It seems to me that I’ve been seeing some small movement of the media toward honest coverage. More people (not necessarily media) are speaking out about media failures to cover politics in an age when one of our political parties has gone full propaganda.
Jamelle Bouie has an outstanding column in the New York Times, “The Trump We Did Not Want To See.” He argues that the reality of the Trump presidency is so abnormal that journalists’ minds recoil. I find this convincing, because when I write some of my tweets or posts I can feel my mind recoiling. You can see it when people say “This is not my America.”
But yes, it is our America today. We may change it next November, or Congress may change it before then, but if we are to deal with what we have, we must look it in the eye. Read the whole thing.
Dan Froomkin has a kit of background facts that reporters should use to give context to Trump comments. It’s very good and simple enough that reporters might use it.
Margaret Sullivan suggests that “The media should spotlight a different kind of war expert: Those who voted ‘no’ on Iraq” rather than OMG Judy Miller and Joe Lieberman. She’s good, as usual.
Fareed Zakharia is saying it out loud.
Trump does not have a foreign policy. He has a series of impulses — isolationism, unilateralism, bellicosity — some of them contradictory. One might surge at any particular moment, triggered usually by Trump’s sense that he might look weak or foolish. They are often unleashed without any consultation, and then his yes men line up to defend him, supporting the president’s every move with North Korean-style enthusiasm, no matter how incoherent.
And John Kerry is calling a liar a liar.
A few small steps. It’s a long slog, and we need to keep pounding on the journalists and our congresscritters.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Thank you for recognizing that the word “media” is plural.
MattF
Kerry was impressive. Having an actual expert explain the basics, instead of the likes of Judith Miller. Imagine that.
Just Chuck
If I (or anyone actually competent, other than an overworked Pelosi) ran the Dems’ messaging, I would be commenting on T’s mental health non-stop. Doesn’t he look … tired?
zhena gogolia
@MattF:
I wish he were president right now.
zhena gogolia
@Just Chuck:
Pelosi has commented on it. What do you think “I’m praying for the President” means? She’s made other references, if you’re listening.
The Moar You Know
I don’t see evidence of dementia or cognitive decline. He’s oriented. He knows what’s going on around him. I do see a bellicose, angry, deeply stupid man who is behaving exactly as I expected him to if he somehow managed to win the 2016 election, and he has in no way disappointed.
The only thing that’s put a leash on him in his own stunning incompetence (also expected but it’s worked out well since he’s not getting the kind of help that Reagan or Shrub got) and his paranoid refusal to take advice from outsiders. And occasionally his handlers are managing to get a few tranquilizers in him, like at that presser yesterday. But otherwise, he’s just some old, dumb asshole acting like the old, dumb asshole that he has literally always been.
Cheryl Rofer
We need to hear more from the people in the Middle East.
This is a good article. We Americans tend to center ourselves in discussions of foreign policy, but we need to understand how our actions are perceived by others.
trollhattan
@MattF:
John no-deferments Kerry earned his place in the discussion. Trump fans remain unmoved.
chris
Here’s a small step from Medicine Hat which, prairie-wise, is not far from Moose Jaw. No knowledge of Alberta politics is needed to appreciate this op-ed.
trollhattan
@chris:
I wonder what they actually teach in j-school today? Not that it’s a magnet major any longer, but j-school still exists.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Moar You Know:
I’m not a doctor, so I’ll try not to go all Bill Frist, but there have been moments, like when he just kind of up and wandered out of a bill signing ceremony without signing the bill (or the piece of construction paper representing the bill set up for his Sharpie). And if you look at older clips of him, he does seem to have been more capable of forming complete sentences.
People said the same thing about Palin: The strain of the national spotlight made her dumber, or made her less able to pull off the appearance of at least average intelligence.
Just Chuck
@The Moar You Know:
Other than in the administration in general and nearly half the electorate, you mean?
chris
@trollhattan: “The truth is that the preznit said that the moon is made of blue cheese.” -30-
The Moar You Know
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
@Just Chuck:
I had the fun privilege in my late 20s of living with my girlfriend and bringing her grandmother to live with us, who at the time was just barely starting to show minor signs of dementia. Took her 10 years to die. The first two were when she slid the worst.
I’ve seen what that slide looks like, every phase. Trump’s not displaying any of that. It may be entertaining or reassuring to believe that Trump is senile or has mental problems, but he doesn’t. It’s like what my old cognitive psych professor said first day of class (and the most useful thing anyone ever taught me in college): “there is no diagnosis for asshole”.
