Former president Trump appears to have slid further since last night’s news about a new grand jury’s superseding indictment of him on charges of trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.
The “media” claims it wants more policy details from VP Harris. Can you just imagine some of the “policy questions” the “news media” claim are necessary to report out to their subscribers and viewers? Here is a sneak peek at some of the questions Dana Bash of CNN will probably ask future President Kamala Harris tonight.
“Are you a stable genius? Do you think Mike Pence’s fly will return to trumps hairpiece? Do you love Kim Jong Un? Is Putin the world’s greatest leader in all of history? How quickly will you end the war in Ukraine? Can’t you simply order Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza? If not, does that make you weak and incompetent? Is Biden dying?
Will you make America greater than Donald Trump can? Are you anti-Semitic since you did not select Shapiro as your VP? When did you turn black? Are you prettier than Donald Trump? Who are you wearing? How long did you spend in makeup and hair dressing today? Will you pardon trump if you are elected?”
They are not the “news” media. They are corporate entertainment that dabbles in news manipulation. They love their DonOLD bigly. Let us hope that TRUMP 2024 is nothing more than the expiration date!
I would like the "news media" to demand the same policy details from the Orange Voldemort. Other than Project 2025 which was really written by the Heritage Foundation and further erodes our democracy, they have nothing but insults and name calling. WHAT a bunch of losers!
Expecting anything useful from the under-intelligent otherwise-unemployable low achievers of the upper middle class who go to Journihilizm Skool is like expecting Trump to ever manage to act like a member of the human race.
There is nothing wrong with the intelligence of journalists. Most are quite intelligent. It’s what their bosses are asking them to produce that’s the issue.
The NY Times, WAPO, USA Today and many other newspapers are owned by far-right corporations who are only interested in their own profits. They see how successful Murdoch has been and they assume they will be successful if the follow the Fox News path. They dictate to the editors what is and isn't acceptable. The NY Times has lost most of their credible journalists except Maggie Haberman and a handful of others. WAPO has allowed Jennifer Rubin to continue her crusades against DonOLD as well as Dana Milbank and a few others. And USA Today is a sensationalist rag having lost most of it's following.
Cable TV subscriptions are way down as Comcast and others force us to pay for dozens of stations we will never watch. More and more people are turning to Substack, YouTube and even TikTok and Sirius/XM so they can get a variety of news or they are streaming the content they are interested in.
In other words, I agree Kim, that many good journalists are handcuffed into writing sensationalist drivel.
Kathy, thanks for alerting us to this clip and sharing it! Just when I don’t think Jon will return to his former greatness, he does something like this.
Considering the topic - Michael Brown shooting and the younger appearance of Jon Stewart - this is several years old. He now has a weekly show which will be back onair the 13th of Sept. - not sure if he's doing the Monday night ones right now.
I sometimes worry about the degree of hostility to the msm on Heather's commenter community. I've found all kinds of what seems like balanced reporting , Fox being a most notable exception. This article doesn't get to the meaty side of the bias issue, but it's interesting. It seems that msm has relatively recently been taken over by billionaire ownership, now much like the rest of the American large-scale business and related institutions. Perhaps I'm not too bright, but I generally haven't found much of what I've read "sensationalist drivel".
It’s actually not the media’s job to be “balanced”, it’s their job to tell the truth. Not all issues have more than one side and frankly, all opinions are not valid.
I agree, Frank. The MSM does a pretty good job of reporting news. There are exceptions in some areas--the New York Times shows its ass every time it writes about guns or Israel-Palestinians--but general news coverage is uniformly good.
Opinion-writing is where the car falls off the mountain road. Columnists and op-ed writers are so shrill and uber-partisan--allowing Rich Lowry to write an op-ed explaining how Trump could eviscerate Harris was embarrassing even for the low-standards NYT op-ed page--that it poisons the rest of the newspaper in the minds of readers who don't see a difference between news and op-ed.
I'd like the MSM much more if it hired opinion writers who gave a great deal of thought to what they wrote before publishing it, and spent some time considering all points of view, not just their own political one.
As Scott Dworkin says, we needto stop calling it "mainstream media." Call it what it is: the Corporate Media.
The hostility comes from watching the bastards put their thumbs on the scale for Trump, thinking only of profit and not what he'll do to the country - and them.
Yes. But, I get satisfaction from that POS being shown as the imbecile he is even if it's a bit slanted. I'm able to separate the wheat from the chaff (I feel). The Media have families to feed, and more importantly a Boss they best not undermine. So, some folks need to get off their high-horse that the working-stiff media reporter should burn themselves in some kind of effigy while you and i just piss and moan. Like it or not.
Louis, unfortunately when the great ones migrate to Substack, we have to pay more than the $21/month to read them all.
Also, they may have signed a noncompete clause that wouldn’t allow them to work at another newspaper and may prevent them from publishing on Substack. (The FTC ruling outlawing noncompete clauses was struck down by Trump-appointed Texas judge ADA Brown.)
The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos. Hardly a right-winger.
Fox News has a shrinking audience for the lsst six years. They are cable-based, another shrinking industry. USA Today is shrinking, mostly because people can get what they sell for free, on their phones.
Do you think the NYT, which is growing, would copy the business model of a shrinking entity in another industry? No, because they’re not stupid.
I don’t know what your profession was, but it certainly didn’t include business analysis, journalism, or writing to persuade.
It may have included writing about topics you have no knowledge of
Ah Gary, Comcast. Right now no one on the west coast can watch anything on the Big Ten network where 4 former Pac-12 are now a part of because Comcast won't agree to carrier fees. They are the only cable provider in our area and the only entity not come to some agreement. So now we are subscribed to Sling in order to watch the first UO game this Saturday and then for some other games, we have to subscribe to Peacock. My husband is trying to figure out how we can watch the few stations we do watch and then it will be bye bye Comcast. Yesterday in the Oregonian, their sports writer had an article which had a headline something like....Looking to cut cable, Comcast just handed you a pair of scissors.
The Guardian UK is an excellent news source and has some amazing journalists. Rebecca Solnit is one, feminist and climate activist. George Montbiot was the original staffers. He's an indy contributor. Neither Solnit or Montbiot do sensationlism. They're uber smart and highly respected.
Linda, they may have been forced to sign a noncompete agreement (20% of US workers have done so). That would prevent their working for any news outlet—maybe even Substack. I’ve never heard of any teachers having to do so.
The FTC tried to strike them down but Texas Trump-appointed judge Ada Brown blocked it—to cheers from Chamber of Commerce officials.
Equating “intelligence” with “good” is a very common and very harmful misperception. Elon Musk didn’t become the richest person on the planet because he is stupid. And he didn’t suddenly become stupid when he bought Twitter. He became the richest person on the planet because he is exceptionally intelligent, and his immaturity became readily apparent because he thought he could "engineer" a widely popular social media company.
A mature individual cares about the impact the individual is having on others. The more intelligent an individual is, the more people the individual tends to impact. Put exceptional intelligence and immaturity together and you have a really bad combination. Think about it. Would you rather face an evil idiot or an evil genius?
Another common mistake is equating intelligence with wealth. Elon Musk probably has high IQ but no higher than you’d find at most elite universities. He has a high level of ability to tolerate risk, which in addition to likely being part of his nature also comes more easily to people who are gifted millions of dollars. It has done very well for him, but as seen in Twitter, it will also probably be his downfall. Musk also seems to have a very low social IQ.
With one exception, I agree with everything in your reply. The terms "social IQ" and "EQ" are like fingernails on a caulk board to me (apologies for using an ancient meme). Why not just call it want it is? Why not just call it maturity?
There is a statistically "normal" IQ distribution because IQ and IQ variability are genetic traits. In lieu of becoming exceptionally intelligent, an individual is born exceptionally intelligent. There is not a normal EQ distribution. It is a genetic trait, but (almost) everyone's EQ is precisely 100.
In other words, intelligence is nature, and not nurture, whereas maturity is nurture, and not nature. To put it another way (with the rare exception of the psychopath), we are born knowing how to care about others, and we have to learn how to not care about others.
Sorry Ms.Mueller, “ the bosses are making me do things that are lazy, unethical, unprofessional and undermining our democracy “ is not an excuse .I do agree that it is not the lack of intelligence. Intelligence is over rated.
Ally, i was glad to see Heather mention the Oregon case going on now to see if Kroger's and Albertson's can merge. I am hoping for no merger. As you know Fred Meyer folks (owned by Kroger) are on strike in the Portland area. When I think about how corporations control everything, I get angry.
There are young people graduating from J-school who believe that journalism is one of the cornerstones of democracy. They look at the media scape and believe they can do better. They are starting up user-funded media sites, turning their backs on cushy corporate media jobs and working to provide the real information that people need to support democracy. If you are looking for new journalism, you can find it. If you like what you read, you should support it.
I am a former journalist. Some go to J-school (I didn't) where they learn a little bit about best practices and ethics. Unfortunately, there is no certification or qualification required to practice "journalism." Which is why it is largely nothing but a copycat practice and a bullhorn -- at best. Also, regarding coverage of Trump -- he is so awful and increasingly so that I suspect boredom has crept in. That's bad news, because the awfulness has to be called out.
I'm a retired journalist and I am so grateful I'm not a journalist working in today's media environment. Everyone is doing more with less and working in audio, video and online copy simultaneously. It's a wonder that there is still good journalism still getting done although it's mostly at the national level. Local journalism is mostly a fond memory of old people. That's why subscription-supported news is so important. It's the area of journalism that is most relevant now because it is free of the restraints of special interest shackles, like this and a growing number of other Substack sites.
I love the he who will not be named reference! And given JD’s love of Tolkien, Donny is Theodon and JD is wormtongue, working at the behest of Saruman.
Theoden turned out to be a good and decent man, but was ensorcelled by Saruman. I think of DonOld as Saruman, ripe for corruption by the lure of the Palantir (in DonOld's case, money and power) and while DonOld isn't quite a bright as Saruman started out to be...the more corrupt they become, the fewer wits they have to plan for the long game. DonOld is completely incapable of planning for the long game and has long since slid into some kind of delusional state.
About Vance/Wormtongue, however--you are right on the money. (Although Vance maybe more of a stalking horse for DonOld's spawn and Peter Thiel than he is working with and/or for DonOld.)
Drumpf truly is descending into insanity, it appears to me. So unaware of how the rage tweeting looks, and what it says about him. And no one around who can do an intervention.
You see people at his rally's w "you're fired" signs. They're clueless too, never got the message that reality tv isn't, duh,reality. Scary what a mass delusion can be created by an actor.
Yes! he just keeps getting less and less stable; more willing to push his thuggery and fascism into public view; less able to control himself. This is not going to end well--no matter what and how it happens.
I’d nominate Donny as the Lord of the Nazgûl. And Harris is Eowyn who kills him (she can because she isn’t male), with the help of Merry Brandybuck (a happy Hobbit).
TCinLA is more in the loop but from what I have experienced journalism in the US has long since become a revolving door playpen for trust fund babies and connected wealthy networkers, residing in a bubble of privilege and embodying groupthink.
That is how I experienced the editors at the NYT that mansplained their nonsense to me in response to my criticisms of their publication. So, I ended my subscription with them, and then with WaPo as well.
I concur. She writes intelligently and with great concern about the craziness we’re watching, as well as the risk of authoritarian politics here in the U.S. Ms. Applebaum’s husband is from Poland, and he knows all too well what authoritarian governance looks like.
She's a very interesting author and opinion maker. In the throes of The Iron Curtain at the moment. Makes you need to delve into an important part of what's made the modern world. Easy lady to find on Youtube if you want engaging material. Think of Timothy Snyder, and you have a remarkable combination.
Well, with the embrace of Substack authors and smaller reputable media sources, the “background” has become the foreground. And just so happens at a very apropos moment in our history.
Sorry but NO - I have just watched my daughter's girl friend complete her journalism degree which she paid for by herself. This girl accomplish all of this by herself because she believes in telling the Truth. So be careful with what we say and not generalize something because right now its FU due to some Corporate newspapers choices
Young Allyson Waller writes 'The Brief' at The Texas Tribune. Allyson's bullet points are often linked to deeper dives by other 'TTT' authors.
Also, Jennifer Gerson at the 'The 19th News" (jenniferagerson.com); Self described: "... covers the intersection of health, gender, politics, parenting and culture".
that's a pretty big broadside, Monnina. (I'm a former journalist and HBR editor.) One of the problems I experienced, though, is the lack of DEI. Every publication I wrote for (dozens) was top-edited by mostly privileged white men who make the decisions about what they want to include in their pages. Also, thanks to the poison of social media, the bad practices are getting worse (witness the Rich Lowry piece in the NYT) -- the bad headlines, the lack of sources, the if-it-bleeds-it-leads stuff.
And those who control the newsrooms only hire people who think like they do and who have the same "news judgement". Even if you convince them to hire you, they can turn down your story ideas and edit the important parts out. But the big newsrooms are where the big money is so there is never a shortage of applications.
Robin, While I can’t speak for the present, when at least one course on media reform was required, our courses raised questions about the media’s capacity for shaping what counts as fact, the influence wielded by those who held power and status, and especially the repeal of long-established regulations meant to encourage a diverse and democratic media landscape.
In large part, we emphasized the need for healthy institutions to protect good journalism, which, at least partially, was defined as getting under the skin of people in power.
Linda, Since retiring from teaching and focusing full-time on politics, I’ve lost track of what goes on in English Departments, my academic home for over 30 years. Now I spend a lot of calories writing to so-called journalists urging they get tougher about keeping a critical eye on those in public and private power and keeping us all informed of what’s important. I underscore that news departments are trustees of the public, not the corporate media’s stockholders.
The late William Greider wrote that the journalists have become part of the story and celebrities in their own right, and this was back in 1992 with his book “Who Will Tell the People?”
News departments have never been trustees of the public. They've always been used by publishers to grab eyeballs, which generated revenue for the owners.
Reporting in the public interest was a product of ye olden days before the Internet, when newspapers had a monopoly on ad revenue. Because they had that monopoly, newsrooms were free to to explore whatever they thought the public might like or appreciate, performing that public service role you suggest and in which I strongly believed too but but knew in my ink-stained heart was only a happy byproduct of ad monopoly. (I spent the first 25 years of my career as a newspaper editor and reporter, and loved it dearly.)
When the Internet destroyed the revenue model of newspapers--i.e., broke the monopoly over the classified ads that brought in 70 percent of revenue--newsrooms morphed from "cover anything you think is important to society" to "cover only what brings in clicks, likes, and eyeballs because we're going ^&*%%$ broke." Newsrooms were slashed by half to three-quarters (if the newspaper itself survived), which left the few remaining staffers to cover everything. That led to less actual reporting because writers now had to produce a dozen stories a day to feed the 24/7/365 beast that is a media that never sleeps.
