies are not supposed to be running our country, as in this case running it into the sewer. Horrifying .....
Yes, there was some coverage of the DOD report of prescription drug abuse in the Trump WH pharmacy by MSM, others here on Substack did a better job (Wonkette did another piece today that was great) but here is an excerpt from NBC piece linked below;
From 2017 to 2019, the unit spent about $46,500 on Ambien, a sleeping medication, which the report says is “174 times more expensive than the generic equivalent.” The clinic also spent nearly $100,000 during that period on Provigil, a stimulant that is “55 times more expensive than the generic equivalent,” the report said.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-clinic-improperly-distributed-controlled-substances-previo-rcna135787
https://www.wonkette.com/p/t-minus-34-hours-until-tomorrows?r=it8vk&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
so disgraceful how many in that administration of evil trump were using these drugs? I bet trump was too.
Absolutely, per Noel Caster who worked on the set of The Apprentice (which should have been their career highlight) the drug use was long standing, free flowing and the DOD report reflected rampant abuse. I'd love it if they provided a comparative report, to the current administration, pre election.
I think TRump has to show up because he really doesn't like being called a coward. He will override his handlers and do exactly what he shouldn't do, which is debate Biden. His true colors will show and maybe those undecided voters will see just what a nut job TRump is. We can only hope at this point.
He doesn't like being called a coward, because deep inside he knows he is one. It cuts to the quick.
Hope you’re right, he’s the senile one not Biden.
That thought about handlers occurred to me as well.
If Trump should walk off the stage , that will be prove to the undecided voters that he's weak and incompetent. A convicted felon who is still in denial about the January 6th insurrection and who is still in denial that Biden won the 2020 election has no credibility in this country.
he does not have to walk off the stage for us to know and remember that he is weak, a coward and one of the worst pathological liars ever. during this even, within 90 minutes, he told about 50 lies. check it out..... evil evil man
I wish they could take him away in a strait jacket if that happens. I almost wish it would.
I have to admit this is exactly the plan I'd come up with, if I were them......it's exactly how they roll. I'm hoping lip readers and an unchecked evil ego will save the day. Personally I don't think I could stomach scrutinizing the motions of that nasty mouth; I don't envy the task.
Thank you Dan, for saying what needs to be said everyday!
Triple 'liked' Lucy. I feel everyday Dan deserves to know how much we honor and deeply appreciate him and his efforts. He 'earned' our trust the old fashioned way.
Dan shares: "His extemporaneous speeches have become a mishmash of incoherent tangents. Calling it word salad would be a disservice to lettuce." I don't get why the NYT doesn't have a page 1, above the fold headline that says "Trump appears to have lost it!" Or, mosre substantively, "Trump's word salad in his speeches is so discombobulated that we now can be certain that policy will have to be the product of the fever dreams of Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Don Jr., and Mike Flynn". I believe in my heart that Trump listens to Fox and OAN and that's it. I don't believe he reads either the NYT or the WSJ. I don't think he actually thinks or considers anything. He only, ever, reacts to immediate images. He;s like a shallow flat screen TV. There's no depth or moral compass.
Trump and Trump voters don't "think." They only "react."
Don't lump all Trump voters together. See my Long Reply above about FB/SocMed and ISPs. And the Reply on the WaPo study.
We need to find ways to get the correct information in front of people (mostly women).
I agree on not all voters…. But I do think Trump is a non thinking impulsive reactionary
Agreed.
Except, his policies have ALWAYS been the "fever dreams of Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Don Jr., and Mike Flynn". Well actually, they are all 2nd tier; soldiers. Or rather, HANDLERS. For oligarchs. For the CNP.
#1=Putin, who had nearly daily 3am calls on a burner phone all during his presidency, and likely still, often. And Roger Stone is his #1 minion.
Stone is the most dangerous and effective of everyone, possibly a Khruschev-direct or 1st-tier soviet agent. He was conning NIXON. And Reagan. Et al.
#2=Koch, through Hannity; no idea if that is continuing. Koch is still pulling strings.