There is no diagnosis for asshole. Perfect phrase for Trump, sums it all up. Take that to heart and work on the problem that exists, not the problem that you may want it to be.
MattF
@The Moar You Know: The concern I have with ‘news’ about Trump’s neurological status is that it blurs the issues. The politics is what matters, not the accumulation of amyloid in Trump’s brain.
The Moar You Know
@MattF: Hence my post right above yours. As you say, his mental status is not in any way relevant. It’s what we’re having to live with that is.
PST
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That’s very true of me, however, and of almost all my same-age friends. It is a rather normal part of aging for most people. I was a fast-talking debate champ; now people get impatient and finish my sentences for me. An obvious rejoinder would be that my friends and I may be suffering incipient dementia, but I don’t think so.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Moar You Know:
Wow. Fuck you for a condescending asshole
That’s a lot of pomposity based on a personal anecdote and a semester of college.
Jay
yeah,……. Dolt 45 is a manifestation of an America that has always “been there”, for decades, and downplayed or ignored by the MSM, unless they can “sell the story” as Copsganda, Clickbait, The System Works, etc.
I still remember a “Residents Advocacy Groups” investigation into a State funded Methadone Treatment program. Script was written, methadone was sold, and in a downtown neighborhood, the program was much less than effective. 4 Pharmacies in the neighborhood. All owned by the same man (company). Sold roughly $4 million a year of methadone under the State program.
The methadone was tested, (10%) hidden cameras were used, victims and witnesses came forward.
The local Media wasn’t interested at all in the story of Millionaire rips off junkies and the State for millions, destroys lives, kills people, dooms a neighborhood,
Until one Media arm decided it would make a great “How Your Tax Dollars are Wasted” story if slanted up just right.
There is a reason why I mostly read specific Independent Media publications, context, history, facts, insight, fearless, speaking truth to power.
Chief Oshkosh
@The Moar You Know:
I don’t know. It may be that his ACTUAL mental status is irrelevant. However, if he is PERCEIVED to have a mental affliction, then that may give cover to some for not voting for him.
Jay
lee
I was watching CNN at the gym this morning and the scroll on the bottom had ‘Trump claims (without proof)….’
Jay
https://mockpaperscissors.com/2020/01/10/more-please-24/
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
I had very nearly forgotten how much I ? and respect John Kerry.
Obama may not have been a perfect POTUS, but he sure as hell knew how to pick Secretaries of State.
MaxUtil
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
Are there any data that support that contention?
Betty Cracker
Since we’re contributing anecdata, my dad is almost exactly the same age as Trump. He may not speak as quickly as he once did (one is tempted to finish the occasional sentence), but his vocabulary hasn’t shrunk to about 100 words, and he can utter entire paragraphs without slurring and lapsing into pure gibberish. None of us know for sure whether or not Trump has neurological issues, but I don’t believe it’s an outlandish or irrelevant line of speculation. He absolutely seems addled in public, and quite frequently.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker:
I only see Trump when I watch clips of Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers. His deterioration is shocking. Anyone who thinks it isn’t just hasn’t watched enough video of him, especially when it’s juxtaposed to three years ago.
It seems to me quite relevant to note that the POTUS is mentally impaired.
different-church-lady
Wish me luck, kids. Today I’m on a film crew doing a focus group in New Hampshire run by the infamous Frank Luntz. I’m sure I’ll be hearing lots of infuriating opinions about our candidates, most of which will be straight-up parroting of things people have heard pundits and analysts say on cable TV.
germy
Baud
@different-church-lady:
You have my permission to slap anyone who speaks ill of me.
MJS
@Betty Cracker: Thank you. One can be both an asshole and suffering from neurological issues at the same time. “Tim Apple”, instead of the actual name; wandering off from a bill signing; incoherent rambling, etc. are signs of cognitive decline, not just being an asshole.
syphonblue
This article from Alexandra Petri is brilliant satire.
Amir Khalid
@germy:
On the rare occasions when there are world news from Malaysia, they do exactly the same with the Petronas Towers.
oatler.
We need to get Chuck Todd’s impressions on this!
West of the Rockies
@trollhattan:
I’m especially weary of the NPR approach (though I continue to listen), which is, “Scientists say climate change is caused largely by human activity. But Sarah Palin says that’s hogwash. [Cut to long soundbyte of Palin speaking lies and gibberish.] As you can tell, both sides are firmly entrenched.”