So journalism has become what is quick and easy, because most newspapers can no longer give their reporters the time to deep-dive on a story. Those reporters are too busy figuring out what happened, texting a few sources for confirmation,writing a summary for the website, rewriting that summary for X, Facebook, and other social media, updating the story every hour for all those outlets, recording a video for TikTok and the website, and doing it again and again for a dozen other stories at a time.
Making real, in-depth, well-reported journalism an endangered species.
Kimberely, as someone who went back to do another graduate degree as an adult in a class with people who were emerging adults, I think I know whereof which I speak. I was shocked that people could be on their phones this much. In a private uni, where people were supposedly well educated. One semester I had a Saturday class, which was 8 hours. The instructor and I were the only ones who could maintain our attention the entire time for a fascinating guest speaker. In any case, doing presentations theirs were slick but lacked the substance of mine. Then the professors complained that I was intimidating. I resented that I should have to play dumb to stroke their egos, which should not be stroked when they spent all their time moaning and complaining that the professors would not get to the point quickly enough. When we had abnormal psych, every one of them diagnosed themselves as ADHD. I think it was the phones.
Linda, if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation, which presents some fascinating research about the impact of smart phones on learning environments. I'm encouraged that some schools are banning the use of smart phones during the school day.
Great question. The purpose of journalism is to inform people profitably, and not to profit by misinforming people. Anything that does not live up to that standard is not journalism training. So, here's what I know about journalism training. There isn't any. But there are a few self-taught individuals like Lawrence O'Donnell and Heather Cox Richardson.
What little I know, is that I know very little about the best places to learn Journalism and Communications skills. A spark in that direction is what I learned about my mother-in-law's neighbor, Dr. Mickie N. Edwardson who was the first woman faculty member in the College of Journalism at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
"...In 1962 Mickie went to Guatemala to work for the United States Information Service and help establish that nation's first educational television network. Mickie became the first woman at UF to be named Distinguished Service Professor in 1985. After retiring from UF in 1994 she began work on a biography of James Lawrence Fly, F.C.C. commissioner and A.C.L.U.. director. Several of her articles on Mr. Fly were published in scholarly journals and at the time of her death she was working to complete his biography. Mickie was drawn to her work on J.L. Fly because of her passion for the First Amendment rights of individuals, and for fairness and accurate reporting in electronic media..."
My father-in-law, unfortunately passed away in 1980, before I could learn anything about what he might have conversed with her about, Before WWII he was an editor at a small newspaper (I think in Swissvale, PA). He liked the job especially because he was paid by the word and could go at length into local issues in popular articles. He said they were so popular the owner of a competing paper that was losing readership hired him to ghostwrite counter editorials to the ones he wrote for the other. He had little respect for the business but he had to make a living for his siblings since both parents had died by the time he was 18 (in 1933).
Here in Baghdad By the Sea, lots of Trump ads. Got to consider the perspective of the Bulwark. They are part of the media. I've written about this many times. The preoccupation with media advertising is misplaced. I have a niece who is an advertising executive, passes this on. In terms of effectiveness, return on investment, money is better spent on data management and social media. Texts, postcards, phone calls are far more productive than media advertising.
That's why I promote FT 6. To win, outvote the opponent. To do that out register them.
Why do you think you know anything about Project 2025? Because ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the NYT and The Guardian have been talking about it for over a year. Project 2025 IS the policy detail. The problem is MAGA candidates pretend ignorance of it.
I read The Guardian daily. It's a great source, sound data and respected journalists. I check in with the Financial Times and the NYT. An intuitive, I 'knew' several months ago, DJT would not be elected. I still believe that to be true. I did not forsee Kamala and Waltz. DJT will go down in flames.. won't be much longer. Personally, now that 2025 has been exposed, I believe they're going to encounter some big challenges. I also read Pew Research Reports, a non profit think tank for facts and stories I can trust. Brennan Center for Justice, another non profit which researched stories about courts, legal issues etc. Some of the big investment companies use them for their annual publications. Inside Climate News is pulitzer prize winning publisher on climate change. As to Kamala on policy, I suspect she's going to release some of her intentions in the next few days. Oh, and Project 2025 are not exactly the same as the MAGA. 2025 is billionaire business men, Wall St. investors and companies. MAGA is the term for part of the US population that are extreme right
Not surprisingly, Trump continues to be a disgusting human being as he tweets and retweets Who could possibly support him to be the President of the United States? For the next 67 days, I'm referring to Trump as "The Pervert". I encourage everyone to do the same. What an abomination.
Why couldn't Kamala Harris just tell the news media that she will share policy details with them when and if Trump shares policy details with them? Make it clear that the media can't just keep giving Trump a 'pass'.
Hoyt, I would advise, since many of the problems with media are deeply entrenched and will change only with time and concerted effort, that the Harris campaign seriously consider adding detail to policy positions in response to voters’ questions at televised town halls rather than through media pressers whom we can expect to misrepresent information. I further would note I can’t think of a better format than televised town halls to serve the public interest.
Linda, Thank you for writing. Not only are you right about Walz; your reply also has bolstered my confidence for submitting my suggestion to the Harris/Walz campaign.
I'm in 100% agreement on the superior content of information pushed out at "town hall" meetings, as opposed to the hyaena-feast atmosphere of pressers.
T L, Thanks for writing. I hope you and others join me in suggesting the Campaign schedules televised town halls to take questions from a host of voters that represent diverse interests and perspectives. The address is kamalaharris.com/contact-us/
@eoleary, As with Linda Weide, who is part of this thread, I am grateful for your reply and for building my confidence to submit my thinking to the Harris/Walz campaign.
So right Barbara, unfiltered access by town hall and policy statements focused so as not to confuse with too much info at any one time through all forms of media that attract the most eyes..
What ever happened to the hot issue of being too old to be president? Seems like ranting Don is a bit long in the tooth, and not everyone ages gracefully.
I totally agree J L. DonOLD shows his demented side every time he holds a press conference. He regurgitates the same lies sometimes a dozen or more each in a single appearance and sometimes makes no sense at all. David Packman and others do.
Thanks for the great question. Now the issue is dead because the banana republicans have the only old man in the race. Why not turn it loose? Or is it unnecessary, as we see tfg descend on his gold escalator into hell daily?
I LOLed at your hypothetical questions because they are way too plausible. I've been thinking along these lines while listening to various members of the "news media" criticizing VP Harris for not doing press conferences and interviews. If only they would critique their own performance and learn to ask more intelligent questions!
Susanna, While I agree questions have to be tougher, I would add 1) candidates have to be able to square their campaign rhetoric with facts, 2) they have to be stopped when they’re not answering the question, and 3) they have to be called out when their answers contradict the facts.
Ted Koppel would not let interviewees sidestep a question, or at least called them out when they were doing so. So many interviewers take total crap for an answer.
OMG, politics has turned into a circus! The media is complicit in this devastating tragedy! We the people must demand better, if thats even possible! Trump has gone completely nuts, but held in high esteem by the media for some damn reason! Voting Blue may be our last chance to save our democracy! Maybe the slogan should be Wake Up America!
Anthony, I imagine much of the media don’t hold Trump in high esteem. My concern, barring a handful of exceptions, is that journalists are not sufficiently informed and sufficiently street-smart to call out in real time Trump’s fire hose of lies. Either that or they haven’t taken from their training a strong sense of public service.
I think many of the media are afraid of Trump’s retribution should he win! I’ve always been a fan of CNN but in the past few months I’ve become more disillusioned with the coverage there! Never Fox though!
I think many journalists write the stories they do at the unspoken urging of their editors to turn in pieces that gives their publication or program controversy, scandal or physical chaos. Those issues aren't information nor do they add substantive content, but they will generate clicks and views and that is where the money is (higher ad revenue).
I think they are also neutered by the decades long working of the referees by Republicans with accusations of “liberal media bias” every time the media covers conservatives in a way negative to them.
Interesting how you fall back on the passive voice in (2) and (3). Who is tasked with doing this, and in what situations? As to (1), "campaign rhetoric" often doesn't rely primarily on facts, and "facts" can be slippery critters. The job of candidates is to present themselves in the best possible light, and if they play fast and loose with "facts" it's up to their opponent(s) and/or the media to call them out on it.
Susanna, As for the passive voice in 2) and 3), clearly I didn’t name the agent, be it a moderator or whomever. Instead, I emphasized what was most important—the behavior. As for 1), in my view, “candidates…present themselves in the best possible light,” when their rhetoric can be nailed to the post with confirming evidence.
From an academic point of view, the behavior may be the most important. From a practical point of view, who does the work (and is responsible for getting it done) is crucial.
The quality of a question tends to predetermine the quality of the answer (though there are exceptions). Maybe schools should teach us to ask the right questions to get better answers..
Are people insane, or unaware? There has been plenty of information from the Harris campaign regarding policy. Her convention speech for one. Any reporting/videos from visits and speeches made also. And yesterday there was a fairly long article detailing policy in the NYT. Yes, I agree with the town hall idea. All the MSM wants to do is play “gotcha” or ask Ms. Harris about Trump.
Annie, that is always the case. people are just too lazy to search it out, they want to be spoon fed on the platform they follow. They don't care about no silly policy, they care about whining and crying and acting like idiots. They are just DUMB>
For sure policy positions are important, but in this particular election, when it's basically pro-democracy vs. anti-democracy, I think we can be forgiven for not getting too far down in the weeds. Plenty of Republicans and former Republicans understand this. They may disagree with plenty of basic Democratic policy positions, but they think it's more important to give U.S. democracy a fighting chance than to agree with every platform plank.
I do hope Trump is expired, but I know it won't expire the movement he started, which has been responded to with our own movement. Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat in responding to some media jackal saying Joy is not a platform begs to disagree, which she did this morning in her Substack.
The MSM is now complaining that Harris will do her interview with Walz. Kamala gets to set her own terms. I have never read an article complaining about the terms under which Trump is willing to be interviewed or speak to the MSM. He also has his anti-social "Truth Social." a fascist propaganda site from what I can see, where his unhinged rantings are turning people off. I don't know anyone other than a junior high boy would appreciate his characterization of Kamala Harris and Hilary Clinton. Look at Republicans for Harris. It is a thing, and I know some of people in it are Mormons, such as in this video and this article.
I am not going to watch the Harris-Walz interview. I do not want the dog and pony show of the press, and they will not get their ratings from me. I will however, watch Harris and Walz when they speak directly to the people. I do not need some journalistic jackal to 'splain to me what I just heard, or to try to rip them apart. As these good Republicans are saying above, it is not as much about policy as it is about defending the constitution, democracy, and our values of being American. Viva la Kamala.
I’m not sure where to start. Why is someone a jackal because they say joy is not a platform? And of course it’s not, and I’m sure you don’t agree that Make America Great Again is s platform.
I don’t look at Truth Social because I think it’s probably just full of fools and idiots, but I don’t define it as fascist propaganda, never having looked at it.
I am very curious to know where you think you learned about the stolen documents, or the actual collusion between Trump and the Proud Boys, or that the Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty share leadership. Or the Arlington encounter. Or Project 2025. And on and on. All of those things were reported in network news, WaPo, the NYT, and the Guardian before they made it to any podcast, substack column, or independent journalist’s writing.
You know detail about the Palestinian plight, Netanyahu’s real motives, and for that matter, the narrative of the Ukraine war because of these same people.
As for the folks who whine that billionaires own the media, Fox is controlled by one, as is WaPo (by someone Trump loathes). The rest are public companies, whose shares are publicly traded.
As for jackals, most reporters take their jobs seriously, trying to expose as much as they can. Some don’t do a good job, but I can’t remember the last time I saw one (at a mainstream media entity) really come off as biased.
Candidates try to communicate ideas with the best spin and the least detail. Yes, even Harris. (I don’t count Trump as his shtick is different). Reporters try to get detail, which pleases us when they sim at our opponents and displeases us when aimed at those we support. Reporters, realizing that not all viewers get the nuance, will try to explain points, or re-capitulate them. If it bothers you, don’t listen.
Well, first and foremost, it's the billionaires who own the media who love Rump. Well, they don't love him, they just need the OCF (Orange Convicted Felon) to destroy democracy for them.
If democracy is destroyed, wouldn't a "free press" be next on the list for destruction? Of course, the much of media is now so firmly in the "suck-up to Trump camp" that they likely think they are immune--that Trump and the Project 2025 cohorts won't try to take them down.
In reading of history, the one thing I have taken away from the various narratives of power struggles, is that "Kings" definitely don't like "King-makers" because what can be made, can also be unmade. "Kingmakers" seldom last very long in the new regime that they helped into power.
Absolutely true. And as Prof. Richardson has mentioned many times already, in a dictatorship, it's pretty much arbitrary if you belong to the "in" crowd or the "out" crowd. "Your neighbours told me you're a friend of gays. That true?" People wishing for a dictatorial regime often forget that, too.
But my guess is that the people working for the media are afraid to lose their jobs, so they publish what their company owners want them to publish. After democracy is gone, free press indeed follows suit. They either forget that, or they are already prepared (or complicit, some maybe even eager?) to work for a state press that only writes what the regime tells them to.
Make that the $$$$$$$ he PROMISED them. He may act hot, but the OCF definitely isn't the richest guy in town. In fact, I think it's the other way around. I bet the billionaires have offered Rump a whole lotta cash in exchange for his destroying of democracy.
Wow. Two crass names for Trump in a single post. You just proved your Democratic bona fides, I guess. Too bad you didn’t take that completely wasted time and work on GOTV activities, like a lot of us do. But everyone contributes in his or her own way, I guess.
By the way, of the big media outlets, two are controlled by billionaires. Anyone who thinks Bezos is a Trump fan has lost a few marbles somewhere along the way.
Oh, wow, yes, how unimaginably rude of me to start name-calling the Orange Felon. How could I, since he NEVER does that to anyone else, huh? And by the way, it's just one crass name; the other one is fact: he _is_ orange, he _is_ convicted, and he _is_ a felon. Thank you very much.
And by the way, billionaires hacking away at democracy sure seems bad enough:
The WSJ is slamming the joint interview as Harris having a “crutch” in Walz to prevent her from having to answer the difficult stuff. She’s damned if she gives interviews, and damned if she doesn’t. It’s disgusting-their bias toward Trump on full display. The complicity of msm in the intended murder of democracy must be stopped.
Equivalence in news questioning would be a welcome change in "Gotcha" behavior. Trump just blathers and whinges about whatever he is thinking - -not what he has been asked. But somehow he skates. And the Dems are pilloried. It's a disservice to our nation. And it's not just Fox that is unfair.
