I purposely haven't been too political on this blog of late, but this, I think, deserves a post (even if you are not a big fan of Chuck Todd. Personally I think he is pretty good.)
Also, the video is a commentary by Brian Tyler Cohen which starts after the 1:30 mark.
3 comments:
Interesting video!
Mmm, something doesn't smell good here. For the first time in my life, I see a major news network declaring they will NOT report something newsworthy. Because why? Oh, yes, because their newsman says "It's not true." So move along folks, nothing to see here. Keep going.
Right.
Now I frankly have no idea what is true or not about the Bidens. I certainly don't trust anything Trump says - however, even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and even a liar can make say a true sentence sometimes.
Without having read anything but a few headlines, I do wonder why the hell the SON OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES was/is playing for high stakes in Ukraine and China - two places far beyond the scrutiny of US law and business standards. Is he not capable of making a living for his family here in the good old USA?
And I don't care what anybody right or left says - it goes without saying that the name BIDEN would open doors, at least, anywhere in the world.
But just move along folks - nothing to see here - keep going. Nope, we're not gonna tell ya.
Something's rotten here, wrapped in a cover of righteousness. I am no longer interested in following the politics of Trumpocracy, so I won't be researching it further. But I do suggest, Frank, that you not simply take Chuck Todd's word for anything. I always thought he was a smart, articulate fellow - but even good guys can be blinded by their own need-to-believe.
And why does a Google search fail to turn up the terrible words Trump said on the first page of results? Any other story in the world, there would be a hundred hits to choose from. Isn't that odd?
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/465520-he-who-must-not-be-named-how-hunter-biden-became-a-conversation-stopper
I suggest you look at this page that popped up for me - again, I'm not interested enough to try to verify this opinion piece in all its details. But it does make me wonder why the media is suddenly abandoning its longstanding and self-proclaimed DUTY to report "all the news that's fit to print" and making like a giant clam. That's pretty damn shocking in this age when NO ONE is safe from the all-invading eye of the press.
Who is this Hunter Biden that is so sacred he must be protected by a cone of silence at all costs? What can possibly be worse coming out of Trump's mouth than "grab them by the pussy"? Just what did he say, and what is it Chuck Todd is hiding?
What the hell goes on here? Just askin'.
I am not going to take a lot of time here to critique or defend Chuck Todd or Brian Tyler Cohen except to say that we are in vastly new territory when a a president of the United States can make blatantly vicious accusations and speak outright lies as though they are truths and expect his words to be broadcast far and wide over every TV network and cable news station.
The issue is not whether the particular statement is newsworthy...the issue is that as president of these United States his words, once out of his mouth, truth or falsehoods, have real consequences and take on a reality of their own. He understands that his lies, even when they are fact-checked by multiple sources beyond any doubt, have already had the desired effect. It is an insidious tactic of a disingenuous narcissistic gaslighter - a person who, if he had ever been seriously vetted, would never have been a candidate, let alone a president.
"All the news that's fit to print" may still be a standard...it's just that much of what this president spews may no longer be deemed "fit to print" by a particular news outlet.
News organizations make choices daily about what news they will cover or report on. Freedom of the press ultimately involves making choices about what to report or not report and how to do so as well as editorializing.
In any previous reality, this all would likely not be an issue, but this current POTUS has catapulted us into a world where nothing is real, where there are "alternative facts" where science is considered an opinion, where truth no longer has meaning, where civility is not a virtue, where lies are equated with fact, and where words can incite violence. Should the president's vile language and insidious lies be given equal weight as a factual event?
This is new territory for us as well as for responsible news media. How does one report what is newsworthy without becoming a party to an intentional strategy of misleading and manipulating the citizens of this country?
What is "fit to print" or fit to broadcast. Should a video of a murder be broadcast because it is "news"?
We are in new territory and we are all learning how to navigate our way amongst the land mines and in a world where all the rules have changed or been discarded. I certainly don't have the roadmap nor the answers. But I do know that something must be done differently in order for all of us to return to some semblance of sanity and reason.
When Ellen DeGeneras can be severely criticized for being civil to George W. Bush and even more harshly castigated for her standing for her value of kindness...and this is reported by the press to its excruciating end, you are correct, Russ: something doesn't smell good here.
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