Patterico's Pontifications

2/19/2017

About The Press And The President: We Deserve Better On Both Fronts

Filed under: General — Dana @ 12:05 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Last night, I spent time with two successful individuals from Los Angeles who work in the movie industry. They are both liberals who voted for Hillary Clinton, and both are aghast that Donald J. Trump is now our president. They are also very clear-eyed about the media’s role in helping Trump get into office. They understand that Trump was given far more print space and air time than any other candidate in the running. This by a media desperate for the ratings and hits, and as a result, they essentially launched his win. So the press’s current hysterical reactions and doomsday proclamations of everything Trump – whom they helped put into office – is nothing but a clanging gong of unhinged dishonesty grating on the last nerve of this couple. With regard to the mainstream media, their view is: You made him, now own it. No backsies, no re-dos, so just shut-up.

I couldn’t agree with them more. I loathed the mainstream media, before the election, and even more so after. Their dishonesty and complicity with the Democratic party, their refusal to ensure that newsrooms have equal representation of varying political views (which should not matter, but undeniably does), and sheer arrogance reveals jut how unable they are to see the world through any other lens than a very-narrowly defined one of liberalism. Thus after decades of this partisan bias, it’s no wonder that we are now here: polarized and frustrated as one side seeks its revenge against the powerful entity that is the American press. An entity which has long-mocked, dismissed and sneered at a large swath of the population. A populace now counting on President Trump to exact a long-sought after revenge. And with this thirst for a comeuppance, there comes a willingness to lower the bar of reasonable standards and look the other way at dishonest and unethical behavior from their champion. The end now justifies the means. On the side of the press, the still-smoldering anger over the devastating election loss, an election that they believe was their “owed” win, has turned to an hysterical, over-the-top reaction of hit jobs and Fake News reports. That the election was lost to someone like Trump still cannot be believed. This inability to accept reality is also similar to the press’s continuing inability to grasp that their long-exposed collective biases have rendered them mostly irrelevant, save for a few pocketed regions of liberalism.

As readers here already know, I have not been a Trump supporter. I don’t see any reason to re-hash the basis for my concerns, but suffice it to say, that post-election, my concerns and fears about the president haven’t changed.

With that, I want to point you to an excellent article addressing the simple fact that it is very possible – and I am proof of this, as is the liberal couple with whom I conversed – that one can dislike equally both President Trump and the American press. Those are not mutually exclusive positions. This is not a binary choice that we have to make: either reject Trump or reject the press, either support Trump or support the press. Says who?

NRO’s Kevin D. Williamson offers thoughts on this, to which I heartily concur:

…Every Republican president is “the most extreme ever,” or so Democrats and their media friends insist. (“We do always say that,” one Democratic friend acknowledged. “And it is always true.” Well . . . )

In this corner, the American Press; in the opposite corner, the American President. The time has come for choosing sides — or so do many of our friends on the left and in the media (there is some crossover in that group) insist, as do more than a few of our friends on the right.

On Friday, I was scolded by Joe Hagan of New York magazine (he must have taken a break from the vital service he is offering to the republic at the moment, composing a biography of Jann Wenner) for daring to criticize my media colleagues in the age of Trump, “since you are supposedly a journalist.” It is, he insisted, “as if you, as a conservative, can’t see objective reality along with somebody you assume is a political opposite.” No, it is as if the American news media is predictably biased and incompetent, and would be writing almost precisely what it is writing about Donald Trump if the election had been won by Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, or Pat Sajak.

It is possible, if you are not mentally crippled, to hold your mind two non-exclusive ideas: Donald J. Trump stinks, and the press stinks. Trump’s spat with the press is a bloodless Iran–Iraq war, and I myself am cheering for (metaphorical) casualties. If you find yourself only able to focus on which party stinks worse, then you have adopted the pre-kindergarten “binary choice” rhetoric of the campaign, in which both Trump and Clinton supporters insisted that we must ignore the obvious character defects, financial shenanigans, lies, and foolishness of A or B on the theory that B or A is so much worse that we simply cannot acknowledge any shortcomings on the other side.

Those of us who have not entirely surrendered our neocortices to one cable-news tribe or the other are perfectly capable of criticizing Trump and criticizing the media. Of course the American media is terrible. Everybody knows this. Everybody who follows the public debate about guns, taxes, or abortion knows this. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, knows this, which is why he sheepishly acknowledged that the so-called Newspaper of Record and its editors “don’t get religion.” And that is just a little bit of what they don’t get. Other senior editors at major media outlets know this, too. The people who run the Washington Post know this. The reflexive Democratic affiliation of most of the major media is a simple fact of life that you’d have to be foolish or dishonest to deny[.]

The tragedy of all this is that, yeah, we really could use an effective, active, and credible press right now. We have an active one five days out of the week, an effective one five days out of the month, and a credible one . . . not that often. My criticisms of Trump do not go so far as those who believe that he is a budding fascist dictator on the verge of building concentration camps, but if you really did believe that, wouldn’t you wish, at least a little, that the media hadn’t been exactly as hysterical when faced with the bland, anodyne visage of Mitt Romney? Or John McCain? You want to be taken seriously now after insisting that Dick Cheney was the new American Gestapo?

Williams goes on to point out that unfortunately, everyone’s view of a credible source differs greatly. It may be Maddow or Chris Hayes one side of the aisle, and Limbaugh or Hannity on the other side (I’m spit balling here, because honestly, I don’t even know about the right anymore…). Regardless, to my mind, the American people have fought too long and hard to settle for this current lot in life:

We deserve a better press, and a better president, too. If you are the sort of partisan who cannot entertain the possibility that both of these things may be true at the same time, then you ought to consider the possibility that you are one of the reasons why we do not have a better press or a better president.

We need to keep fighting. For both.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

165 Responses to “About The Press And The President: We Deserve Better On Both Fronts”

  1. Happy Sunday!

    Dana (023079)

  2. How about he is an imperfect vehicle and the press is mostly useless, take the very modest pause in immigration from seven countries designated by statute. They dialed to eleventy

    narciso (d1f714)

  3. They understand that Trump was given far more print space and air time than any other candidate in the running. This by a media desperate for the ratings and hits, and as a result, they essentially launched his win.

    whaaaa?

    the servile propaganda sluts did this at the behest of stinkypig glorificus, not for ratings

    this was a masterful strategy to elect the pig

    Calling them the “pied piper” candidates, team Hillary describes Trump, Cruz, and Carson as nominees that could – if handled properly – make the extreme the mainstream.

    We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to them seriously,” it said in the email.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  4. They are printing unsources rumor and innuendo say for days if the week, I’ll give then one day like the subsequent Yemen story, by Larkin, which they subsequently dropped.

    narciso (d1f714)

  5. If, by some constitutional method, we could trade any of a dozen people for Donald Trump, I’d be for it in a flash. But at best we get Mr Pence, who is not one of those dozen.

    Trump’s gut instincts about the terrible disregard of the middle class and unurban America, and the need for the Powers-That-Be to reconnect with the people are valid. It is his redeeming feature. BUt there are so many other, more obvious features that are no nearly so appealing.

    I wish I could find a redeeming feature about the press. I guess this: during Republican administrations it isn’t state-controlled. Faint praise indeed.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  6. He won in spite of them, focusing on the petty and the ridiculous, instead if addressing real issues

    narciso (d1f714)

  7. In this corner, the American Press; in the opposite corner, the American President the American People.

    this is what president trump understands (because he is so smart)

    when the fake news propaganda sluts try to do global warning hoax all up in it, it’s your children they’re trying to indoctrinate and enslave, not the president – it’s our jobs they threaten with climate marxism, not President Trump’s

    when NPR tries to make you think trannies are normal people not smelly and gross, it’s cause they wanna tranny up your kid’s bathroom not Mr. Trump’s

    when CNN fake news spends the better part of a year trying to pimp out the dead newtown baby wazzles to destroy the second amendment, it’s not Mr. Trump’s right to personal security they’re trying to abolish it’s yours and mine

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  8. When Trump said the media is the enemy of America, he told the truth. Because the media made him President.

    nk (dbc370)

  9. What’s your concern with Pence? Is it long standing or a by product of being the VP chosen by Trump?

    urbanleftbehind (b70063)

  10. Greetings:

    Even though I mostly grew up in the Bronx of the ’50s and ’60s, our family had a small summer place about 60 miles north in semi-rural Putnam County. Our neighbor across the creek was a farmer and that’s probably where I heard the story about the farmer, the mule, and the 2×4. That last one was, as I was told, to get his attention.