Well said! Dana Bash….really?? After her last performance as a debate moderator, I don’t think she is in any position to be requesting policy details from VP Harris. As part of the group “The American People Want to Know” I would like more details how she thinks she is qualified to be a political reporter when she can’t moderate a debate? It’s all about ratings.
They announced as part of the original agreement that they would not be fact checking. No live mics, no audience, no fact checking. Biden and Trump camps agreed. Seems like YOU ought to get your facts correct before you criticize.
I've often wondered why members of the media, while talking with conservatives about Socialism, don't ask, "What exactly do you mean by Socialism?" I don't think it's more than a work that the GOP uses to stir up anger.
Bill, the media has decided they are not the arbiter of either the good or true, they are just here to create their narrative for more eyes on their channel.
What is so astounding Linda is that we have known this to be going on for years, but they have gone too far with dumpy and they will suffer the consequences. This is a major story among the informed and this will be our opportunity to point out that corporations do not have our interest in mind, only the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,s they can turn our interest into..
Love to know. How do you think you know anything about what is happening in the world? Or the campaign? Do you see the news organizations cited after every HCR column? Do you read when she quotes reporters?
How do you think podcasters know anything? Or substack writers? Do you imagine HCR lurks around Arlington? Or Gaza? Or Ukraine?
She reads, listens and views media (I can’t even tell what you think ‘legacy’ is accomplishing in that sentence). Can you explain?
Legitimate questions to ask but ones that should be pressed, uncompromisingly, against the former President. Loved the turn-the-tables response by the Vice President on the former President's demand that microphones be muted in the debate; that is, in essence, "If I were Mr Trump's handlers, I would want to mute him, too."
I suspect we will see Trump continue to implode. He's now a cornered animal who has never been held criminally accountable for his actions. While this corrupt SCOTUS insulated him with immunity from "official acts" he is still vulnerable to conviction and prison time for a multitude of serious crimes against the United States. He recognizes that if he is not sworn in as President it is likely he will either be fleeing the country or will be spending 2025 in criminal court.
The Reagan/Milton Friedman so-called economic concept of a "free-market" is nothing more than a massive fraud perpetrated by the wealthy through their GOP shills like Reagan and Trump. The concept of a "free-market" quickly dies when TARP banks are bailed out by taxpayers. It dies when industries are allowed to collude through backchannel agreements or simply consolidate in violation of anti-trust law. The concept of "free-markets" die when, without government inspection, diseased meat is packaged and sold to unsuspecting consumers. The concept of "free-markets" die, when, for example a fertilizer and chemical plant explodes next to an elementary school in Texas because regulations hurt "bidness". And the concept of "trickle-down" dies when it is truly explained to every voter. That simply giving more money to the already wealthy will make everyone better off is so completely moronic it could only be sold to a society where public education has been deemed a nuisance by people like Betsy DeVos (who thrives on student loan debt interest payments) , religious fundamentalists, and right-wing extremists.
Thank you Phil -I had more to say -HCR always provokes a chain of thought! -but am working (frantically) to publish the next in my Fear & Loathing series (hat tip to Hunter Thompson) -this on public education later today.
Coming soon to a monitor or mobile device near you ...
The Heritage Foundation/Trump/MAGA/GOP assault on democracy called “Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” expresses the GOP intent to eliminate the Department of Education. This is clear evidence that they also know the pillars of a free and democratic society are education, information, and engagement. Such a society is much harder to control, and is more likely to understand that concepts such as “trickle-down” and “free-market” are not real economic concepts, they are mass fraud geared toward the concentration of wealth to the privileged few. Their vision is an indoctrination into a system where people blindly accept what they are told by Fox “News”, or elected “leadership” like Trump, Vance, Marjorie Taylor Greene, James Comer, Matt Gaetz, and Greg Abbott.
They simply nod and accept judicial decisions from bias, incompetent, and corrupt judges and justices. They are told climate change is a liberal hoax. They are told slavery was just a job apprenticeship program. That the civil war was not to free slaves and attempt to end a horrific part of U.S. History, but over States rights versus Federal overreach. They will accept that there’s no remedy for guns and assault rifles and that bulletproof backpacks are not an outrage but a “free-market” opportunity for a parent to show they care about their child or children. They are taught that Columbus “discovered” America (although by the same logic I “discovered” Spain when I visited Barcelona in 2023 -of course I didn’t plant the US flag and then slaughter all of the Spanish in so doing). On one hand these extremists talk about liberty and freedom -however they seek to imprison the minds of their rabid followers.
The reality is that a well-educated society will not blindly and obediently follow.
“Trickle down” economics is perhaps more accurately if less daintily described as “piss on the poor” economics, while “free market” economics is simply an early stage on the way to monopolies.
'well educated' is definitely an issue in the U.S. And the public has no idea of the deeply embedded bribery for legislation that occurs in the US Congress. If elected, I believe Kamala and Waltz could foment change on that issue. Congress has literally become a piggy bank for some members who come out as multi millionaires, thanks to lobbyists and public lack of awareness of the amount of money changes hands.
Devos was such a strange choice till you think of brother Eric and his people…this us a Sept 6th bunny trail. And free markets and deregulation brought us Faux News, and 35 trillion dollars deficits..thanks Ronnie! What he did to California as well.
I am a retired Ag Economist (MS-University of Illinois/Urbana) who was an Independent until Reagan introduced his version of trickle-down economics. I watched the consolidation in the food industry happen in real time as the government of both R and D presidents ignored anti-trust laws and the Packers and Stockyards act. It has been devastating for farmers, and yet the vast majority of them vote Republican. They have been repeatedly told that Democrats are "Marxists/socialist" who are coming for their guns.
Last week, someone I know, with zero economic knowledge, accidentally posted a picture on their business FB page instead of their personal page of Kamala Harris next to a picture of her father's monograph "Capital Accumulation and Income Distribution". This post called her and her father "Marxists". I did some googling and quickly found a pdf of the monograph, which was full of pretty heavy-duty mathematical modeling. I skipped to the conclusion since I didn't have the time or energy to wade through it. The Wikipedia page on Dr. Donald Harris summarizes it nicely: "Harris employs mathematical modeling to explore the relationship between the accumulation of capital and income inequality, economic growth, economic instability, and other phenomena, arguing that typical theories fail to adequately consider power, class, and historical context." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_J._Harris It was NOT a Marxist manifesto by any stretch, but with "Capital Accumulation" in the title it was meat for the right wing propaganda machine.
Thank you for sharing Robin. I've always found it educational to drive on Interstate 5 in California through the central valley and see all of the signs blaming Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party for water scarcity. The signs would often be interspersed with oil rigs.
I've written before that the anger and frustration among "moral majority", "tea party" and now "MAGA" are all real -however, as most every reader of HCR's LFAA's know, the anger is intentionally misdirected through Fox "News" and a media so concerned with "balanced" reporting they have forgotten that the only "sides" to facts and evidence are truth and falsehoods.
There are two areas that drove me nuts when I researched them years ago with the idea of doing a feature film. One was big pharma and the other would have been set in Congress revealing the long time tradition of lobbying which is why so many Congress members retire rich..
Thank you Jen! Now I’m smiling and thinking of a group that grew in the days of “Dubya” called “Drinking Liberally”.
Stiglitz’s “The Road to Freedom” should definitely be on a list along with “Manufacturing Consent”, “The Corporation”, “Don’t Think of an Elephant”, “Miseducation in America”, and “The Economics of Innocent Fraud”. All important and all readily accessible.
Also, “Democracy Awakening” by @Heather Cox Richardson (It’s important, and also, I want to stay on her good side) :)
For a moment I was confused, since I thought Stieglitz was a pioneering photographer around the beginning of the 20th century. So I looked it up and the Stiglitz the economist you mention was born a couple of years before Stieglitz the photographer died.
That mention, plus the list of books provided by Mr. Polisher below, is going to take up some of my time.
The wealthy spin propaganda in order to pit the working class against each other. Then they sit back and laugh and watch as working class people fight each other. (They laugh all the way to the bank as well.)
The real threat to Democracy is the top 1%, the wealthiest of our country.
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
Along with your good essay, I would like to add that we're not looking for socialism in which the government controls businesses, but rather we're looking for a regulated market in which businesses are free to seek and maximize profits and operate as they see fit, but within limits that avoid harm and exploitation.
I see no problem with someone having a pile of gold, per se. I do have a huge problem with someone amassing his pile of gold on a stack of body bags.
In other words, I personally believe, we should strive for a regulated capitalist economic system, and say so. We shouldn't let anti-humans define what we stand for. We must define ourselves in a way that inspires and attracts the average person wothout scaring the shit out of would-be oligarchs. The smart ones will sign on.
Very true Jerry, although I do worry about a system that demands continuous growth against finite resources. And I’ve also written some essays about wealth, I’m supportive of wealth creation through innovation, risk, and effort, however I’m not a fan of wealth transfers through externalities, lobbying to shift taxes and debt to workers, unlimited inheritances, and privatization.
Growth is a huge problem in our economic system, because it squanders ever more natural resources and because it depends on population growth in a primary way. The challenge is to come up with a different economic system and mechanisms that will make it work that is not totalitarian.
A well regulated economy benefits everyone, building trust in the products and services generated by business. In short, a scaling up of the basic carrot and stick approach to human behavior. Any costs involved simply become part of the overall pricing and profit structure. Who says you shouldn't have cops covering the highways and byways, "law and order", that's Republican jargon, right?
MARXISM. Finally someone is calling out the wanton hurling about of the term by people who just like the way it rolls off the tongue! Ditto for communism and socialism. I’d like to see someone— anyone!— in an interview with one of these bozos who label Democrats as Marxists, demand that they define the term. SPOILER ALERT: they can’t.
We weren't allowed to peek at much anything about Marxism, socialism, or communism back when I was in high school from anything but what the one sided approved descriptions (not worth reading to me). The closest we got was the senior year much appreciated teacher in the Problems of Democracy course when different students or groups were assigned to do reports on things like the American Nazi Party, American Communist Party, the then current Russia Life magazine that was part of an inter-governmental agreement to allow 30,000 subscriptions to be distributed (we got to send an equal number of what may have been "Amerika" magazines to the Soviet Union, though I thought at one time it was copies of our Life Magazine).
I got to cover all of South America (most memorable to me as the laughed at my mentioning what I seem to recall as legislators in the new capitol, Brazilia, shooting at each other in the halls of their congress.
The students who wanted literature from the American Communist Party had their letter returned to them the next morning marked as "no such address." My dad worked in the post office at the time and noted that there was no way the letter could get to (I believe New York City), and back in the short time available.
The student who requested literature from the American Nazi Party got a lot more, including a monthly magazine that featured the Nazi of the month on the cover, a biker that road back and forth through the main street in a New Jersey town, through attempted road blocks, with a large cape or something like it printed with something like we don't allow no N****** around here. Seemed outrageous fascist wannabes were more tolerated than an form of "communism" sympathies (which there were legal prohibitions against due to their support of violence to achieve their ends).
A starting point for my late in life curiosity about the real story on Marxism could be considered the 2011 (soon after Citizens United), video, Communism | The 20th Century | World History | Khan Academy at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmRgMAZyYN0&t=7s
It interested me because it included the early history (1848) when Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto, a time when Europe was much more interested in the end of fuedalism, and manor systems in England where the industrial revolution really accelerated the disparities in income and property accumulation.
It was also of interest as a new concept to Horace Greeley and Father Nathan Meeker, who led the formation of the Union, utopian communal, Colony in Greeley Colorado. You won't find much, if any, mention of the Marxist concepts they thought they were using when they "...paid a $155 fee and signed a covenant promising to abstain from alcohol and gambling to receive a house site in town and a farm on the higher benchlands..." according to The Man Who Thought He Owned Water: On the Brink with American Farms, Cities, and Food, (one of my very favorite books since it was written by an ancestor of Benjamin Harrison Eaton who brought irrigation techniques he learned from Spanish settlers further south, that made the colony succeed).
The book is fascinating with the story telling that rivals writing style of James Michener's "Centennial" in the first half (except with the real names of the people vs the historical fiction types). The last half is the greatest example of detailed yet understandable explanation of the source of all western water law impact and processes.
It didn't hurt that my Florida in-laws sparked other interests from meeting water law lawyer Kelly J. Custer (related to the more famous Custer), during their annual ski trips to Colorado. She lives/lived not far from Greeley and Eaton. They had no discussions on water law with her and didn't know from my interests to initiate any, not having met her since, but I'd be interested in what she thinks of the last half of Tershia d’Elgin’s book.
Why the hell 7 ballots per democrat in California? It’s for damn sure Trump can’t count by 7’s. Why not 10? I realize he’s batshit, but I would expect his derangement to follow thinking patterns he’s familiar with, so fingers and toes perhaps…
Well, as much as a pinball machine does. It’s just that his has hit tilt. (This makes me think I’m dating myself and I don’t think that term tilt applies in a digital age. Calling it a blue screen is old too…)
The orange felon understands human decency no better than he does the law.
That Heather well sums up his despicable (and illegal) posturing for cameras at Arlington National Cemetery is corroborated by Anthony Scaramucci today, too, who reminded us his former boss has no respect for norms, none for the law, none for morality.
Trump belongs to a world of similar depraved.
Putin enriched himself by securing Russia for thieving oligarchs like him. Kim locks down power and state murder in North Korea. Orban has fake love of Hungarian culture which his humanities illiteracy forbids him ever reference. Ditto with Modi and his Hindi nationalism in India, Xi allied to his Chinese state crime cadre syndicates, Erdogan to Turkey’s murderously reckless real estate developers, Mohammed bin Salman to fellow Saudi murderers (and their allied U.S. nihilists for fossil fuel), and Netanyahu to his far-right settlers (and their allied U.S. evangelicals) to up terror on West Bank Palestinians.
Yet beyond this, Kamala and Tim – plus many more – turn out Americans across the land rooted in decency, in respect for fairness. Will these resonate among people of the world?
I didn't think CFDT could ever go lower than the Lafayette Square Fascist where he sent in brown shirts with their name tags removed to tear gas and rubber bullet a peaceful crowd who were literally just hanging out. Many people saw it unfold live, and got to see Garrett Haake get shot in the leg with a rubber bullet as he reported. And all of this for a photo-op.
But to illegally take over a section of Arlington National Cemetery for a photo-op is a new and disgusting low. Many of us have relatives and friends that died serving in the armed forces and Arlington is a memorial to their service to keep us free. My father was a WWII disabled vet. I am beyond insulted that convicted felon Donald Trump would desecrate hallowed ground because he thought it would buy him a few votes.
