It's now accepted that Trump will fuck with the election.

[edhopper]

The Press has decided to cover it as something that just is happening.
No outrage, no cries to stop it. Just news about how or where he will do it.
The new normal is to treat anything Trump does as normal.
They just don't care how dictatorial, fascistic, corrupt, unconstitutional or criminal he acts.
Just report it like it's another day in America.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. I predicted normalization on day 1. Sadly, this was all inevitable.

With a media focused on money and entertainment, of course we're fucked

[Blue Owl]

2. I'll go tell the children that cheating, lying, and stealing is OK now in America

n/t

[Funtatlaguy]

3. Yes, goal achieved thru gaslighting and the Gish gallop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gish_gallop

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

[edhopper]

4. I had to look up Gish Gallop

but God, Yes!!!

[Funtatlaguy]

10. Mainly used as a tool in debates, but sometimes in politics too.

[Newest Reality]

5. Considering that...

What is it, six major corporations own and control 90% of the media, they have a big investment in what is happening.

People may tire of hearing about the MIC, but appears to be a significant factor and I can't imagine the media companies doing anything that would be damaging to their profits, which come first and foremost as the underlying requirements of their corporate charters. Their investors are job one, really.

The mixture of big business and state has been around for a long time in the US and lobbyists are a powerful tool for corporations to get their demands and needs met. However, the merging of business and state was also a pinion of Fascist governments in the past, hence, we won't see the major media opposing it and what could would defending democracy do for stocks and those who own them?

What would be the incentive to care at all or decry the egregious attacks now? You could say that TrumpGOP is one of their kind in many ways. Birds of a feather. He generates revenue with his facade of a clown show, despite his rantings about fake news. He barfs, they report it.

[donkeypoofed]

6. What do you want them to do? And some ARE outraged

Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell being two that immediately come to mind. Chris Cuomo also regularly gets mad and plain talks to his viewers about what a p.o.s. Drumpf is.

I dont know about you but when I tune in to the news, I don't want to see them yelling and screaming. I want facts told to me calmly and rationally.

And if you watch any one show enough, you will learn how your anchor feels about Spanky.

There's simply no way to sustain the kind of energy needed to keep a hate-on going when you're living it every single work day; you're expecting too much.

[edhopper]

8. Maybe say it's not alright

for the President to use his power to steal an election.
Rather than cover it as just another he said-she said political story.

You want them to not be concerned that our Democracy is about to be stolen, because it's too hard.

It's their fucking job!

[ancianita]

22. Obviously you haven't been watching Ali Velshi, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell.

If they weren't broadcasting in air conditioning I'd see the steam rising from them.

They must, for all their outrage, stay as objective as they can, and viewers know they're free to emote all they want.

It's really not their job to be emotional, but appropriately explanatory as they go over the facts of the day. Which they are.

[edhopper]

33. lone voices

In a sea of complecency.

[ancianita]

36. Please proceed with sources on the ocean of complacency.

Maddow averages 3.058 million viewers for the month. She's gotten journalism awards from Planned Parenthood to the Interfaith Alliance to Emmys.

NY Times: Rachel Maddow, the network’s star, saw her audience in the 25-to-54 demographic, the one most prized by advertisers, fall below CNN’s Chris Cuomo for the first time.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-07-21/tv-ratings-story-for-the-week-of-july-13-19-wed-july-22-2020

Re Lawrence O'Donnell: producer and writer for the NBC series The West Wing (playing the role of the President's father in flashbacks) and creator/executive producer of the NBC series Mister Sterling. He also appeared as a recurring character on the HBO series, Big Love.