    My mother was fond of a somewhat different approach that went, “You just wait until your father gets home.”

    Whatever the prog-prop-media is reaping these Trump days, it has earned at the expense of our country and its citizens. While many insist on portraying themselves as aghast at the effrontery, it is the proper curative and hopefully a prophylactic. However, what I have been seeing on the media opinion sites is a bunch of anti-Trump group-think and whistling past his newly installed graveyard. I am not at all optimistic that they are capable of altering their behavior. Like addicts of many other ilks, they will probably have to hit rock bottom first.

    However much he is enjoying it, what President Trump is doing needs to be done. Those on the political right have had nothing that could be confused with a champion for eight long years. Those too willing to share their damnings with faint praise and back-handed compliment are those too willing to Judas Goat us into the Progressive New World.

    11B40 (6abb5c)

  11. … their refusal to ensure that newsrooms have equal representation of varying political views (which should not matter, but undeniably does) …

    It should matter, and it will matter.

    Not because the want to write slanted news, but because without the perspecive from different life experiences and outlooks their understanding is necessarily limited. This is a classic diversity issue — the lack of diverse input results in a monotonic output.

    It’s not that they don’t want to present the news fairly, it’s that they don’t grok the other side and CAN’T report it fairly.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  12. But of the two, Trump is by far the worst. He can destroy America. The media may be Dr. Frankenstein but he is the Monster.

    nk (dbc370)

  13. ugh global *warming* hoax i mean

    i have to buy a new keyboard

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  14. What’s your concern with Pence? Is it long standing or a by product of being the VP chosen by Trump?

    Oh, he’s better than Trump as far a temperament goes, but 1) I am not a social conservative, 2) I don’t see his commitment to killing Leviathan, and 3) he strikes me (and always has) as a second-rater.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  15. He won in spite of them, focusing on the petty and the ridiculous, instead if addressing real issues

    But the press delights in the petty and ridiculous, as do the American people.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  16. Up to a point, but there is a sizable cohort that dies care.

    narciso (d1f714)

  17. When Trump said the media is the enemy of America, he told the truth. Because the media made him President.

    Condense this to a bumper sticker and you’ll sell millions.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  18. After Daniels, he had to be at a minimum “do no further harm to Leviathan”, and his successor is approaching Kasich in several areas(aid to distressed minority cities, road building).

    urbanleftbehind (b70063)

  19. My list of replacements would include Gingrich, Mattias, Romney, Condi, Cruz, Fiorina and Walker. The reasons vary. They don’t include Pence, Ryan or Hatch, who are the next in line. Tillerson might work, don’t know enough.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  20. there is no such thing as replacements

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  21. “the lack of diverse input results in a monotonic output.”

    The intellectual inbreeding which results from Gramscian affinity hiring also results in Dueling Banjos level intellect. There’s really not much happening in the institutions after the successful march other than an increasing rate of decay. I have no idea whether Trump will be more effective as a WWE President than Jesse Ventura was as a WWE governor but the correct identification of media as enemy propagandists is a properly measured move as a means of enlarging his WWE base.

    I find it helpful to picture him dressed in white tights and cape, breaking a folding chair over an opponents head in retribution for an illegal choke hold. Trying to use Alinsky tactics on the Caped Crusader just ain’t gonna work for the media black hats and college perfessors.

    Rick Ballard (5e8a41)

  22. Obama’s own foreign policy advisor bragged that he was spoon-feeding memes on Iran to young reporters who were clueless about the world and history and eould

    Now all of a sudden Trump’s the apocalypse?

    Harkin (311cb7)

  23. Edit to above first sentence: “would parrot anything they were told”.

    Harkin (311cb7)

  24. The media sent an army of reporters to investigate which movies Todd Palin had rented from Blockbuster Video in Wasilla.
    But no “journalist” could locate someone who could give details about having a particular poli sci class with Barack at Columbia University.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  25. Apparently our infallible, truth-telling president misunderstood a segment on Tucker Carlson Friday night, and made-up another fake terrorist attack at his rally on Saturday.

    I don’t know whether to laugh or cry that a president who has dedicated his administration to discrediting the news media apparently relies on them as his sole source of (mis-)information, and believes, uncritically, anything they say that reinforces his prejudices.

    Dave (711345)

  26. dave if you’re having uncontrollable laughing or crying spells
    perhaps you should consult your medical professional

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  27. How about this:

    In some meaningful way, the view of Trump espoused by the Trump critics on the right and the NeverTrumpers, is partially a creation of the left wing dishonest press.

    So, if you can see the dishonesty and bias in the press, is it not possible for you to see that in some way your own view of Trump has been shaped the way Trump has been portrayed in the press, in addition to the damage that Trump has done to himself?

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  28. yes yes Sweden is getting a lot of little swedish boys and girls raped and killed and murdered cause they did a bunch of unacculturated welfare case muslim terrorist refugees all up in it

    oops!

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  29. We deserve a better press, and a better president, too.

    Yeah, right. We’ve been stuck with this one sided, partisan, “we’re better than you are” press for sixty years and Trump for less than thirty days. How about ya’ll shut up and give the man some space?

    If you’re the kind of partisan that can’t wait at least a year to actually see if the guy is bad, good, terrible or great your minds already made up. And polluted.

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  30. Mr. Trump’s gonna do so good for America

    lessin you some kinda swamp lover

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  31. If you’re the kind of partisan that can’t wait at least a year to actually see if the guy is bad, good, terrible or great your minds already made up.

    I don’t need a year to decide whether a man who boasts about committing sexual assault and peeping at naked little girls is terrible.

    Dave (711345)

  32. Can you imagine jebberia or mittens under this much siege from the press? Dry cleaners would have a field day. You know the msfm would have came at them from every angle. Deep down I think both of them are pleased they were beat.

    mg (31009b)

  33. fun fact: bill clinton, whose penis is infested with rape herpes, actually served in the office of the presidency for eight years in the 90s; his greatest achievement was to force american schoolgirls to wear special uniforms

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  34. Happyfeet, are you comparing Trump to Clinton? Or are you using that as an example of, “yeah well their guy is just as bad if not worse because of X!”?

    Sean (41ed1e)

  35. democrats only pretend to care about sexual stuff when it’s a Republican

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  36. Twitter has returned America full circle to pamphleteering and peer to peer journalism. The Press could use a little Lean Manufacturing and Kaizan if you will.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  37. democrats only pretend to care about sexual stuff when it’s a Republican

    Just ask New York mayor, Anthony Weiner.

    Dave (711345)

  38. ask him what’s on the e-mails

    mg (31009b)

  39. WE may deserve better, but the Press definitely deserves Trump.

    C. S. P. Schofield (99bd37)

  40. In some meaningful way, the view of Trump espoused by the Trump critics on the right and the NeverTrumpers, is partially a creation of the left wing dishonest press.

    So, if you can see the dishonesty and bias in the press, is it not possible for you to see that in some way your own view of Trump has been shaped the way Trump has been portrayed in the press, in addition to the damage that Trump has done to himself?

