You hear an awful lot of whining about the 'liberal media' being unfair to Donald Trump now.
"A day after dutifully reading a policy address to a bunch of people in suits, Donald Trump returned yesterday to his more comfortable oeuvre, the stream-of-consciousness speech delivered to his supporters. And inevitably, he said something that made journalists rewind their DVRs and Democrats leap excitedly out of their chairs. Is it possible that Trump is being treated unfairly, that we jump on every little thing he says and twist his words, making a big deal out of nothing? Sure it is. That has happened before. But in this case, the criticisms are legitimate, because this isn’t just a silly “gaffe” of the kind we waste so much time on."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/10/trumps-latest-outrageous-statement-wasnt-a-gaffe-it-was-something-much-worse/
It isn't. The press is clearly tougher on Trump now. This just means he's such a disaster they finally have had to put their both sides do it blinkers aside and do their jobs.
It's a very good development and I give them credit. Listen, if Trump didn't have his track record it would be different. But you can't take stuff he says lightly because of what he's said in the past.
He lies 91% of the time according to the fact checkers. He has:
1. 'Joked' about 'Lock her up.'
2. Joked about Putin hacking her emails.
3. He has that delegate that wants to execute Hillary Clinton over Benghazi.
So this is the background to this latest comment. It's not just Democrats or Hillary supporters taking it this way. Here is the former CIA director, Michael Hayden:
JAKE TAPPER (HOST): I want to play for you this comment that Donald Trump just made at a rally, that the Clinton people are saying this is him joking about Hillary Clinton getting assassinated.
[...]
TAPPER: How do you interpret what he said?
MICHAEL HAYDEN: Well, Jake as you and I were just commenting, we're both native English speakers, and when I heard that for the first time, that was more than a speed bump. Alright?
"That's actually a very arresting comment. And it suggests either a very bad taste reference to political assassination and an attempt at humor, or an incredible insensitivity. It may be the latter, an incredible insensitivity to the prevalence of political assassination inside of American history, and how that is a topic that we don't ever come close to, even when we think we're trying to be light-hearted."
TAPPER: There was an attempt on Donald Trump's life a few weeks ago, actually, and the Secret Service got involved.
HAYDEN: Well, let me say if someone else said that outside of the hall, he'd be in the back of a police wagon now, with the Secret Service questioning him.
[...]
HAYDEN: I used to tell my seniors at the CIA, you get to a certain point in this business, you’re not just responsible for what you say, you are responsible for what people hear."
http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/08/09/former-nsa-director-someone-else-making-trump-s-2nd-amendment-comment-would-be-back-police-wagon/212278
Very good way to put it. When you want to the most powerful job in the world, you are responsible not just for what you say but what people hear. If you are always taken out of context it's on you.
Paul Waldman:
"I’ve long been critical of coverage that focuses on “gaffes.” Usually, when candidates say something like “You didn’t build that” or that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government and think they’re victims, we’re supposed to believe that they’ve let their mask slip and revealed their true and sinister selves, which is almost always an absurd claim. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. It doesn’t matter whether Trump really believes that people should use their guns against the federal government if it enacts policies they don’t like. What matters is that he’s encouraging them to think they should, just like he’s encouraging them not to accept the results of the election if their favored candidate doesn’t win. That’s what so malignant, and that’s what he should answer for."
The idea that citizens have a right to rise in arms against government tyranny is a long conceit of the NRA too, which is why they're trying to defend him.
Tom Brown talked about all those tiny weiners growing after Trump made that awful comment yesterday. Tom has a way with words.
In that vein, Josh Marshall:
"Look at the fascist realist Trump art in this guys avatar. Both hilarious and spooky. Guys are deeply erect for DT > @heimdallr88"
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/763210813985460228
Marshall again, to which I can only say, Amen:
"The politicians who've wrapped themselves in the human filth that is Donald Trump will never be able to remove the stain or stench."