It certainly does here in my part of the world, Northern Ireland. We have been enduring many years of increasingly vile, homophobic, misogynistic, racist, openly corrupt behavior by the MAGA endorsing British extremist Democratic Unionists and local racketeering and intimidation by their out of control armed Loyalist thugs. For Peace sake. Hoping that finally the British state might one day judicially intervene rather than continue to fund their civil war legacy ‘assets’ in Loyalist run estates to ‘transition’. Only the recent riots hitting England has at last shone a public light on this heinous neglect by successive UK governments and its socially destructive consequences for the majority decent law abiding individuals living here.
So many suffer tribalism of the worst kinds around the world.
I used to keep a list of the worst, with some pair-offs grossly disproportionate in weaponry and historical grievance.
Maybe what seems well to be a resurgence of decency among many in the U.S. will translate into a program -- for the U.S., for the world -- in schools leading essay writing programs for all to learn to jettison stereotypes and embrace the arts of seeing others as individuals (even admitting the complications all inhabit).
Right now, though, the schools play no role, except in turning themselves into fodder for our nihilist standardized testing billionaires.
Thank you. I agree about schooling. The fact that N.I. has a school system still segregated along religious sectarian lines effectively embedding social apartheid does not help.
Not surprisingly, Trump continues to be a disgusting human being as he tweets and retweets Who could possibly support him to be the President of the United States? For the next 67 days, I'm referring to Trump as "The Pervert". I encourage everyone to do the same. What an abomination.
You want to hear disgusting. The Gay Republicans (former life of this group was Gays for Hitler) paid Melanoma Trump 274 thousand dollars to attend and speak at their gala recently. This is her big contribution to dumpys run for president and run from prison. Boy, do they deserve each other. This reminds me of the old joke about Melanoma telling Trump that she had dreamed of them riding in a motorcade through crowds of cheering people. Trump asked, “Was I smiling?” She replied, “I don’t know, it was closed casket.”
I had an acquaintance, he was a vet, he had some form of cancer. He was self employed and did not have health insurance. He had very negative feelings about Obama Care. He would tell anyone who he could corner how horrible Obamacare was. That Obamacare was socialized care and therefore a communist construct. When he was diagnosed he sought and was given care at the VAHospital. After a course of treatment put him in remission, he was back in the club and button holing any one he could about sociaist/communjist health care, When I asked him to describe what meant, he described his impression of socialized which, as I pointed out to him, sounded an awful lot like the care he had availed himself to at the VA. Hmmm
A lot of people are self-programed to knee jerk responses... They're easy to remember and you don't have to think even a bit. Maga is not an institution of higher or lower education. It's just plain dumb.
In other words, another reminder I never met so many white male morons in one place at one time as I did in the Navy. Lots of good people, way too many morons.
My mother was the same about Medicare. To be fair, she did get it when I had that conversation with her. But her conclusion was “I earned it.” As if people working three jobs to scrape by didn’t. And why does such a fundamental thing have to be earned?
I truly don’t get it. Society as a whole, and business too, benefits from a more healthy populace with access to preventive medicine. I do not understand the attachment to the for profit model of healthcare that we have, by people with no association with those profits.
Must remind everyone that the orange coward has done nothing without the approval (silence) of the elected Republicans. They chose to keep him when the democrats provided an exit ramp. They are all in on the destruction of America.
“Reindicted and it feels so good” — Lincoln Project and/or Randy Rainbow ought to jump on that with a parody of the original song. It’d be brilliant, as is your capture of it to apply to the “donvict.” Well done!
Not surprised to hear of more rantings from an unhinged demented convicted felon, "a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.” (to borrow from Macbeth/Shakespeare)
The Arlington cemetery lawbreaking incident including assaulting a cemetery staff person who was then accused by the tffg staff of having mental issues seems the perfect illustration of more projection on their part. It hardly bears repeating how the msm consistently ignores the UNFITNESS of tffg to serve as POTUS and normalizes his deranged behavior. I look forward to the day when his whining and bleating is no longer endlessly making the rounds of all news media, both msm and alternative platforms including Substack and independent journalism.
It is incredibly sad that millions of our fellow Americans support this charlatan. As a lifelong educator, I cannot help feeling at least a modicum of guilt that, over the years, we have failed to instill any critical thinking skills in so many of our former students.
Betsy, it has less to do with critical thinking skills and more to do with belief (and the indoctrination that occurs in some Christian religions). For me, I see that the belief that white Christian men are better than everyone, and should have unfettered power over anyone not a white, Christian man is what dominates any sort of critical thinking skills said believer may have.
Looking at a photo of Trump spokesman Steven Cheung, I am reminded of what asociology professor once said in class long ago, that for every ethnic slur, there is an example in reality.
Cheung is Fu Manchu. Either that or "Odd Job" from the Bond movies.
Ooh!...I'll second that! I thought our last election was a wear on my nerves...this one is out of the ballpark. The last thing I want to hear about Trump is that he's currently incarcerated for "X" number of yrs
Lately, I've been wondering if Republicans won't find a way to slide Vance into the top spot and push Trump aside. He's raving mad and desperately so. Vance, of course, is no moral exemplar; he seems to delight in slandering women, but he is younger and fit. The only way this ticket wins is by cheating big time. Choosing a former prosecutor (especially a woman) for the top Democratic spot is inspired. We've never needed one more. Go Harris-Walz!
I am certain that is their plan. They need his base to elect the RepubliKan ticket, and one of the first orders of business on January 20 will be to set in motion the VP takeover of the presidency, should they win the election.
Well, there's nothing to stop God doing that him/her self.
See the story of Job.
Difficult to campaign if all your hair has fallen out, you're covered in boils and your camels have succumbed to the pox. ( For "camels" read Miller et al)
The irony is huge. The location of the National Cemetery at Arlington House was a "screw you" to Bobby Lee from the US Army...and now the x-Prez who sided with those who wanted to keep Lees statue as a place for Nazi's and the KKK to rally around with their torches has gone into that sacred space...of "losers" and "dopes" to get a photo op...and then his people berate the caretaker for doing his job. Trump is so twisted and confused...he insults, then embraces the same people, because he feels whatever he does in the moment makes HIM look good. What a total and complete clueless jerk.
Thank you Dr. Richardson, for defining so clearly the confusing and distorted terminology the Trump camp is using to attempt to define the status of the economy today. Helpful in conversations with people who call me a Marxist when they don’t agree with something I have said.
Yes, the whole antifa thing didn’t work too well. Their real goal was to try to popularize the idea that being against fascism was a bad thing, so that eventually claiming fascist stances would be ok, but too many people still remember WW2 pretty clearly, and Nazi is still a worse epithet to call someone than Communist. When someone calls me a communist, they tend to look like a uniformed idiot. “You think I approve of North Korea’s policies toward their own people?” generally sidetracks the conversation from where it started, me approving of school lunches or whatnot.
I think that what happened with antifa was that the anarchists usurped the original "founders", if you will. The anarchists that I speak of had their start at the 1999 WTO protest events in Seattle, WA. I had quite a few professional contacts with them in the early aughts, and all they wanted to do was destroy property, if corporate all the better, and sow hate and discontent. BLM and the antifa movement in response to events from Ferguson, MO after Michael Brown's death to Minneapolis, MN following George Floyd's murder were negatively impacted by the anarchists invading those rightful protest spaces and simply engaging in hateful destruction rather than peaceful protest.
Yes, since my sister’s daughter and her kids live in the house that my father grew up in, and my family still owns the ranch started by my grandfather homesteading land in Wyoming in 1906, and I grew up hearing all the stories about how hard that start-up was, and I have contributed all my life to keeping the place going, I have no patience with anarchists. So much easier to wreck things, than to build and maintain things. Steve Bannon is the epitome of evil, as far as I am concerned. Trump is just an unusually lucky, petty criminal who gets away with far too much with his “whiny boy it’s not fair”schtick. Ugh. All opinions are my own, of course. :-)
I think Marxist has less common usage, therefore it is not well understood by most people and stands in as a flag for “ideas I don’t know about, and therefore probably don’t like, thought up by a guy who looks like a wild hippie compared to Hitler, and his curly hair suggestions he might have “Black” blood which is a good reason to not learn anything about him.”
I have to look back at the world situation in 1848 to imagine early thinkers trying to figure out how the industrial revolution enabled some people to end up with more critical assets in new types of machinery that could use many more disposable workers.
Previous wealth concentration could come with huge land holdings that other would have to work if they couldn't get enough land of their own (40 acres and a mule) let some have a lot more hope of making it free of having to work for someone else. It seemed the Union Colony at Greeley Colorado let them pool their resources and labor to create a more durable and independent community under what they imagined to be a more agrarian version of Marxism. To me, many utopian groups did well when everybody had to work together to have a great stepping stone to a more prosperous life, but most devolved into more individual or small enterprises once successful enough.
Mild socialists kept loose communities more inclined to help each other in hard times, but hard core communists took it to rather extreme corrupt levels. Social Democracies seem to do much better with a balance of social support at the base level but more opportunity for all to grow from a solid base.
The depredations and graft by the hyper-wealthy in the "Gilded Age" were curbed by social movements and progressive elected officials, such as the Roosevelt, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, as well as many other creative and civic minded officials, writers, etc. Lincoln, who carried the promises of the nations founding documents closer to realization said of government:
" The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves---in their separate, and individual capacities.
In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere."
And why the hell not? Could a society was large and complex as ours exist without the stewardship of a government? Could liberty exist in a land ruled by the rich at the expense of the poor? Lincoln embraces a liberal conservatism that seeks dynamic balance. Not extremes, nor stalled in mediocrity, but embracing as much as it takes to seek and establish optimized freedom and justice for everyone.
The “media” claims it wants more policy details from VP Harris. Can you just imagine some of the “policy questions” the “news media” claim are necessary to report out to their subscribers and viewers? Here is a sneak peek at some of the questions Dana Bash of CNN will probably ask future President Kamala Harris tonight.
“Are you a stable genius? Do you think Mike Pence’s fly will return to trumps hairpiece? Do you love Kim Jong Un? Is Putin the world’s greatest leader in all of history? How quickly will you end the war in Ukraine? Can’t you simply order Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza? If not, does that make you weak and incompetent? Is Biden dying?
Will you make America greater than Donald Trump can? Are you anti-Semitic since you did not select Shapiro as your VP? When did you turn black? Are you prettier than Donald Trump? Who are you wearing? How long did you spend in makeup and hair dressing today? Will you pardon trump if you are elected?”
They are not the “news” media. They are corporate entertainment that dabbles in news manipulation. They love their DonOLD bigly. Let us hope that TRUMP 2024 is nothing more than the expiration date!
I would like the "news media" to demand the same policy details from the Orange Voldemort. Other than Project 2025 which was really written by the Heritage Foundation and further erodes our democracy, they have nothing but insults and name calling. WHAT a bunch of losers!
Expecting anything useful from the under-intelligent otherwise-unemployable low achievers of the upper middle class who go to Journihilizm Skool is like expecting Trump to ever manage to act like a member of the human race.
There is nothing wrong with the intelligence of journalists. Most are quite intelligent. It’s what their bosses are asking them to produce that’s the issue.
The NY Times, WAPO, USA Today and many other newspapers are owned by far-right corporations who are only interested in their own profits. They see how successful Murdoch has been and they assume they will be successful if the follow the Fox News path. They dictate to the editors what is and isn't acceptable. The NY Times has lost most of their credible journalists except Maggie Haberman and a handful of others. WAPO has allowed Jennifer Rubin to continue her crusades against DonOLD as well as Dana Milbank and a few others. And USA Today is a sensationalist rag having lost most of it's following.
Cable TV subscriptions are way down as Comcast and others force us to pay for dozens of stations we will never watch. More and more people are turning to Substack, YouTube and even TikTok and Sirius/XM so they can get a variety of news or they are streaming the content they are interested in.
In other words, I agree Kim, that many good journalists are handcuffed into writing sensationalist drivel.
John Stewart just did a masterful and hilarious takedown of Faux News.Almost 2 mill views.🤣
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOiuNDebaCw
Kathy, thanks for alerting us to this clip and sharing it! Just when I don’t think Jon will return to his former greatness, he does something like this.
Jon is righting the ship after some rookie mistakes when he rejoined. Good for him.
Considering the topic - Michael Brown shooting and the younger appearance of Jon Stewart - this is several years old. He now has a weekly show which will be back onair the 13th of Sept. - not sure if he's doing the Monday night ones right now.
so great!
I sometimes worry about the degree of hostility to the msm on Heather's commenter community. I've found all kinds of what seems like balanced reporting , Fox being a most notable exception. This article doesn't get to the meaty side of the bias issue, but it's interesting. It seems that msm has relatively recently been taken over by billionaire ownership, now much like the rest of the American large-scale business and related institutions. Perhaps I'm not too bright, but I generally haven't found much of what I've read "sensationalist drivel".
https://globalnews.ca/news/4478081/media-ownership-billionaires/
It’s actually not the media’s job to be “balanced”, it’s their job to tell the truth. Not all issues have more than one side and frankly, all opinions are not valid.
I agree, Frank. The MSM does a pretty good job of reporting news. There are exceptions in some areas--the New York Times shows its ass every time it writes about guns or Israel-Palestinians--but general news coverage is uniformly good.
Opinion-writing is where the car falls off the mountain road. Columnists and op-ed writers are so shrill and uber-partisan--allowing Rich Lowry to write an op-ed explaining how Trump could eviscerate Harris was embarrassing even for the low-standards NYT op-ed page--that it poisons the rest of the newspaper in the minds of readers who don't see a difference between news and op-ed.
I'd like the MSM much more if it hired opinion writers who gave a great deal of thought to what they wrote before publishing it, and spent some time considering all points of view, not just their own political one.
As Scott Dworkin says, we needto stop calling it "mainstream media." Call it what it is: the Corporate Media.
The hostility comes from watching the bastards put their thumbs on the scale for Trump, thinking only of profit and not what he'll do to the country - and them.
Yes. But, I get satisfaction from that POS being shown as the imbecile he is even if it's a bit slanted. I'm able to separate the wheat from the chaff (I feel). The Media have families to feed, and more importantly a Boss they best not undermine. So, some folks need to get off their high-horse that the working-stiff media reporter should burn themselves in some kind of effigy while you and i just piss and moan. Like it or not.
They should quit and take a night job at Costco or start their own Substack column!
The latter. Many good journalists are finding their way into the “direct to the consumer” environment
Louis, unfortunately when the great ones migrate to Substack, we have to pay more than the $21/month to read them all.
Also, they may have signed a noncompete clause that wouldn’t allow them to work at another newspaper and may prevent them from publishing on Substack. (The FTC ruling outlawing noncompete clauses was struck down by Trump-appointed Texas judge ADA Brown.)
Yes, many decent hardworking and courageous journalists are being handcuffed and are paying the price for taking a stand with “enough!”
The Washington Post is owned by Jeff Bezos. Hardly a right-winger.