#3=Miller - Trump handler for White Nazionalists/Heritage/Weyrich.
#4 MIke Johnson - for Evangelicals. WAS Pence, he's out.
#5+#6 - tied, Bannon and Flynn - for MAGA - the lost, and the disaffected unintelligent, and militias, and infiltrating the military/police (Stone is the one steering all these, tho).
#7- Don Jr + Eric are just useful idiots. Someone has threatened Tiffany.
And the list goes on: e.g., ALL CNP members and Far Rt sycophants, e.g. in the House and Senate.
He is the McDonalds of humankind. But if they admitted all of that, they'd have to scrounge and muss and fuss and identify a new "champion," and Heritage, the Federalist gang, etc, are already well situated with Trump and family, have their talons in deep, and dislike dirtying their mitts by switching it up at this stage...
Boy.... talk about a deep state!
Not sure if 45 can actually read and comprehend.
I'm sure he reads. How much he either comprehends or considerss is where I find it likely that he falls way short of a full deck
Apparently, Biden rebuffed the New York Times and wouldn't do an in-depth interview with one of the head writers and they've had a bee in their bonnet ever since. Petty.
If they really did have that bee, they'd simply ignore him instead of fixating on him.
According to his own staff trump doesn't read - anything longer than 3 lines, even his briefings had to be condensed. According to the late Ivana, the only book on his night stand wa a synopsis of Hitlers speeches.
The media mentioned in the above post is probably running scared regarding accurately portraying trump to have lost it, etc. They know that if they do print the real truth, trump's lawyers will be on them in a New York minute suing them for slander.
Trump is 78 and Biden 81. Why is there such emphasis on Biden over a 3-4 age difference. Trump's behavior is extremely impaired and has been for years. The age difference is just a red herring.
Same reason that the new talking point is that Biden is on performance enhancing drugs. If you throw enough "spaghetti" at the wall some of it might stick.
We already know that ketchup and maybe remains of the hamberder do stick to walls. The out-of-control child has used them in tantrums before. After the "debate" expect more to fly.
Especially, with the lame brain Magaots!
Exactly! Trump is the one who seems senile not Biden! Trump goes off on crazy fantasies and tangents about all sorts of off the wall subjects and seems completely senile and dangerous. He will destroy this country like Hitler did Germany and who will help us recover?
This isn't the first time he has lost it about water. I seem to remember him talking a out water pressure and how new houses don't have any a few years ago!
Thank you for your reporting. I no longer think the NYT is a great paper. They continually put out articles that, even if the article itself is halfway fair, have headlines that are completely misleading. The Post and other papers have misleading headlines and articles, too, but don't seem as consistently unfair and misleading.
Janet, so true. The NYT and I parted ways in 2021. A lifelong, third generation reader, I regretfully pointed out to the subscription department that they were publishing fiction and cited several examples of outright misstatements with facts (and video) to support my point.
They offered me a discount on my subscription (sigh).
I dropped my subscription about that same time. They no longer seemed to care to even try to look like they were being careful about facts.
I'm close to cancelling it, but I've been subscribing for pretty much all my long life, and I can't imagine not being able to read it. Plus there are other, non-political things it covers well.
I pretty much just read the recipe sections now!
The major media outlets use to be family owned and operated with a sense of responsibility as the 4th estate in our democracy. Not anymore. They are all corporations now with an eye on transitioning to the cyber interface with their clients and that interface is a click-bait world where interesting form trumps (no pun intended) fact; juicy trumps valid; and emphasis crushes proportionate. The lurid leads and bleeds all over thoughtful commentary.
We are awash in the difference between newspaper print and colored videos, Times New Roman and eye-candy! The emphasis shifts from informing to entertaining. Money dumbs down everything.
But as corporations the media, consciously or not, will be influenced by monetary concerns and their bottom line. We are in the midst of a national struggle between our constitutional democracy and an extreme capitalism that would happily run roughshod over principles for profit and power.
Why else would we be presented with a convicted felon leading in the polls (which I don’t trust and for good reason) against a life-long political public servant who recognizes climate change and is actively leading efforts globally to avert it.