NPR’s formula seems to be the reporter quotes the progressive side but we hear the actual conservative speak. The ratio is usually 2 conservatives for each progressive.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amir Khalid: Paris, London, Chicago, Rome….
lee
@different-church-lady: Hopefully you are well paid. I’m not sure there is enough money for me to sit through that.
germy
Barbara
@The Moar You Know: You can’t assume that dementia or decline short of dementia is the same for every person. I don’t obsess about this because, basically, we can’t know and as you say it doesn’t really matter why Trump is a disaster, just that he is. Still, looking at clips from him in the 80s and 90s, of him giving speeches and talking in public about complex subjects reveals a big difference, in vocabulary and complexity of though. It’s not irrational to think that he has experienced cognitive decline, whether or not it is accompanied by a kind of dementia.
Betty Cracker
@different-church-lady: Focus on their gnarly pores!
dnfree
@trollhattan: I wonder that too. I was actually in J school for a couple of years back in the 1960s. The suspicion of government and its motives and actions was palpable. Catching someone in a lie or proving them wrong by digging out facts was part of the point of the job. Those people are still around, but much more prevalent is the goal of “access”, and becoming an insider, and making money. Plus I sometimes think that many younger journalists want to become columnists, not reporters.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker:
John Kerry is 2-1/2 years older than Trump. He doesn’t even seem to exhibit any of the normal and expected signs of slowing down. That clip in the OP — he looks and sounds in his prime. (Of course, he’s got good hair, and he’s not an asshole.)
jc
Trump made a big, long, politically-motivated stink about Obama’s birth certificate, which, years later resulted in nothing.
Trump demanded a politically-driven DOJ “review” of the Clinton Foundation, which has just, years later, resulted in nothing.
But curiously, in Trump’s “mind,” it’s always the Democrats who are the ones acting in a politicized way. It’s very sad that his base and much of the beltway press apparently have no ability to connect dots.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
Just what I was thinking as I watched that clip. He is sharp as a tack and still looks really good for his age.
zhena gogolia
I should be working but I just found out that a different project is going to hit me like a ton of bricks in a couple of hours, so I had to drop the one I was working on, and I’m in this limbo. Plus people are coming for dinner tomorrow night and I have to start cooking.
chris
Heh. de Adder cartoon in the Halifax Chronicle Herald.
MazeDancer
Just learned that almost half of the population of South Bend are People of Color. From LA Times tweet.
Astounded. Had just assumed it was mostly white people.
How can Mayor Pete not have a Bill Clinton kind of POC track record? How can the Mayor of South Bend be white?
Ruckus
@The Moar You Know:
The man is in decline, as we all do. But this is not a “normal” decline. He has always been a shit, he will not change, he’s not capable of betterment. He is however showing signs of dementia. Not late stages, beginning to middle stages. And you are right, some of this is just his normal self and the pressure to “perform” on a stage that he is absolutely totally unprepared and unequipped to handle. He and his presidency is a total clusterfuck. That is not fixable, only removing him – and his supporters/enablers will make any of this better.
The Moar You Know
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Really not sure what I did to rate that, but OK. Sorry I pissed you off.
Betty Cracker
@SiubhanDuinne: Yep — Kerry does sound sharp. Rep. John Dingell was sharp as a tack into his 90s. Aging seems to be such an individual thing.
Jeffro
Bouie’s great – usually cuts right to the chase. I’m keeping an eye out for his next local speaking engagement here in Cville.
Love the Froomkin article and will be sending/posting/tweeting that one far and wide – thanks Cheryl!
Jay
@MazeDancer:
Voter supression is even more effective in downticket races, from State, Judges, to Municipal, to Dogcatcher.
The answer is found by asking the question, why still are so many States, Courts, Cities, Towns still making the news briefly, fo electing their “first” ( insert minority here) “X”.
Martin
Small steps are all we’ll get. To go all the way is to acknowledge either/both:
They can’t face either reality. Bouie can because he’s black and so both 1) and 2) have been blindingly obvious his entire life – he never had any illusions about any of this. But Chuck Todd is feeling some inner turmoil and he doesn’t like it and just wants it to go away, and the easiest way to do that is to return to the comfortable space where Democrats must be equally terrible for voters to have so much trouble making rational decisions.
schrodingers_cat
I admire these JNU students and Deepika too. They tried to break her skull and they put her arm in a sling but she is back again raising her voice against the BJP. Aishe Ghosh looks tiny and fragile but she has more courage in her little finger than these bullies with the power of the state behind them.
