No, Mr. President, The Media Is Not The “Real Enemy of the People”

440px-Official_Portrait_of_President_Donald_TrumpIn another attack on journalists, President Donald Trump called the “fake news media” the “real enemy of the people” yesterday. The tweet is in response to uniformly negative coverage, including on Fox News, of Trump’s handling of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since the vast majority of reporters described the summit as a debacle, it put most reporters in this category.  The tweet caused even Fox reporter John Roberts to remark that he must also now be an “enemy of the people.”  The White House is still reeling from Trump’s disastrous news conference with Putin and various Republican leaders (and Trump’s own intelligence figures) have made varying levels of corrections or outright contradictions of his words.  I have repeatedly criticized the media for unfair coverage of the Trump investigations and related subjects. However, these attacks on the media are as unfounded as they are dangerous for American society.  The President often has a point on slanted coverage but his use of such inflammatory and unjustified language should be rejected by all citizens.

 

Trump continues to call the summit a “great success” while blaming the media for the overwhelmingly negative reviews:

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear……..

Notably, however, polls show that Republicans remains overwhelming convinced that the summit was a success and Trump performed well.  Sixty-eight percent of Republicans approved of the president’s showing and 21 percent said they disapproved, according to the CBS News poll published Thursday.  However, overall 55 percent of the people disapproved of his performance and only 32 percent approved.  While the 83 percent of Democrats disapproving can be discounted, Trump also lost the key independents with 53 percent expressing dissatisfaction with his performance.

Once again, the merits of Trump’s performance are not my concern. Rather the continued reference of journalists as “the enemy” is alarming and unprecedented for a sitting president. Past presidents have criticized the media without ratcheting up the rhetoric in this way.  Not only does it undermine our core commitment under the First Amendment to a free press, it actually undermines Trump’s arguments.  I agree with his criticism of some coverage as struggling to take the most negative view possible of his actions and policies.  Even positive developments are often spinned in a way to denigrate the Administration.  While Trump often gives ample reason for negative coverage, there is a pattern of biased reporting in my view.  Yet, Trump negates that record by adopting the rhetoric of authoritarian figures in history in denouncing journalists as public enemies.

225px-LeninIronically, it was Vladimir Lenin who denounced democratic leaders as “enemies of the people” and nations from China to Iran to Turkey have used this phrase to fight the free press or free expression.

Helsinki in my view was another self-inflected wounds and justifiably criticized.  Trump can disagree with that assessment and highlight the positive outcomes from the summit. However, this country owes a huge debt to journalists who have courageously revealed government abuse and corruption for decades in our system.  We have real enemies in this world and our strength is based in no small part to those who report on our government.

449 thoughts on “No, Mr. President, The Media Is Not The “Real Enemy of the People””

  1. Yes, the MSM is biased and dishonest. I’ve never seen it so hostile. The most recent example is just rude and offensive. It’s disappointing to watch.
    Seriously, with all the good happening in the country and all the MSM wants to make the news about is this insignificant BS that’s never going anywhere!

  2. The lack of specifics worries me here. By refusing to say that this or that journalist is not an enemy of the people because of X or Y, the argument becomes that it is not possible in theory for any journalist to be an enemy of the people (in their capacity as a journalist presumably). Nor is their any detail to what is meant by a journalist here.

    It looks like this argument is saying that somehow journalists are inherently incorruptible and always good guys.

    That’s the only way you can assert that an argument that says many journalists are corrupt, is inherently false. Cannot be true regardless of the facts. Needs no facts to refute.

    But corruption in journalism is not at all unlikely. it’s well known to happen and have happened in the USA historically, and it’s well known that the US media is now in the hands of very few corporations and those few corporations could plausibly have very similar interests.

    It would be different if Trump was saying that everyone who says they are a journalist, even bloggers and so on, are all corrupt. But he’s not saying that. He’s saying there’s a lot of corrupt journalists.

    1. D. Byron,
      – I know that journalists are “the good guys” because that’s what I read in the newspaper.😊😃😄

  3. How did all this shrill shilling for the left work out for the folks at NY Daily News?

  4. Wildbill I am still waiting.

    “What substantive things has Trump lied about that directly involve his Presidency? Why don’t you list them starting with his worst lies? Be specific and document. I know I might have to ask you time and time again for such a reply. I hope I don’t have to.”