O'Donnell began his political career as an aide to U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and was Staff Director for the Senate Finance Committee.

https://www.nbcumv.com/news/msnbc-marks-5-straight-years-historic-ratings-dominates-cnn-3rd-year-row-significant-lead-0

The Rachel Maddow Show” Beats CNN in Total Viewers for the 10th Consecutive Year and in A25-54 for the 4th Consecutive Year

“The 11th Hour with Brian Williams” Dominates at 11pm, Ranking #1 in Total Viewers for the 3rd Year in a Row

“All In with Chris Hayes” at 8pm Tops CNN in Total Viewers for the 3rd Straight Year and for the 2nd Straight Year in A25-54

“The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell” at 10pm Beats CNN in Total Viewers for the 10th Year in a Row and in A25-54 or the 3rd Year in a Row

MSNBC presented four candidate town halls in 2019. A
ll four ranked higher than nearly all of CNN’s 48 candidate town halls.
MSNBC had two of the three top-rated town halls in 2019.
The Kamala Harris town hall ranked #2 with 2.21M total viewers and
the Elizabeth Warren town hall ranked #3 with 1.97M total viewers.
Not one of CNN’s candidate town halls broke 2M total viewers.
MSNBC also aired three Democratic Debates in 2019 (6/26, 6/27, 11/20).
Those three debates are now the 6th, 7th, and 10th highest-rated programs ever on MSNBC.
To-date, MSNBC has aired 10 days of impeachment hearings and coverage.
MSNBC has topped CNN in total viewers on all 10 days of coverage.

For the 2nd consecutive year, MSNBC (M-Su 6am-6am) was the #1 cable network in African-American viewership.
MSNBC delivered 233K African-American total viewers (ahead of BET, ESPN, CNN and VH1).

[edhopper]

43. The 3 Neworks

have 30 million viewers.

How many swing voters do you think watch MSNBC?

[ancianita]

47. It's not about what I think. It's about the numbers. You should be worried about talk radio numbers.

Here's the thing. No matter how we feel, the facts will remain that the numbers will not be greater than the vote turnout for 45 in 2016. If I'm wrong I'll buy you dinner and drinks.

The fear vote number is high on both sides, and the side with the most to lose will be ours.

Those who've been convinceable are convinced. So let's just do what we can to GOTV and not depress turnout.

Seeing problems that no longer connect directly to the machinery of voting and vote counting won't help, at this point, nor will they or I make you feel better if you don't want to feel better.


The time for awareness building and clarification is moving on to the vote machinery fight and solutions.
We have to move on and look to problem solvers, not problem floggers in media.

If we're going to focus and not fail on GOTV, we need to take it easy on each other and keep our collective spirits up.

[edhopper]

49. Agree about GOTV

fear about how Trump and the GOP will Banana Republic this election as the Press idly watches.

[ancianita]

52. I've been bitching at them all morning: "stop problem flogging or get off the platform

if you don't have solutions," in so many words -- to WaPo, Medium, Wonkette, Robert Reich, Nick Hanauer, TomDispatch, the ACLU, Adam Schiff and Democratic leaders.

Example from a half hour ago:

WASHINGTON POST! TOM DISPATCH!

STOP NORMALIZING OUR PROBLEM. STOP IT.

SOLUTIONS. AMERICANS NEED SOLUTIONS. AWARENESS BUILDING TIME IS UP.

COME UP WITH ELECTION SOLUTIONS OR STOP FLOGGING THE ELECTION WITH TRIFLING, NIGGLING "OH NOES" FALSE ISSUES.

FOCUS ON ELECTION MACHINERY SOLUTIONS OR
GET THE FUCK OFF THE PLATFORM.

It's time for media to shift the conversation. Thousands of social media participants will demand the same will if we demand it first, or shut them up and block them.

I've no patience anymore for "awareness building" or normalizing problems or niggling over VP choices or speech or looks.

We either fight and beat the machinery that hacks the Democratic vote or we lose. The rest is just "concern" spectatorship.

Fuck all that. The vote machinery fight is on so we get a free and fair election.
Democrats need to get on with that fight.

[Duppers]

41. +100

It is indeed their f'n jobs & is not too much to expect in a time where our very democracy is at stake.

Hell, if Faux & hate radio can blurt out LIES with intense hatred 24/7, why can't honest media give us the facts with all due urgency?