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 2/19/2017 @ 2:18 pm

    I don’t think one even needed to read the mainstream press, or even right-leaning commentators to grasp the fullness of what Trump has been saying all along. Their interpretation is just that, and we know it must fit their narrative – whether you’re in the NYT camp or the Hannity camp.

    the beauty of the internet and cable is that we can see and hear for ourselves what the president says, and make our decisions based on that. I was going to add that we can also read what his advisers say he is saying, too, but then, that is not always in alignment with their boss.

    Dana (023079)

  41. Reagan firing the ATC’s didn’t destroy air travel in America.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  42. Deleted my off-topic comment and am going to put it in the right place.

    Patterico (9356e2)

  43. 25… More fake news from CNN c/o dave… https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/257791/

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  44. mg

    Jeb would look like Milo up there wearing his mama’s pearls.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  45. Al Franken – Jill Stein in 2020!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  46. Franken-Stein 2020!!!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  47. @45, still defending the indefensible:

    25… More fake news from CNN c/o dave… https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/257791/

    “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden” … nothing happened the night before in Sweden.

    Dave (711345)

  48. Last night, I spent time with two successful individuals from Los Angeles who work in the movie industry. They are both liberals who voted for Hillary Clinton, and both are aghast that Donald J. Trump is now our president.

    Which is a meaningless reflection of opinion for everyone is ‘successful’ in Hollywood.

    Flickbizzers in the know are keenly awre– and mostly likely reticent or uncomfortable to discuss openly– that 95% of the $ in the industry goes to the top 5%. The rest, below-the-line folks et al., earn a modest middle class income.

    “Place got hit by lightning, huh? F-ck you, pay me.” – Henry Hill [Ray Liotta] ‘Goodfellas’ 1990

    _________

    National Review was and remains opposed to Trump. Recall their issue w/multiple columnists etc., rejecting him because he was a threat– to their established entrenchment. NR represents a rigid and decaying past; a POV buried in Simi Valley and accordingly quite irrelevant to the discourse on issues and problems of the present day. And FWIW, Maddow, Hayes and Hannity are self-described opinionators; carnival barkers hired to draw crowds for product peddlers. Limbaugh, particularly when cornered by attention, retreats to his label of ‘entertainer’ with sinister ease. None of them are genuine journalists.

    America’s ‘free pre$$’ is doing just fine. Aliens and Elvis still move magazines; a cover graced by the long dead Diana still spikes tabloid sales and you’d be ‘hard-pressed’ to find any media concern that losing money. Indeed, the outlets and platforms in the Information Universe keep expanding. It’s a faux-fight; a shiny object. Nobody ever wins a battle with corporate concerns that ‘buy ink by the barrel.’

    “Very good, Frank. Exemplary. Keep it up.” – Arthur Jensen [Ned Beatty] ‘Network’ 1976

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  49. No description, no mention of a “fake terrorist attack”, dave. Focus.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  50. 33.If you’re the kind of partisan that can’t wait at least a year to actually see if the guy is bad, good, terrible or great your minds already made up.

    I don’t need a year to decide whether a man who boasts about committing sexual assault and peeping at naked little girls is terrible.
    Dave (711345) — 2/19/2017 @ 2:40 pm

    I’m sorry Dave, did I set off your virtue signaling radar? Or are you the typical leftist who believes nothing Trump ever said but that?

    Rev. Hoagie® (785e38)

  51. @49. “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden” … nothing happened the night before in Sweden.

    Context. It was a Fox News package he was referencing from the evening before. Saw it. And if you did, you’d see the point he was driving at, albeit inarticulate. His use of language is very… ‘Bush’ league.

    “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” – Jerry Seinfeld ‘Seinfeld’ NBC TV

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  52. No description, no mention of a “fake terrorist attack”, dave.

    Context is a thing.

    Dave (711345)

  53. 53… I did not see that on Fox News, DCSCA. I did see the actual transcript and I did read what dave contended Trump had said, which he DID NOT say.

    So… see dave for fake news.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  54. Or are you the typical leftist who believes nothing Trump ever said but that?

    First, I am not supporting the guy who said Hillary would make a great president and who bankrolled Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, Jimmy Carter, Charlie Rangel and Anthony Weiner. You are. So stuff your ‘leftist’ BS. I am the conservative here.

    Second, are you the typical cultist who believes everything Trump ever said but that?

    Third, declarations against interest (saying something unflattering about himself) are generally treated as more credible, a priori, than others.

    Dave (711345)

  55. Jim Acosta: Trump Season!

    PDJT: Press Season!

    Jake Tapper: Trump Season!

    PDJT: Press Season!

    Chuck Todd: Trump Season!

    PDJT: Trump Season!

    ABCNBCCBSPBSCNNMSNBC: PRESS SEASON FIRE!!!

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  56. SDFFN
    lmao

    mg (31009b)

  57. @48 Colonel Haiku

    Copyright that!

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  58. During the summer in Sweden and Norway they call it Daylight Raping Time.

    Copyright 2017

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  59. @55. I think we agree, Colonel. The FNC package was a kind of ‘B-roll’ backgrounder for panel chatter. That context opened the window to what he was referencing. He can be inarticulate and ‘clipped in thought’ when regurgitating a piece of television which does reveal something about what it takes to get his attention- and the length of his attention span– about a three minute news package.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  60. I’m watching the entire 2/16 presser for the first time as I write this, DCSCA… very clipped, very random, very Trumpian. He’ll never be accused of being articulate, but he knows how to work a room.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  61. To your request of my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper should be conducted, so as to be most useful, I should answer, “by restraining it to true facts & sound principles only.” Yet I fear such a paper would find few subscribers. It is a melancholy truth, that a suppression of the press could not more compleatly deprive the nation of it’s benefits, than is done by it’s abandoned prostitution to falsehood. Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knolege with the lies of the day. I really look with commiseration over the great body of my fellow citizens, who, reading newspapers, live & die in the belief, that they have known something of what has been passing in the world in their time; whereas the accounts they have read in newspapers are just as true a history of any other period of the world as of the present, except that the real names of the day are affixed to their fables. General facts may indeed be collected from them, such as that Europe is now at war, that Bonaparte has been a successful warrior, that he has subjected a great portion of Europe to his will, &c., &c.; but no details can be relied on. I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. He who reads nothing will still learn the great facts, and the details are all false.

    Perhaps an editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this. Divide his paper into 4 chapters, heading the 1st, Truths. 2d, Probabilities. 3d, Possibilities. 4th, Lies. The first chapter would be very short, as it would contain little more than authentic papers, and information from such sources as the editor would be willing to risk his own reputation for their truth. The 2d would contain what, from a mature consideration of all circumstances, his judgment should conclude to be probably true. This, however, should rather contain too little than too much. The 3d & 4th should be professedly for those readers who would rather have lies for their money than the blank paper they would occupy.

    Thomas Jefferson (e227a1)

  62. Hillary made a great president but a terrible candidate. The second season of Firefly was great too.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  63. @63- He can sometimes speak like he thinks– in a ‘New York Minute.’ Once you learn the lingo, ithe cadence and intent gets easier to read. But outside of the Tri-state area, it’s still a foreign language to many.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  64. The Pantsuit in the High Castle.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  65. Great article:

    The best evidence that the media are the enemy of the American people is that they put Trump in power

    I have a theory that one of the reasons Trump understands the news media so very well (and thus is able to manipulate them like no one else in political history) is that he is so much like the average modern reporter. He is not very bright but has a short attention span, likes a good/easy narrative, has no interest in details, puts little value on morals, and just wants to be rich and famous.

    Dave (711345)

  66. The second season of Firefly was great too.

    His first term was better.

