Take some steps back and see the whole picture. Why is the nation in turmoil over one man?

[nature-lover]

Upending democracy for one person is ridiculous. The media has created this frenzy; the evidence is against him. In the overall scheme, he is insignificant. Choose another candidate and move on. This media hysteria has fueled his personal vendetta. It is sucking the air out of all of us. The media has not been held accountable for their part in this explosion of angst. They need to turn down the temperature of the country.

[NoRethugFriends]

1. Seriously?

[nature-lover]

3. Yes. If not for the media he would have been impeached and in jail. My opinion.

[NoRethugFriends]

9. He was impeached twice

[edisdead]

33. You only addressed half of their statement.

impeached AND in jail.

[3catwoman3]

11. And, if not for the media, he would not have been the 2016 candidate.

They covered his every breath with drooling fascination, and continue to do so. It's disgusting.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

18. By March, 2016, media had provided over $2 billion in free air time to traitortrump

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/upshot/measuring-donald-trumps-mammoth-advantage-in-free-media.html

[elleng]

30. Right, however there appears to be lots of grievances,

maybe 'just' due to life these days, and media enabling communication among so many.

[Attilatheblond]

35. Media is owned by the same class of rich, anti-democracy people who were fine using Trump as point man

in the march toward fascism. Trump, being the foolish narcissist that he is, was easy to manipulate (just ask Putin) and use as the spearhead in the push to upend democracy. Trump is so self absorbed he didn't even notice he was just another useful tool/fool.

[czarjak]

2. If you could talk sense to a Trumpbilly.

There wouldn't be any Trumpbillies. It's not the media's fault they swallowed hook, line and sinker.

[FakeNoose]

25. And don't forget the "trump-bots"

They're on the Xwitter and internet spreading Chump's lies and disinformation 24/7/365.

No liberal-minded group could ever achieve that kind of saturation. But Chump's bots do it for free, or else they're paid by ultra-wealthy conservatives like the Mercers. (It's not just them, but it's easy to name them because they've been doing it for so long.)

[Shermann]

4. Trump is a mirror

A lot of Americans don't follow the news and just nonchalantly vote for who they like or against who they don't. Others buy into the narrative of Washington being nothing but a broken swamp and vote for the proverbial bull in a China shop. Others are motivated by various other nonserious concerns, fomented by nonserious people cosplaying as serious people.

You could almost forgive a Trump vote in 2016, but not in 2020 nor 2024. The cynicism, ignorance, and indifference has risen to the level of being front page news.

[brewens]

7. Trump is his MAGAt followers. Even when he starts out doing a little bit right like with the COVID precaution

cards he sent out, he does a 180 when his base rebels. With the vaccines. He'd like to have been the hero for operation warp speed but then a few months back he's saying the vaccines aren't a good thing for republicans to talk about. Claimed he didn't know why.

[Solomon]

19. No. You can't even forgive 2016. Grab 'em by the pussy?! Come on...

[Tree Lady]

37. I blame reality tv on some of it

My republican daughter says Trump doesn't mean any of what he says he is just trying to get attention. She is voting for less taxes. I tried to remind her of the time she almost died of a tubal pregnancy but she refuses to believe states will let women die. She lives in CA so not an issue for her. Makes me sad. My other daughter has tried to tell her she would have to be rich for the money thing to matter. She and her husband make same amount and she is CPA they voted for Joe.

[Runningdawg]

5. It's not the media I have seen carrying long guns in church or the store, it's not the media who banned abortion.

[live love laugh]

21. The media isn't a physical entity that can "carry a gun".

[edisdead]

34. propaganda is a thing

Spreading it or excusing it via broadcast is unforgivable.

[Marcus IM]

6. Proof that repetitious messaging (advertising) works.

Americans have been sold the "greatest nation on earth" BS for forever.
And you don't fix it if it ain't broke.

[myohmy2]

8. stopping...

...fascists and fascism can be difficult when we live within a sea of assholes...

...not everyone seems to care for democracy these days...it's falling out of racist xenophobic favor...

...everything old is new again...

[Firestorm49]

10. Trump is the culmination of years of far right propaganda, starting with the likes of Lindbaugh, Brietbart, FOX ........

They finally found their chump, and it is Trump. Reagan, I believe, and please excuse me if I am in err, ended truth in advertising, among many other atrocities during his tenure. It has taken years of lying propaganda and effort to get us to this point, and the pollution of a party in Congress calling themselves politicians is indicative of their success, not to mention the Federalist Society and all of their efforts.