Trump, the far right’s useful idiot, like Nero would haplessly run his mouth while the USA burns !
I soon may part ways with NYT……
I've read the WaPo for years (since Nixon) but am disappointed in them now, except for Jennifer Rubin and a couple of other journalists who aren't afraid to speak the truth. I mostly read the Guardian, Heather, Joyce and Dan! And the Daily Chatter for Foreign News.
Sounds like me. I canceled NYTimes several years ago, pick & choose on WaPo and read Steady, Civil Discourse, Wake Up To Politics, The Guardian, Responsible Statecraft, Why It Matters and Campaign Trails.
The New York Times headlines are nothing but clickbait these days. Misleading and ridiculous.
With the Murdoch influenced publisher and editor, the Washington Post won't be far behind.
I cancelled my NYT subscription several months ago. I miss Krugman and Friedman but I got tired of the click-bait headlines clearly biased against Biden. I tried sending reader letters to call this out and got no response. I won't support that. Worse still, they keep it up and it seems like it's getting worse based on the NYT headlines I see posted in Twitter.
So right about the headlines, Janet! Pure sensationalism, with no substance to back them up.
Let’s face facts. There have been actual debates since Kennedy - Nixon. Maybe Bush - Clinton but not since then. Since that time we have seen nothing more than candidates regurgitate stump speeches, rarely if ever directly addressing a question. Who’s to blame for this? An abandonment of decorum. Fear of the gotcha question. The talking head panels, Post debate telling us what we have all just seen.
Now people will watch this hoping to see a train wreak. Not for actual information but for entertainment.
I won’t be watching. I will wait and let some talking head tell me what disaster took place.
All I know is that this made for TV spectacle won’t change my mind. I am voting for Democracy.
Thank you, Dave. I'm with you all the way.
*Profit* Dave.
“In 2016, Trump said outrageous things at his campaign rallies to be entertaining. In 2024, his tangents raise serious questions about his mental fitness,” according to The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson.
Yup
Why does his mental “fitness” matter? He’s a convicted criminal. He was impeached, TWICE. He tried to overthrow the election. My god, he’s the MOST unqualified man on the planet!!!
I agree now we need a Constitutional Amendment that states NO FELON can hold office in the Federal Government. This was a thought so far fetched and repugnant to the Founding Father's they felt no need to address it!
Agreed.
We can thank Garland that trump is even allowed to run. Had he done his job from day one and opened investigations into trump’s corrupt (and his equally corrupt administration’s) actions while in office instead of only doing so after being shamed into it by the excellent work of the Jan 6 Committee, we wouldn’t be in this mess now.
Agreed.
Biden should not have agreed to debate him. Beneath him. A convicted felon and a sociopath. Just ridiculous! JUST SAY NO!
Trump 's mouth is his own worst enemy. Assuming he shows up for the so-called debate, if he acts as he usually does, it will magnify his crazy. It might even make up the minds of some voters who still claim to be on the fence.
Former FL Rep David Jolly said on "Deadline White House" that President Biden should have immediately declined a debate with trump from the moment he became a convicted felon with the statement that "to stand on stage with a convicted felon as the President of the US, is beneath the office of the President" and refuse to debate. While he may be the "presumptive" GOP nominee, we as a party or a nation don't have to give him credibility to debate.
I agree. I worry Biden will go off on one of his curse laden responses after being needled repeatedly by trump, which, while understandable, will only make him look bad. It’s nothing compared to trump’s dementia and incoherence but our no longer legitimate MSM will pounce on Biden.
YES!!
Saying outrageous things is not entertaining. It's simply crude, rude, and socially unacceptable to a large swath of Americans, myself included.
“Calling it word salad would be a disservice to lettuce." Love it!!! And so very true.
Trump is more resemblant to rotten lettuce -- slimy, and lacking character.
Ewwww! And spot on, Steve! Good one!
Thanks!