  5. “But if, as seems quite likely, the Trump administration finally announces that it intends to prosecute Assange for publishing classified U.S. Government documents, we will be faced with the bizarre spectacle of U.S. journalists – who have spent the last two years melodramatically expressing grave concern over press freedom due to insulting tweets from Donald Trump about Wolf Blitzer and Chuck Todd or his mean treatment of Jim Acosta – possibly cheering for a precedent that would be the gravest press freedom threat in decades.

    That precedent would be one that could easily be used to put them in a prison cell alongside Assange for the new “crime” of publishing any documents that the U.S. Government has decreed should not be published. When it comes to press freedom threats, such an indictment would not be in the same universe as name-calling tweets by Trump directed at various TV personalities…”

    See the Intercept for more info.

  6. “The media is not the real enemy of the people.” – Professor Turley
    _____________________________________________________

    The media incessantly report salacious and banal details on President Trump.

    Why did the media not report on Obama as president, and on Obama now as the Leader of the Obama Coup D’etat in America, his alleged homosexual love affair that allegedly ended with the murder of his lover?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V6SokexKqQ

    Larry Sinclair stated that Obama smoked crack cocaine, had homosexual relations with him and implied that Obama had homosexual relations with a “Donald Young” who was murdered on Dec. 23, 2007, and was the openly gay choir director for Reverend Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ.

    “Not the enemy” you say?

    1. WND –

      Remember the choir director

      “Carolyn and the other members of Trinity who provided statements corroborating her testimony were insistent that WND conceal their identities as a condition of being interviewed.

      “I’m still scared to discuss any of this,” Carolyn said.

      “At Trinity, if you even hint at talking about Obama being gay, you are reminded of our dear departed choir director,” she said. “He was killed, and it wasn’t a robbery. The Christmas presents weren’t touched. The TV was not taken, nothing in the apartment was missing.”

      Carolyn’s reference was to Donald Young, the 47-year-old homosexual choirmaster at Trinity who died of multiple gunshot wounds in his Chicago apartment Dec. 24, 2007.

      Young’s murder was preceded Nov. 17, 2007, with the execution-style murder of 25-year-old Larry Bland, another black gay member of Trinity United. He also was murdered in his home, dying of multiple gunshot wounds, according to his death certificate.

      Just two days after the murder of Young, a third openly “gay” member of Wright’s church, Nate Spencer, reportedly died of septicemia, pneumonia and AIDS.”

      Sensational charges

      “As WND reported last month, a prominent member of Chicago’s homosexual community claims Obama’s participation in the “gay” bar and bathhouse scene was so well known that many who were aware of his lifestyle were shocked when he ran for president and finally won the White House.

      In April, WND reported a federal judge dismissed a libel case against Larry Sinclair, a homosexual who claimed Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign had paid to rig a polygraph test regarding Sinclair’s sensational charge that he had sex and used cocaine twice with Obama while Obama was an Illinois state senator. Sinclair tells his story in “Barack Obama & Larry Sinclair: Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder.”

  7. Actually the MSM is the enemy of the people and I will explain why that is the case. But first, we need to address objections which will immediately be raised against any person who says such a thing.

    First, Trump does not care about fake news. If he did he would not be attempting to silence, arrest and imprison Julian Assange, an editor with 100% accurancy to his name. It should be important to note that on this topic, the MSM and Trump are in complete agreement, along with the IC and Hillary Clinton. They would all like Assange silenced and many hope for his death. A red flare should be going up on this universal agreement among players which are normally portrayed as “enemies”. It is that agreement which shows what is actually going on in the dog and pony show called Trump and the media.

    As we saw from the Clinton e-mails and as has now also been confirmed through FOIA request by actual independent investigative reporting (see Muck Rock for some of the latest FOIA) it is beyond argument that the “press” and the IC work together and in many cases “the press” are actually members of the IC itself.

    The IC is illegally spying on everyone, taking each person’s data and using it as they see fit. The IC has never seen a war they did not want, nor have they hesitated to create coups for the purpose of putting right wing puppets in place in many nations (at least 80 times) for the benefit of a small oligarchic establishment. To claim that the IC is not the enemy of ordinary people in this nation is simply not true. If they are taking your data, starting wars, arming everyone in sight and over throwing multiple govts. while attempting perception management through the use of your data, those people are not your friend.