Fox News has a shrinking audience for the lsst six years. They are cable-based, another shrinking industry. USA Today is shrinking, mostly because people can get what they sell for free, on their phones.
Do you think the NYT, which is growing, would copy the business model of a shrinking entity in another industry? No, because they’re not stupid.
I don’t know what your profession was, but it certainly didn’t include business analysis, journalism, or writing to persuade.
It may have included writing about topics you have no knowledge of
Hmmmm................
Ah Gary, Comcast. Right now no one on the west coast can watch anything on the Big Ten network where 4 former Pac-12 are now a part of because Comcast won't agree to carrier fees. They are the only cable provider in our area and the only entity not come to some agreement. So now we are subscribed to Sling in order to watch the first UO game this Saturday and then for some other games, we have to subscribe to Peacock. My husband is trying to figure out how we can watch the few stations we do watch and then it will be bye bye Comcast. Yesterday in the Oregonian, their sports writer had an article which had a headline something like....Looking to cut cable, Comcast just handed you a pair of scissors.
The Guardian UK is an excellent news source and has some amazing journalists. Rebecca Solnit is one, feminist and climate activist. George Montbiot was the original staffers. He's an indy contributor. Neither Solnit or Montbiot do sensationlism. They're uber smart and highly respected.
I contribute to the Guardian for the reasons you mention Sam.
They are not robots, and they have personal agency, so I hold them responsible. I left teaching jobs where I was asked to be unethical with children.
I was defending their intelligence, nothing else.
Linda, they may have been forced to sign a noncompete agreement (20% of US workers have done so). That would prevent their working for any news outlet—maybe even Substack. I’ve never heard of any teachers having to do so.
The FTC tried to strike them down but Texas Trump-appointed judge Ada Brown blocked it—to cheers from Chamber of Commerce officials.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-strikes-down-biden-administration-ban-worker-noncompete-agreements-2024-08-20/
They have to do what their bosses want to keep their paychecks, and the wingnut media outlets have had a negative influence over all.
Equating “intelligence” with “good” is a very common and very harmful misperception. Elon Musk didn’t become the richest person on the planet because he is stupid. And he didn’t suddenly become stupid when he bought Twitter. He became the richest person on the planet because he is exceptionally intelligent, and his immaturity became readily apparent because he thought he could "engineer" a widely popular social media company.
A mature individual cares about the impact the individual is having on others. The more intelligent an individual is, the more people the individual tends to impact. Put exceptional intelligence and immaturity together and you have a really bad combination. Think about it. Would you rather face an evil idiot or an evil genius?
Another common mistake is equating intelligence with wealth. Elon Musk probably has high IQ but no higher than you’d find at most elite universities. He has a high level of ability to tolerate risk, which in addition to likely being part of his nature also comes more easily to people who are gifted millions of dollars. It has done very well for him, but as seen in Twitter, it will also probably be his downfall. Musk also seems to have a very low social IQ.
With one exception, I agree with everything in your reply. The terms "social IQ" and "EQ" are like fingernails on a caulk board to me (apologies for using an ancient meme). Why not just call it want it is? Why not just call it maturity?
There is a statistically "normal" IQ distribution because IQ and IQ variability are genetic traits. In lieu of becoming exceptionally intelligent, an individual is born exceptionally intelligent. There is not a normal EQ distribution. It is a genetic trait, but (almost) everyone's EQ is precisely 100.
In other words, intelligence is nature, and not nurture, whereas maturity is nurture, and not nature. To put it another way (with the rare exception of the psychopath), we are born knowing how to care about others, and we have to learn how to not care about others.
Sorry Ms.Mueller, “ the bosses are making me do things that are lazy, unethical, unprofessional and undermining our democracy “ is not an excuse .I do agree that it is not the lack of intelligence. Intelligence is over rated.
Asking??
jackal journalism.
Yes, precisely! I call them hyaenas, but "jackals" is an even better descriptive!
I like that, Linda!
Ally, i was glad to see Heather mention the Oregon case going on now to see if Kroger's and Albertson's can merge. I am hoping for no merger. As you know Fred Meyer folks (owned by Kroger) are on strike in the Portland area. When I think about how corporations control everything, I get angry.
There are young people graduating from J-school who believe that journalism is one of the cornerstones of democracy. They look at the media scape and believe they can do better. They are starting up user-funded media sites, turning their backs on cushy corporate media jobs and working to provide the real information that people need to support democracy. If you are looking for new journalism, you can find it. If you like what you read, you should support it.
I am a former journalist. Some go to J-school (I didn't) where they learn a little bit about best practices and ethics. Unfortunately, there is no certification or qualification required to practice "journalism." Which is why it is largely nothing but a copycat practice and a bullhorn -- at best. Also, regarding coverage of Trump -- he is so awful and increasingly so that I suspect boredom has crept in. That's bad news, because the awfulness has to be called out.
I'm a retired journalist and I am so grateful I'm not a journalist working in today's media environment. Everyone is doing more with less and working in audio, video and online copy simultaneously. It's a wonder that there is still good journalism still getting done although it's mostly at the national level. Local journalism is mostly a fond memory of old people. That's why subscription-supported news is so important. It's the area of journalism that is most relevant now because it is free of the restraints of special interest shackles, like this and a growing number of other Substack sites.
I miss Walter Cronkite.
I do too. I miss his kind of dignity in today's news environment.
I love the he who will not be named reference! And given JD’s love of Tolkien, Donny is Theodon and JD is wormtongue, working at the behest of Saruman.
Theoden turned out to be a good and decent man, but was ensorcelled by Saruman. I think of DonOld as Saruman, ripe for corruption by the lure of the Palantir (in DonOld's case, money and power) and while DonOld isn't quite a bright as Saruman started out to be...the more corrupt they become, the fewer wits they have to plan for the long game. DonOld is completely incapable of planning for the long game and has long since slid into some kind of delusional state.
About Vance/Wormtongue, however--you are right on the money. (Although Vance maybe more of a stalking horse for DonOld's spawn and Peter Thiel than he is working with and/or for DonOld.)
Drumpf truly is descending into insanity, it appears to me. So unaware of how the rage tweeting looks, and what it says about him. And no one around who can do an intervention.
You see people at his rally's w "you're fired" signs. They're clueless too, never got the message that reality tv isn't, duh,reality. Scary what a mass delusion can be created by an actor.
Yes! he just keeps getting less and less stable; more willing to push his thuggery and fascism into public view; less able to control himself. This is not going to end well--no matter what and how it happens.
I’d nominate Donny as the Lord of the Nazgûl. And Harris is Eowyn who kills him (she can because she isn’t male), with the help of Merry Brandybuck (a happy Hobbit).
"I am no man!" (as she rips off her helmet and her long hair falls down her back as the Lord of the Nazgûl unexpectedly realizes he has met his doom).
Anybody know anything about journalism training these days, where, how much, the standards?
TCinLA is more in the loop but from what I have experienced journalism in the US has long since become a revolving door playpen for trust fund babies and connected wealthy networkers, residing in a bubble of privilege and embodying groupthink.
That is how I experienced the editors at the NYT that mansplained their nonsense to me in response to my criticisms of their publication. So, I ended my subscription with them, and then with WaPo as well.
News shaped by their singular mission - greed.
There is real journalism out there, but it's rarely in the foreground.
See, anything by Anne Applebaum.
I concur. She writes intelligently and with great concern about the craziness we’re watching, as well as the risk of authoritarian politics here in the U.S. Ms. Applebaum’s husband is from Poland, and he knows all too well what authoritarian governance looks like.
She's a very interesting author and opinion maker. In the throes of The Iron Curtain at the moment. Makes you need to delve into an important part of what's made the modern world. Easy lady to find on Youtube if you want engaging material. Think of Timothy Snyder, and you have a remarkable combination.
Propublica is great.
Yes. I appreciate and support independent news whenever I can.
Well, with the embrace of Substack authors and smaller reputable media sources, the “background” has become the foreground. And just so happens at a very apropos moment in our history.
Salud, JL!
🗽
The real journalism is Here on substack!
Sorry but NO - I have just watched my daughter's girl friend complete her journalism degree which she paid for by herself. This girl accomplish all of this by herself because she believes in telling the Truth. So be careful with what we say and not generalize something because right now its FU due to some Corporate newspapers choices
I have friends in journalism too, so I know that there are choices to be made.
Young Allyson Waller writes 'The Brief' at The Texas Tribune. Allyson's bullet points are often linked to deeper dives by other 'TTT' authors.
Also, Jennifer Gerson at the 'The 19th News" (jenniferagerson.com); Self described: "... covers the intersection of health, gender, politics, parenting and culture".
that's a pretty big broadside, Monnina. (I'm a former journalist and HBR editor.) One of the problems I experienced, though, is the lack of DEI. Every publication I wrote for (dozens) was top-edited by mostly privileged white men who make the decisions about what they want to include in their pages. Also, thanks to the poison of social media, the bad practices are getting worse (witness the Rich Lowry piece in the NYT) -- the bad headlines, the lack of sources, the if-it-bleeds-it-leads stuff.
And those who control the newsrooms only hire people who think like they do and who have the same "news judgement". Even if you convince them to hire you, they can turn down your story ideas and edit the important parts out. But the big newsrooms are where the big money is so there is never a shortage of applications.
And who writes the headlines???
Robin, While I can’t speak for the present, when at least one course on media reform was required, our courses raised questions about the media’s capacity for shaping what counts as fact, the influence wielded by those who held power and status, and especially the repeal of long-established regulations meant to encourage a diverse and democratic media landscape.
In large part, we emphasized the need for healthy institutions to protect good journalism, which, at least partially, was defined as getting under the skin of people in power.
Again, I wonder if people are now just on their phones the whole time and really "phoning it in" in class.
Linda, Since retiring from teaching and focusing full-time on politics, I’ve lost track of what goes on in English Departments, my academic home for over 30 years. Now I spend a lot of calories writing to so-called journalists urging they get tougher about keeping a critical eye on those in public and private power and keeping us all informed of what’s important. I underscore that news departments are trustees of the public, not the corporate media’s stockholders.
The late William Greider wrote that the journalists have become part of the story and celebrities in their own right, and this was back in 1992 with his book “Who Will Tell the People?”
News departments have never been trustees of the public. They've always been used by publishers to grab eyeballs, which generated revenue for the owners.
Reporting in the public interest was a product of ye olden days before the Internet, when newspapers had a monopoly on ad revenue. Because they had that monopoly, newsrooms were free to to explore whatever they thought the public might like or appreciate, performing that public service role you suggest and in which I strongly believed too but but knew in my ink-stained heart was only a happy byproduct of ad monopoly. (I spent the first 25 years of my career as a newspaper editor and reporter, and loved it dearly.)
When the Internet destroyed the revenue model of newspapers--i.e., broke the monopoly over the classified ads that brought in 70 percent of revenue--newsrooms morphed from "cover anything you think is important to society" to "cover only what brings in clicks, likes, and eyeballs because we're going ^&*%%$ broke." Newsrooms were slashed by half to three-quarters (if the newspaper itself survived), which left the few remaining staffers to cover everything. That led to less actual reporting because writers now had to produce a dozen stories a day to feed the 24/7/365 beast that is a media that never sleeps.
So journalism has become what is quick and easy, because most newspapers can no longer give their reporters the time to deep-dive on a story. Those reporters are too busy figuring out what happened, texting a few sources for confirmation,writing a summary for the website, rewriting that summary for X, Facebook, and other social media, updating the story every hour for all those outlets, recording a video for TikTok and the website, and doing it again and again for a dozen other stories at a time.
Making real, in-depth, well-reported journalism an endangered species.
Barbara, that sounds like a great use of your skills.
And a reminder here that Heather does name journalists who provide significant fact-based writing.
No, but the ethics course seems to be optional, or ignored. Are people just on their phones the whole time in class?
Oh c’mon. Cheap, ageist shot. The.problem.comes.from.the.top.
Kimberely, as someone who went back to do another graduate degree as an adult in a class with people who were emerging adults, I think I know whereof which I speak. I was shocked that people could be on their phones this much. In a private uni, where people were supposedly well educated. One semester I had a Saturday class, which was 8 hours. The instructor and I were the only ones who could maintain our attention the entire time for a fascinating guest speaker. In any case, doing presentations theirs were slick but lacked the substance of mine. Then the professors complained that I was intimidating. I resented that I should have to play dumb to stroke their egos, which should not be stroked when they spent all their time moaning and complaining that the professors would not get to the point quickly enough. When we had abnormal psych, every one of them diagnosed themselves as ADHD. I think it was the phones.
Linda, if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend Jonathan Haidt's book The Anxious Generation, which presents some fascinating research about the impact of smart phones on learning environments. I'm encouraged that some schools are banning the use of smart phones during the school day.
Great question. The purpose of journalism is to inform people profitably, and not to profit by misinforming people. Anything that does not live up to that standard is not journalism training. So, here's what I know about journalism training. There isn't any. But there are a few self-taught individuals like Lawrence O'Donnell and Heather Cox Richardson.
What little I know, is that I know very little about the best places to learn Journalism and Communications skills. A spark in that direction is what I learned about my mother-in-law's neighbor, Dr. Mickie N. Edwardson who was the first woman faculty member in the College of Journalism at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
See https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/gainesville/name/mickie-edwardson-obituary?id=21659945
"...In 1962 Mickie went to Guatemala to work for the United States Information Service and help establish that nation's first educational television network. Mickie became the first woman at UF to be named Distinguished Service Professor in 1985. After retiring from UF in 1994 she began work on a biography of James Lawrence Fly, F.C.C. commissioner and A.C.L.U.. director. Several of her articles on Mr. Fly were published in scholarly journals and at the time of her death she was working to complete his biography. Mickie was drawn to her work on J.L. Fly because of her passion for the First Amendment rights of individuals, and for fairness and accurate reporting in electronic media..."
My father-in-law, unfortunately passed away in 1980, before I could learn anything about what he might have conversed with her about, Before WWII he was an editor at a small newspaper (I think in Swissvale, PA). He liked the job especially because he was paid by the word and could go at length into local issues in popular articles. He said they were so popular the owner of a competing paper that was losing readership hired him to ghostwrite counter editorials to the ones he wrote for the other. He had little respect for the business but he had to make a living for his siblings since both parents had died by the time he was 18 (in 1933).
Just show your receipts, Robin, for your cosmetic and beauty products.
@ Colette. The orange antichrist says he speaks for God.
I like the Harris campaign's trolling of Trump with this video I saw on The Bulwark. Here is the discussion of it. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/harris-camp-trolls-trump-with-ad
And her is the link to the ad without the discussion.
https://youtu.be/rkuOOfpDyWg?si=vzIYNDGA9Jhl8_CE
Viva la Kamala!