This isn’t going to end well. Given the options, I’ll stick with a Biden victory and the civil unrest that will result until laws are enacted to make hate speech forbidden (oooh, now there’s a Supreme Court challenge.) Open flagrant lies based on unsubstantiated bullshit should not be considered free speech if it threatens the well being or safety of our society.

The SC has a major decision on its hands in TFG’s right to insurrect or be on a ballot as a result of outlandish corruption and malfeasance (dereliction of duty) in office. If it can’t incorporate reason and common sense along with its questionable interpretation of the Constitution, then there ain’t a chance in hell that it would want to tackle the issue of truth in free speech.

It all started with Reagan.

[Basic LA]

16. You nailed it.

Reagan rallied all the ultra John Wayne patriots, back-hill Bible thumpers, and prejudiced prudes, & set them all marching toward the ultimate fascist dream of dictatorship.

[2naSalit]

20. +1

[Mr.Bill]

22. Reagan was

Trump with good manners.

[FakeNoose]

26. Reagan was an actor, he always read the script the RWNJs gave him

Even when he was President, he read the RW script. Dick Cheney (among others) did a lot of the writing, don't forget.

[rubbersole]

42. Don Regan was his chief of staff.

Having the CEO of Merrill Lynch in the Oval Office calling the shots was the dream of the 1%.

[Uncle Joe]

31. Yes and that was the beginning

of the corporate media's "rehabilitation" of Nixon as well.

I believe this in itself was a major psychological/sociological shift from the days of the early 70s Watergate scandal.

This allowed the democracy haters too respawn.

[tblue37]

12. "They need to turn down the temperature of the country."

Where's the profit in that?

[OldBaldy1701E]

13. That or the country needs to stop putting so much faith in anything that has the word 'news' in the title.

We already know they are doing this for profit, and profit translates into clicks. He gets clicks. If we stop clicking... (and yes it is both sides, they want to see how their orange god is being wronged, and us from wanting to gloat over his dumb ass being called to task. That is why they keep feeding us this stuff and convincing us that it is important. And, we still fall for it. We need to stop being controlled by this crap.)

[samnsara]

14. trump will run in every presidental election..just to be a pain in the ass.

...and he will continue to lose but then he can continue to be the victim over and over again.

[Raine]

46. I hadn't thought of that, he could lose this time

and run again in 2028, yikes!

[OverBurn]

55. The fucker's got to die eventually, doesn't he?

[peggysue2]

15. If it were simply Donald Trump it would be one thing

But it's not.

It's a full network of enablers and donors (inside and outside the country) and tens of millions of American citizens who have bought into this BS. Donald Trump sucks all the oxygen out of the room bc that's what he does with the constant ranting and raving. I agree the media amplifies his craziness and makes it all the worse. Donald Trump is great click-bait and the stories about him write themselves. That all translates into easy profit.

Even so, what has happened and continues to happen cannot be ignored. There was a plot to upend the government, to stop the peaceful transfer of power, to delegitimize the 2020 election and to destroy the public's confidence and faith in our governing institutions. That plot continues within far-right circles and the GOP refuses to stop Trump and his goon squad. His Republican opponents will not even call him out for his outrageous language and positions or the incitements to his followers to intimidate, harass and threaten. History tells us this could go sideways very easily.

Pretty hard to turn down the heat when we're facing a five-alarm fire. Which is why the 2024 election will be an unparalleled event. We either dump Trump and his fascist brethren into the dustbin of history. Or we don't.

If we don't, we will live to regret it. As will our kids and grand babies.

[jaxexpat]

23. Yep. That's how Gotham, in Batman's absence, fell into a plague of violent crime.

Where is the bat signal?

Editing to explain I'm not being snarky, just tic.

[love_katz]

41. The scary part is that many of us may not live long enough to regret it.

He is openly threatening to open up prison camps for anyone who defies him or disagrees with his agenda. What the Slobfather and the dark money who is backing him has laid it all out in their Project 2025 paper. We ought to know from history, Nazi Germany, fascism under Mussolini, and every dictator who has ever been, that authoritarian rule inevitably ends in atrocity. Unfortunately it appears that too many people are reprogrammable idiots who are either ignorant of history or somehow believe that history is fake news.

[moondust]

17. Vicarious wannabe dictators. n/t

[orangecrush]

24. Too late for that.

I hope there is a plan B.

[spanone]

27. The media enriches itself with high temperatures...doubt it will turn down the temp.

2016: Leslie Moonves on Donald Trump: “It May Not Be Good for America, but It’s Damn Good for CBS"

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/leslie-moonves-donald-trump-may-871464/

[malaise]

44. THIS

Rec

[Silent Type]

28. .If it were not for media, he might still be acting as Prez. Media didn't cause this.