    “…if you think this country’s in trouble now, just wait ’til I get through with it.” -Rufus T. Firefly [Groucho Marx] ‘Duck Soup’ 1933

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  67. Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 2/19/2017 @ 3:28 pm

    LOL!

    felipe (023cc9)

  68. We get only the best mobys.

    NJRob (a0a2c6)

  69. Right, tramp’s coverage was 91% negative,
    streetwiseprofessor.com/?p=10424

    narciso (d1f714)

  70. Off topic but real news:

    Congratulations to NASA and the team at SpaceX for today’s successful and truly historic commercial liftoff carrying supplies to the ISS from taxpayer-financed and built, Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The famed launch pad is the site where America’s moon missions– including Apollo 11– and space shuttles once rocketed into orbit.

    Even more remarkable was the successful and safe return of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle’s first stage, safely touching down on a ground-based landing pad at Cape Canaveral to be refurbished and used again. It’s a long-dreamed-of-sight in the science fiction universe that’s now a reality in our world– and a cost-saving enterprise; a rocket returning to Earth, landing vertically, after doing it’s job.

    Outstanding.

    Ad Astra, boys and girls.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  71. When Trump said the media is the enemy of America,

    He didn’t say that. He said that people who thought they were enemies of his, were really enemies of all of the American people. (and that was a way of claiming he’s doing the right things)

    It’s something to be waved away.

    Reading comprehension is really pretty bad with some of the press. He meant they were trying to prevent him from fixing the “MESS”.

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump

    The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

    1:48 PM – 17 Feb 2017

    The following clarifies it:

    Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

    Don’t believe the main stream (fake news) media.The White House is running VERY WELL. I inherited a MESS and am in the process of fixing it.

    5:31 AM – 18 Feb 2017

    Now, it’s not so true that he’s fixing the MESS (although maybe it could be said he’s preventing things from getting worse by doing such things as undoing some recent regulations and nominating Neil Gorsuch) and to the extent that he is fixing a mess, like with Obamacare maybe let’s say, nothing that the press is doing is interfering with it.

    They may be interfering with an alliance with Russia, but that’s probably a good thing.

    Sammy Finkelman (da1ea7)

  72. He didn’t say that. He said that people who thought they were enemies of his, were really enemies of all of the American people. (and that was a way of claiming he’s doing the right things)

    Not sure if serious, or if so, what distinction you are trying to make here.

    The FAKE NEWS media … is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

    Some subtlety involving the meaning of “is”?

    Dave (711345)

  73. 29. https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/833435244451753984?p=v

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump

    <b? My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden.

    1:57 PM – 19 Feb 2017

    Well, that’s actually the truth. That’s something.

    Although he didn’t say Never Mind like Emily Litella.

    Now this is what Trump said:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/19/world/europe/last-night-in-sweden-trumps-remark-baffles-a-nation.html

    “You look at what’s happening,” he told his supporters. “We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?”

    Not the Swedes.

    Nothing particularly nefarious happened in Sweden on Friday — or Saturday, for that matter — and Swedes were left baffled,

    This is what had happened the previous night:

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/02/19/trump-clarifies-sweden-remark-says-was-referring-to-fox-news-report.html

    Friday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” featured an interview with documentary filmmaker Ami Horowitz about a surge in violent crime in Sweden.

    Some have traced the crime increase in Sweden to a surge in the number of refugees entering from Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

    Sweden, as well as most western democracies, lacks antibodies against an uptick in crime, and it just gets magnified.

    Now, you know, I think all this criticism and warning about refugees, especially syrian refugees, is just another indication of the influence of Vladimir Putin. They are not two separate things.

    Sammy Finkelman (da1ea7)

  74. Dave (711345) — 2/19/2017 @ 5:46 pm

    Not sure if serious, or if so, what distinction you are trying to make here.

    He’s not saying they start out to be enemies of the American people.

    “The FAKE NEWS media … is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People! ”

    Some subtlety involving the meaning of “is”?

    No, it’s the contrast. What he’s saying is that those people may THINK they are enemies only of him, are really enemies of the American people, because they are trying to make him fail. It’s a way of saying he’s doing the right thing.

    Sammy Finkelman (da1ea7)

  75. No, it’s the contrast. What he’s saying is that those people may THINK they are enemies only of him, are really enemies of the American people, because they are trying to make him fail. It’s a way of saying he’s doing the right thing.

    Maybe we are in violent agreement then.

    I interpret it to mean “any who challenge me are enemies of the American people”.

    Remember, Trump is an obsessive narcissist. It is always about him. There is nothing else. If you like him, and say nice things about him, you are good. Otherwise you are bad.

    The idea of a good faith disagreement about anything is beyond his ken.

    More to the point, the idea of an adversarial press having a constructive and necessary role to play is also beyond his ken.

    Dave (711345)

  76. Put on my swampy shoes and I boarded the plane

    Touched down in the land of the kiddie porn in the middle of a real sh*t storm

    Theodore Roosevelt won’t you smile down over me

    ’cause I’ve got First World problems

    And I’m as orange as a guy can be

    I’m ballin’ in DC

    Puttin’ my shoe six feet up Chuck Todd’s *ss

    I’m ballin’ in DC

    This, too soon, shall pass

    Saw the ghost of Johnson on Pennsylvania Avenue

    Shadowed him up to the gates of the White House and watched him pass right thru

    But Melania she did not see him, we were having a little snit

    But there’s a lapdog gang, handmaids of Lyndon Baines

    Watching him take a sh*t

    We’ve got Trump Steaks on the table

    We’ve got MAGA in the air

    And Reverend Al will be glad to see you if he thinks you’re rich enough

    You’re rich enough in DC

    Helen Thomas plays the establishment every Friday in the old press room

    They brought me by to see her and asked me if I would

    Take a little picture, and I tried with all my might

    She asked me, “Are you a Democrat son?” and I said

    “B*tch, not on your life!”

    I’m ballin’ in DC

    I put my finger in Jim Acosta’s drink

    I’m ballin’ in DC

    But do I really think what I think?

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  77. More fake news from The Hill: Headline: Netanyahu Turned Down Secret Peace Deal.

    So says former Obama Administration Officials (Cough Ben Rhodes Cough).

    At the top of the story:

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a peace deal during a secret meeting orchestrated by then-Secretary of State John Kerry last February that sought to move toward ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AP report on Sunday.

    Netanyahu participated in this secret meeting on Feb. 21, 2016 in Aqaba, Jordan, with King Abdullah II of Jordan and President el-Sissi of Egypt, former U.S. officials told the AP. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, first reported the meeting.

    According to the AP, Kerry proposed renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in exchange for regional recognition that Israel is a Jewish state, which would’ve included peace with dozens of Muslim and Arab nations.

    Didn’t the headline say he rejected a “Peace Deal”?? Why does the story only say Kerry was proposing renewed peace talks??

    Well, lets skip down to the bottom:

    While Netanyahu turned down the deal, it is not clear whether the Arab states would’ve accepted or declined the deal either. They “showed varying degrees of the enthusiasm,” with the Palestinians expressing the most concern about the concessions the deal would require.

    How’s that for dishonesty in writing?

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  78. Actually the reason Big Media did what they did is because the Clinton folks told them too because they all thought Trump would be the easiest Repub to beat. Lots of people thought that. Turned out they were wrong.

    Cross Lucas (f14107)

  79. Ahbthats like a similar deal, on the eve of the 2001 inaugural, at tabs I think, shipwrecked, Robert mallet a future liaison to hams in the Obama administration, spun that as a lost opportunity in the new York review.

    narciso (d1f714)

  80. A press that doesn’t dig into how threadbare the crowdstrike report is, that takes the dingy dossier seriously is nit a serious institution

    narciso (d1f714)

  81. The media wasn’t the only group that was hysterically and obsessively attacking Trump, so were almost all of Mr. Trump’s Republican competitors for the nomination. This is not such a surprising alignment; both groups desperately wanted to defeat Trump and both groups believed that their untiring histrionics would accomplish just that. Ted Cruz was the only one who held back, which provoked the media and much of the Republican Party to attack Cruz. If you recall, Cruz was roundly criticized in these comments for keeping his powder dry. In retrospect, it seems completely unsurprising that it was the brilliant Cruz who was the only one smart enough to STFU.