"A day after dutifully reading a policy address to a bunch of people in suits, Donald Trump returned yesterday to his more comfortable oeuvre, the stream-of-consciousness speech delivered to his supporters. And inevitably, he said something that made journalists rewind their DVRs and Democrats leap excitedly out of their chairs. Is it possible that Trump is being treated unfairly, that we jump on every little thing he says and twist his words, making a big deal out of nothing? Sure it is. That has happened before. But in this case, the criticisms are legitimate, because this isn’t just a silly “gaffe” of the kind we waste so much time on."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/08/10/trumps-latest-outrageous-statement-wasnt-a-gaffe-it-was-something-much-worse/
It isn't. The press is clearly tougher on Trump now. This just means he's such a disaster they finally have had to put their both sides do it blinkers aside and do their jobs.
It's a very good development and I give them credit. Listen, if Trump didn't have his track record it would be different. But you can't take stuff he says lightly because of what he's said in the past.
He lies 91% of the time according to the fact checkers. He has:
1. 'Joked' about 'Lock her up.'
2. Joked about Putin hacking her emails.
3. He has that delegate that wants to execute Hillary Clinton over Benghazi.
So this is the background to this latest comment. It's not just Democrats or Hillary supporters taking it this way. Here is the former CIA director, Michael Hayden:
JAKE TAPPER (HOST): I want to play for you this comment that Donald Trump just made at a rally, that the Clinton people are saying this is him joking about Hillary Clinton getting assassinated.
[...]
TAPPER: How do you interpret what he said?
MICHAEL HAYDEN: Well, Jake as you and I were just commenting, we're both native English speakers, and when I heard that for the first time, that was more than a speed bump. Alright?
"That's actually a very arresting comment. And it suggests either a very bad taste reference to political assassination and an attempt at humor, or an incredible insensitivity. It may be the latter, an incredible insensitivity to the prevalence of political assassination inside of American history, and how that is a topic that we don't ever come close to, even when we think we're trying to be light-hearted."
TAPPER: There was an attempt on Donald Trump's life a few weeks ago, actually, and the Secret Service got involved.
HAYDEN: Well, let me say if someone else said that outside of the hall, he'd be in the back of a police wagon now, with the Secret Service questioning him.
[...]
HAYDEN: I used to tell my seniors at the CIA, you get to a certain point in this business, you’re not just responsible for what you say, you are responsible for what people hear."
http://mediamatters.org/video/2016/08/09/former-nsa-director-someone-else-making-trump-s-2nd-amendment-comment-would-be-back-police-wagon/212278
Very good way to put it. When you want to the most powerful job in the world, you are responsible not just for what you say but what people hear. If you are always taken out of context it's on you.
Paul Waldman:
"I’ve long been critical of coverage that focuses on “gaffes.” Usually, when candidates say something like “You didn’t build that” or that 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government and think they’re victims, we’re supposed to believe that they’ve let their mask slip and revealed their true and sinister selves, which is almost always an absurd claim. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. It doesn’t matter whether Trump really believes that people should use their guns against the federal government if it enacts policies they don’t like. What matters is that he’s encouraging them to think they should, just like he’s encouraging them not to accept the results of the election if their favored candidate doesn’t win. That’s what so malignant, and that’s what he should answer for."
The idea that citizens have a right to rise in arms against government tyranny is a long conceit of the NRA too, which is why they're trying to defend him.
Tom Brown talked about all those tiny weiners growing after Trump made that awful comment yesterday. Tom has a way with words.
In that vein, Josh Marshall:
"Look at the fascist realist Trump art in this guys avatar. Both hilarious and spooky. Guys are deeply erect for DT > @heimdallr88"
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/763210813985460228
Marshall again, to which I can only say, Amen:
"The politicians who've wrapped themselves in the human filth that is Donald Trump will never be able to remove the stain or stench."
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/763213690934063104
Tom Brown has also found an actual picture of Major Freedom.
https://twitter.com/browntom1234/status/763181125380354048
And Hillary's corruption, proven by the FBI but not prosecuted, is acceptable? What's the logic? That her predecessor Obama is just as corrupt, so it's ok?
ReplyDeleteI don't get how you claim to care about logic when you are assuming facts not in evidence. She hasn't been proven to have done anything illegal-which is clear as she wasn't indicted.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile Trump paid bribes to get his Trump U case dropped. That you don't define as corruption?
Then you' simply don't know what 'corruption' means