[Joinfortmill]

29. Yup, and they're making a huge mistake...

If I am an example, I refuse to pay for cable news. I have internet and I get a lot of my information from internet news sites like NBC CBS, Aljazeera and others that are free with internet. I also use alternatives for my political news. I particularly like Talking Feds with Harry Litman. Here's a video of him talking about Trump and the Supreme Court. He's had some excellent guests, including Rachel.

[Emile]

32. If they would just stop covering every fucking

stupid thing coming out of his mouth, his poll numbers would drop like a rock and I would get some peace and sanity.

[nature-lover]

36. Amen!

[cornball 24]

38. The 24/7 coverage of this malevolent viper has brainwashed our nation. He doesnt

care what the media is reporting as long as it is all about him. For too many, it has become an addiction. How I wish for one Dump-free day!

[MOMFUDSKI]

39. Their sponsors keep count of viewership

and it is all about money. Corporate whores don’t care about the Country until maybe they will.

[GAJMac]

40. We need to fight

to bring back the fairness doctrine. Oh, and also get dark money out of politics!

[andym]

43. Effective use of free speech by the GOP over many years is the problem

Last edited Sat Jan 6, 2024, 11:46 PM - Edit history (2)

using powerful tools like talk radio, Fox News and social networks to spread disinformation and misinformation. The media are passive repeaters and sometimes amplifiers, but if they suddenly called out propaganda it would not put the genie back in the bottle. There are huge swaths of the American public that are brainwashed, and it goes way, way beyond the "racism' given as motivation by many here.

There was always a crowd willing to devour right-wing propaganda: the fictional bigoted Nixon-loving Archie Bunker comes to mind as a personification of people who act as key supporters of the right-wing and provide enough of a ready audience for Fox News and Rush Limbaughs to financially allow them to reach others with their propaganda.

Free speech is great, but it empowers those who would manipulate others by lying. That means that we must fight disinformation by all means necessary as soon as we are aware of it.

[ExWhoDoesntCare]

45. Because too many Americans are too bloody stupid

That's what it boils down to in the end.

[Blue Owl]

47. tRump needs to make himself useful and clean all that shit off himself

[PortTack]

48. So very well spoken..thank you

[mahina]

49. Its a big mistake to imagine this is about one man.

Last edited Sat Jan 6, 2024, 10:38 PM - Edit history (1)

https://www.harvard.com/book/after_the_fall/

Why is democracy so threatened in America and around the world? And what can we do about it? A former White House aide and close confidante to President Barack Obama—and New York Times bestselling author of The World as It Is—travels the globe in a deeply personal, beautifully observed quest for answers.
In 2017, as Ben Rhodes was helping Barack Obama begin his next chapter, the legacy they worked to build for eight years was being taken apart. To understand what was happening in America, Rhodes decided to look outward. Over the next three years, he traveled to dozens of countries, meeting with politicians, activists, and dissidents confronting the same nationalism and authoritarianism that was tearing America apart. Along the way, a Russian opposition leader he spends time with is poisoned, the Hong Kong protesters he comes to know see their movement snuffed out, and America itself reaches the precipice of losing democracy before giving itself a second chance.

Equal parts memoir and reporting, After the Fall is a hugely ambitious and essential work of discovery. Throughout, Rhodes comes to realize how much America’s fingerprints are on a world we helped to shape: through the excesses of our post-Cold War embrace of unbridled capitalism, post-9/11 nationalism and militarism, mania for technology and social media, and the racism that shaped the backlash to the Obama presidency. At the same time, he learns from a diverse set of characters - from Obama to rebels to a rising generation of leaders - how looking squarely at where America has gone wrong only makes it more essential to fight for what America is supposed to be at home - for our own country, and the entire world.

-
Thats from the site, not me, I was racing out the door but felt moved to share w you folks.

[nature-lover]

50. I agree. It is not about one man.

Your comments and all of the ones above are valid. My intent was to state that the media has ignored Biden's accomplishments and the agenda of the Democrats. The media (especially Fox) wants to make us believe that only one man matters. The real issues and dangers to our country are being loudly overshadowed by Trump's noise.

[mahina]

54. 100% with you

[Jilly_in_VA]

51. Is is NOT about "one man"

and if you think it is, you are deluding yourself in a BIG way. If he goes down, another will pop up, and that one could be even more insidious and MUCH worse. It is about our democracy. The Slobfather is just a symbol. He's latched himself onto a much bigger cause, the cause of fascism. Make no mistake, the fascists are out there, and they are just waiting.

[nature-lover]

52. I do not think it is about one man. The media hypes him so that we ignore the real issues that you state.

[TygrBright]

53. Because Putin wants it to be. n/t