    To single out the media for their obsession during the campaign season seems unfair. They were hardly alone; TDS was the national pastime.

    And the beat goes on. Since the election, the hysteria continues apace, with only a modest number of defections from all groups. A few of the pundits I read have come to grips with the wildly inaccurate predictions of what a Trump presidency portended. I’ve particularly enjoyed seeing the Powerline guys come around and, I admit, there are others as well. What is astonishing, though, is the inability of most Trump critics to quit their hyperventilating. Any rational being can see that such behavior plays into Trump’s hands and diminishes the standing of the critics and their criticisms. And here, too, the media constitutes only one of many unhinged anti-Trump factions. To beat up on them, as before, makes no sense. The media, as Glenn Reynolds likes to point out, are simply Democratic Party operatives with bylines. They’re the P.R. department and they’ve been doing exactly what their de facto client, the Democratic Party, wants them to do.

    Blaming the messenger, besides being grossly unfair, has the added defect that it ignores the culpability of so many others who have contributed to this ongoing circus. Trump is by no means the only clown in country.

    ThOR (c9324e)

  82. Dave (711345) — 2/19/2017 @ 6:32 pm

    I interpret it to mean “any who challenge me are enemies of the American people”.

    I don’t think he’s trying to say that. He knows taht would be going too far. He’s claiming that people who are against him – that it’s not him they are against – they are against the American people. He doesn’t start out by saying the press is the enemy of the people. I think it’s mre like they are objectively” against the American people.

    Remember, Trump is an obsessive narcissist. It is always about him. There is nothing else. If you like him, and say nice things about him, you are good. Otherwise you are bad.

    He is like that, too much. And you wonder how a person can openly act this way in public.

    The idea of a good faith disagreement about anything is beyond his ken.

    What might possibly be beyond his ken is the idea of anyone having other than personal motivations for disagreeing with anyone about anything. If you don’t like someone, you disagree, and if you like someone, you never disagree. He sometimes sounds that way. It seems hard to believe anyone could think that way. I wouldn’t know what’s going on in his head.

    I don’t know how much of that he can believe. some of what he says is just plain ridiculous. Like this:

    Donald J. Trump
    @realDonaldTrump

    The Democrats had to come up with a story as to why they lost the election, and so badly (306), so they made up a story – RUSSIA. Fake news!

    6:39 AM – 16 Feb 2017

    He keeps on saying it was a great victory. By the way, 306 really is right even though in the end he got only 304. At the press conference, he was reduced to saying somebody told him.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/us/politics/donald-trump-press-conference-transcript.html?smid=pl-share

    Trump had said he got the biggest Electoral vote total since Reagan. A reporter mentions Obama, Clinton – President Trump says among “Republicans” – the reporter cites George Herbert Walked Bush in 1988 (the transcript is not good here) So finally Trump says he was given that information.

    Sammy Finkelman (b32091)

  83. Dave (711345) — 2/19/2017 @ 6:32 pm

    More to the point, the idea of an adversarial press having a constructive and necessary role to play is also beyond his ken.

    Well, he’s complaing here they are just not running fair stories. But he seems to blame both the leakers and the press. Does he think they both know something is a lie?

    Now he thing there were actually some bad stories. Or half bad.

    You had the whole thing about Mike Flynn having negotiated before Trump was in office, leaked at a time when that ad already been looked into and they knew he hadn’t done that.

    The story about Russian espionage agents being in contact with people close to him – there he has to know is possible even if none of taht was ever communicated to him or to any of top people in the campaign. Something was responsible for this friendliness to Ptin.

    And then there was the Wall Street Journal story about information being withheld from the White House because the identities of sources might be given away. The Trump Administration got statements from the top intelligence people that nothing is being withheld. (the natural question then is, how does Reince Priebus know they are not lying? If they were withholding info they’d lie about it too)

    On that story we then got explanations that this happens all the time, and now we have the Wall Street Journal reporter saying yes, they did it before, but now they are doing it for a different reason!

    And people on both sides of that may be dinhonest. Maybe somebody in the intelligence community was the source of the leak as to Christopher Steele’s source, or the source for the info about Russian interets in hacking the actual election (one person suspected of being Steele source was killed on December 26, and 3 other people thought by reporters to have been informants about Russian hacking were arrested.

    And maybe also there is somebody in the White House not to be trusted.

    Sammy Finkelman (b32091)

  84. shipwreckedcrew @80. There’s probably something left out of the story.

    WHen you throw away the editotializing the claim is is that Netanyahu rejected an proposal that Israel propose that if there was regional recognition that Israel is a Jewish state, they shoudl then begin peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

    Reading it carefully, was the Palesitnian delegation also supposed to agree that Israel was a Jewish state, or were they exempted? Because if they didn’t agree to that, Netanyahu would not have a great deal of interest in this. He considers this a basic prequisite, along with stopping the honoring and rewarding of terrorists who murder, or attempt to murder, Jews, or their families. The latter is not mentioned at all in this story.

    And what did Kerry mean by regional recognition? The Arab League? Or just selected states here and there, and that would be OK with Kerry?

    Sammy Finkelman (b32091)

  85. Look at my 83 link sammeh, its never a deal could accept in good conscience, it seem serge milan, who appeared in pics as often with Mccain and forge Perez, wrAngled the gossip whuch steel needed commissioned by fusion gps

    narciso (d1f714)

  86. Israel could accept in good conscience.

    narciso (d1f714)

  87. narcis @73 and @89. Of course, the Palestinians cannot agree to any deal that their paymasters would veto, and they would veto anything because they don’t want the onflict to be over,

    The PA can pretend to be willing to consider an agreement, but never can actually conclude one.

    Abbas has even said he can’t go against the Arab League, Now what Saudi Arabia et al say is go talk to the Pakestinians – who are their puppets. And somehow people are too stupid to see through all of this.

    Sammy Finkelman (b32091)

  88. Going back to @64, a very interesting post.

    It got me thinking about a couple things. I assume that is an actual quote from Jefferson, which makes it interesting because Jefferson largely began partisan politics in the United States, through his opposition to Washington and (especially) Hamilton. And one of the most important mechanisms was the party newspaper. Jefferson and his faction created a newspaper in Philadelphia that became more or less the mouthpiece of his opposition party. The Federalists also had a paper, but they were not as adept at politicking. It quickly became “normal” for the party in power at the local, state or national level to direct government printing contracts to “their” newspapers, thus enriching their supporters and ensuring that they would continue to have their services for mobilizing opinion.

    This in turn made me recall that, in fact, the idea of a “non-partisan” or “objective” news media is fairly recent, and perhaps even unnatural. For most of our history, in fact, newspapers and magazines were unabashedly supporters of one party or the other. In that sense, the current state of the news media is not necessarily anomalous. There are outlets, large and small, supporting both sides of the political spectrum – clearly more large outlets lean left, but so what? There is nothing like a monopoly on information – even less with the internet, blogs and social media. So many people comment on, criticize and independently investigate and research every new story or claim that truly false (as opposed to incomplete) information typically has a lifespan measured in hours or even minutes before it is exposed for what it is.

    As Jefferson notes, a news medium that confined itself only to “Truths” would be little more than a glorified version of the Federal Register or Congressional Record. Would that really be an improvement? Maybe it’s time to simply embrace the fact that journalism, as practiced by human beings with opinions, will inevitably reflect some of those peoples’ biases (as it has for centuries), instead of freaking out over it every day like it is some shocking and sinister new revelation…

    Dave (711345)

  89. Meanwhile, the Climate of Fear™ claims another victim as the “fine-tuned machine” clatters onward…

    Dave (711345)

  90. Claiming that the media “essentially launched his win” is, I believe, an exaggeration. There is no doubt that they gave Trump a lot of air time. But Trump has been a celebrity in the US for many years, and had a message that tapped into a lot of voter frustration and alienation. That message was going to succeed in putting Trump into the lead of the GOP pack, a pack that had failed to differentiate itself from each other throughout 2015 and 2016.