    It’s not an opinion that the IC controls the MSM for purposes of perception managment and inflaming wars, it is now a known fact. The press is the IC. It is a transmission belt for their very evil purposes. One needs to discard the idea that Trump is in fundamental disagreement over the uses of fake news. He likes it and uses it to benefit his purposes. There is no fundamental dictatomy between Trump and the rest of the IC and their minions on this issue. It is up to the American people to know what is going on, to try not to be manipulated and to think for ourselves. It’s the only defense we have against the many lies we are being told from all directions.

    1. “It’s not an opinion that the IC controls the MSM for purposes of perception managment and inflaming wars, it is now a known fact.”

      Not for those of us who don’t buy into every crazy conspiracy theory that winds up on Infowars or 4chan.

      In fact almost all sane people would laugh at your assertion.

      1. WB,

        As I’m certain you already know, Infowars and 4 chan (through the use of the persona, Q) are pro-Trump. They disseminate the propaganda that Trump is anti fake news. I already gave an example of Trump refusing to support real news in that he and Clinton and the MSM and the IC all agree that Julian Assange, an editor who has put out 100% accurate real news is despised by all of these people. They all wanted him arrested and many of them have called for his death. Therefore, the examples you are trying to pawn off on uninformed people are bogus.

        I think if you look up people like John Pilger, Consortium News, Chris Hedges, Muck Rock’s FOIA requests, you will find that trying to call something a Conspiracy is just a way to keep people from informing themselves of the facts. I urge people to examine the facts by going to original sources of information such as FOIA’s and the Clinton e-mails (to name two orignial sources) and making up their own minds.

        1. I think if you look up people like John Pilger, Consortium News, Chris Hedges,

          You’ll discover they’re all malicious cranks. Hedges in particular is an example of someone building a career working for establishment vehicles while being deranged.

        2. Here’s an interesting article from Scientific American exploring what people get from believing in conspiracy theories.

          https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-some-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories/

          From the article: “Although conspiracy beliefs can occasionally be based on a rational analysis of the evidence, most of the time they are not. As a species, one of our greatest strengths is our ability to find meaningful patterns in the world around us and to make causal inferences. We sometimes, however, see patterns and causal connections that are not there, especially when we feel that events are beyond our control.”

          Does that ring true to you?

          1. WB,

            You are not able to counter an argument with argument. That shows desperation.

            I am referring people to orginal source doccuments. The best way to look for accurate information is to look at orginal source documents. Asking people to look at those and to make up their own mind about the meaning and import of those documents makes worrying about conspiracy theories meaningless. These are facts.

            Your personal attacks will not change the content of original source documents. They just are. I trust that people can read these documents for themselves. It does not frighten me to think that other people are informed by reading original source documents. It also does not frighten me to read many people’s analysis of these documents. I would hope everyone could do that!

            1. I tried to help you but obviously nutty conspiracies are your comfort zone.
              Stay delusional then.

              1. Wildbill, previously Jill said: “Your personal attacks “. I note how you complained about personal attacks and then I saw the way you attacked Jill and a number of others. I listened to how you were a Republican if that means anything, but your dialogue doesn’t ring in the fashion of a Republican that wants more limited government.

                It seems you don’t know who you are. While we are at it I away that list I have asked for twice.

                1. Are you all in with crazy conspiracies too, Alan?
                  Not just Jill’s, but the nonsense Oxy1 regurgitates from Infowars or Crazy George’s contributions as well.

                  Turley’s blog has more nuts attached to it than a snickers bar, I’ve always found that equal parts amusing and perplexing.

                  1. Wildbill I have had my tiffs with Jill and she doesn’t like me so what I said had nothing to do with Jill but a lot to do with you. I listen to very few conspiracy theories and don’t find the worst of the conspiracy theorists any worse than you. They can’t back up what they say and apparently neither can you.

                    You can also say there are a lot of empty calories in a Snickers Bar and those empty calories can be seen by a lack of documentation along with a lot of fluff. Are you an empty calorie?

              2. wildbilll can go tell Media Matters that his posts are not working. WB99 isn’t fooling anyone. The use of terms like xenophobe, racist, conspiracy theorists, homo phoebe & the other terms of non-endearment are useless now. Lefty Dim prog fascist attempts at trying to silence those who disagree with them have used this jive so often that that junk has been rendered useless. We who want the Constitution back & oppose big all controlling government are no longer intimidated by these cheap verbal assaults & attempts to manipulate patriot thought & action by the left’s totally failed use of these low life slurs.