From the last thread
Chants of Azadi at JNU with Deepika Padukone, one of India’s highest paid actors standing in the background and lending her silent support to the JNU students. At a rally on JNU campus where BJP affiliated student organization went on 5 hour rampage breaking bones and destroying property, while the police locked the gates and didn’t intervene.
ETA: BJP government and their cronies have demonized the students of JNU for the last 6 years calling them everything from traitors to anti-nationals. For daring to speak their mind.
Azaadi == independence. Its telling that Indians are reviving the slogans from the Freedom struggle against British collaborators who are using the time tested Divide and Rule policy
Neldob
I think it does help to lean on the whatever offendinding media often with letters to the ed, comments section and occasional outrage. This whole lie of media having a left slant has changed the perception of truth. That was done on purpose, with malice. On kuow (Seattle?l yesterday they had a story about patriotism and journalists and didn’t mention Republicans, the right wing or their extremists. An interviewed journo said, I’m not quoting, that some people (meaning the right wing) think patriotism is supporting the government… Feck. Whaaaat???? The heck? The bunghole needs many complaints.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker: Yup. I have a former colleague who is a decade younger than I am but looks and moves as though she’s in her 90s, and that’s not hyperbole. Some of it is due to medical issues, but a lot is because of a sour and bitter worldview. There’s nothing wrong with her mental acuity, or wasn’t the last time I saw her, but a lifetime of feeling put-upon and resentful has taken an awful toll.
Martin
@The Moar You Know: As someone who lived around Trump when he was a young man, he has not changed a bit. This is who he always has been. Just because he seems worse than how the Apprentice editors managed to splice video together doesn’t mean he’s actually worse. He was never better, except in the minds of NBC execs trying to keep their show from imploding should we all have seen the real Trump.
SiubhanDuinne
On topic: I have noticed in the last few days that every time they play one of those clips of Trump claiming we “gave” Iran $150 billion in the nuclear deal, the reporter or anchor or pundit-on-duty calls it out and corrects it immediately. I’ve seen it happen several times on CNN and once or twice on NBC.
Ruckus
@The Moar You Know:
I’ve seen first hand Alzheimer’s over a 20 yr decline to death. And have been told that dementia only lasts 5-10 yrs. Everyone is different in their decline but the broad strokes are there. And remember you and I are only seeing the bits and pieces, the public presentation.
Yes he’s a shouty, angry old idiot but I’ve been seeing him for the last 40 yrs, in journalistic sources and this is not his normal personality gone stupider. Yes he’s always been far less than his view of himself, self deprecating he will never be. But his decline is not just the extra pressure he’s put upon himself by his egotistical bullshit.
Kent
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The point of talking about Trump’s mental decline is to make them deny it. There is a famous LBJ story about how he wanted to spread rumors that his opponent molested animals. His aids said “we can’t prove he is a pig fucker” LBJ replied “I KNOW that, I just want to hear him deny it”
And make them use the defense “He’s not going senile, he’s just naturally stupid like he always has been” in so many words.
Either way it’s a win if we are talking about Trump’s mental health and cognitive abilities.
Martin
@MazeDancer: I don’t think people understand just how small South Bend is. It’s 100,000 people, which barely qualifies one as a city out here in CA. My HOA is 30,000 people.
And turnout in the election which got Pete elected was only 10%. He got 8,000 votes. You need more votes than that to get on the homecoming court where I work.
That’s not a diss against Pete, but 8,000 votes is outlier numbers in a city of 100,000. If he wants to claim he can win in fly-over country, yeah, but from the data we have, he can only do that if voter turnout in the US drops by 80%, and damn near anyone could win under those conditions. Granted, it’s 8,000 more votes than Trump ever earned.
zhena gogolia
@Martin:
You mean you had a personal relationship? I’m going by extended, unedited news interview clips, not passages from The Apprentice. Based on that evidence, the decline in his ability to articulate and put together whole sentences is shocking.
bemused
@germy:
Truth!
Trumpers, GOP also know this.
Jay
Every day, another little step backwards.
Neldob
@West of the Rockies: That’s because so called conservatives are much noisier consumers of news. They are all riled up, filled with anger and hate and have been for 50 years. For the last 40 They have been shrieking about the liberal media. That media looks pretty right wing corporate from where truth and reality are.
