Sunday, January 22, 2017
Trump's New War to Subdue the Press
America's newly minted president or, as Scotian calls him, TrumpleThinSkin, has unleashed some remarkably mangy dogs on the White House press corps. The most parasite riddled of the lot, press secretary, Sean Spicer, and Trump aide, Kellyanne Conway.
Spicer summoned the press to the White House yesterday to attack them for their scandalous coverage of the Trump inauguration. True to the standard set by his commander in chief, he attacked them with lies. He made shit up and then blamed them for it.
Then Trump's Kellyanne Conway defended Spicer, telling NBC's Chuck Todd that the press secretary was simply presenting "alternative facts."
And notice that Conway began with a threat that, if the press is going to do its job and point out deliberate falsehoods, "we're going to have to rethink our relationship."
I caught that. Did you also notice how hard Chuck Todd reacted to her trying out the alternate fact defence? Would have been nice to be seeing that six months ago. Mr. Todd and many of his compatriots I hold in high disgust for their inability/unwillingness to do any of this then, while going *EMAILZ!!!* on the flimsiest and least possible basis over and over and over to infinity. I wonder if deep down he and his are finally starting to realize just how badly they got punked, and allowed their self-belief in their own mastery of the political universe routine and of course their need to protect us all from History's Greatest Monster, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Can't ever forget that of course.
ReplyDeleteWere it not for the utter chaos I see coming every day Trump remains in the Presidency, especially to long term institutions and infrastructures on the security and international scale, I would be feeling a little like Cartman anticipating the bitter tears of these people to lick off their face as they fall free in the realization of what they have done. If you think I have more than a little animosity for the US MSM political media and its top ranks on TV in particular, you would be quite correct. At least in print you can find some decent ability at that level, even if you have to hunt for it. Sunday morning TV lost the last credible voice with Shaeffer's retirement for me, and I wasn't a fan of Todd nor his predecessor for pushing 2 decades anyway, so to see this, well, as I said about the bitter tears.
This is only the overture to a symphony of destruction and horror, written (such as it is) by the GOP, as produced by the team of Conway, Bannon, and Kushner, or so it seem, and conducted via the free flow stream of "consciousness" (had to use air quotes, leaving it without them just felt so wrong) master of disaster, President Trump and his TWITererS.
I suspect my snark, sarcasm, and such tools are going to be getting a lot more use over the next few years than they have since my teens. What a way to come up on 50...*rolls eyes*
BTW, if you are a Babylon 5 fan or even someone passingly familiar with it, I feel more than a little like Trump is Centauri Emperor Cartagia, at times it is eerie to me the similarities of vibe, and what KellyAnn Conway pulled here reminded me strongly of the season 4 closer where we see 500 years in the future our heroes being revised (in the databases of the day of course) with false propaganda models of them based on their own personalities, and the way it was called using good facts as opposed to real facts. Well, in Trumpland we are living in a good-facts mindset from their side, and the rest of us better keep our heads firmly on the real-facts side of things else we are never coming back short of something truly ugly and almost certainly violent on a large scale. Human history and our patterns leave little else to expect in that case IMHO.
ReplyDeleteHells, this whole Trump beginning feels more than a little like the assumption of power by President Clark of the Earth Alliance in the second season and the coming darkness that followed. The similarities of feels and patterns, way too creepy for my liking. When I start hearing amount Secretaries (in series it was Ministries, but Americans, you know) of Peace or Truth, then I know I've slipped into something truly nightmarish in oh so many ways.
Are we having fun yet?
Alternative facts. The chocolate ration has been changed. We are in Orwell's world.
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ReplyDeleteIt is a truly Orwellian world inside the Trump administration, Owen. Hard to imagine what good can come of it for the American people.
Rethink the relationship? It sounds quite similar to the relationship we all suffered with under Harper for years. Restriction of the press with regards to amount of questions, "alternative"facts ,etc., etc. The circling of the wagons has begun.
ReplyDeleteAll will be well. The news media will knuckle, as they always have, once it is made clear to them that the canape and beverage table will be moved to the dungeons and stocked with rat meat and sewer water.
ReplyDeleteDana, you're on the right track. SOME of the news media will knuckle under, and others will be moved to the dungeons so to speak. Telling obvious lies serves an important purpose - those who are loyal will repeat them unquestioned. Twitler will soon know which media figures he can trust, and so will we.
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Posted in another forum but I felt that it had to be widely disseminated
ReplyDeleteAnother word coup for the Right. For years now the Right have wordsmithed their way out of the Bullshitosphere. Now the capper – “Alternate facts” bloody brilliant
Let’s see the Left get out of this one. Bet the OED will have this as the word of the year next year; beats “post truth” hands down!
As long as the Right controls the language they will win. This "alternate facts" has to be laughed out of existence but again will the MSM have the balls?
I'm becoming equally charmed by the Preacher. In his introduction of Trump to the rally attendees at the CIA, Pence continues to promote the Strategic Genius with a Secret Plan narrative that should surely assist in rationalizing the mysteries of Trump's apparent "thought environment" to the benefit of the increasingly puzzled observer:
ReplyDelete"I've never met anyone more dedicated to the safety and security of the people of the United States of America, or anyone who is a greater strategic thinker about how we accomplish that for this nation. In fact, to understand the life of our new President is -- his whole life was strategy."
Applicable to any mission, no doubt. Mike is getting as hooked on superlatives as his boss. I can't figure out whether he's a member of the faculty at this Trump University or just a student making sure the head master knows he's done his homework.