Donald Trump's immediate Republican predecessor, George w. Bush, has slammed the Orange Bloat's policies on - just about everything.
Former United States President George W. Bush, in his first interview since the start of Donald Trump's administration, said he sees a need for an investigation into the Trump team's ties to Russia and voiced scepticism about his successor's approach to immigration and the media.
"We all need answers," Mr Bush said during an interview with NBC's Today program on Monday regarding the Trump campaign's involvement with Russia prior to the November election. He declined to say whether he thinks a special prosecutor should be named and said he trusted congressional committees to make that call. "You're talking to the wrong guy," he said, quipping that he's "never been a lawyer."
"I am for an immigration policy that's welcoming and that upholds the law," he said.
Asked if he agreed with Mr Trump's pronouncement that the news media is "the enemy of the people," Mr Bush was even more direct in his criticism of the new president.
"I consider the media to be indispensable to democracy. We need the media to hold people like me to account," he said. "Power can be very addictive and it can be corrosive, and it's important for the media to call to account people who abuse their power."
Mr Bush added that while in office he'd pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a free press and that "it's kind of hard to tell others to have an independent free press when we're not willing to have one ourselves."
Interesting, isn't it, Mound, that the two previous presidents -- one from each party -- are not impressed with the Great Orange Id.
ReplyDeleteI think they're both revolted, Owen.
ReplyDeleteBush junior suddenly transformed from a village ignoramus, into a village elder?
ReplyDelete"I am for an immigration policy that's welcoming and that upholds the law"
There is nothing wrong then with deporting illegals.
Junior also forgot to add word "free" when discussing the media. Media which are not financed&controlled by a handful of people...
A..non
You're not thinking this through, A..non. Trump doesn't want a free press. He wants an end to media doing their job as watchdog of government. Trump regularly praises certain media voices, intensely corporate ones at that. Anything owned by Rupert Murdoch is just dandy with him.
ReplyDeleteWhat Trump wants overall is to neutralize the Fourth Estate. It's what all demagogues do and it's invariably a priority for them. Villainizing the mass media is an attempt to degrade them. He's not interested in reforming the media, breaking up the corporate media cartel. Nothing of the sort.
As for Trump deporting illegals, that's a risky proposition. Like Melania, immigrants do jobs that Americans won't touch.
Who would have imagined at the time that George W would one day seem moderate and competent?
ReplyDeleteMound, my focus was on junior not the potus.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, I enjoy feelings of Schadenfreude watching those squirming press scribes who sold out their souls and licked the boots of their fake news media cartel bosses.
A..non
Well, A..non, it's obvious that you've swallowed the demagogue's mantra - lock, stock and barrel. Perhaps you didn't read the most recent fact checker report that found fully 70% of what he's said in his public appearances is false. Another word for that would be "fake." And so you're going to buy the ultimate faker's allegations of fake news? I guess, for you, critical thinking is no longer required.
ReplyDeleteScary, dude.
Mound, my focus on my last post was on fake news press which predated Trump NOT(!) on the potus.
ReplyDeleteI am delighted that those boot-lickers are getting the taste of the same shit (i.e. fully 70% ;-) they fed the public for decades.
Yummy.
Schadenfreude am besten...
A..non
Yet you see this "fake news press" as amorphous, some giant blurred entity, an all encompassing sameness. It's been anything but.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to fake news there's been nothing like Fox News and it's doing very nicely with Trump in the Oval. I recall two studies. One found that upwards of 60% of Fox viewers believed, fully two years after Bush announced there were no WMDs in Iraq that US forces had indeed found Saddam's WMDs. Another study found that Americans who got no news - papers, TV, radio - were better informed than Fox viewers.
Fox and its companion organizations (ClearChannel, etc.) are still spewing out the same fake news they always have and they're set to do very well as a megaphone for Trump. The New York Times may get the odd story wrong. Fox News gets it wrong every night.
There has been some excellent research on this, some fine studies. You obviously have read none of them.