Jay
“I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”
Kent
South Bend has been a safe Democratic stronghold forever. The last time a Republican held the mayor’s office there was 1971. It is basically a tiny Chicago full of immigrants and with a large AA population. It was a thriving union town and industrial city until the Studebaker car company closed in the early 1960s and hollowed out the industrial core. The giant Studebaker plants still sit empty. Were it not for Notre Dame keeping the place on the map all these years it would have declined even more and been about equivalent to Fort Wayne or any other mediocre rust belt town in the region.
As for why Mayor Pete isn’t more “woke” I honestly have no idea. I honestly think he is too much of a people pleaser type of personality, looking to just have everyone get along. But to actually fight against racism and injustice you need to actually be forceful and show strong leadership. White pols like LBJ and Clinton got that. They didn’t suffer fools. Buttigieg seems more willing to suffer fools in the aim of “reaching consensus and middle ground”
Those are just my impressions. I have no idea how he actually did his job of Mayor.
trollhattan
@West of the Rockies:
Lord yes, today’s NPR Cletus safari took us to Colorado fucking redneck Springs to get a read on America’s opinion of how Trump is dealing with this Iran thing.
John Oliver, of all folks, framed the boff-sides trap perfectly when he had one “scientist” who doubts anthropogenic climate change surrounded by 99 who do not. That’s the only way I wish to entertaining “dissenting views.”
Jay
Yutsano
@MazeDancer: Because Indiana has really severe voter oppression. It helps to blunt the effects of the northwest corner of the state near Chicago and Gary. Not to mention Indianapolis.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
There are exceptions to every rule of course. I’ve told the story of meeting a man who by every stretch of the imagination would have been 65ish, just by observation. But he was then 95. Lived to 104. I’m 70 and wish I was as in good a condition as he was. Well not the last 2 yrs… But the opposite of that is that I’ve seen, now 12 people I know, all younger than me, that over the last 3 yrs that have passed on. We all age differently and a lot of us have dementia as we get there, sometimes it’s much harsher than others, sometimes not even noticeable. But like every other organ in our bodies, our brain declines and functions not as well. And as we are all different in subtle ways we decline in different and often subtle ways.
Just One More Canuck
@Baud: @different-church-lady:
Slap in the face, kick in the nuts, whatever
trollhattan
@Kent:
It’s vital to understand the Trump we see is the best Trump his army of handlers, makeup artists and sycophants can present to us. We don’t know how bad he really is because we’re not seeing it.
Ponder that for a moment.
If anybody would care to compare and contrast to the second Reagan term, you have my blessings.
Another Scott
[klaxon][blink]Breaking! News!![/blink][/klaxon]
You’ll be shocked to learn that Marianne Williamson is suspending her campaign for President. I just got the e-mail.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker:
And that’s only when they let us see him! I can only imagine what is happening the rest of the time. I think I read that he takes most of his meetings in the residence now, though I don’t recall where I read that.
PenAndKey
I had the “wonderful” experience of having my father-in-law live with us right as he was struck with a series of micro-strokes leading to rapid onset vascular dementia. Trumps conduct and apparent decline, just since the start of his election campaign to now, appears to closely mirror the decline I witnessed in my FIL. The slurred speech, unsteady gait, short attention span, shrinking vocabulary, increasing irrationality and inability to do even simple advanced planning. Even the increased petty meanness matches, even if they’re worlds apart in how mean they were starting out.
There’s being a narcissistic asshole and there’s showing symptoms of cognitive decline. I’d argue that Trump is doing both, because while he’s always been a narcissist the decline symptoms are certainly there.
Though, as much as I think his decline matters, ultimately what matters is that he’s surrounded by yes men, opportunistic GOP zealots, and grifters. As bellicose as he is, he’s essentially a wannabe dictator and puppet to interests he doesn’t even understand. Hell, I doubt he even realizes how much he’s being played when he screws over people, groups, and agencies he’s never heard of before he gives whatever idiotic order he does that screws them. Someone else is whispering into his ear or handing him an order to sign, guaranteed.
West of the Rockies
@Kent:
You will recall, there is a book featuring the assessments of mental health professionals who believe Trump to be mentally unwell.
It is true that there assessments are based not on clinical evaluations but observation only. It is true that some lean towards a cognitive diminishment diagnosis where others point towards a personality disorder.
But Trump’s mental health is a topic worth consideration.
WaterGirl
@different-church-lady: Wow, bird’s eye view! Fly on the wall.
