I thought I’d write about it. And then I thought I’d write about something else. And of course today there’s another something. There always is. By the end of this piece, I may be chasing a tangent that’s unrelated to the paragraph following this one.
From The Washington Post: Few stand in Trump’s way as he piles up the Four-Pinocchio whoppers. The surface of this is shrug worthy. Trump lies. No one challenges the lies.
It’s not that I don’t value honesty. It’s not that I want to write an article about an article that shouldn’t have made it to print.
If you’re not inclined to click the link, read this: “At the Fact Checker, we have often said we do not write fact checks to change the behavior of politicians. Fact checks are intended to inform voters and explain complicated issues.” On and on about “Pinocchio statements” and an example: “Trump says he was against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but research by BuzzFeed found that he did express support for an attack.”
Politicians lie. That’s not my point though. Nor is it my point that Trump’s receiving lopsided attention, even from me.
It’s this: Trumpsters don’t care if no one confronts their candidate about his lies, because they don’t care if he lies. They simply don’t give a shit. I’m talking specifically about the devotees who know he’s lying. Imagine how many supporters believe what he says. Imagine how many Clinton supporters believe what she says. But back to Trump: Regardless of his differing dismounts, even from one day to the next, his followers will cling, because they believe he’s a departure from past and present options. His unfiltered utterances are appealing, his rebellion respected. He could get away with murder.
Don’t they all?
Further, it’s absurd that any journalist today would write a column calling out television hosts that don’t confront Trump when television hosts were epic failures as the Bush administration juggernaut’d to war, when any administration makes a case for war. (Or maybe they were epic successes.) Recall the dark Bush days when the Pentagon sent an array of military analysts to appear on TV, experts whose experience and ribbon-and-medal-decorated chests provided authenticity, gravitas. It was enough to make the viewing audience salivate. “USA! USA! USA!” They salivate now when propagandists instruct the narrative.
Really, why should mainstream news journalists sift through the sludge to present facts when accepting lies requires less effort, no research?
The truth of corporate news is this: Truth is dead.
Now, the tangential:
Bernie Sanders hasn’t slammed “the door shut on possibly joining Hillary Clinton’s ticket,” evidence that his political revolution message is not, uh, revolutionary.
Ted Cruz may reenter the miasma, and Heidi, the wife, compared his quest for the nomination to the struggle to end slavery in the United States. Insensitive, just plain stupid, both?
The Department of Defense presented Henry Kissinger the Distinguished Public Service Award on May 11. He earned it, for skillful operation of the empire.
The show goes on. The show must go on.
Missy Comley Beattiehas written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. She was an instructor of memoirs writing at Johns Hopkins’ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Baltimore. Email: missybeat@gmail.com.
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The show must go on
Posted on May 16, 2016 by Missy Comley Beattie
I thought I’d write about it. And then I thought I’d write about something else. And of course today there’s another something. There always is. By the end of this piece, I may be chasing a tangent that’s unrelated to the paragraph following this one.
From The Washington Post: Few stand in Trump’s way as he piles up the Four-Pinocchio whoppers. The surface of this is shrug worthy. Trump lies. No one challenges the lies.
It’s not that I don’t value honesty. It’s not that I want to write an article about an article that shouldn’t have made it to print.
If you’re not inclined to click the link, read this: “At the Fact Checker, we have often said we do not write fact checks to change the behavior of politicians. Fact checks are intended to inform voters and explain complicated issues.” On and on about “Pinocchio statements” and an example: “Trump says he was against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but research by BuzzFeed found that he did express support for an attack.”
Politicians lie. That’s not my point though. Nor is it my point that Trump’s receiving lopsided attention, even from me.
It’s this: Trumpsters don’t care if no one confronts their candidate about his lies, because they don’t care if he lies. They simply don’t give a shit. I’m talking specifically about the devotees who know he’s lying. Imagine how many supporters believe what he says. Imagine how many Clinton supporters believe what she says. But back to Trump: Regardless of his differing dismounts, even from one day to the next, his followers will cling, because they believe he’s a departure from past and present options. His unfiltered utterances are appealing, his rebellion respected. He could get away with murder.
Don’t they all?
Further, it’s absurd that any journalist today would write a column calling out television hosts that don’t confront Trump when television hosts were epic failures as the Bush administration juggernaut’d to war, when any administration makes a case for war. (Or maybe they were epic successes.) Recall the dark Bush days when the Pentagon sent an array of military analysts to appear on TV, experts whose experience and ribbon-and-medal-decorated chests provided authenticity, gravitas. It was enough to make the viewing audience salivate. “USA! USA! USA!” They salivate now when propagandists instruct the narrative.
Really, why should mainstream news journalists sift through the sludge to present facts when accepting lies requires less effort, no research?
The truth of corporate news is this: Truth is dead.
Now, the tangential:
Bernie Sanders hasn’t slammed “the door shut on possibly joining Hillary Clinton’s ticket,” evidence that his political revolution message is not, uh, revolutionary.
Ted Cruz may reenter the miasma, and Heidi, the wife, compared his quest for the nomination to the struggle to end slavery in the United States. Insensitive, just plain stupid, both?
The Department of Defense presented Henry Kissinger the Distinguished Public Service Award on May 11. He earned it, for skillful operation of the empire.
The show goes on. The show must go on.
Missy Comley Beattie has written for National Public Radio and Nashville Life Magazine. She was an instructor of memoirs writing at Johns Hopkins’ Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in Baltimore. Email: missybeat@gmail.com.