    As self-serving as their conduct was and is, Trump isn’t the news media’s “fault”. We can argue what or whose fault it is, my opinion runs to the failure of the GOP to consistently fight for its principles and be seen as Beltway corrupt with a different label. The GOP failed to address the news media’s increasing partisanship bias in recent decades and that gave Trump his opening.

    SPQR (a3a747)

  91. The GOP failed to address the news media’s increasing partisanship bias in recent decades

    How would they “address” the partisanship bias? By frothing at the mouth like lunatics every day?

    Over the last two decades, the right has actually leveled the media playing field dramatically, thanks to Fox News and the internet.

    You say the GOP failed to fight for its principles, but Trump represents a complete abandonment of those principles…

    I disagree with the premise, as well. After the GOP gained control of one half of Congress in 2010, Obama never succeeded in passing another piece of his agenda. The last six years of his term were the most barren, in terms of major legislation, in the last century. When he tried end-runs via executive orders, the GOP congress also largely succeeded in thwarting his efforts. Without veto-proof super-majorities, there was no hope of rolling back Obamacare before 2017.

    If we could have elected a conservative and a republican president, we’d have been in great shape to restore limited, constitutional government and expand free markets to grow the economy.

    Instead we get to watch a madman slipping closer and closer to dementia with each passing day.

    Dave (711345)

  92. Mattis has left the Obama appointee who is below him in place.

    Sammy Finkelman (af3697)

  93. 83. 89. 90. 91. Small newspaper stories today said that Netanyahu rejected it because it would gave required a significant terrotorial withdrawal which he woould not be able to get enough support for. But anyway, isn’t one of his requirements that negotiations begin without preconditions? Just what was it that Kerry proposed, and did he clear that with any Arab states before?

    Sammy Finkelman (af3697)

  94. “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden”

    I saw the video this morning.

    Maybe we read that statement wrong.

    Trump probably should have said”

    “You look last night at what’s happening in Sweden”

    Trump said the words in thwe wrong order, and also attributed too much importance to a TV show, like everybody saw it.

    Another point:

    The show itself said an attack had happened “recently” (although not that night) but the last Islamsist attack in Sweden that anyone remembers was in 2010. The show claimed that Sweden and everybody was hiding the incidence of crimes committed by Muslims, which, perhaps they are, or at least not publicizing.

    There are people who have a problem wih the idea of criminality not being split evenly between all people. But it is, of course, very very much associated with who someone’s friends are, and this different between social groups, and even the tiniest racial or religious disparities will be magnified in time by differential law enforcement. This is especially so if there is an uptick for any reason, and the budget is not increased. And governments have a very very hard time increasing budgets for anything. They should get rid of annual budgets.

    Sammy Finkelman (af3697)

  95. Dave wrote: “Over the last two decades, the right has actually leveled the media playing field dramatically, thanks to Fox News and the internet.”

    Really? And who was it that best used Fox News and the Internet to convey his message: Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, John McCain, Mitt Romney …. or Donald Trump? The GOP itself has been abysmal in its communications strategies.

    SPQR (a3a747)

  96. “The show itself said an attack had happened “recently” (although not that night) but the last Islamsist attack in Sweden that anyone remembers was in 2010.”

    Fox News – “Police investigator Peter Springare isn’t likely to be among those mocking President Trump for his remarks about refugees in Sweden.

    Trump’s comments during a Florida campaign rally on Saturday – which some took as a misstatement about a supposed terror attack – dovetail with what Springare has been seeing during a typical week in Orebro, Sweden. Five rapes, three assaults, a pair of extortions, blackmail, an attempted murder, violence against police and a robbery made up Springare’s caseload for a five-day period earlier this month, according to a Feb. 3 Facebook post he wrote. The suspects were all from Muslim-majority countries – Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Turkey – save for one Swedish man nabbed in a drug-related case.”

    Might not be ismlamist-based. But would anyone care to guess the religion of these perps?

    harkin (70fe68)

  97. There is a chart at this link that was created by will healey has RedState straddling the line between hyper partisan right and garbage fake news right.
    So is the host part of “Red” or “State”?
    http://www.wnd.com/2017/02/phony-baloney-the-9-fakest-fake-news-checkers/

    steveg (5508fb)

  98. Really? And who was it that best used Fox News and the Internet to convey his message: Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, John McCain, Mitt Romney …. or Donald Trump? The GOP itself has been abysmal in its communications strategies.

    The problem with having a single large right-leaning outlet is that they have far too much power.

    Fox News’ utter failure to vet Trump and hammer his immorality, dishonesty, leftism, statism and ignorance of even the most basic policy facts is the biggest media scandal since Rathergate.

    Dave (711345)

  99. Trump’s comments during a Florida campaign rally on Saturday – which some took as a misstatement about a supposed terror attack

    LOL

    Trump’s actual statement “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible.”

    Granted, Trump does not speak like a normal adult, and has difficulty with compound sentences, but he was saying there was an attack the previous night in Sweden. And there wasn’t. There was a story on Fox that night and Trump thought that meant there was an attack.

    Trump has a long history of being dishonest or embellishing and I think many of Trump’s fans think this is some sort of a strength. But it really weakens an argument if you have to embellish your evidence. Trump really is just the sort of hustler who lies even if there’s no reason to lie. And to know him is to not trust him. That’s why he’s got the worst approval of any 1 month in president in history. The American voter rejected this guy and looks forward to doing it again.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  100. Here’s the bottom line. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening. We’ve got to keep our country safe. You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this. Sweden. They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible. You look at what’s happening in Brussels. You look at what’s happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris. We’ve allowed thousands and thousands of people into our country and there was no way to vet those people. There was no documentation. There was no nothing. So we’re going to keep our country safe.

    he’s not saying anything about a terrorist attack in Sweden that’s just CNN Anderson Cooper propaganda slut fake news

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  101. Right, including Sweden in a list of other places that have had terrorist attacks, and suggesting something happened there last night IN NO WAY suggests that something happened there last night.

    Dave (711345)

  102. What happened that night?

    The President cited what happened that night as a specific example. It’s not the first fake terrorist attack from these guys.

    I find it odd because the argument is compelling without the embellishments.

    Dustin (8b79c7)

  103. In a rare piece of good news, the consensus of First Amendment advocates is that Neil Gorsuch will probably not help Donald Trump fulfill his promise to end freedom of the press by making it easier to silence journalists critical of him.

    On Free Press, Supreme Court Pick at Odds with Trump

    Dave (711345)

  104. Many analysts took issue with Trump’s “last night” framing, and immediately compared the line to recent misstatements by Trump spokespeople, such as counselor Kellyanne Conway’s infamous “Bowling Green Massacre” blunder.

    But Trump explained on Twitter late Sunday that he was only referring to a Fox News segment that aired on Friday night’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” dealing with the Swedish refugee crime.

    and it’s true!

    Justin Amash wants to cram all these disgustingly violence-prone islamic terror refugees all up in it like how Sweden did but Mr. Trump is trying to keep us safe!

    But will it be enough?

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  105. Fox News’ utter failure to vet Trump and hammer his immorality, dishonesty, leftism, statism and ignorance of even the most basic policy facts is the biggest media scandal since Rathergate.

    Roger was busy rogering … that’s what Ailes ‘ya, eh.

    “Look, Landers, I don’t want to pump any sunshine up your skirt, but you have a future at Food World. Don’t blow it.” – George Summers [William Daniels] ‘Oh,God!’ 1977

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  106. Trump’s aides attempting to conceal his golfing

    After savaging Obama for playing golf while the country had pressing problems, Trump has been to the golf course 6 times in the first four weeks of his presidency.

    Obama didn’t play his first game of golf as president until April 26, 2009, over three months after taking office.