I am mystified as to why the mainstream media, and the American public in general is so obsessed with Biden’s age. Going into the next four years is not about the President’s gait or his vocabulary. It’s about protecting and defending us and making the right decisions in good times and in times of crisis. And it’s about putting together the right support staff for planning and guidance. Biden will surround himself with intelligent and sound minded people. Trump will surround himself with sycophants who will do whatever he wants whenever he wants to whomever he wants. And the media needs to blast the Trump blunders as loud as a marching band. You’re correct Dan. The media needs to cover this fool loudly and often and make all see how messed up his mind is.
And I hope CNN is prepared for the unpredictable. Because I think that clown might pull something totally outlandish. Imagine would turn this event might take if SCOTUS releases the immunity ruling on Thursday?
My husband pointed out that if that happens while Biden is still in office he could lock tRump up with no visitors or contact with the outer world.
Don't know about that--remember the big money, whacko followers, etc. in addition to actual laws and procedures.
Janis - Absolutely!
Janis, I totally agree with you on the media's obsession with Biden's age... and why his age should not be an issue.
T****p's friends are already investigating civil servants -- people hired based on their merits, not those in leadership positions -- to determine their political views. These federal workers are supposed to be loyal to the Constitution, not to a specific person.
Thank you, Ellen. Age should only be an issue in job performance if one can’t perform their duties. A surgeon with the shakes is legitimate. An airline pilot with macular degeneration is legitimate. But a brief pause in midsentence is not. How quickly one walks is not an issue. I have a friend, male in gender who is 6’3” and an exfootball player. I am a 5’2” woman with no athletic training. I walk faster than he does. Just the way we’re made up. Biden is soft spoken (so was Bill Clinton). Trump is loud and full of bluster. How that translates to competency is beyond me. Ageism is rampant in this country. What a shame. Biden with his sensibility, intelligence, and experience has a host of things to offer this country….namely protection of our democracy and freedoms. Let’s Go Joe!
Profit and other bias.
I’ve been ranting at the lack of coverage re Trump’s ravings and lunacy for years now. What is going on. If I were press I’d be reporting every crazy thing he does or says. He is a danger to our democracy and our country yet we have failed to stop him. It’s way past the time he should have been held accountable
Eugene Robinson in the Washington Post did a very good article on this very subject recently. It's true, we need to see a lot more journalism such as this.
Biden is going to come out ahead. He could just show up and he'll be ahead. DT is just ranting now, he makes even less sense than he has in the past. I will never understand how people can listen to/follow what he says. And believe ANY of his drivel.
There is a big part of me that doesn't want to watch "the debates" because seeing Trump is revolting period. Watching Trump demean and denigrate President Biden, who we the people elected fairly and by a large margin, would add insult to injury. There is a big part of me that simply wants to put my head down, turn off the tube, and write get-out-the-vote postcards for Biden and the many solid democrats up and down the ballot who are willing to try to get us back onto Planet Earth and off the reality TV universe we have been unwillingly thrust into. Biden has more moral courage in his little finger than Trump has in his massive, flatulent body.
The choice in November is obvious. Biden is sane. Trump is not.
My father was a malignant narcissist, just like Trump. Tried to kill my mother twice in fits of rage. So, I am intimately familiar with this personality type. Of course, Trump is also an associate of an international effort to destroy democracy… Which my father was not. My father only destroyed any semblance of democracy within the family, where the only opinion that counted was his and no one was allowed to develop self-esteem, including me because his self-esteem was so poor and could not be challenged.
The media’s inability to report on Trump as a threat rather than as a political opponent is a crime against our country as great as any being perpetrated by the MAGA GOP. The media should be saying that electing Trump is like electing the head of the KGB to sit in the White House… Inviting Putin to take over our country without firing a shot.
This is so far beyond 2016 election in which CBS’s Les Moonves famously said “Trump may be bad for America, but he’s great for CBS”. You could say CBS didn’t know how bad Trump would be for America back then. CBS and the other networks do know now. Just read Project 2025!
There’s no excuse for the kind of reporting taking place across America’s media/journalism landscape.
How much reporting is controlled by the powers that be? They don’t want to undercut profits. It seems everything in our country is wealth