[vlyons]

7. Well sure. Republicans have been fucking elections forever

Suppressing the vote, throwing people off the registered list, shutting down polling places, moving polls to way off somewhere with no bus line, allowing too few voting machines, hovering over people while they vote.

I fully expect they'll get dead people to rise from graves and vote.

[diva77]

14. +1000 This! as well as rigging the computerized voting machines, tabulators and electronic poll

books, and more.

[yuiyoshida]

35. They, the Republicans are NO LONGER A POLITICAL PARTY....

They are a CRIME Syndicate and should be treated as such.

[ancianita]

37. +1000

[NCDem47]

9. Pretty much.

“Coming up at 6. Trump is king and democracy is dead. The Dow hits a new high” Cut to Pharmaceutical commercial.

[Traildogbob]

17. NCDem

That is it precisely. Rinse and Repeat. Throw in a perky bobbed Hughs Net shot every now and again. Maybe some bra commercials. Alternatives to that brain washing, there are at least 40 Jesus stations 24/7. More brain washing. MurKKKa has no intellect but we got some damn clean brains.

[SiliconValley_Dem]

11. what can they do from journalist standpoint other than cover it?

just curious

it should be Dem and Repug officials who express outrage and demand accountability.

[Stuart G]

12. No, it wont work..nothing Trump can do will avoid his loss.

...I will say it again..Trump is a bully, a con man & a liar. His show has been on for over 3 1/2 years. It is awful, stupid,
totally negative, and all about Trump. That show has little in it that is helping all our people. And there is proof: "Trump's incompetent handling of a virus which has killed 150,000 of us."

...No matter what he does, he cannot change that from our minds. Not just yours and mine at Democratic Underground. But many republicans. So many republicans that they cannot be counted...
...Do you think Trump will win Florida?...How is that possible?
...Can Trump win other states with lots of deaths?..Georgia?
We are not talking about a few thousand votes. Trump will lose some states by millions. He is so obviously incompetent and totally selfish for all to see, that changing a few thousand votes won't matter one bit...And you can take that to the bank.

[ancianita]

26. 165,041 dead as of today. And they never say it as if it's 'just a number' on MSNBC. Never.

Oh, Stuart G, I so hope you are right. I so wanting the numbers to be true. And it will be true, except for the fraudulent counts. As with COVID.

[madamesilverspurs]

13. For some of us

what he's doing to the USPS is nothing less than election tampering.

He's gotten so accustomed to engaging in unanswered "in your face" behavior that he's not even trying to hide what he's doing, confident that the GOP will continue to cover for him.


.

[Eyeball_Kid]

15. The GOP Senate will stop another impeachment,

which, BTW, is the only lawful solution. Anger ought to be addressed to them and Trump.

All of us must remember that the GOP backs Trumpy 100%. There are no rebels, Romney included.

The GOP, Trump, and Putin are joined at the hip. NONE OF THEM want our present form of government. They all want to dissolve the Constitution.

Voting for them is a nuisance. They only put up with it to mollify the rabble.

[Traildogbob]

21. Many in the GOP

Will be facing the same treasonous investigations and possibly convictions if they loose power. They will cheat like hell to keep out of jail. As hard as Donny is. Imagine Nunez, Leslie Graham, PompusAhole, Gaetz, Jonson, and Rand Paul in the federal Pen. There will be some frightening shower time. Cheat they will. We say our lives depend on this election........ not as much as theirs. God I would love to see Barr behind Bars. They would squash that toad like John Goodman in Ole Brother and sling him against a tree.

[gulliver]

16. Trump and his Republicans will.

It's why every single Republican needs to be voted out of every single office in the November election. If we don't support democracy this time, we really might lose it.

[spanone]

18. How do you win an election when the media gives the opposition hours to spew lies free of charge

and barely covers the opponent.

This democracy may deserve to die.

[kimbutgar]

19. I wish some brave reporter would ask him why can't we have a free and fair election?

If your policies are so great don’t the American people deserve to vote on it!

