I hate being put in this position. Donald Trump's critics have proven themselves to be pathological liars time and time again. Whenever he actually manages to accidentally be right about something, the media twists what he says to demonize him even more than usual. Maybe this is why trust in legacy media is at an all-time low?
Case in point: Trump was campaigning in Arizona and made one of his rambley comments in an interview with Tucker Carlson.
While campaigning in Arizona, former President Donald Trump told Tucker Carlson that former Rep. Liz Cheney is a "war hawk" and said she should be fired upon.
According to the context from Politifact, it's at the very least a lot more nuanced, and means something completely different.
She wanted to stay in Iraq. I took them [the troops] out. I mean, if were up to her, we'd, we'd be in 50 different countries. And you know, number one, it's very dangerous. Number two, a lot of people get killed. And number three, I mean, it's very, very expensive.
And later on,
She is a radical war hawk. Let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let's see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face."
In other words, she's a bloodthirsty bitch eager to send other people to kill and die, but she knows damn well she's safe and sound stateside. If she faced death herself, she would probably change her tune.
Of course every mainstream media channel seems to be in lockstep yet again, abandoning the principles of sound journalism to parrot a talking point. Harris immediately sought to exploit this widespread misinformation as a new wedge issue. Remember who keeps saying we need government to crack down on "misinformation?" Harris and Walz. But who deliberately uses falsehoods at every opportunity? Oh, right, these are the people who want to have the power to decide what is truth.
Governments have been selling war on lies since the dawn of history. 20 years ago, there were Democrats pushing back against the neocon warmongers, and I didn't get it then. Not yet. But now I see how many lies we were told, how many Americans died, how many veterans suffer physical or mental wounds, how people in orders of magnitude greater numbers suffer from the devastation American soldiers inflicted on their homes and families.
Dick Cheney was part of that war machine. Liz Cheney cheered it on. Barack Obama was elected as the "peace candidate," and then escalated all of George W. Bush's wars while adding new fronts to the fight. Trump in 2016 was an anomaly. He wasn't a dove, but he wasn't a rabid bloodthirsty warmonger in the vein of his recent predecessors either. He oversaw more than his share of war crimes, and he failed to end wars, but he wasn't playing the neocon game. Then we got Biden, Obama's second fiddle. He (or his handlers) managed to get the US mostly out of its quagmires, but eagerly intervened in Ukraine and Israel to promote more bloodshed and death, drawing out the conflicts so more would suffer and die. Now Harris openly campaigns on war abroad and a police state at home.
We were lied into war in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Dissidents were accused of everything from lacking patriotism to collusion with terrorists.
We were lied into COVID lockdowns and vaccine mandates. Dissidents were accused of everything from science denial to wanting people to die en masse.
These lies and accompanying accusations against anyone who questions them will continue as longa s it keeps working. Republicans and Democrats alike want to wield such power more than they want to prevent their opponents from having such power.
I won't be voting for Trump, but I understand why people in swing states would use him as means to vote against Harris. Meanwhile, use this as yet another example of media duplicity. The media has lied about Russian collusion, "very fine people," and now this instead of actually exploring his real failings. The mainstream media is absolutely bankrupt and without credibility, and they did it to themselves. They embody misinformation and disinformation. We deserve better in news, and we deserve better in leadership than either of these liars offer, but at least one of them isn't openly lying us into more wars.
From Substack:
You're welcome. Also, you're missing out by not making that move.
I think it's important to remember that Trump himself had a pretty heavy hand in the media's downward spiral.
Can you clarify? The media has been making a mockery of journalism for decades.
Yeah, think about that. Who became a media darling a few decades ago? Donald Trump's only successful endeavor has been manipulating the media. He helped normalize 'catch and kill', he bullied editorial staff with litigation (and some claims of actual physical threats), he used to call in to radio and news shows, pretending to be someone else, praising Donald Trump. Much of the 'controversial' stuff he does and says is a deliberate ploy to keep the cameras on him, and as long as it makes them money, it will keep working.
He has been the biggest cash cow they've ever had, and he and the media both know it. They don't hate him, and he doesn't hate them, that's part of the show he learned to put on when he was working with Vince McMahon.
I am so sick of the lies being spread by both parties.
And whose followers cannot tell the difference? I read the NYTimes every day, and it is crawling with headlines and stories just like this. I do not understand how anyone still believes the crap that paper, and others of its ilk, tell them. But they do, and fervently.
which the Dems share.
Six of one, half a dozen of another this election, if you ask me. Yet, most voters believe the choice is one of life or death, whichever candidate they support. Such a bizarre time!
Something to make you feel a lot better. I lean left but with a hard libertarian streak. I know I am an anomaly. I think the government should be kept efficient and run for the people, but I believe in an effective social safety net and healthcare. People like me are cheering for Trump, even if he would not have been our first choice. We have seen through all the media spin, lies, and propaganda. People like me will NEVER vote for captured left politicians again; though calling the DEMS left is laughable. Many on the left too are cheering on ... and if American ... voting for Trump. The DEMS are literally fronted by warmongers, corporate hags, and Diddy/Epstein party guests. Everyday more people see through them. Trump has all the support he had before and now the support of disaffected lefties. You said you are not voting for Trump. You are in a state where you can cast a protest vote. That said, a vote for Trump has become a protest vote. May more people wake up to the capture and corruption in the system; so we can do something about it.