Here in Baghdad By the Sea, lots of Trump ads. Got to consider the perspective of the Bulwark. They are part of the media. I've written about this many times. The preoccupation with media advertising is misplaced. I have a niece who is an advertising executive, passes this on. In terms of effectiveness, return on investment, money is better spent on data management and social media. Texts, postcards, phone calls are far more productive than media advertising.
That's why I promote FT 6. To win, outvote the opponent. To do that out register them.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/fund-the-mission
There are other groups zoned in on data. I belong to the Fladems and Miamidems data groups.
https://x.com/MarcACaputo/status/1828105239620456785
“But his staff is in great danger of incurring his wrath if he —and his Palm Beach pals— don’t see his ads at Mar-a-Lago.”
Why do you think you know anything about Project 2025? Because ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, the NYT and The Guardian have been talking about it for over a year. Project 2025 IS the policy detail. The problem is MAGA candidates pretend ignorance of it.
I read The Guardian daily. It's a great source, sound data and respected journalists. I check in with the Financial Times and the NYT. An intuitive, I 'knew' several months ago, DJT would not be elected. I still believe that to be true. I did not forsee Kamala and Waltz. DJT will go down in flames.. won't be much longer. Personally, now that 2025 has been exposed, I believe they're going to encounter some big challenges. I also read Pew Research Reports, a non profit think tank for facts and stories I can trust. Brennan Center for Justice, another non profit which researched stories about courts, legal issues etc. Some of the big investment companies use them for their annual publications. Inside Climate News is pulitzer prize winning publisher on climate change. As to Kamala on policy, I suspect she's going to release some of her intentions in the next few days. Oh, and Project 2025 are not exactly the same as the MAGA. 2025 is billionaire business men, Wall St. investors and companies. MAGA is the term for part of the US population that are extreme right
Not surprisingly, Trump continues to be a disgusting human being as he tweets and retweets Who could possibly support him to be the President of the United States? For the next 67 days, I'm referring to Trump as "The Pervert". I encourage everyone to do the same. What an abomination.
Why couldn't Kamala Harris just tell the news media that she will share policy details with them when and if Trump shares policy details with them? Make it clear that the media can't just keep giving Trump a 'pass'.
Lying....don't forget the lying! They have that going for them too!
Hoyt, I would advise, since many of the problems with media are deeply entrenched and will change only with time and concerted effort, that the Harris campaign seriously consider adding detail to policy positions in response to voters’ questions at televised town halls rather than through media pressers whom we can expect to misrepresent information. I further would note I can’t think of a better format than televised town halls to serve the public interest.
Go Kamala and Tim. Go directly to the people. No need for msm “interpretation.
Terry, Good to hear we’re on the same page.
Barbara this is a great idea. I feel like Tim was adding some policy details in his speech to members of the Fire fighters union yesterday.
https://www.youtube.com/live/8Qtz_21sYiQ?si=AA59Yh_8FzLQEcJA
Linda, Thank you for writing. Not only are you right about Walz; your reply also has bolstered my confidence for submitting my suggestion to the Harris/Walz campaign.
Fantastic to hear and see him think on his feet and speak from experience! I agree, the more policy detail the better.
I'm in 100% agreement on the superior content of information pushed out at "town hall" meetings, as opposed to the hyaena-feast atmosphere of pressers.
T L, Thanks for writing. I hope you and others join me in suggesting the Campaign schedules televised town halls to take questions from a host of voters that represent diverse interests and perspectives. The address is kamalaharris.com/contact-us/
I love this idea.
@eoleary, As with Linda Weide, who is part of this thread, I am grateful for your reply and for building my confidence to submit my thinking to the Harris/Walz campaign.
So right Barbara, unfiltered access by town hall and policy statements focused so as not to confuse with too much info at any one time through all forms of media that attract the most eyes..
What ever happened to the hot issue of being too old to be president? Seems like ranting Don is a bit long in the tooth, and not everyone ages gracefully.
I totally agree J L. DonOLD shows his demented side every time he holds a press conference. He regurgitates the same lies sometimes a dozen or more each in a single appearance and sometimes makes no sense at all. David Packman and others do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oepT1_U1jco
Meanwhile Fox and Newsmax are unable to find a single quote from his speeches that is coherent. Packman calls this sane-washing. Right on David.
Thanks for the great question. Now the issue is dead because the banana republicans have the only old man in the race. Why not turn it loose? Or is it unnecessary, as we see tfg descend on his gold escalator into hell daily?
Preach.
I LOLed at your hypothetical questions because they are way too plausible. I've been thinking along these lines while listening to various members of the "news media" criticizing VP Harris for not doing press conferences and interviews. If only they would critique their own performance and learn to ask more intelligent questions!
Susanna, While I agree questions have to be tougher, I would add 1) candidates have to be able to square their campaign rhetoric with facts, 2) they have to be stopped when they’re not answering the question, and 3) they have to be called out when their answers contradict the facts.
Ted Koppel would not let interviewees sidestep a question, or at least called them out when they were doing so. So many interviewers take total crap for an answer.
I prefer "total crap" over never answering a single question that is asked.
In the Trump Biden so-called debate CFDT didn't answer a single question. He lied 4 times in the first three sentences and 602 times overall.
Why ask any questions at all? Just let him ramble for 40 minutes. Oh, wait....
J L, You’re right. Regrettably, our institutions largely have zeroed out aggressive journalism.
OMG, politics has turned into a circus! The media is complicit in this devastating tragedy! We the people must demand better, if thats even possible! Trump has gone completely nuts, but held in high esteem by the media for some damn reason! Voting Blue may be our last chance to save our democracy! Maybe the slogan should be Wake Up America!
Anthony, I imagine much of the media don’t hold Trump in high esteem. My concern, barring a handful of exceptions, is that journalists are not sufficiently informed and sufficiently street-smart to call out in real time Trump’s fire hose of lies. Either that or they haven’t taken from their training a strong sense of public service.
As for your slogan, it’s a good one!
I think many of the media are afraid of Trump’s retribution should he win! I’ve always been a fan of CNN but in the past few months I’ve become more disillusioned with the coverage there! Never Fox though!
I think many journalists write the stories they do at the unspoken urging of their editors to turn in pieces that gives their publication or program controversy, scandal or physical chaos. Those issues aren't information nor do they add substantive content, but they will generate clicks and views and that is where the money is (higher ad revenue).
Anthony, If that’s the case, and I hope it’s not, they would be moral accomplices.
I think they are also neutered by the decades long working of the referees by Republicans with accusations of “liberal media bias” every time the media covers conservatives in a way negative to them.
My comments were made based more on what I read in the threads rather than on the content expressed by HCR!
Interesting how you fall back on the passive voice in (2) and (3). Who is tasked with doing this, and in what situations? As to (1), "campaign rhetoric" often doesn't rely primarily on facts, and "facts" can be slippery critters. The job of candidates is to present themselves in the best possible light, and if they play fast and loose with "facts" it's up to their opponent(s) and/or the media to call them out on it.
Susanna, As for the passive voice in 2) and 3), clearly I didn’t name the agent, be it a moderator or whomever. Instead, I emphasized what was most important—the behavior. As for 1), in my view, “candidates…present themselves in the best possible light,” when their rhetoric can be nailed to the post with confirming evidence.
From an academic point of view, the behavior may be the most important. From a practical point of view, who does the work (and is responsible for getting it done) is crucial.
The quality of a question tends to predetermine the quality of the answer (though there are exceptions). Maybe schools should teach us to ask the right questions to get better answers..
Are people insane, or unaware? There has been plenty of information from the Harris campaign regarding policy. Her convention speech for one. Any reporting/videos from visits and speeches made also. And yesterday there was a fairly long article detailing policy in the NYT. Yes, I agree with the town hall idea. All the MSM wants to do is play “gotcha” or ask Ms. Harris about Trump.
Annie, that is always the case. people are just too lazy to search it out, they want to be spoon fed on the platform they follow. They don't care about no silly policy, they care about whining and crying and acting like idiots. They are just DUMB>
For sure policy positions are important, but in this particular election, when it's basically pro-democracy vs. anti-democracy, I think we can be forgiven for not getting too far down in the weeds. Plenty of Republicans and former Republicans understand this. They may disagree with plenty of basic Democratic policy positions, but they think it's more important to give U.S. democracy a fighting chance than to agree with every platform plank.
I’ve often wondered if a class on “gotcha” has been added to the schools of journalism curriculum
A capable high school debate coach should be able to school them on how to get it right. <g>
Vice President Harris ought to have her sit down with PBS News Hour. They seem to take their responsibilities seriously.
I do hope Trump is expired, but I know it won't expire the movement he started, which has been responded to with our own movement. Prof. Ruth Ben-Ghiat in responding to some media jackal saying Joy is not a platform begs to disagree, which she did this morning in her Substack.
https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/why-joy-is-an-effective-anti-authoritarian?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The MSM is now complaining that Harris will do her interview with Walz. Kamala gets to set her own terms. I have never read an article complaining about the terms under which Trump is willing to be interviewed or speak to the MSM. He also has his anti-social "Truth Social." a fascist propaganda site from what I can see, where his unhinged rantings are turning people off. I don't know anyone other than a junior high boy would appreciate his characterization of Kamala Harris and Hilary Clinton. Look at Republicans for Harris. It is a thing, and I know some of people in it are Mormons, such as in this video and this article.
https://youtu.be/EMf85uRuftI?si=NrHLnnP2XzgahfwC
https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/08/07/latter-day-saints-democrats-and-republicans-join-forces-to-support-harris/
I am not going to watch the Harris-Walz interview. I do not want the dog and pony show of the press, and they will not get their ratings from me. I will however, watch Harris and Walz when they speak directly to the people. I do not need some journalistic jackal to 'splain to me what I just heard, or to try to rip them apart. As these good Republicans are saying above, it is not as much about policy as it is about defending the constitution, democracy, and our values of being American. Viva la Kamala.
Linda, only when he is fully expired will we find out just how far he took us. We as the people will have a lot to do with how this plays out.
I’m not sure where to start. Why is someone a jackal because they say joy is not a platform? And of course it’s not, and I’m sure you don’t agree that Make America Great Again is s platform.
I don’t look at Truth Social because I think it’s probably just full of fools and idiots, but I don’t define it as fascist propaganda, never having looked at it.
I am very curious to know where you think you learned about the stolen documents, or the actual collusion between Trump and the Proud Boys, or that the Proud Boys and Moms for Liberty share leadership. Or the Arlington encounter. Or Project 2025. And on and on. All of those things were reported in network news, WaPo, the NYT, and the Guardian before they made it to any podcast, substack column, or independent journalist’s writing.
You know detail about the Palestinian plight, Netanyahu’s real motives, and for that matter, the narrative of the Ukraine war because of these same people.
As for the folks who whine that billionaires own the media, Fox is controlled by one, as is WaPo (by someone Trump loathes). The rest are public companies, whose shares are publicly traded.
As for jackals, most reporters take their jobs seriously, trying to expose as much as they can. Some don’t do a good job, but I can’t remember the last time I saw one (at a mainstream media entity) really come off as biased.
Candidates try to communicate ideas with the best spin and the least detail. Yes, even Harris. (I don’t count Trump as his shtick is different). Reporters try to get detail, which pleases us when they sim at our opponents and displeases us when aimed at those we support. Reporters, realizing that not all viewers get the nuance, will try to explain points, or re-capitulate them. If it bothers you, don’t listen.
But jackals? Beneath you.
Well, first and foremost, it's the billionaires who own the media who love Rump. Well, they don't love him, they just need the OCF (Orange Convicted Felon) to destroy democracy for them.
If democracy is destroyed, wouldn't a "free press" be next on the list for destruction? Of course, the much of media is now so firmly in the "suck-up to Trump camp" that they likely think they are immune--that Trump and the Project 2025 cohorts won't try to take them down.
In reading of history, the one thing I have taken away from the various narratives of power struggles, is that "Kings" definitely don't like "King-makers" because what can be made, can also be unmade. "Kingmakers" seldom last very long in the new regime that they helped into power.
Absolutely true. And as Prof. Richardson has mentioned many times already, in a dictatorship, it's pretty much arbitrary if you belong to the "in" crowd or the "out" crowd. "Your neighbours told me you're a friend of gays. That true?" People wishing for a dictatorial regime often forget that, too.
But my guess is that the people working for the media are afraid to lose their jobs, so they publish what their company owners want them to publish. After democracy is gone, free press indeed follows suit. They either forget that, or they are already prepared (or complicit, some maybe even eager?) to work for a state press that only writes what the regime tells them to.
Exactly Dutch Mike!
Don't for get the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$'s he gives them, which will multiply if he gets his way.
Make that the $$$$$$$ he PROMISED them. He may act hot, but the OCF definitely isn't the richest guy in town. In fact, I think it's the other way around. I bet the billionaires have offered Rump a whole lotta cash in exchange for his destroying of democracy.
Wow. Two crass names for Trump in a single post. You just proved your Democratic bona fides, I guess. Too bad you didn’t take that completely wasted time and work on GOTV activities, like a lot of us do. But everyone contributes in his or her own way, I guess.
By the way, of the big media outlets, two are controlled by billionaires. Anyone who thinks Bezos is a Trump fan has lost a few marbles somewhere along the way.
The rest are public companies.
Oh, wow, yes, how unimaginably rude of me to start name-calling the Orange Felon. How could I, since he NEVER does that to anyone else, huh? And by the way, it's just one crass name; the other one is fact: he _is_ orange, he _is_ convicted, and he _is_ a felon. Thank you very much.
And by the way, billionaires hacking away at democracy sure seems bad enough:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/03/billionaires-for-trump-presidential-electionhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/aug/06/rupert-lachlan-and-me-inside-the-murdochs-medieval-fiefdom-ntwnfb
The WSJ is slamming the joint interview as Harris having a “crutch” in Walz to prevent her from having to answer the difficult stuff. She’s damned if she gives interviews, and damned if she doesn’t. It’s disgusting-their bias toward Trump on full display. The complicity of msm in the intended murder of democracy must be stopped.
Most tickets in recent years have had joint interviews, including Trump and Pence. It’s normal. The lying is out of control.
The real normal part is that their lying is now the accepted norm by media.
Instead of 'WSJ says', we should come back with Rupert Murdoch, Mr. Fox news, the man bent on destroying America, this is what he says.
Equivalence in news questioning would be a welcome change in "Gotcha" behavior. Trump just blathers and whinges about whatever he is thinking - -not what he has been asked. But somehow he skates. And the Dems are pilloried. It's a disservice to our nation. And it's not just Fox that is unfair.
Well said! Dana Bash….really?? After her last performance as a debate moderator, I don’t think she is in any position to be requesting policy details from VP Harris. As part of the group “The American People Want to Know” I would like more details how she thinks she is qualified to be a political reporter when she can’t moderate a debate? It’s all about ratings.