You’re gonna have to put on your game face so as to not show how appalled you will surely be as they embarrass themselves and don’t even know it.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I counseled professionalism. I like your approach better!
Another Scott
@The Moar You Know:
Compare any recent interview or video of Donnie with this interview from 2001 (11:38).
He has dementia.
Cheers,
Scott.
CaseyL
@SiubhanDuinne: It is really interesting to read this! I try to be cheerful most of the time, even if I’m not feeling that way particularly. I am in my mid-60s and, if I say so, could pass for 5, maybe 10 years younger. Meanwhile, I know a lot of people who seem to delight in non-stop negativity and, no lie, they all look 10 years older than me, even though they’re my age or a couple years younger.
Betty Cracker
@Kent: Bill Clinton sure seemed like a “people pleaser” type to me, and his civil rights record was somewhat spotty.
Incitatus for Senate
If there was clear, unequivocal evidence Trump had Alzheimers then sure, put it out there, because truth matters, or at least it should. But without that evidence, it’s just handing the GOP a gift, nicely wrapped with a bow on top. We already know they will do their best to disappear Trump, just as they did with W, after this is over. Trump getting Alzheimer’s? That means it’s not the GOPs fault anymore. They elected a perfectly brilliant candidate, who was cruelly brought down by an inescapable illness. Don’t gift wrap a get out of jail free card and give it to them.
trollhattan
@Another Scott:
Technically, perhaps not actually an email but rather, Marianne communicating directly with your computer. There may also be theremins.
joel hanes
@trollhattan:
but j-school still exists.
Not at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, at which the journalism department was destructively merged into the “Communications” department.
That seems … significant, somehow.
IIRC, “Communications” was Sarah Palin’s major at several different institutions before she graduated with a degree in Sports Communications and began her career as a sportscaster (the last of her jobs for which she had any qualification)
satby
@MazeDancer: not exactly.
and he won his last election with 80% of the vote, but whenever I post video of any black supporters in South Bend it’s ignored in favor of some tweet. So that’s nice.
dww44
@SiubhanDuinne: While I agree, I also think that Democrats are the only party that values knowledge and skill, over and above a love of nonothingism mixed in with a large dose of religionism.
The current GOP cult has been a few decades in the making and sped up considerably by the infestation of the airwaves by conservative talkers and Fox News. I actually think Fox news is the less evil of the two. More pervasive maybe, but not the most evil.
I’ve a close friend and a close relative who both play conservative talk radio all day long. On a low volume, yes, but years of listening to all that renders most unable to see the actual truth. There’s no converting those two, who are women ( and generous on a personal level ) by the way. While they revere Reagan, they fall in line behind all their leaders, even the current one.
The only solution is to outvote them, which is why finding a Democratic message and several effective messengers is crucial. It would also be better for governance and restoration of our democratic norms if they lost in a landslide. Given their control of the levers of power at all levels, including the monied ones, it’s not likely to happen.
PenAndKey
@Incitatus for Senate: “They elected a perfectly brilliant candidate, who was cruelly brought down by an inescapable illness. Don’t gift wrap a get out of jail free card and give it to them.”
They’re already going to do that. Either that, or they’re going to develop selective hearing loss and ramp up their deflection skills any time anyone mentions Trump.
The guy is a raging narcissist, always has been, and he’s got the intelligence you’d expect from a low-quality trust fund frat kid. He’s exactly who he’s projected for his entire life. The only difference is that now he’s in a position where he undoubtedly feels he’s “America’s boss” (ie, a king). In a sane world even the GOP would be pushing back against that sort of power overreach. We don’t live in that world.
different-church-lady
@Baud: I’ve never known anyone to speak ill of you.
Or well of you.
Or of you.
joel hanes
@lee:
‘Trump claims (without proof)….’
Damn. Pet peeve.
The word “proof” should be restricted to use in mathematics — it’s almost always mis-used. There is no proof in science, and none in law, and damned little in everyday life.
The word the writers should use is “evidence”
satby
@Yutsano: and this is true too, getting a real ID here took me three trips to the DMV to jump through all the hoops.
satby
@Another Scott: hallelujah!
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Jay:
Merriam Webster used “imminent” as its word of the day today. Who knew a dictionary could be so good at throwing shade?