Modern Democrats are war hawks who want a welfare state and corporate management of society. They call Republicans "fascists," but that's the pot calling the kettle black.
Yep
Do you vote anyone else? Or do you not vote at all?
From my point of view, you've lost already as a country, big time (we join you, since I am from Germany). Can Trump be worse than Harris?
I'd vote for Trump. Not because I like him (liking or disliking has not much to do with it). But to estimate the people who he is surrounded by, to have some sane influence over him like J.D. Vance, RFK, Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswhami, Peter Thiel and Elon Musk (though I am skeptical about the last two).
The other thing which would probably make me voting for him is that he
If I would have had been the victim of an assassination, I'd probably say "to hell with it" and make my life cozy with all the millions in my pocket. So, he does not. To contribute everything to a disturbed personality, I think, would go too far. But that is only my estimation from afar. What do I know. My question therefore would be if his last presidency caused you significantly great misery. Also compared to the current administration.
This post may have been ranting against Harris, but I have a laundry list of complaints against Trump as well. While I can make a case that he is probably the lesser of the two evils, he is not a good man, and he has a lot of terrible policy proposals, so and I cannot support him in good conscience. I know which way my state will go, and my vote is mathematically irrelevant at the national level.
At a state and local level, by vote may be slightly less insignificant, but I have become persuaded that the entire political process is illegitimate. Democracy is the political manifestation of the bandwagon and false choice fallacies. Power corrupts and attracts the corrupt. Government usurps authority no one can rationally give it. We are raised with the mantra that, "if you don't vote, you can't complain," but I think George Carlin was more accurate when he said the opposite was true in his comedy act over 20 years ago. And last but not least, as a Christian, we have no long but Christ, and we may be in the world, but we are not of it.
All of these points could be expanded considerably, and I have tried to write about many of them in old posts.
The idea of not voting at all is often debated. However, as it will never be the case in reality that an entire population will not take part in elections, this is a pious wish. Illegitimacy is not affected by this. Because this is the case, citizens are playing for time, aren't they? They choose the least painful option from their point of view.
Since we cannot predict the future due to a lack of knowledge of all the forces involved, as this always includes the possibility of a wild card, I am more inclined to position myself politically anyway, to defend my preferred ‘election programme’.
One thing happens here: the painful realisation of what is going on inevitably leads to theological questions at some point, if one doesn't close ones mind to it. In this respect, as a Christian myself, I see this as salutary. It saves me from cynicism and I think many Christians feel the same way. When the mood is better than the situation, that's what I'm trying to say.
Greetings to you.
The majority already does not participate. The illusion of legitimacy is crumbling.
That doesn't change it, actually. Since the show still goes on. And enough people make their bet.
But if you were to imagine that NOBODY would vote anymore, then you would probably already have a totally desolate and disintegrated society, i.e. an absolute state of emergency or war. Or complete devastation after a war that has already taken place, with only a few survivors left. That would then not be a success at all, but the total defeat of a people. I consider this to be an otherwise absolutely impossible scenario, as never all the people of a country end up with zero or almost zero voter turnout, unless, see above.
The best thing about Trump is that he makes the lies the MSmockingbirdM say stand out.
Less and less people are believing the news.
They have always been lying, but now it is so blatant, and stupid, especially in the age of internet, that they just look silly and stupid.
I really wish Trump was a really good guy, or a saviour, or any of those things.
But, what you find is that Trump is just a bully, "but he is our bully" is what people love.
People who have done deals with him are usually not hurt by the deal, but most people say they would never make a deal with him again.
AND!!! to your point, a LOT of people are going to be dying from the VAXXX now coming up on five years. It will be very sad, depressing.
Trump was prosecuted for a deal the bank's own financial appraisers accepted, and then he paid off, but a politician with an axe to grind decided it was bad.
BUT
Trump also pushed the lockdowns and jab.
The weirdest part: The Democrats went from "Trump's vaccine is bad and Big Pharma is the enemy" to "No jab, no job" and "Yay Pfizer" almost overnight.
Indeed!
It's not that weird when you realize he's just controlled opposition.
The "he's just controlled opposition" argument needs a lot of support. I do believe there is a political class which consists of people who literally conspire to plunder us, but I do not believe the conspiracy theories of a monolithic organization running everything. There are factions within the power elite, disagreements over the way to exploit the gullible masses, and bitter rivalries between families and individuals. Examples historically include Tammany Hall, or the Rockefellers vs. the Morgans.
All organizations will have such factions, it doesn't mean that they don't agree on keeping themselves in power.
Donald Trump is a toy being used by one of those factions, and he doesn't even know it. This was pretty easy to see when he bombed Syria based on some faked videos.
You don't like doggy? :o