"Trump keeps digging deeper. And the media keeps feigning shock."
Sep 22, 2022 15:21:21 #
"Wednesday was bad enough for Donald Trump. Then he dug himself deeper.
The day started off with the announcement that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a devastating civil lawsuit against him and his company for what it alleges was massive fraud over years. Then, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit granted the government’s request for a stay of U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s outlandish ruling that had effectively paused the Justice Department’s investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
That’s when Trump made things worse for himself. In a pre-recorded interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, he insisted: “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, it’s declassified. Even by thinking about it, because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or to wherever you’re sending it.” This, of course, acknowledges that the documents he hoarded were highly sensitive, that Trump knew they were and that he sent them to Mar-a-Lago anyway.
Former FBI special agent Asha Rangappa called Trump’s remarks the “Secret Telepathic Unilateral Preemptive Irreversible Declassification” — or “S.T.U.P.I.D.” — defense. Others simply called it “insane.” All true, but most of all it is “typical” and “par for the course.”
This is precisely the sort of self-damaging delusion that we have come to expect from Trump. After all, he has been saying outlandish, blatantly false things for years — from his lies that President Barack Obama was not born in this country to his claims that the call in which he extorted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “perfect.”
Unfortunately, the mainstream media has refused to come right out and say it: He’s unable to process reality. And in turn, millions of Americans have bought into his ludicrous conspiracy theories.
The media is not alone in its refusal to acknowledge the emperor has no clothes. Nearly every elected Republican leader knows it, yet they supported him for president twice, refused to convict and remove him from office, parroted the “big lie” of a s****n e******n and mouthed his contradictory excuses for absconding with top-secret materials. Cannon played along as well, disregarding basic legal principles and treating him as if he raised a legitimate defense by claiming that he declassified the documents.
Why is it that Sunday news show hosts don’t ask Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), “Why are you pretending Trump’s document excuses are real?” And why is that when they talk to Trump supporters who spout the “big lie,” the interviewers do not ask them, “You know this is a lie Trump cooked up months before the e******n, right?” The Kabuki dance in which Trump, his defenders and his supporters are treated as rational (clever even!) is what comes from a media establishment that refuses to discard its need for false balance that it has developed over the course of decades.
The free, independent media is supposed to be the tripwire between disinformation (deliberate distortion) and widespread misinformation (innocent or willfully ignorant regurgitation of lies). Instead, it has been a megaphone for disinformation, upholding the pretense that there are two political parties with equally valid takes on reality.
And so we are left with media coverage that expresses shock when Trump says something laughable, demonstrably untrue or just plain c*****rs. While mocking the “defenses” Trump and his sycophants have raised, the political media might want to consider whether this is all that surprising — and what it has collectively done to normalize Trump. It should also consider how it can reconfigure its coverage to better convey objective reality and rise to the task of sustaining our democracy."
Jennifer Rubin
The day started off with the announcement that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a devastating civil lawsuit against him and his company for what it alleges was massive fraud over years. Then, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit granted the government’s request for a stay of U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s outlandish ruling that had effectively paused the Justice Department’s investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
That’s when Trump made things worse for himself. In a pre-recorded interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, he insisted: “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, it’s declassified. Even by thinking about it, because you’re sending it to Mar-a-Lago or to wherever you’re sending it.” This, of course, acknowledges that the documents he hoarded were highly sensitive, that Trump knew they were and that he sent them to Mar-a-Lago anyway.
Former FBI special agent Asha Rangappa called Trump’s remarks the “Secret Telepathic Unilateral Preemptive Irreversible Declassification” — or “S.T.U.P.I.D.” — defense. Others simply called it “insane.” All true, but most of all it is “typical” and “par for the course.”
This is precisely the sort of self-damaging delusion that we have come to expect from Trump. After all, he has been saying outlandish, blatantly false things for years — from his lies that President Barack Obama was not born in this country to his claims that the call in which he extorted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “perfect.”
Unfortunately, the mainstream media has refused to come right out and say it: He’s unable to process reality. And in turn, millions of Americans have bought into his ludicrous conspiracy theories.
The media is not alone in its refusal to acknowledge the emperor has no clothes. Nearly every elected Republican leader knows it, yet they supported him for president twice, refused to convict and remove him from office, parroted the “big lie” of a s****n e******n and mouthed his contradictory excuses for absconding with top-secret materials. Cannon played along as well, disregarding basic legal principles and treating him as if he raised a legitimate defense by claiming that he declassified the documents.
