AllVille
First, this, about the aiders and abettors of the Trump presidency by Ryan Lizza of the 'outraged', but still very well-heeled, New Yorker:
Anyone in politics or government who works for Donald Trump, whether on the payroll or in some other supporting role, is forced to make a sacrifice. Working for Trump means that one’s credibility is likely to be damaged, so there is a kind of moral calculation that any Trump supporter must make: Does working for him serve some higher purpose that outweighs the price of reputational loss?
There is a hierarchy of justifications for backing Trump. At the bottom are the spokespeople and purely political officials who are almost instantly discredited, because they are forced to defend the statements of a President who routinely lies and manufactures nonsensical versions of events. Sean Spicer learned this on his first day on the job, when Trump sent him into the White House briefing room to tell the press lies about Inauguration-crowd sizes. He never recovered...
Now.
Having read the above it's hard not to ask oneself, 'Who's fault is this entire Trump thing, really'?
The rednecks?
The know-nothings?
The downtrodden white slipping underclass?
Hmmmmm...
How about none of the above?
Are you getting my drift here?
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9 comments:
In the case of Sara Huckabee Sanders, it is "none of the above". She was born into her role and is far more belligerent. RG
The talking heads start the ball rolling. they're the face the "great unwashed" see and hear. Those talking heads are hired by those who want their message out there. so the problem would start at the top. However, the elites will always want their message out there and can afford to pay for it. The talking heads want to make a living and many have little qualms about how they go about it. The "great unwashed", may have done the voting to place Trump where he is, however, we as voters have a responsibility to learn and investigate also.
An article on Politico advises a study done in Germany found that those with extra right wing view to begin with are more open to believing in fake news.
It would be interesting to see what Spicer had to say at this meeting with the students at the Institute of Politics. He is a very good e.g. of why working for a liar just isn't a good career move. if that is the message he is sending, good.
As to Huckster Sanders, how can you tell if she is lying? She's talking. However, she comes from a back ground where her politics may give her the opinion she isn't lying. she's doing the work of the righteous.
All those who voted for Trump could have accessed sources of information to find out who and what Trump is. Just as we are seeing the Democratic nominee for the Senate in Alabama being portrayed as a progressive, if one were to do some research on the guy they'd find another story.
Voters have a responsibility to themselves to research the candidate they vote for. They ought not to rely on the talking heads because they are being paid, usually a lot of money to say what they are.
As to P.R. peddling b.s. we have only to look at what the current D.G. of the World Health Organization tried to peddle when he appointed Robert Mugabe as the "good will ambassador" for the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) He said Zimbabwe had a great health system. On paper perhaps but the truth is Mugabe destroyed not only the health care system in his country but his entire country via corruption and killing.
Perhaps the Director General, the former foreign minister for Ethiopia thought the rest of the world could be fooled by his press release. Not so much. If we believed what Tedros said and not know the truth about Mugabe, Mugabe would have had a whole other organization to loot and plunder. One now has to wonder what else is going on at the W.H.O. of which we are a part.
When we start to look at P.R. and how it impacts our view of the world and other things, just look at Malta. Now who would have thought it was more than a nice place to visit. Not me. But this last week we found out they murder journalists for telling the truth. Now we have to re assess how we think about that country and the role played in the murder. We need to re think and those thoughts won't be nice if we read the dead journalist's blogs.
Its no different in B.C. where the MSM just reported the cops and robbers stuff while money laundering was running rampant. We need to re think the roles of the political elites of the time along with the press and the RCMP. Do we want to do that work? Of course now we have Sam Cooper's employer printing all sorts of information, but the questions is WHY NOW? WHY NOT THEN?
Ya, but...
You read that piece form the Mr. Lizza, speaking for the well-heeled who just can't believe this is happening, and you would think that it would be unthinkable that Mr. Spicer would come out of this thing on the Grammies followed by Harvard.
But...
This type of thing is the rule rather than the exception which, in my opinion, is why people much, much worse who have been the architects of the 40 year march of the Republican base into Hell's ditch (see, for example, W Kristol, D. Brooks,l and/or D. Frum to name just three of many) still show up on the TeeVee and on the pages of the Grey Lady.
It's a real problem because these people know that they will pay no penalty for shovelling toxic shite down the zeitgeist's gullet.
Particularly when the time comes to pretend to disavow everything they ever done when the time comes to double-down deep within the ditch while simultaneously re-branding (see, for example, the 'Tea Party', circa 2010).
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A perfect storm installed Trump and there’s plenty of blame to go around, including but certainly not limited to rednecks, know-nothings, and the downtrodden white slipping underclass. The storm included eight years of intransigence and obstructionism on the part of elected Republicans and their elite enablers for instance; thus creating an appetite for someone (extremely) different. But who is keeping that extreme difference there when he is a clear and present danger seems to be the question at hand.
Congress and/or the Vice-President and Cabinet each have the constitutional power to dump him. But with the Republicans in the House and Senate taking the end justifies the means concept to its extremities, and the Vice-President and Cabinet appointed by the orange outrage himself committing daily self-degradation to protect him, no one can be optimistic about any imminent Trump dump. They hold the power to remove him, but Congress looks no further into future harm than their own electoral prospects in 2018/20 and Cabinet members are busy pursuing personal self-interests (a precondition of the appointer in chief). They are therefore at fault for his continuance.
Whether or how long that continuance endures depends a great deal on one Robert Swan "Bob" Mueller III. His findings have potential to rebrand the Trump brand; with a branding iron hotter than anything those hiding in the ditch can bring out of their forge. I hope he makes haste.
Jeebuz Lew!
If you would just put out your own shingle (and/or let me post your thoughts whenever you like), the bloggodome would be a much better place.
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SH:
"Harvard Students Told Us What They're Learning From Sean Spicer":
Huff Po:Over the course of this week, Spicer has been holding court during breakfasts, lunches, dinners and lectures to pass along to the groups of commingling graduate and undergrad students the many lessons of public service he digested along with all those pieces of gum in his time at the White House. HuffPost spoke with several of these students, who have been granted anonymity because the sessions were off the record, per the Harvard institute’s standard visiting fellow rules. The school probably didn’t need to worry too much. As one student explained, “He’s incredibly inarticulate, so it was really difficult to take any sort of notes.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/harvard-kennedy-sean-spicer-students_us_59e8d273e4b06b440e446d10
Thanks SH--
Guess it pretty much proves my point...What good Trumpians actually say and do means little because, regardless, they'll still get invited to the finest-of-very-fine troughs where they'll mix with by the very fineliest folks who should darn well know better.
Sheesh.
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Talk about inarticulate. Check out the new American ambassador. A reptile, a Trump reptile who will say any inanity including the “ both sides” are to blame and both have good points when it comes to the environment. Rosie Barton looked gobsmacked in her interview.
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