                WB99 is INSANE if he thinks the NWO & it’s lower level counterparts has his or our best interests in mind. All they want is to take down the USA as we were founded & inflict total government control on the USA & the rest of the world.

                Go ahead WB99, call that conspiracy theory. Then read Strategy, by Cloward & Pivon, Rules For Radicals, by Saul Alinsky & The Creature From Jekyll Island, a book about how the Dimms hung the in the ‘Federal’ Reserve around the neck of the USA in 1913. .

                Ever do a search on Conspiracy Theories That Turned Out To Be True? Interesting search…

                SamFox

                1. “Lefty Dim prog fascist” “NWO” “Cloward and Piven”

                  LOL. Take your meds Sam.

  8. didn’t the traitor trump tell tv reporter Lesley Stahl that he attacks the press to “demean” and “discredit” reporters so that the public won’t believe “negative stories” about him.

    the media certainly makes mistakes – mostly rushing to scoop other networks. others like infolies intentionally lie – that is until sitting in court and forced to tell the truth.

    But the traitor trumps lies on the media is an advance attack to defend his multitudes of future crimes and wrongdoings. And since president patsy appears to be a controlled russian asset and intent on making russia great again, his strategy to lie almost 100% of the time about the media makes sense (for a criminal).

    1. Bill W – Trump appears to be a “controlled Russian asset”? Please. You don’t follow the facts, do you?

      A question no one in the media ever asked: How do we know Putin didn’t have something on Obama?

      1. That question never arose because, unlike Trump, President Obama appeared to be a good and decent man even to many who disagreed with his policies.

        1. Really, Wildbill. Did you ever read about those people that influenced Obama’s life and upbringing; terrorists, anti-Semites, revolutionaries, drug addicts, anti-white individuals etc? I read his books before the election and became more disturbed from what I saw that he wrote in his books than most of the other things.

          Even so, when he became President I hoped he could put an end to racism and possibly act as a uniting force. I even agreed with some of his overall policies but became very unenchanted by his actual actions and statements that divided America instead of united it.

          Taking note of Obama and Trump I find Trump far more transparent, honest and direct. I find Obama more sophisticated in his method of communication but that type of sophistication can lead to a person that hides his tracks and lies under his breath.

          1. You find Trump, the foremost national pusher of the Birther lie, more “transparent, honest and direct”?

            I might give you “direct”…

            1. Wildbill, the Birther question was one held by a number of people. He wasn’t even near the beginning of the line and I would have to see his exact words to judge whether or not he was lying or just wrong. In any event, that wasn’t the question you were asked. I will repeat it since you are wiggling around again.

              “What substantive things has Trump lied about that directly involve his Presidency? Why don’t you list them starting with his worst lies? Be specific and document. … In the past, you have made many statements you were unable to back up. Let’s try and do a better job. You don’t sound like one of the other whack jobs so let’s see what you can do.”

              1. That the Earth is flat is an opinion held by a number of people as well.

                1. In other words, Wildbill, you have outbursts and say things that you cannot back up. That is fine with me. We now know that what you say has little to do with reality and it can be considered akin to a temper tantrum because you didn’t get what you wanted.

                    1. “Temper tantrum, Allan? We call that projection…”

                      Wildbill, I don’t think anyone would associate you as one with significant knowledge of psychology. You made claims that you could not back up. Why would you do that? Only because you didn’t get what you wanted. That “can be considered akin to a temper tantrum”.

                      You have demonstrated a difficulty of living comfortably with your remarks since you tried to list a claim that had nothing to do with the Presidency. You become more hollow by the day. Try and do better.

            2. Hey wildbill, you can’t even prove that 0blameUS was ever even vetted like it should have been before the election. Talk about the fix being in….

              SamFox

        2. Wild Bill 99 – The point is that the media meltdown over Trump’s poorly chosen ‘words’ is not consistent with the reality of the actions he has taken when it comes to Russia. It’s over the top.

          The opposite was true of Obama. Why did the media not ask what Putin may have had on Obama that caused him to act in the questionably passive ways he did when it came to Russian aggressions? The media hysteria and traitor/treason spin is not grounded in reality of the actual actions Trump has taken toward Russia.