I am afraid i will be part of the ratings tonight, just not on tv or cnn but on youtube. it will be must watch tv without the tv.
They announced as part of the original agreement that they would not be fact checking. No live mics, no audience, no fact checking. Biden and Trump camps agreed. Seems like YOU ought to get your facts correct before you criticize.
I hear you!
What if both candidates were asked the SAME QUESTIONS?
Gasp!
Excellent!
I've often wondered why members of the media, while talking with conservatives about Socialism, don't ask, "What exactly do you mean by Socialism?" I don't think it's more than a work that the GOP uses to stir up anger.
Bill, the media has decided they are not the arbiter of either the good or true, they are just here to create their narrative for more eyes on their channel.
Your summary is on point and absolutely 💯%correct. I can't listen,view nor read legacy media. 💙
What is so astounding Linda is that we have known this to be going on for years, but they have gone too far with dumpy and they will suffer the consequences. This is a major story among the informed and this will be our opportunity to point out that corporations do not have our interest in mind, only the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,s they can turn our interest into..
Love to know. How do you think you know anything about what is happening in the world? Or the campaign? Do you see the news organizations cited after every HCR column? Do you read when she quotes reporters?
How do you think podcasters know anything? Or substack writers? Do you imagine HCR lurks around Arlington? Or Gaza? Or Ukraine?
She reads, listens and views media (I can’t even tell what you think ‘legacy’ is accomplishing in that sentence). Can you explain?
So beautifully put
Thanks Gjay15 ❤️
Legitimate questions to ask but ones that should be pressed, uncompromisingly, against the former President. Loved the turn-the-tables response by the Vice President on the former President's demand that microphones be muted in the debate; that is, in essence, "If I were Mr Trump's handlers, I would want to mute him, too."
Oh the irony if irony still had any relevance to where we find ourselves today.
Good point -- not sure there is much room for irony when one is mentally ill and unable to smile, let alone laugh.
Thank you Professor Richardson.
I suspect we will see Trump continue to implode. He's now a cornered animal who has never been held criminally accountable for his actions. While this corrupt SCOTUS insulated him with immunity from "official acts" he is still vulnerable to conviction and prison time for a multitude of serious crimes against the United States. He recognizes that if he is not sworn in as President it is likely he will either be fleeing the country or will be spending 2025 in criminal court.
The Reagan/Milton Friedman so-called economic concept of a "free-market" is nothing more than a massive fraud perpetrated by the wealthy through their GOP shills like Reagan and Trump. The concept of a "free-market" quickly dies when TARP banks are bailed out by taxpayers. It dies when industries are allowed to collude through backchannel agreements or simply consolidate in violation of anti-trust law. The concept of "free-markets" die when, without government inspection, diseased meat is packaged and sold to unsuspecting consumers. The concept of "free-markets" die, when, for example a fertilizer and chemical plant explodes next to an elementary school in Texas because regulations hurt "bidness". And the concept of "trickle-down" dies when it is truly explained to every voter. That simply giving more money to the already wealthy will make everyone better off is so completely moronic it could only be sold to a society where public education has been deemed a nuisance by people like Betsy DeVos (who thrives on student loan debt interest payments) , religious fundamentalists, and right-wing extremists.
Love, George, the wealth and pithy aptness of your many great parallels here.
Thank you Phil -I had more to say -HCR always provokes a chain of thought! -but am working (frantically) to publish the next in my Fear & Loathing series (hat tip to Hunter Thompson) -this on public education later today.
Please, George, quote liberally from this text you're working on.
I'm sure much will well apply to what Heather observes (and other commenters here observe) in current events as well as from history.
Coming soon to a monitor or mobile device near you ...
The Heritage Foundation/Trump/MAGA/GOP assault on democracy called “Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” expresses the GOP intent to eliminate the Department of Education. This is clear evidence that they also know the pillars of a free and democratic society are education, information, and engagement. Such a society is much harder to control, and is more likely to understand that concepts such as “trickle-down” and “free-market” are not real economic concepts, they are mass fraud geared toward the concentration of wealth to the privileged few. Their vision is an indoctrination into a system where people blindly accept what they are told by Fox “News”, or elected “leadership” like Trump, Vance, Marjorie Taylor Greene, James Comer, Matt Gaetz, and Greg Abbott.
They simply nod and accept judicial decisions from bias, incompetent, and corrupt judges and justices. They are told climate change is a liberal hoax. They are told slavery was just a job apprenticeship program. That the civil war was not to free slaves and attempt to end a horrific part of U.S. History, but over States rights versus Federal overreach. They will accept that there’s no remedy for guns and assault rifles and that bulletproof backpacks are not an outrage but a “free-market” opportunity for a parent to show they care about their child or children. They are taught that Columbus “discovered” America (although by the same logic I “discovered” Spain when I visited Barcelona in 2023 -of course I didn’t plant the US flag and then slaughter all of the Spanish in so doing). On one hand these extremists talk about liberty and freedom -however they seek to imprison the minds of their rabid followers.
The reality is that a well-educated society will not blindly and obediently follow.
“Trickle down” economics is perhaps more accurately if less daintily described as “piss on the poor” economics, while “free market” economics is simply an early stage on the way to monopolies.
It's why I always refer to it as "tinkle on" economics.
'well educated' is definitely an issue in the U.S. And the public has no idea of the deeply embedded bribery for legislation that occurs in the US Congress. If elected, I believe Kamala and Waltz could foment change on that issue. Congress has literally become a piggy bank for some members who come out as multi millionaires, thanks to lobbyists and public lack of awareness of the amount of money changes hands.
So well said.
Now we need a bumper sticker that doesn't say "continued on next bumper sticker"
Mine on another subject is "birth begins at erection"..
Working on this one.... "trickle down creates a nation of pee-ons" ( courtesy Thom Hartmann)
Technically you "discovered" Catalunya when you visited Barcelona for the first time.
Very true Rhea. :)
And why these letters and commentary need greatly distribution. Thought provoking/critical thought process….👏👏
Trickle down was once called "voo-doo economics" by the last Republican who won the popular vote for the presidency, George H.W. Bush.
No question that it casts an evil spell on any aspiration of democracy.
HW's undergrad degree was in economics.
Hence his understanding of the need to raise taxes, which lost him reelection. But then he had other problems *cough* Iran-Contra-Bill-Barr.
Devos was such a strange choice till you think of brother Eric and his people…this us a Sept 6th bunny trail. And free markets and deregulation brought us Faux News, and 35 trillion dollars deficits..thanks Ronnie! What he did to California as well.
So true Ryan. He was our worst modern President and led us to the “Prison Apprentice”.
I enjoyed reading that George. Thanks 🙂
I am a retired Ag Economist (MS-University of Illinois/Urbana) who was an Independent until Reagan introduced his version of trickle-down economics. I watched the consolidation in the food industry happen in real time as the government of both R and D presidents ignored anti-trust laws and the Packers and Stockyards act. It has been devastating for farmers, and yet the vast majority of them vote Republican. They have been repeatedly told that Democrats are "Marxists/socialist" who are coming for their guns.
Last week, someone I know, with zero economic knowledge, accidentally posted a picture on their business FB page instead of their personal page of Kamala Harris next to a picture of her father's monograph "Capital Accumulation and Income Distribution". This post called her and her father "Marxists". I did some googling and quickly found a pdf of the monograph, which was full of pretty heavy-duty mathematical modeling. I skipped to the conclusion since I didn't have the time or energy to wade through it. The Wikipedia page on Dr. Donald Harris summarizes it nicely: "Harris employs mathematical modeling to explore the relationship between the accumulation of capital and income inequality, economic growth, economic instability, and other phenomena, arguing that typical theories fail to adequately consider power, class, and historical context." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_J._Harris It was NOT a Marxist manifesto by any stretch, but with "Capital Accumulation" in the title it was meat for the right wing propaganda machine.
Thank you for sharing Robin. I've always found it educational to drive on Interstate 5 in California through the central valley and see all of the signs blaming Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Party for water scarcity. The signs would often be interspersed with oil rigs.
I've written before that the anger and frustration among "moral majority", "tea party" and now "MAGA" are all real -however, as most every reader of HCR's LFAA's know, the anger is intentionally misdirected through Fox "News" and a media so concerned with "balanced" reporting they have forgotten that the only "sides" to facts and evidence are truth and falsehoods.
I refuse to read Fox!
There are two areas that drove me nuts when I researched them years ago with the idea of doing a feature film. One was big pharma and the other would have been set in Congress revealing the long time tradition of lobbying which is why so many Congress members retire rich..
Thank you Sam.
Betsy DeVos of the Amway Ponzi scheme.
She and her entire family (notably Erik Prince of Blackwater “fame”) are disgusting.
Let's go have a beer and we can discuss Stieglitz's most recent book "The Road To Freedom".
Taught in high school, it's very easily understandable and would result in a profound change in popular understanding of how a society should work.
Thank you Jen! Now I’m smiling and thinking of a group that grew in the days of “Dubya” called “Drinking Liberally”.
Stiglitz’s “The Road to Freedom” should definitely be on a list along with “Manufacturing Consent”, “The Corporation”, “Don’t Think of an Elephant”, “Miseducation in America”, and “The Economics of Innocent Fraud”. All important and all readily accessible.
Also, “Democracy Awakening” by @Heather Cox Richardson (It’s important, and also, I want to stay on her good side) :)
Love Stieglitz! Amazing talent and investigator..
For a moment I was confused, since I thought Stieglitz was a pioneering photographer around the beginning of the 20th century. So I looked it up and the Stiglitz the economist you mention was born a couple of years before Stieglitz the photographer died.
That mention, plus the list of books provided by Mr. Polisher below, is going to take up some of my time.
Thank you.
The wealthy spin propaganda in order to pit the working class against each other. Then they sit back and laugh and watch as working class people fight each other. (They laugh all the way to the bank as well.)
The real threat to Democracy is the top 1%, the wealthiest of our country.
“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
-SCOTUS Justice Louis Brandeis
So very true George …
https://bomdia.substack.com/p/fear-loathing-and-wealth-inequality?r=1p3r9
Along with your good essay, I would like to add that we're not looking for socialism in which the government controls businesses, but rather we're looking for a regulated market in which businesses are free to seek and maximize profits and operate as they see fit, but within limits that avoid harm and exploitation.
I see no problem with someone having a pile of gold, per se. I do have a huge problem with someone amassing his pile of gold on a stack of body bags.
In other words, I personally believe, we should strive for a regulated capitalist economic system, and say so. We shouldn't let anti-humans define what we stand for. We must define ourselves in a way that inspires and attracts the average person wothout scaring the shit out of would-be oligarchs. The smart ones will sign on.
Very true Jerry, although I do worry about a system that demands continuous growth against finite resources. And I’ve also written some essays about wealth, I’m supportive of wealth creation through innovation, risk, and effort, however I’m not a fan of wealth transfers through externalities, lobbying to shift taxes and debt to workers, unlimited inheritances, and privatization.
Growth is a huge problem in our economic system, because it squanders ever more natural resources and because it depends on population growth in a primary way. The challenge is to come up with a different economic system and mechanisms that will make it work that is not totalitarian.
A well regulated economy benefits everyone, building trust in the products and services generated by business. In short, a scaling up of the basic carrot and stick approach to human behavior. Any costs involved simply become part of the overall pricing and profit structure. Who says you shouldn't have cops covering the highways and byways, "law and order", that's Republican jargon, right?
Yes indeed Frank. They revere "law and order" provided it applies to everyone else.
Excellent George, one ‘best synapse’ and clearly needs to be taught.
MARXISM. Finally someone is calling out the wanton hurling about of the term by people who just like the way it rolls off the tongue! Ditto for communism and socialism. I’d like to see someone— anyone!— in an interview with one of these bozos who label Democrats as Marxists, demand that they define the term. SPOILER ALERT: they can’t.
Me too. Ditto ‘Woke’ and Feminism.
We weren't allowed to peek at much anything about Marxism, socialism, or communism back when I was in high school from anything but what the one sided approved descriptions (not worth reading to me). The closest we got was the senior year much appreciated teacher in the Problems of Democracy course when different students or groups were assigned to do reports on things like the American Nazi Party, American Communist Party, the then current Russia Life magazine that was part of an inter-governmental agreement to allow 30,000 subscriptions to be distributed (we got to send an equal number of what may have been "Amerika" magazines to the Soviet Union, though I thought at one time it was copies of our Life Magazine).
I got to cover all of South America (most memorable to me as the laughed at my mentioning what I seem to recall as legislators in the new capitol, Brazilia, shooting at each other in the halls of their congress.
The students who wanted literature from the American Communist Party had their letter returned to them the next morning marked as "no such address." My dad worked in the post office at the time and noted that there was no way the letter could get to (I believe New York City), and back in the short time available.
The student who requested literature from the American Nazi Party got a lot more, including a monthly magazine that featured the Nazi of the month on the cover, a biker that road back and forth through the main street in a New Jersey town, through attempted road blocks, with a large cape or something like it printed with something like we don't allow no N****** around here. Seemed outrageous fascist wannabes were more tolerated than an form of "communism" sympathies (which there were legal prohibitions against due to their support of violence to achieve their ends).
A starting point for my late in life curiosity about the real story on Marxism could be considered the 2011 (soon after Citizens United), video, Communism | The 20th Century | World History | Khan Academy at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmRgMAZyYN0&t=7s
It interested me because it included the early history (1848) when Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto, a time when Europe was much more interested in the end of fuedalism, and manor systems in England where the industrial revolution really accelerated the disparities in income and property accumulation.
It was also of interest as a new concept to Horace Greeley and Father Nathan Meeker, who led the formation of the Union, utopian communal, Colony in Greeley Colorado. You won't find much, if any, mention of the Marxist concepts they thought they were using when they "...paid a $155 fee and signed a covenant promising to abstain from alcohol and gambling to receive a house site in town and a farm on the higher benchlands..." according to The Man Who Thought He Owned Water: On the Brink with American Farms, Cities, and Food, (one of my very favorite books since it was written by an ancestor of Benjamin Harrison Eaton who brought irrigation techniques he learned from Spanish settlers further south, that made the colony succeed).
The book is fascinating with the story telling that rivals writing style of James Michener's "Centennial" in the first half (except with the real names of the people vs the historical fiction types). The last half is the greatest example of detailed yet understandable explanation of the source of all western water law impact and processes.
It didn't hurt that my Florida in-laws sparked other interests from meeting water law lawyer Kelly J. Custer (related to the more famous Custer), during their annual ski trips to Colorado. She lives/lived not far from Greeley and Eaton. They had no discussions on water law with her and didn't know from my interests to initiate any, not having met her since, but I'd be interested in what she thinks of the last half of Tershia d’Elgin’s book.