ThresherK
@trollhattan: Isn’t that the home of Focus on the Family, similar Christianist groups, and
God’s OwnUSA’s Air Force Academy?Surprised NPR doesn’t have a full-time correspondent there.
joel hanes
@West of the Rockies:
I’m especially weary of the NPR approach
Ever since Republicans under Reagan attacked NPR’s funding, it has been forced to rely on the generosity of rich people for its continued operation, and thus NPR has grown increasingly chary of biting the hand of those who feed it.
ThresherK
@joel hanes: I can live with the misuse of “proof” for now.
In the one-at-a-time battle, I’d rather first stop use of the word “theory”, as repeated on behalf of right-wing science (sic) folks.
(And since you know the difference between evidence and proof, I know you know what a real theory is.)
geg6
@Betty Cracker:
My John is exactly the same age as Trump. He had a stroke about 6 or 7 months ago. A mild one but a stroke nonetheless. Trump evidences massively more cognitive and speech issues than a John. In fact, John is just fine. Trump keeps getting worse.
That’s my anecdata.
different-church-lady
@joel hanes: To parphrase the Car Talk guys, “Unencumbered by the truth.”
Jay
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Merriam Webster has been throwing shade at the ReThugs and Dolt 45 for a while now.
”Iz ar Children lernin?”.
WaterGirl
@syphonblue: That is laugh out loud funny. Off to read the whole thing. I love her stuff but I never think to go read it unless someone puts up a link.
MattF
@joel hanes: And ‘proof’ is a complex question in mathematics, which depends on the assumptions and rules of inference you accept and on what model you are using. None of these are simple.
WhatsMyNym
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My “Word of the Day” email from them was elixir.
Omnes Omnibus
@Betty Cracker: Spotty how?
joel hanes
@ThresherK:
Anne Elk has a theory about the Brontosaurus.
Which is hers. This theory which is hers is about the Brontosaurus. And it’s her theory.
[Original sketch seems to have been taken down from youtube. A pity.]
CliosFanBoy
@The Moar You Know: I am watching my Mom go through that. To me Trump looks familiar.
CliosFanBoy
@joel hanes: after a spicy meal I sometimes have to hide the fact that I am proofing.
PenAndKey
There’s a reason why, whenever my liberal NPR listening relatives get aghast whenever they remember I don’t support or listen to NPR, I remind them that another name for their favorite news group is “Nice Polite Republicans”. The pro-rich, pro-business angle NPR has been pushing for at least the last twenty years got to the point, years ago, where any claim it could make to be unbiased in it’s coverage went out the window. Sure it may have a few good educational shows every now and then, but as a vehicle for news it’s essentially a corporatocracy propaganda organization.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Incitatus for Senate: again, not a doctor, but I don’t believe all dementia is Alzheimer’s.
PenAndKey
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Alzheimer’s accounts for around 60-80% of dementia patients depending on the data you look at. It’s the majority, for sure, but that 20-40% is still a massive group.
Matt McIrvin
@CaseyL: I feel torn between the knowledge that trying to be cheerful will be good for my health and longevity, and the feeling that it’s literally immoral to be cheerful under present circumstances.
Maybe the answer is that it’s immoral to be healthy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@PenAndKey: other factors:
1) not too bright to begin with
2) the most stressful job in the world that (I believe) he never really wanted
3) constant scrutiny
4) lack of sleep
I can’t believe he hasn’t had some kind of stress-related physical illness, assuming that mystery trip to Walter Reed wasn’t something pretty serious.
Betty Cracker
@Omnes Omnibus: The Ricky Rector thing was pretty awful, and I recall a fair amount of “respectability” politics bullshit, though of course that was a product of the times, as was the crime bill. I didn’t mean to imply Clinton was bad on civil rights or had a terrible relationship with black voters, just not sure why he’s held up as the gold standard by which Buttigieg is judged and found wanting. He had his own issues.
Omnes Omnibus
@Matt McIrvin: Being cheerful is a way of approaching life. How the fuck is it immoral to be cheerful?
Duane
@Another Scott: That puts BAUD!2020! one step closer to the White House.
charon
@The Moar You Know:
I take a guess you are familiar with Alzheimers.
Trump likely has frontotemporal dementia which presents very differently, and he shows plenty of symptoms.
Omnes Omnibus
@Betty Cracker: Okay, I will grant you Rector. Anything else was the product of the time.
Hoodie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s probably a combination of all of those and aging. My experience with cognitive decline is that it tends to uncover or even amplify certain basic character traits as you become less capable of rationally compensating for your impulses. Stressors can make that worse, as an older person needs more recovery time and a generally slower cognitive pace to maintain equilibrium.
