Eric Boehlert: Sorry CNN, Trump voters don't deserve "sympathy"

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/sorry-cnn-trump-voters-dont-deserve

Sorry CNN, Trump voters don't deserve "sympathy"
Don't absolve dangerous behavior
Eric Boehlert
1 hr ago


Since Trump's lopsided re-election loss, his supporters have been loudly denouncing the results as a fraud. Tens of millions of them think the election was stolen and that a sprawling criminal conspiracy has denied Trump a second term. Some have made threats on public officials who have overseen the careful counting of votes — even threatening Republican office holders who don't back Trump's fantasy of a "stolen" election.

Cheered on by his relentless propaganda campaign to denigrate free and fair elections, Trump voters are at the forefront of a radical and dangerous political movement designed to undermine democracy. And that's when they're not busy dismissing as a "hoax" the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, staging public tempter tantrums over wearing masks, parroting the rhetoric of a dangerous right-wing cult, or raising $2 million to get a teenage gunman released after he opened fire on a Black Lives Matter protest in Wisconsin, killing two people.

So why does the press so often portray these people through such a loving and understanding lens? And why are high-profile journalists offering public empathy for Trump supporters as they strain public debate to the breaking point by embracing a ceaseless stream of lies? ("There’s millions and millions of Trump votes that were just thrown out." )

snip//

Now is not the time for the media to cast a sympathetic eye. By forgiving Trump voters, the press is also pardoning Trump and the GOP. It's suggesting that in the end, nobody is responsible for the fact that one of our two mainstream political parties now lies about everything, and that conservative supporters eagerly spread those lies every chance they get, thereby attacking our democratic traditions. Soaking up the press coverage, the weird, detached idea is that all of this just happened and it's not really anybody’s fault.

snip//

The conservative movement under Trump is gleefully taking a sledgehammer to facts, to science, to reason, and to common decency. It's all being done by design. The last thing Trump voters who traffic in this awfulness deserve is empathy from the press.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

1. Bravo! I'm tired of hearing we have to "reach out"

...to Trump voters. Like a bunch of white supremacists give a shit what we think.

[area51]

27. +1 n/t

[ProfessorGAC]

42. Yesterday, Someone Posted...

...when they won, we were told we need to understand those voters.
Now, they lose and we're told we need to understand those voters.
I couldn't agree more.
In 2016 the losers were supposed to adjust.
Reciprocity is not an unreasonable expectation.

[treestar]

44. And we do understand them

and what they want, and we don't want them to have what they want. We could hardly compromise with them on views we find completely unacceptable.

[ProfessorGAC]

46. Good Point

Even worse is that they want a world they only imagine used to exist.
What they want isn't even real!

[DENVERPOPS]

43. No Shit........simply said:

This is, by far, has become the most thoroughly corrupt political party in the history of our nation............

[LiberalLovinLug]

47. If only leadership of the party was on the same page as its base

[BlueJac]

2. Agree 100%

K&R

[Cirque du So-What]

3. The worst of their ilk deserve a sound smackdown

I want to see full coverage of trials involving domestic terrorists, murderers, and anti-democratic miscreants of all stripes. Let them all serve as cautionary tales for all the internet bigmouths and wannabe tough guys.

[Nimble_Idea]

54. Rock for VP

[Cha]

4. Wake Up, cnn. It's literally Deadly

to reach out to maggotrump Virus Spreader voters.

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. Or as someone here on DU called them, spreadnecks.

[lambchopp59]

55. Ouch! Great double entendre

I usually see about 3 of them with every trip to a store. Maskless, loud, spreadnecks. I'm still disinfecting packages before bring in the home.
The closest supermarket to me always has maskless clerks, COVID deniers all.
I've peeked through the glass doors just to see if they're still keeping up this idiotic charade. Still maskless every time I pass from the supermarket I drive another 6 miles to, that requires masks. Haven't been in the door of the place in 9 months now, never will now that my job contract is up here, and I have no idea where I'll be next.
I may just stay unemployed for a while until this damn thing is under control.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Until they lay down their Trump flagpoles & Jesus for Trump banners

they are still militant and feeding their own delusion.

Shunning them - ignoring them - is the best strategy. Give them no oxygen.

[Roy Rolling]

6. Forgiveness is for those who Repent

Trump supporters haven’t admitted they’re wrong, they haven’t even faced the fact they lost the vote.

What good does it do to forgive someone who doesn’t think they did anything wrong? It’s Trump madness.

[bringthePaine]

7. fuck their fee-fees, time to pay up

[DownriverDem]

8. So how

do we reach those who voted for trump and the repubs?

[durablend]

11. With a middle finger.

[Yavin4]

12. Research how the US reformed Germany and Japan after WWII.

Those countries were also under the spell of cult-like Fascist leaders. We turned them around by feeding them and rebuilding their nations.

IOW, good public policies like public education and healthcare can turn them around.

[cilla4progress]

19. Great point!

Been watching PBS series on The Rise of the Nazis. Good to learn how they acquired their hold, as well. Mix of factors and power-mad individuals with no conscience AT ALL! Devils.

[DinahMoeHum]

20. Uh huh. There were also trials for the worst of the worst. . .

. . .with severe punishments.

Reconciliation of any kind needs accountability first.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

33. We have not yet won the war against democracy, decency and facts.

[wnylib]

13. Return reality to public life and

let them adjust. It might just break the psychotic holdvthst the cult has on them.

[Hotler]

15. You can't change them, why try? The only way they may see a new light

is when Democrats enact legislation that lifts everybody up.