Exactly, Maria!
Why the hell 7 ballots per democrat in California? It’s for damn sure Trump can’t count by 7’s. Why not 10? I realize he’s batshit, but I would expect his derangement to follow thinking patterns he’s familiar with, so fingers and toes perhaps…
His outrageous claims are becoming more and more untethered from realty.
Hence the forensic psychiatrist conference "The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" set for 9/27/24 at he National Press Club.
His base believes his lies!
They carry "you're fired " signs. They're bereft of reality also. And didn't notice in reality he couldn't manage to fire anyone
Sioux, does the orange felon's "bing-bing-boing-bong" evidence "thinking patterns"?
Well, as much as a pinball machine does. It’s just that his has hit tilt. (This makes me think I’m dating myself and I don’t think that term tilt applies in a digital age. Calling it a blue screen is old too…)
He was born tilted.
Both terms work for me
I would love a vintage pinball machine ....
Sins. Virtues. It's more numerology. The Satanic 7 / 11.
🤣🤣🤣so true
Yes BSC! He just makes it up, obviously, so why does it get reported by the “Petey Repeats?”
Maybe someone explained the number of deadly sins he committed and he's got them confused.
7 mail in ballots in California? I only received 5. Robbed of 2 votes! I cry foul!
Living in CA, I can say one for each day of the week 😈
7 plays well with the more dopey bible-thumpers, as would 40.
And California no less?! It’s the most underrepresented state in the electoral college and it’ll go blue if people only got a half a ballot
The orange felon understands human decency no better than he does the law.
That Heather well sums up his despicable (and illegal) posturing for cameras at Arlington National Cemetery is corroborated by Anthony Scaramucci today, too, who reminded us his former boss has no respect for norms, none for the law, none for morality.
Trump belongs to a world of similar depraved.
Putin enriched himself by securing Russia for thieving oligarchs like him. Kim locks down power and state murder in North Korea. Orban has fake love of Hungarian culture which his humanities illiteracy forbids him ever reference. Ditto with Modi and his Hindi nationalism in India, Xi allied to his Chinese state crime cadre syndicates, Erdogan to Turkey’s murderously reckless real estate developers, Mohammed bin Salman to fellow Saudi murderers (and their allied U.S. nihilists for fossil fuel), and Netanyahu to his far-right settlers (and their allied U.S. evangelicals) to up terror on West Bank Palestinians.
Yet beyond this, Kamala and Tim – plus many more – turn out Americans across the land rooted in decency, in respect for fairness. Will these resonate among people of the world?
I didn't think CFDT could ever go lower than the Lafayette Square Fascist where he sent in brown shirts with their name tags removed to tear gas and rubber bullet a peaceful crowd who were literally just hanging out. Many people saw it unfold live, and got to see Garrett Haake get shot in the leg with a rubber bullet as he reported. And all of this for a photo-op.
But to illegally take over a section of Arlington National Cemetery for a photo-op is a new and disgusting low. Many of us have relatives and friends that died serving in the armed forces and Arlington is a memorial to their service to keep us free. My father was a WWII disabled vet. I am beyond insulted that convicted felon Donald Trump would desecrate hallowed ground because he thought it would buy him a few votes.
It certainly does here in my part of the world, Northern Ireland. We have been enduring many years of increasingly vile, homophobic, misogynistic, racist, openly corrupt behavior by the MAGA endorsing British extremist Democratic Unionists and local racketeering and intimidation by their out of control armed Loyalist thugs. For Peace sake. Hoping that finally the British state might one day judicially intervene rather than continue to fund their civil war legacy ‘assets’ in Loyalist run estates to ‘transition’. Only the recent riots hitting England has at last shone a public light on this heinous neglect by successive UK governments and its socially destructive consequences for the majority decent law abiding individuals living here.
https://www.irishnews.com/opinion/brian-feeney-sooner-uns-racism-rapporteur-visits-north-the-better-OJPIZ2A3ZFDRNHA6FY2NMQ5ZIA/
Sympathize greatly, Monnina.
So many suffer tribalism of the worst kinds around the world.
I used to keep a list of the worst, with some pair-offs grossly disproportionate in weaponry and historical grievance.
Maybe what seems well to be a resurgence of decency among many in the U.S. will translate into a program -- for the U.S., for the world -- in schools leading essay writing programs for all to learn to jettison stereotypes and embrace the arts of seeing others as individuals (even admitting the complications all inhabit).
Right now, though, the schools play no role, except in turning themselves into fodder for our nihilist standardized testing billionaires.
Thank you. I agree about schooling. The fact that N.I. has a school system still segregated along religious sectarian lines effectively embedding social apartheid does not help.
Not surprisingly, Trump continues to be a disgusting human being as he tweets and retweets Who could possibly support him to be the President of the United States? For the next 67 days, I'm referring to Trump as "The Pervert". I encourage everyone to do the same. What an abomination.
Explains his longing for Elon and Orban
You want to hear disgusting. The Gay Republicans (former life of this group was Gays for Hitler) paid Melanoma Trump 274 thousand dollars to attend and speak at their gala recently. This is her big contribution to dumpys run for president and run from prison. Boy, do they deserve each other. This reminds me of the old joke about Melanoma telling Trump that she had dreamed of them riding in a motorcade through crowds of cheering people. Trump asked, “Was I smiling?” She replied, “I don’t know, it was closed casket.”
Gays for Hitler?? ....seems oppositional
I Loved the joke 🤣
Wasn’t that the Log Cabin Republicans?
Yes, cant believe I forgot to mention their actual name, thank you Maria. For some reason they want to identify with our favorite President.
I had an acquaintance, he was a vet, he had some form of cancer. He was self employed and did not have health insurance. He had very negative feelings about Obama Care. He would tell anyone who he could corner how horrible Obamacare was. That Obamacare was socialized care and therefore a communist construct. When he was diagnosed he sought and was given care at the VAHospital. After a course of treatment put him in remission, he was back in the club and button holing any one he could about sociaist/communjist health care, When I asked him to describe what meant, he described his impression of socialized which, as I pointed out to him, sounded an awful lot like the care he had availed himself to at the VA. Hmmm
A lot of people are self-programed to knee jerk responses... They're easy to remember and you don't have to think even a bit. Maga is not an institution of higher or lower education. It's just plain dumb.
Weird.
In other words, another reminder I never met so many white male morons in one place at one time as I did in the Navy. Lots of good people, way too many morons.
My mother was the same about Medicare. To be fair, she did get it when I had that conversation with her. But her conclusion was “I earned it.” As if people working three jobs to scrape by didn’t. And why does such a fundamental thing have to be earned?
I truly don’t get it. Society as a whole, and business too, benefits from a more healthy populace with access to preventive medicine. I do not understand the attachment to the for profit model of healthcare that we have, by people with no association with those profits.
Must remind everyone that the orange coward has done nothing without the approval (silence) of the elected Republicans. They chose to keep him when the democrats provided an exit ramp. They are all in on the destruction of America.
Reindicted and it feels so good.
The donvict is mad because Jack Smith isn't going to go silently into the good night.
We're close to two months out of the election and things aren't looking good for the donvict.
But don't get complacent.
Vote.
Smith is fighting a good fight....what do we have to lose but everything. So it's best to play for all its worth.
“Reindicted and it feels so good” — Lincoln Project and/or Randy Rainbow ought to jump on that with a parody of the original song. It’d be brilliant, as is your capture of it to apply to the “donvict.” Well done!
I love it!! The Donvict. That's a new one for me. Thank you Beth.
Not surprised to hear of more rantings from an unhinged demented convicted felon, "a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing.” (to borrow from Macbeth/Shakespeare)
The Arlington cemetery lawbreaking incident including assaulting a cemetery staff person who was then accused by the tffg staff of having mental issues seems the perfect illustration of more projection on their part. It hardly bears repeating how the msm consistently ignores the UNFITNESS of tffg to serve as POTUS and normalizes his deranged behavior. I look forward to the day when his whining and bleating is no longer endlessly making the rounds of all news media, both msm and alternative platforms including Substack and independent journalism.
It is incredibly sad that millions of our fellow Americans support this charlatan. As a lifelong educator, I cannot help feeling at least a modicum of guilt that, over the years, we have failed to instill any critical thinking skills in so many of our former students.
But you same educators instilled critical thinking skills in the rest of us...
Teachers do their best as public education has been underfunded for so long.
Betsy, it has less to do with critical thinking skills and more to do with belief (and the indoctrination that occurs in some Christian religions). For me, I see that the belief that white Christian men are better than everyone, and should have unfettered power over anyone not a white, Christian man is what dominates any sort of critical thinking skills said believer may have.
Breaking the law at Arlington is a forcast of rumps behavior should he return to power.
Looking at a photo of Trump spokesman Steven Cheung, I am reminded of what asociology professor once said in class long ago, that for every ethnic slur, there is an example in reality.
Cheung is Fu Manchu. Either that or "Odd Job" from the Bond movies.
I vote for Odd Job.
Ooh!...I'll second that! I thought our last election was a wear on my nerves...this one is out of the ballpark. The last thing I want to hear about Trump is that he's currently incarcerated for "X" number of yrs
Lately, I've been wondering if Republicans won't find a way to slide Vance into the top spot and push Trump aside. He's raving mad and desperately so. Vance, of course, is no moral exemplar; he seems to delight in slandering women, but he is younger and fit. The only way this ticket wins is by cheating big time. Choosing a former prosecutor (especially a woman) for the top Democratic spot is inspired. We've never needed one more. Go Harris-Walz!
I am certain that is their plan. They need his base to elect the RepubliKan ticket, and one of the first orders of business on January 20 will be to set in motion the VP takeover of the presidency, should they win the election.
RepubliKlan?
He makes it up as he goes along, throwing out anything he has heard might energize support by stoking fear
What if someone took out a big ad that said, GOD is voting for Harris - Walz...do you think Trump would implode?
Well, there's nothing to stop God doing that him/her self.
See the story of Job.
Difficult to campaign if all your hair has fallen out, you're covered in boils and your camels have succumbed to the pox. ( For "camels" read Miller et al)
And tell us he is bigger than G-d
The irony is huge. The location of the National Cemetery at Arlington House was a "screw you" to Bobby Lee from the US Army...and now the x-Prez who sided with those who wanted to keep Lees statue as a place for Nazi's and the KKK to rally around with their torches has gone into that sacred space...of "losers" and "dopes" to get a photo op...and then his people berate the caretaker for doing his job. Trump is so twisted and confused...he insults, then embraces the same people, because he feels whatever he does in the moment makes HIM look good. What a total and complete clueless jerk.
As are those he lures in and then tosses
Thank you Dr. Richardson, for defining so clearly the confusing and distorted terminology the Trump camp is using to attempt to define the status of the economy today. Helpful in conversations with people who call me a Marxist when they don’t agree with something I have said.
At least they know better than to call you a Fascist. Far too many moronic Magats don't know the difference...
Yes, the whole antifa thing didn’t work too well. Their real goal was to try to popularize the idea that being against fascism was a bad thing, so that eventually claiming fascist stances would be ok, but too many people still remember WW2 pretty clearly, and Nazi is still a worse epithet to call someone than Communist. When someone calls me a communist, they tend to look like a uniformed idiot. “You think I approve of North Korea’s policies toward their own people?” generally sidetracks the conversation from where it started, me approving of school lunches or whatnot.
I think that what happened with antifa was that the anarchists usurped the original "founders", if you will. The anarchists that I speak of had their start at the 1999 WTO protest events in Seattle, WA. I had quite a few professional contacts with them in the early aughts, and all they wanted to do was destroy property, if corporate all the better, and sow hate and discontent. BLM and the antifa movement in response to events from Ferguson, MO after Michael Brown's death to Minneapolis, MN following George Floyd's murder were negatively impacted by the anarchists invading those rightful protest spaces and simply engaging in hateful destruction rather than peaceful protest.
Yes, since my sister’s daughter and her kids live in the house that my father grew up in, and my family still owns the ranch started by my grandfather homesteading land in Wyoming in 1906, and I grew up hearing all the stories about how hard that start-up was, and I have contributed all my life to keeping the place going, I have no patience with anarchists. So much easier to wreck things, than to build and maintain things. Steve Bannon is the epitome of evil, as far as I am concerned. Trump is just an unusually lucky, petty criminal who gets away with far too much with his “whiny boy it’s not fair”schtick. Ugh. All opinions are my own, of course. :-)
Opinions I gladly share.
I'm considering updating "Egalitarian Capitalists" to "Tolerable Capitalists" otherwise known as "Social Democrats."
I’m surprised even by the replacing of the word Communist with Marxist!
I think Marxist has less common usage, therefore it is not well understood by most people and stands in as a flag for “ideas I don’t know about, and therefore probably don’t like, thought up by a guy who looks like a wild hippie compared to Hitler, and his curly hair suggestions he might have “Black” blood which is a good reason to not learn anything about him.”
I have to look back at the world situation in 1848 to imagine early thinkers trying to figure out how the industrial revolution enabled some people to end up with more critical assets in new types of machinery that could use many more disposable workers.
Previous wealth concentration could come with huge land holdings that other would have to work if they couldn't get enough land of their own (40 acres and a mule) let some have a lot more hope of making it free of having to work for someone else. It seemed the Union Colony at Greeley Colorado let them pool their resources and labor to create a more durable and independent community under what they imagined to be a more agrarian version of Marxism. To me, many utopian groups did well when everybody had to work together to have a great stepping stone to a more prosperous life, but most devolved into more individual or small enterprises once successful enough.
Mild socialists kept loose communities more inclined to help each other in hard times, but hard core communists took it to rather extreme corrupt levels. Social Democracies seem to do much better with a balance of social support at the base level but more opportunity for all to grow from a solid base.
The depredations and graft by the hyper-wealthy in the "Gilded Age" were curbed by social movements and progressive elected officials, such as the Roosevelt, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, as well as many other creative and civic minded officials, writers, etc. Lincoln, who carried the promises of the nations founding documents closer to realization said of government:
" The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves---in their separate, and individual capacities.
In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere."
And why the hell not? Could a society was large and complex as ours exist without the stewardship of a government? Could liberty exist in a land ruled by the rich at the expense of the poor? Lincoln embraces a liberal conservatism that seeks dynamic balance. Not extremes, nor stalled in mediocrity, but embracing as much as it takes to seek and establish optimized freedom and justice for everyone.
Very well said.
- Pulled Quote -
''Vance said. “She can go to hell.”''
Misery does love company.
Democracy and decency win in November.
Every time I am reminded of Corporal Six Months In An Air-Conditioned Trailer, I wish the Jihadis had fired one more missile into that base...