    Dave (711345)

  107. “103. Fox News’ utter failure to vet Trump and hammer his immorality, dishonesty, leftism, statism and ignorance of even the most basic policy facts is the biggest media scandal since Rathergate.”

    And here I thought that the function of a news organization was to, y’know, REPORT THE NEWS. Silly me — now I find that their function is to vet people who are newsworthy.

    fred-2 (ce04f3)

  108. And here I thought that the function of a news organization was to, y’know, REPORT THE NEWS. Silly me — now I find that their function is to vet people who are newsworthy.

    Yeah, Hannity and O’Reilly totally report the news. 100%. It’s what they do.

    Dave (711345)

  109. Here in this country, they had to report on orlando but they chalked it up to a selfvhating gay Muslim, univision went to eleven on that score,they left out the Persian Imam invited to the orlando mosque, the fmr Exxon bodyguard of the blind sheikh

    narciso (5b08d6)

  110. Trump has a long history of the media misreporting his truthful statements and then calling him a liar when his truthful statements don’t match the media fiction.

    It’s like what Dave does except with a network label.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  111. Did CPAC ever have Dennie Hastert over as a keynote speaker?

    papertiger (c8116c)

  112. I saw a statistic, it’s like 70 % of the rapes in Sweden were committed by … was it Mormons?

    Sorry didn’t read the fine print. Hazarding a guess it started with an M.
    But it was just 2% of the population

    papertiger (c8116c)

  113. Methodists that’s it, it is not a matter of if there will be a terrorist attack in Sweden but when and under what pretext.

    narciso (87093d)

  114. Any such statistic was probably made up by Vladimir Putin.

    Sweden has not broken down crimes by ethnicity since 2005.

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)

  115. N-E-S-T-L-E-S Nestle’s make the very best – – – chocolate.

    But not in California anymore.

    Sounds like racism to me.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  116. More than one in five women reported that they had at some time during 2008-2009 refrained from going out at night for fear of being assaulted or threatened. The corresponding percentage of men who say they refrained from going out because of this worry was one in twenty. It is more common that men are subjected to threats or violence in a public place than women are, and this is most common among men aged 16-24.

    This is from a website called Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/en_/

    Maybe Putin is the webmaster. I didn’t dig in deep.

    Sammy

    papertiger (c8116c)

  117. Streiff a sensible iconoclastz noted the Farwell note from Edward price, deserves all the contempt we can muster

    narciso (87093d)

  118. The term for this dystopian dustup was Eurasia. Baa’t yeor coined it.

    narciso (87093d)

  119. What I like best about President Mr Donald is that he wins states such as Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
    Mr Ronald was the last person to do that, in 1984.

    We shouldn’t underestimate winning.

    Cruz Supporter (102c9a)

  120. McMaster knows how both out Russian rival and the Taliban operates

    narciso (87093d)

  121. Katy tut, last seen worrying that journalists will be hunted down, wasnt aware of the Medvedev hot Mike with obama.

    narciso (87093d)

  122. Papertiger, could you provide a more precise link? I went through all the surveys listed from Jan 2016 and couldn’t find one that was connected to this topic. Closest were a survey that found the earlier a kid immigrated to Sweden, the more likely to succeed at school, and a survey that found women immigrants outnumbered men immigrants, and that the two biggest sources of immigrants were Finland and Iraq.

    Addressing the clip you posted: that survey is six years, claimed men were more often victims of violence, measured not how often women were assaulted but how scared they were of being assaulted, made no reference to what group they felt most threatened by, and is over six years old. No indication there of how many rapes by Muslim men have actually occurred.

    kishnevi (2dabdc)

  123. This isn’t even the most foolish thing said today, Katy is in tough competition with morning noke and the spew.

    narciso (87093d)

  124. Mourning Joe needs to decaffeinate himself. He even shouts down Mika now.

    kishnevi (2dabdc)

  125. What do we have here.

    http://dailycaller.com/2017/02/20/exclusive-house-dem-it-guys-in-security-pr
    obe-secretly-took-100k-in-iraqi-money/

    And seeing these are Democratic staffers you might be surprised who Ali al attar, iz

    narciso (87093d)

  126. The local, the European aggregator has bee denying the input of its own reporting on malmo.

    narciso (87093d)

  127. Sorry kev. I got that one googling Sweden and on the wiki under demographics it mentioned statistics sweden as a source.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  128. One hundred and forty mile per hour gusts at Squaw Valley.

    We have received 4 inches of rain since the evac. No flooding reported except from a Sacramento station, but that was a false alarm.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  129. What I like best about President Mr Donald is that he wins states such as Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
    Mr Ronald was the last person to do that, in 1984.

    We shouldn’t underestimate winning.

    “Mr Ronald” wasn’t the last person to do that. Obama won all those states in 2008 and 2012.

    Were we wrong to oppose him?

    Dave (711345)

  130. papertiger – Be safe

    mg (31009b)

  131. … he sheepishly acknowledged that the so-called Newspaper of Record and its editors “don’t get religion.”

    The NYT is immersed in religiosity. But they are such true believers that that they are unable to see themselves for what they are. They believe in “Diversity” … the mindless comingling of essentially antithetical aspirations … it is said to be the font of all that is good. They believe in “Anthropogenic Climate Change”, it is the cause of all evils that can’t be attributed to specific partisan enemies. They proudly proclaim that the don’t “Discriminate”, which means if you are a member of one of the special interests that comprise the Democrat base, you are on their team, otherwise watch out. And they worship the benefits of Centralization whether in the guise of “it takes a village”, or “you didn’t build that”, or in massively mindless market interventions like “Quantitative Easing”. None of these things ever need to be explained or justified if you are the NYT. They are self evident. When pressed, they fall back on “Science” which means virtual realities that are constructed in ever increasing resolution on the latest super computer networks, or proclamations of Federal Agencies who have been endowed by the Supreme Court with the gift of supreme knowledge. This monstrosity evolved out of the need to address life’s fundamental questions, which in earlier times fell to religion.

    BobStewartatHome (c24491)

  132. oh my goodness

    the crass pettiness of piglicker Susan Rice rivals that regularly displayed by Meghan’s abysmally cowardly daddy

    Former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice tweeted her congratulations to McMaster, referencing the reported tensions over staff picks by saying, “Hope you will be able to choose your team, have direct reporting and daily access to POTUS.”

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  133. my Aunty Savannah just got Mercedes GL-Class SUV just by working from a macbook. you
    could try here>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.4jobshoney.com

    joyiyu (a7203d)

  134. Squaw Valley isn’t really a valley. More like a notch between two craggy peaks, above the tree line in the high Sierra.
    We got 4 inches of rain means they got 4 feet of snow. Only truckers and psychotics would be trying to drive through.

    The no flooding bit is the part that pertains to me.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  135. 119. 121.

    SF:

    Any such statistic was probably made up by Vladimir Putin.

    Sweden has not broken down crimes by ethnicity since 2005.

    papertiger (c8116c) — 2/20/2017 @ 9:13 pm

    More than one in five women reported that they had at some time during 2008-2009 refrained from going out at night for fear of being assaulted or threatened. The corresponding percentage of men who say they refrained from going out because of this worry was one in twenty. It is more common that men are subjected to threats or violence in a public place than women are, and this is most common among men aged 16-24.

    This is from a website called Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/en_/

    Maybe Putin is the webmaster. I didn’t dig in deep.

    That part’s true. But Putin’s propaganda…

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/world/europe/europe-combats-a-new-foe-of-political-stability-fake-news.html

    Created by the European Union to address “Russia’s ongoing disinformation campaigns,” the [11-person] team [known as East Stratcom] — composed of diplomats, bureaucrats and former journalists — tracks down reports to determine whether they are fake. Then, it debunks the stories for hapless readers. In the 16 months since the team has been on the job, it has discredited 2,500 stories, many with links to Russia.