        3. President Obama appeared to be a good and decent man even to many who disagreed with his policies.

          Obama has managed to avoid personal domestic scandals. That’s the agreeable thing you can say about him. The disagreeable aspects are multifold. You don’t ponder them because he’s been treated with kid gloves by nearly all the media and also because he’s not a transgressor in any particularly gaudy way and the scale of his transgressions is modest next to the Clintons.

          1. By almost all accounts a good husband to his wife and father to his daughters. No trace of personal scandal, and an effective spokesman for his positions.
            Credit where credit is due.

            1. WB99, credit?

              How about some of your ‘credit’ for NON 0 administration investigations into the IRS being weaponized against conservatives, fast & furious & a dead border agent, the Iran nuke deal so Iran could actually go ahead with nuke building while 0 & his worshipful left stream media pretended otherwise, Russian meddling on 0’s watch was ignored, Hilldabeast & Benghazi & her use of UN-authorized EM servers & illegally destroying subpoenaed evidence, the NON investigation by the FBI of a hacked DNC server that DNC wouldn’t hand over though they claimed ‘Russia did it’, the sale of Uranium 1, money laundering & selling US out by the Clinton Foundation, the govt takeover, fascist like, of US healthcare, 0’s driving businesses OUT of the US via over taxation & regulation, Strategy style…[a book by Cloward & Piven]

              Hey, what ever happened to the EPA after the huge spill THEY caused? Any word on the PALLETS of cash flown by 0 & co to Iran so Iran could fund terrorists? Hey, we got a great deal when 0blubber traded 5 top muslim terrorists for traitor Bergdhal eh….Any thoughts on why US national debt DOUBLED under 0 & why welfare roles were swelled under 0 ‘watch’? Again, 0 followed Strategy, a book by Cloward & Piven.

              Media accounts of 0? Of course 0 was a good daddy & all. Fringe stream fascist media would kill the reputation & career of any reporter who said otherwise. Sorta like how fringe media is now in the throes of Trump Derangement Syndrome as they attack any & all who support Mr. Like you, they would never acknowledge 0’s assault on the USA as we were founded. Or that all 0 did was take over from where GWB left off like Bush & former presidents did for their predecessors after being newly elected. GW was bad. 0bama was worse.

              https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2016/12/03/5-reasons-barack-obama-will-be-viewed-as-one-of-the-worst-presidents-of-all-time-n2254303

              https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2017/01/08/home-and-abroad-obama-trail-disasters/YOaU1KuAT3hSHaGHkmGCeN/story.html

              SamFox

              1. “Fringe stream fascist media”
                Sam you just outed yourself as a wingnut, congrats!

                1. Wildbill, are you back to making comments you can’t back up. Add this present one to the one you ran away from which said: “What substantive things has Trump lied about that directly involve his Presidency? Why don’t you list them starting with his worst lies? Be specific and document.”

                    1. Do you have a problem wildbill? Caught again? …And you were the one that called for restraint? WildBill Hypocrite!!!

                    2. No, my hearing is fine. Why are you asking? Are you looking for people to visit you?

                    3. My tolerance for Trumpish douchebags, never particularly high, is at an all time low tonight.
                      Perhaps it’s better to make this the last time I respond to you.
                      Goodbye.

                    4. “My tolerance”

                      No one gives a damn about your tolerance whether you be a drunk, stupid or both. Sleep it off. But when you awake your problems remain. Remember… When you puff out your chest to show your masculinity be able to back up what you say and don’t wet yourself in the process.

    2. Here are some facts for you: Not only did Trump impose tough sanctions on Russia, he backed them up with further concrete actions. He’s expelled diplomats and closed consultates. Obama refused to enforce his red line in Syria while Trump decisively did so.

      Obama repeatedly praised Putin and Hillary is on record talking about how important a strong and stable Russia is to our interests. Obama downplayed any election meddling by Russia as not that big a deal — when they thought Hillary was a shoe-in to win. When Hillary lost the election it became the big deal they previously told us it wasn’t.

      Remember how Obama not only praised Putin but also cozied up to communist dictators like Castro and Chavez? Yeah, probably not, b/c the press didn’t have much to say about it at the time.

      Isn’t it odd that Putin praised Obama’s Iran deal and then criticized Trump for pulling out of the Iran deal? Remember how Obama refused to arm Ukraine? Trump went ahead and authorized arms sales to Ukraine and Georgia to help them defend against Russian aggression – something Obama refused to do.