Why is it that Sunday news show hosts don’t ask Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), “Why are you pretending Trump’s document excuses are real?” And why is that when they talk to Trump supporters who spout the “big lie,” the interviewers do not ask them, “You know this is a lie Trump cooked up months before the e******n, right?” The Kabuki dance in which Trump, his defenders and his supporters are treated as rational (clever even!) is what comes from a media establishment that refuses to discard its need for false balance that it has developed over the course of decades.
The free, independent media is supposed to be the tripwire between disinformation (deliberate distortion) and widespread misinformation (innocent or willfully ignorant regurgitation of lies). Instead, it has been a megaphone for disinformation, upholding the pretense that there are two political parties with equally valid takes on reality.
And so we are left with media coverage that expresses shock when Trump says something laughable, demonstrably untrue or just plain c*****rs. While mocking the “defenses” Trump and his sycophants have raised, the political media might want to consider whether this is all that surprising — and what it has collectively done to normalize Trump. It should also consider how it can reconfigure its coverage to better convey objective reality and rise to the task of sustaining our democracy."
Jennifer Rubin
Sep 22, 2022 15:23:55 #
"Secret Telepathic Unilateral Preemptive Irreversible Declassification"
STUPID!
STUPID!
Sep 22, 2022 15:30:11 #
Racmanaz
Loc: Sunny Tucson!
Kmgw9v wrote:
"Secret Telepathic Unilateral Preemptive Irreversible Declassification"
STUPID!
STUPID!
You seriously need to seek medical attention for your severe case of tds.
Sep 22, 2022 15:49:41 #
Racmanaz wrote:
You seriously need to seek medical attention for your severe case of tds.
More to the point—what do you think about Trump’s ability to declassify documents by just thinking about them?
Sep 22, 2022 15:58:22 #
Racmanaz
Loc: Sunny Tucson!
Kmgw9v wrote:
More to the point—what do you think about Trump’s ability to declassify documents by just thinking about them?
I think it's erroneous and reprehensible, the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Not entirely sure how it works but in my opinion, I think it should to go through a process that involves paperwork and multiple people to verify the declassification of any materials.
Sep 22, 2022 16:17:46 #
Racmanaz wrote:
I think it's erroneous and reprehensible, the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Not entirely sure how it works but in my opinion, I think it should to go through a process that involves paperwork and multiple people to verify the declassification of any materials.
You disagree with Trump. He said he could do it.
Sep 22, 2022 16:43:46 #
Sep 23, 2022 07:30:06 #
Sep 23, 2022 07:36:13 #
Trump’s position that he could declassify documents just by thinking about them is a glaring, but sad indication of this man’s disillusioned mindset. Trump supporters belong to a cult, so they don’t understand. But any sane Republican should dismiss this man as soon as possible.
Sep 23, 2022 07:41:34 #
Kmgw9v wrote:
Trump’s position that he could declassify documents just by thinking about them is a glaring, but sad indication of this man’s disillusioned mindset. Trump supporters belong to a cult, so they don’t understand. But any sane Republican should dismiss this man as soon as possible.
What I find interesting is that Trump is correct when he noted there were no real procedures for the president's ability to change classifications, yet he voiced a stupid statement regarding just thoughts could declassify docs.
Or is it a stupid statement...
Sep 23, 2022 08:07:17 #
It is a completely stupid statement, one that flies in the face of national security. Let us stop pulling punches for this guy.
Sep 23, 2022 08:20:31 #
Kmgw9v wrote:
It is a completely stupid statement, one that flies in the face of national security. Let us stop pulling punches for this guy.
Not to be argumentative, but the pres is in charge of classification, though he rarely exercises his authority, and there are no real procedures documented, so that may imply he can establish his own procedures.
Sep 23, 2022 08:22:39 #
Dearie or any judge won’t buy it. It is crazy, indicative of Trump destroying institutions. He is not a mafia boss.
Sep 23, 2022 08:24:25 #
DaveO wrote:
Not to be argumentative, but the pres is in charge of classification, though he rarely exercises his authority, and there are no real procedures documented, so that may imply he can establish his own procedures.
There are procedures and both he and Mark Meadows followed them in the Crossfire Hurricane binder so they clearly knew about the proper procedures.
Sep 23, 2022 08:37:34 #
Dearie asked straightout if the documents were declassified or not. Trump’s response that his thinking declassified them will not satisfy. Trump h**es rules, and processes that don’t comport with his narcissistic approach.
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