[Guilded Lilly]

9. They can all crawl back under that Pond Scum rock. Period. n/t

[Oscarthegreat]

10. Seriously CNN?

Would you recommend we reach out to a black mamba? Trump voters hear what they choose and want to hear. Nobody forced them to believe in the bogus "election was rigged" fantasy. Nobody forced them to listen and watch only hate radio and television. They have been willing puppets, and Trump's bullshit resonated with them because they are racist and anti democratic by nature.

If and when they repent, we can reach out to them, but we all know they never will.

[usaf-vet]

14. CNN if you are trying to reduce your TV audience you are on the right track. You lost this household

The Guardian US Edition might just become the proper counterbalance to MSM.

[BobTheSubgenius]

29. If you can get either on your television,

CBC and BBC are notably non-partisan, at least in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others. I've never read a synopsis or analysis that proclaims it, but I've seen what I've seen.

The CBC does reports that make the govt look good, and the govt look bad. It is subsidized by the govt, and the right (Conservative party) drags up the idea of defunding it every so often, yet seems to get no pressure to change their style of news coverage.

They don't really editorialize, but I once saw a CBC commentator say this about Jesse Helms after Helms and Burton chastised Canada over not getting on board with yet more exclusionary nonsense about Cuba, The Helms-Burton Act.

"He is a decrepit old dinosaur that should be strapped to a gurney."

[usaf-vet]

30. We cut all the cables (except Internet) five years ago. We stream what we want. Which is....

.... mosts often UK British TV.

[Buns_of_Fire]

16. At best, they're stupid; at worst, they're psychotic.

I have no desire to interact with either group.

“If President Trump comes out and says: ‘Guys, I have irrefutable proof of fraud, the courts won’t listen, and I’m now calling on Americans to take up arms,’ we would go,” a Trump supporter in Texas recently told Reuters, which never suggested that kind of armed rhetoric was fascist. Because that's not a conversation the mainstream press wants to have. Instead, journalists extend their "sympathy" to Americans who increasingly worship autocratic rule — journalists who remain in denial about the prevalence of racism as a principal motivating factor among Trump voters.

"We" would take up arms. And do what, tough guy?

[Ferrets are Cool]

17. I don't recall MSM EVER telling the reich wing to reach out to us or have empathy for us.

FUCK THE RIGHT WING

[BigOleDummy]

36. Exactly!

What was it so many of those trumpsters t-shirts said.. "Fuck your Feelings"? That's my opinion too, fuck em. "Reaching out" to proud boys and the rest of those slimy "militias" would just make them think we're weak. Fuck em. Trials. Sentences. THAT'S what they will understand and pay attention to. No free passes for the damage done. I think there should be a thorough investigation into the whole sordid nest of the traitorous republican party too actually.

[Ferrets are Cool]

38. +1

[Nimble_Idea]

51. yup, fuk corporate media owned by the reich wing

fuck em all

[MrModerate]

18. We have to live with these people, and they vote. So what's your Plan B? n/t

[Ferrets are Cool]

39. A magat isn't going to change their vote because a "librul" has empathy for them.

FUCK EM.

[MrModerate]

56. No, it'll probably take real action. I'm wondering what kind, and to what end. n/t

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

21. Recommend.

No pity.

[smirkymonkey]

23. Hey, MAGAts!

Fuck your feelings!

[Nimble_Idea]

52. well said

[Solly Mack]

25. K&R

[BobTheSubgenius]

28. They should get what they gave.

"Fuck your feelings!"

[crimycarny]

31. No! This is NOT your typical politics--kids in cages? Lying and corruption to new levels?

Kids were literally torn from their parents arms and put in cages! Hundreds can’t be reunited. That ALONE is reason to condemn not pacify! OMG, how numb so many have come to the atrocities committed these last 4 years.

I watched the PBS special series “American Experience” (Season 32) the particular episode was about McCarthy. It blew my mind how similar the McCarthy era was to the Trump era. The GOP knew McCarthy was a liar and “loose cannon”, but went along because they were worried about losing their seat. The media reported on everything McCarthy said because his outrageous behavior “made for good copy”. The media was basically complicit in keeping McCarthy in the limelight thus increasing his power.

Highly recommend watching that episode if you have access to PBS.

[Chalco]

32. Reach out with a hammer ready to pounce nt

[Hekate]

34. KnR

[Blue Owl]

35. Sucks to be them

[Skittles]

37. FUCK MAGAts

I will NEVER forgive them for inflicting that fascist piece of SHIT on America. NEVER.

[Nimble_Idea]

53. this

[Brainfodder]

40. Until the gullible idiots apologize vehemently and often....

You know the rest, insert favorite insults and curses!

[miyazaki]

41. This just references J.Tapper interveiwed for Vanity Fair

Surely it doesn't represent many of the fine anchors on CNN, Cooper, Keilar, Lemon etc.
Bfd.

[treestar]

45. Should we reach out to understand terrorists, too?

That's close to what they are becoming.

[housecat]

48. Duck and scorpion

A scorpion wanted to get across a river so it asked a duck if it can hitch a ride. The duck (undoubtedly a Democrat) said he didn't want to be stung. The scorpion, (undoubtedly a Republican) promised to behave and spun it until the duck gave in. As the duck swam across the river, the scorpion stung him. Dying the duck asked "why?" "It's my nature" said the scorpion.

[Demobrat]

49. They have no interest in our sympathy

or in working with Dems for the common good. ALL they care about is “paying us back” for the “abuse” we heaped upon Trump for four years.

Any overtures on our part will be met with that attitude. I hope Biden accepts that quickly and acts accordingly.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

50. K&R to the max.