      Remember the “flexibility” Obama told Medvedev he would have after his reelection? Remember when Obama condescendingly told Romney the 1980’s called and they want their foreign policy back?

      And we just watched as Trump publicly chastised Germany for entering into a gas pipeline deal that would make Germany energy dependent on Russia.
      Fact is that Trump has taken far more action against Putin and against Russian interests than Obama ever did, but yeah Trump is a “controlled Russian asset.” Please.

      Trump is trying to negotiate with Putin to get his help in North Korea and elsewhere and you think insulting him on the world stage is the way to gain his cooperation? Your mind is clearly a controlled asset of MSLSD or BSNBC or Crap News Network.

      1. TBob, very good. Not to mention accurate. Also accurate & right on is Allen. What you both said is verifiable. Also I agree with Jill. Good counter posts by all three of you!!

        Thanks to you 3! You all saved me a lot of typing! 😉

        SamFox

  9. Marky Mark Mark – when you have evidence, present it. You must get destroyed in court. Seriously, I fear for your clients.

  10. Trump is a dastard and a coward. The media are not attacking “the people.” The media are finding fault with Trump. Trump is not “the people.” Criticism of Trump is not an overt act of war against The United States. Trump is cowardly hiding behind the people the same way that any other whiny little crybaby bully boy runs and hides behind his mother’s skirts after he pokes his adversary in the eye with a sharp stick. The MAGA cultists who act as human shields for the whiny little crybaby bully boy Trump are defending a dastard and a coward–and are, themselves, pathetic Twerp-a-zoids.

    1. Doesn’t matter how many animadversions you utter. You’re getting older and uglier every day.

        1. She writes 105 words worth of playground babble and now you’re here to insist she be treated as if she were a serious person with substantive concerns and proper manners. Do you ever get tired of being a phony?

          1. TRUMP IS NOT THE PEOPLE. THE MEDIA FOUND FAULT WITH TRUMP. THE MEDIA DID NOT FIND FAULT WITH THE PEOPLE. TRUMP IS HIDING BEHIND THE PEOPLE. TRUMP IS A DASTARD AND A COWARD. TSTD IS A PATHETIC TWERP-A-ZOID.

            1. THE MEDIA DID NOT FIND FAULT WITH THE MEDIA; THE PEOPLE HAVE FOUND FAULT WITH THE MEDIA .
              ( I’m now down with excessive use of capitalized letters; it makes my arguments so much stronger, and noticeable😞😆

      1. FishWings was right. It’s in the archive somewhere. I haven’t found it yet. But I’m still looking for it. FishWings said something like we haven’t seen anything yet in the way of bat-guano insanity from the MAGA cultists. FishWings was right.

        1. Mark Twain said it right….It’s easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.

    2. Dear Late4Yoga: You like Turley omit the word “fake” and ironically embark on a false and “fake” argument. Omitting the word “fake” gives Trump’s statement a whole different meaning and you intentionally omit to go on a sanctimonious rant against a bad boy for whom you have a crush. Yes we know deep down Donald Trump is your guilty pleasure. We know – it is apparent.

      1. Shoot that messenger!

        Trump’s weasely groveling before Putin in Helsinki was a disgrace and Trump’s lying about it afterwards doesn’t change anything.

        1. Wildbill, certain things stated by the President might not have been the best made but have all been walked back. He was not in the political scene so he lacks a certain amount of political sophistication. That lack of sophistication has made him very successful in certain areas. In those areas where he may falter things can be turned around so in total he remains very successful.

          The alternative is an unsuccessful President that does nothing but harm and holds the illusion of sophistication.

          I would take the former rather than the latter.

          1. Lying is Trump’s default.
            Haven’t seen the like since Bill Clinton.

            1. Wildbill, You keep making exaggerated (default) generalized statements where the word lying can mean anything to those that have no concern for the English language.

              What substantive things has Trump lied about that directly involve his Presidency? Why don’t you list them starting with his worst lies? Be specific and document. I know I might have to ask you time and time again for such a reply. I hope I don’t have to.

              In the past, you have made many statements you were unable to back up. Let’s try and do a better job. You don’t sound like one of the other whack jobs so let’s see what you can do.

              1. Trump’s Lies vs. Your Brain
                Unfortunately, it’s no contest. Here’s what psychology tells us about life under a leader totally indifferent to the truth.
                By MARIA KONNIKOVA

                “ Lying in politics transcends political party and era. It is, in some ways, an inherent part of the profession of politicking.