    …may have scared them, and/or a person would answer yes if it even happened one time, and it doesn’t tell you what the rate of women avoiding going out late at night was 25-30 years ago.

    The New York Times has a story today that says Sweden’s crime prevention council said that drug offenses and theft (probably related somewhat to the amount of drugs being sold) have gone down, but assaults and rapes went up last year. (this would be more related to character defects) The overall rate when combined is about the same.

    It quotes a doctoral student in criminology at Malmo University as saying that immigrants are (indeed) disproportionately represented among crime suspects, particularly in more serious and violent crimes. But many of the victims were other immigrants, and sometimes other criminals. (gang warfare)

    He says immigration will not double the crime rate, make everybody go broke, or turn Sweden into a living hell. He says it does have some cost, and they will likely have a bit more crime, but the crime rate now is very low and the society works well, so that is something they can live with, although he knows not everybody will agree with that.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/world/europe/trump-pursues-his-attack-on-sweden-with-scant-evidence.html

    The government’s very worried about racist attacks on migrants so much so that:

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/swedish-police-are-not-allowed-to-give-descriptions-of-alleged-criminals-so-as-not-to-sound-racist-a6810311.html

    The letter was dated September 15, 2015. This probably does not apply to some very serious, but infrequent, crimes.

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)

  136. Most of the problem occurs with second generation immigrants, and in extremely segregated communities, according to Andrew Brown in the Guardian. Guns (available since the Balkan wars) contribute to the mayhem.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/20/sweden-donald-trump-crime-muslim-immigrants

    …there are pockets of serious criminality in the most segregated parts of Sweden. These are fuelled most by the easy availability of guns after the Balkan wars, and by disputes in the drug trade. Kossovar, Bosniak and Turkish gangs, along with Scandinavian bikers, have engaged in bloody street wars. Three young people were shot dead in their car about 500m from where I used to live in Uddevalla two years ago: the killers were a couple of Lebanese brothers. There is one suburb of Gothenburg divided between two rival Somali groups.

    Almost all of this criminality arises from second generation immigrants, when they are immigrants at all. When I was last in the country, I spoke at length to a very senior policeman in Gothenburg, and his view was that this was a problem caused by adolescent males, unemployment, exclusion from the communities around them, and easy access to guns. Religion had nothing to do with it.

    What strikingly did happen was that the number of murders in Sweden went up from 87 in 2014 to 112 in 2015.

    Violent crimes short of murder, (that includes rapes, but not something short of rape, but Sweden has a very liberal definition of rape, as Julian Assaunge found out) were 104,738 in 2013, 108,071 in 2014, 108,739 in 2015 and 112,645 in 2016.

    Crime has gone down in the areas with the highest crime rates, but it’s gone up in some other places.

    The 15 suburbs with the highest crime rate had over 20,200 in 2012, 19,576 in 2014, 19,092 in 2015, and the figures were not yet in for 2016. (evidently police must be concentrating on them, but not all the reduction comes from criminals going to jail or no longer committing crimes – some criminals are operating now in relatively safer places!)

    One thing that I think needs to be checked out is if the population of te highest cme rae aeas has gone down. It might not be more effective policing. Another possibility is population replacement where the new people don’t know how to report crimes.

    Another issue is that some 75% of recent migrants don’t have strong IDs, but banks have money laundering rules that demand that they know their customers, so they can’t open bank accounts, and if they can’t open bank accounts they can’t get paid, even though it is legal for asylum applicants to work, although there’s some extra paperwork involved. Yet Sweden is very prosperous and in the middle of an economic boom, with gross domestic product rising 4.5 percent in the final quarter of 2015, and there’s a shortage of workers. And the thought is also that if you want people to stay out of trouble, it’s better for them to have jobs.

    The European Banking Authority says they should offer a more limited range of services, maybe with stricter algorithms to sound alerts, and that it’s important and necessary because otherwise financial transactions may be driven underground, and then you can’t tell the really suspicious transactions apart from the more prosaic ones. But banks don’t want to guess because the penalties are so great, and they want some assurance from the government as to exactly what they can do, and the government’s not being quick to offer it. Some of the know your customer rules, or the need to have them, come from outside of Sweden. Sweden, by the way, is very close to a cashless economy.

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)

  137. kishnevi (2dabdc) — 2/20/2017 @ 9:42 pm

    a survey that found women immigrants outnumbered men immigrants,

    That would be explained by second generation immigrants (born in Sweden, therefore not immigrants) marrying (although not necessarily meeting beforehand) women from their old country.

    and that the two biggest sources of immigrants were Finland and Iraq.

    Finland I guess is to Sweden what Canada is to the United States. Also many Swedish citizens are of Finnish background.

    .

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)

  138. kishnevi (2dabdc) — 2/20/2017 @ 9:42 pm

    Closest were a survey that found the earlier a kid immigrated to Sweden, the more likely to succeed at school

    The younger, not teh earlier, I am pretty sure.

    And I also would bet that, for the second generation, the earlier (by date, not age) his parents immigrated, the less likely he would succeed in school.

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)

  139. Don’t they always ask to interview the target of an investigation last?

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)

  140. Ten thousand Swedes, running thru teh weeds, chased by a naked Norwegian.

    Colonel Haiku (c8a9e1)

  141. Breaking News! Rioting in Sweden

    Hope this comes through okay. Bing search.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  142. it’s cause they did too many don’t-wanna-work refugees from them terror countries all up in it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  143. Is this the “Early Edition” administration? Hey Milo, I heard a university in NW Ohio wants you as the commencement speaker.

    urbanleftbehind (5cbbc4)

  144. Who isn’t up for a good Swedish game of Muslim hoard chases the white man.

    Always good for a giggle. (Bing search)

    papertiger (c8116c)

  145. It’s okay. It’s alright. They aren’t a ravenous pack of imported racists.

    They just mistook him for a cop, so all good.

    papertiger (c8116c)

  146. If he’s “bait”, he needs to work on a good slide, that’s usually a Cardinals area of expertise.

    urbanleftbehind (5cbbc4)

  147. This is why the Swedish democrats called for military intervention, last month.

    narciso (d1f714)

  148. On the home front, kind of interesting for people living in the great state of Jefferson.

    Oroville dam webcam [YouTube – live feed]

    gives lake level, inflow, outflow, all the relevant information.

    (would have been handy last week)

    papertiger (c8116c)

  149. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/21/riots-erupt-in-swedens-capital-just-days-after-trump-comments/

    Dagens Nyheter analyzed crime statistics between October 2015 and January 2016 and concluded that refugees were responsible for only 1 percent of all crimimal incidents.

    Did you notice something in all of this propaganda?

    They’re not distinguishing between different waves of immigrants or migrants.

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)

  150. Nobody is, very much, on any side.

    Curtis Sliwa mentioned on the radio earlier that there’s a crime problem – he knows because he has a Guardian Angel group in Malmo – he said theer were 3 (he named them) ethnically based gangs.

    More from the Washington Post story:

    The two Swedish officers whose interview provided the basis for the report spoke out Monday and claimed that their testimony had been taken out of context. One of them, Anders Göranzon, said that the interview was about areas with high crime rates and that “there wasn’t any focus on migration or immigration.”

    “We don’t stand behind it. It shocked us. He has edited the answers,” Göranzon said. “We were answering completely different questions in the interview. This is bad journalism.”

    Horowitz defended his work to the Guardian newspaper, saying he was “pretty sure” that he told the officers what the segment was going to be about and implying that the officers’ disavowal was made under pressure from their superiors.

    I think I believe the officers and not Horowitz, especially since Horowitz that there’d been a recent terrorist attack in Sweden – and again he’s not distinguishing between different categories of immigrants.

    I think it’s completely true that he altered the questions. (which might change the meaning of some pronouns and statements without an antecedent.)

    Sammy Finkelman (22cc00)


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