[ancianita]

20. If the press does what you say, then it IS the enemy of The People.

[edhopper]

25. Huh?

Reporting Trump fixing his own election is bad?

[ancianita]

29. What do you mean, "huh"? What you said in your OP.

The Press has decided to cover it as something that just is happening.
No outrage, no cries to stop it. Just news about how or where he will do it.
The new normal is to treat anything Trump does as normal.
They just don't care how dictatorial, fascistic, corrupt, unconstitutional or criminal he acts.
Just report it like it's another day in America.

So what ARE you trying to say, then.
That if the press "accepts" all this, that it's not the enemy of the people? If you say it's not, then what IS it.

[edhopper]

34. Thanks for explaining

Last edited Sun Aug 9, 2020, 10:31 AM - Edit history (1)

I thought you were saying if the press calls him out then...

My mistake.

[smirkymonkey]

23. There is only one solution.

Well, two really. One happens naturally, the other ... doesn't. I prefer the natural solution myself.

[NurseJackie]

27. Nobody lives forever.

He's old and out of shape.

[smirkymonkey]

32. And an amphetamine addict.

And subsists on a high-fat, high-cholesterol, high-carb, low-fiber diet, while swilling 12 cans of diet coke a day (in addition to his uppers). He does not exercise. He has serious rage issues which inflame his blood pressure. The guy is a walking heart-attack.

It's amazing that he has made it this far.

[brooklynite]

24. Reporting the facts is ineffective if you don't express an opinion?

[edhopper]

28. Reporting that there are

two sides is not reporting facts.
Reporting what Trump says about Mail voting without reporting how he is full of shit and is trying to stop people from voting is not doing there jobs.

[ancianita]

38. Watch Lawrence O'Donnell who rails at least once a week about how Trump "DOES NOT READ" and "LIES."

How he, O'Donnell outright says that he refuses to show Trump propaganda rallies masked as pressers on covid or anything else.

I know we're in a bad situation, but the press and investigative journalism are our watchdogs. We need to see them clearly.

"Not doing their job" is too sweeping to believe, when the FOIA's, the undercover videos they made started the similar broad citizen engagement we see today. TV and journalism have bought and shown literally dozens of citizen live videos of the very things that fire up nationwide protests.

You're really asserting too much without providing a shred of evidence.

I'd say it's now your turn to show at least a few examples of how they're not doing their job.

[edhopper]

40. My take

from watching regular network News.

MSNBC is good but a small line voice.

[RhodeIslandOne]

30. "OH, THAT TRUMP....!"

Coming this fall to NBC.

[Pepsidog]

31. Great post.

[AlexSFCA]

39. He failed at stopping mail voting and now he is going for the mail delivery service

What matter is PA, MI and WI. Who is in charge of elections in those states?

[edhopper]

45. And fucking up mail in voting

might be enough to swing the vote.

So we aren't talking about Trump winning the States, we are talking about how he will cheat Biden out of them.

And this is the accepted Normal now.

[Duppers]

42. I noticed.

Thank you! K&R

[LisaL]

44. I think it is obvious Trump will do anything to get elected again.

[Mike 03]

46. Couldn't agree more. It enrages me how cavalier the attitude by MSM is.

I'm waiting for the NYT to do something dramatic, like have its entire front page pitch black with just a few words like: WAKE THE FUCK UP in small print, but I think I'll be waiting forever.

It's infuriating.

Kicking.

[BannonsLiver]

48. Yes, we've all done a great job of normalizing it

[edhopper]

50. "We" haven't

"We" on DU are almost universally outraged and full of dread.

The Press has done the job of normalizing.

[BannonsLiver]

51. So what are the people doing to stop it?

The media has made people aware it is happening, but what action is being taken? Internet outrage and action are two separate things.

[ancianita]

53. Exactly. That's who we look for and work with -- people who are doing what will stop it.

[edhopper]

54. I hope the DNC is doing something.

like many things Trump does, the Government is in his control and will not stop him.

And I can see a problem without having a solution, I am not a political operative or expert in election law.