                But Donald Trump is in a different category. The sheer frequency, spontaneity and seeming irrelevance of his lies have no precedent. Nixon, Reagan and Clinton were protecting their reputations; Trump seems to lie for the pure joy of it. A whopping 70 percent of Trump’s statements that PolitiFact checked during the campaign were false, while only 4 percent were completely true, and 11 percent mostly true. (Compare that to the politician Trump dubbed “crooked,” Hillary Clinton: Just 26 percent of her statements were deemed false.)”

                https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/donald-trump-lies-liar-effect-brain-214658

                She’s right, even in comparison with other lying politicians Trump is special.

                For an up to date compilation, go here: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/

                1. I’m waiting for YOUR list. The leftist op-eds have gone crazy. The President has now been accused of Treason a capital offense.

                  I am waiting for your list that YOU stand by that was responsible for YOUR comment. You are trying to avoid the answer, but I’ll give you some more tries and if need be get back to you.

                  It’s funny how quickly you run away from YOUR words and wish to blame someone else.

                  1. You want a list of Trump lies from me?
                    How long do you have to wait?
                    Even if I start on Monday and drop everything else that could take years…

                    1. Again Wildbill you are avoiding backing up what you say. I can understand that to give an exhaustive list would take time, but that is not what I asked for.

                      Provide just a few lies, starting with the worst ones and make sure there is documentation and an explanation of why you think it a lie. That shouldn’t be hard since you have made the same comment over and over again.

      2. Bill Martin,..- There is reference above to an archive? search to document alleged “bat guano insanity of MAGA cultists”.
        I think they’re at a disadvantage here, as no archive search necessary to document that that those commentators afflicted with TDS are bonkers.
        And some are especially prolific, so that eliminates having to search for documentation.
        It seems so unfair😕😳

    3. Late4dinner, your opinion piece doesn’t fly. Terrible try at being a propagandist.

      SamFox

      1. Sam Fox,.,,
        – The propaganda that L4D routinely posts needs to be countered occasionally.
        Countered with a cogent argument dismantling the propaganda.
        Or, just post counter- propaganda that turns her original propaganda on its head.
        That’s what I did this morning when I happened to see her Trump/the press/ the people “analysis” 😏😊😄 by L4D.

    4. Late4Dinner, media HAS attacked us. Left stream media made sure that when Mad Maxine called us animals, when Hilldabeast called us deplorables & another lefty called us little balls of, er ‘stuff’, that all those were publicized all over the place.

      Thrill up it’s leg Matthews called us dogs that Trump was trying to train.

      Problem: It’s been MEDIA who has been trying to brainwash us for decades, not to mention academia. Now another take the US down lefty, YOU, have called us Twerp-a-zoids, using a media outlet to do so.

      Directly or indirectly, media HAS been attacking conservatives for a very long time. Left stream media thinks that they can train US, Pavlov style, to respond to what ever jive they put out.

      Well Late4, media’s attempts to train US backfired bigly when Mr. T was elected & Hilldabeast was REJECTD. YOU LOST! Get over your self & quit trying to jive time US to death.

      http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/07/11/msnbc-star-chris-matthews-slams-trump-supporters-s-dog-training-these-people.html

      http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-supporters-stupid-20170710-story.html

      nytimes.com/2018/06/23/us/politics/republican-voters-trump.html

      Last link from MY Times, hardly a Trump supporting outlet.

      SamFox

      1. PS: Media falsely calling us homophobes, xenophobes, racist, protectionist & so on has not helped win our favor for them. Nor does your & fake news’ selective outrage.

        One thing about Mr. T–he does have all the right enemies. The Dimm prog left, fringe stream media, Soros & it’s media outlets, One World Government shills, those who want socialist style big government control, those who want higher taxes, the open borders cabal…

        No one is saying Mr. T is perfect. Well, maybe compared to Lyin Criminal Clinton…maybe she doesn’t make Mr. T look perfect, but she is soooo bad it is a thought. ;-D

        SamFox

      2. Sam Fox,…
        The “deplorables”, “fascist”, “trained dogs” insults are counter-productive, for the reasons I’ve previously gone over.
        It’s a bit surprising that the whacked- out people hurling those insults/ labels don’t realize that it’s counter-productive, and that they are too stupid to figure that out.
        But only “a bit” surprizing.