One of the problems Trump may be having with working in government is that it’s a largely foreign environment for him. He didn’t come up through the system, so he hasn’t internalized its structure and his instincts are invariably wrong. Because of aging and his insecurities, he is not as capable of overcoming that because he can’t and doesn’t want to learn. Add to that the fact that he already started out as a mediocrity anyway.
Thus, an old Donald Trump as president is far worse than, for example, an old Joe Biden, who grew up in the system, has instincts tuned to that system and, importantly, isn’t a bundle of insecurity. Similarly, Trump is also worse than a younger “outsider” non-politician who could learn more quickly from environmental feedback. Add to that the fact that Trump has a narcissistic, insecure personality that does not let him surround himself with more capable people (in contrast to, for example, Reagan) and actually rely upon them, Trump is about the worst person you could imagine having in the White House.
Ruckus
@PenAndKey:
Though, as much as I think his decline matters, ultimately what matters is that he’s surrounded by yes men, opportunistic GOP zealots, and grifters. As bellicose as he is, he’s essentially a wannabe dictator and puppet to interests he doesn’t even understand. Hell, I doubt he even realizes how much he’s being played when he screws over people, groups, and agencies he’s never heard of before he gives whatever idiotic order he does that screws them. Someone else is whispering into his ear or handing him an order to sign, guaranteed.
A very important point. We all wonder why people like Barr and Graham seem happy to have this lunatic as president. They are finally getting exactly what they want, the American people be damned. The right wing has devolved into a caricature of a political party, especially one in a democracy. It’s taken them 40 or more years to get here but they have arrived.
Ruckus
@CaseyL:
No one thinks I’m 70. Even my docs, and they know my birth date.
I know though.
grammypat
Cheryl, Congrats on being quoted in the Guardian (although I’m confused as to why this is referred to as a “mixed” reaction:
Uncle Cosmo
Heremin, theremin, everywhere a minmin,
Marianne Williamson had some charm:
Woowoo woowoo woo.
Brachiator
@Hoodie:
Don’t know if this thread is still active, but …
Old Trump is like young Trump, only worse. He is like the angry drunk in the back of the bar, ignorant about everything, who insists on telling you what it would be like if he ruled the world. Problem is, Trump actually got elected president.
He insists on bringing his ignorance to the table. He isn’t interested in learning anything because he already knows it all. And he doesn’t have to listen to anyone because all the other angry drunks cheer him on.
J R in WV
@MJS:
Yes. The first major sign I recall seeing was when he slowly climbed down the steps from AF 1 and when he got to the ground, immediately turned right and walked away from the huge black limo waiting for him.
They had to run to catch him before he wandered off onto the runways. Trump did not know what that big black limo was when he got to the bottom of the steps. Scary !!
I am not a doctor of any sort, but I have lived and worked in the midst of people all my life, and Trump is more abnormal every day. He didn’t have that far to go when he decided to run, either.
J R in WV
@dnfree:
Wife was a career correspondent for The AP, and had a young woman come along, perhaps an intern, perhaps a probationary employee, who told wife “I don’t do cold calls…!” when asked to use her phone to track down some news.
Amazing that a person could reach the “reporter” job market with “I don’t do cold calls” as a mantra. Cold calls is how journalism works, I learned that by Jr High.
Dadadadadadada
@MattF: Except Kerry also voted the wrong way on Iraq…
Dr. Ronnie James, D.O.
Journalism’s 2 basic functions are:
1) fact-checking (“Trump said X, which is a lie – the truth is Y.”)
2) providing context (“Trump has a history of lying about his finances, and has refused for years to release his tax returns, a normal practice for Presidential aspirants.”)
The big legacy media outlets who love to fancy themselves the guardians of democracy are completely failing in this role. Clickonomics has reoriented their business mode into being a sort of non-fiction content pipe like Netflix or Disney+, where the focus is on providing exclusive content, entertainment, clicks and subscribers, truth and context be damned. If they want to do that instead of journalism that’s fine, but we can’t have a democracy without someone being willing to do it. You are infinitely better off giving your clicks and $5-8/month to the outlets still dedicated to actual journalism: your local newspaper, NPR/PBS affiliate*, ProPublica, Mother Jones, TPM.com, etc if we don’t then NYT, FoxNews and Sinclair are the only ones telling the story.
* yes I know “nice polite Republicans” but your local affiliate is in most cases covering important stories no one else is.