        1. Tom Nash, how true that is. They are blinded & rendered clinically NUTS ;-D by a huge dose of self administered Trump Derangement Syndrome.

          SamFox

  11. Jon Turley makes the same mistake as lefty main stream media when criticizing Trump on this issue. Trump consistently uses the adjective “fake” to make the point that “fake media is the enemy of the people”. Now Turley drops the word “fake” which changes the meaning and then goes on a diatribe about free press, Lennon, blah blah blah. I guess Jon Turley felt the need to churn volume on this site and went with a cheap and incomplete article in pursuit of generating numbers for his blog.

    1. “Trump consistently uses the adjective “fake” to make the point that “fake media is the enemy of the people”. Now Turley drops the word “fake” which changes the meaning and then goes on a diatribe about free press,”

      Excellent point Bill.

  12. The Media is just one part, of the real enemies of the people, along with the deep state.

    1. Sarc or are you dumb as a post?
      I like to assume the best of people so I’m going with Sarc for now.

      1. I’m not so sure, wildbill99. Mr. Kurtz is pushing the thesis that the media have been working for the CIA as long as there has been a CIA. Meanwhile Kurtz and Schulte are both pushing the notion that Peter Strzok worked for the CIA because his older job title was Counterespionage Section Chief–for the FBI. This has already been thoroughly refuted. But the rules of Whack-A-Mole require a minimum of twenty-five years elapsed time before any given refutation takes effect. And, even then, sometimes the Whack-A-Mole Meme becomes immortal.

    1. DB Benson….-We have no doubt that you are familiar with the location of your common room, and that you have access to the internet in your facility.

  13. Allow me to clarify.

    The mainstream media enables the dictatorship of the hard Left, with its racism, intolerance, bigotry, misandry, and bias. It covers for the lawlessness and unethical behavior of Democratic candidates like Hillary Clinton, while showing extreme bias in coverage against all conservatives. It agitates against one Constitutional Right after another. It promotes bigotry against conservatives, giving credence to statements like that of Maxine Walters, that the Administration is not welcome anywhere. As such, it runs contrary to the very values which make our country so unique.

    However, this isn’t France’s Reign of Terror. We do not send our political opponents to the guillotine. We vote. We change the channel. We watch other news sources, or listen to the radio to seek alternatives to the hatred boiling over in the Left. The extreme Left has gone so insane, they actually believe that half the nation suddenly became Nazis. You cannot reason with the irrational. Calling out this bias is not a call for censorship, but for action. The media gives people what it asks for. So ask for something else.

    If the mainstream media succeeds in its goal of a Single Party State, with every pubic office held by a Democrat, which is leaning increasingly towards that great abuser of human rights, Socialism, then our country will follow the same hellhole that all other Socialist Regimes have gone.

    I truly hope the moderate Democrats can reign in the hatred of their party. It is so alienating and disturbing, and seems to keep gathering steam rather than abating. People are actually afraid to wear a hat supporting our President. Literally afraid they will get beaten up because of who they vote for and support. That’s from the tolerant Left? What a sad state of affairs in the US. Can you imagine if people had been afraid to say publicly that they supported Obama, or to wear an Obama T-shirt, for fear they would be beaten? Inexcusable. Fascist. Intolerant. Bigoted. Undemocratic.

    1. Well, that’s your opinion. Another opinion is that those who craft words into comprehensible missives in their daily work are just smarter than you, your ilk, gullible rubes, dupes and klan-wannabees. That being so, they can spot the con when they see it, and merely report the immutable facts. So sorry for your loss.

      this is to “I know that, but I avoid acknowledging it because country folk gotta have pride” karen

      1. Wow…that is astonishingly full of urban condescension toward flyover folks, and doesn’t provide a single fact, or reference, but only name calling and clever jabs. You are precisely the kind of person who Constitution-loving patriots despise, and exactly the kind of person who represent a threat to our republic. I don’t like Trump…I wish he were much less reactive. I wish he didn’t tweet. I wish he hadn’t been a playboy billionaire with associated ethical baggage. That said, I like almost every policy he has enacted, and every judge he has appointed, and every law he has signed (except the budget).

        So if you don’t like him, vote against him in an election you nit. Don’t muster a real constitutional crisis by fabricating nonsense, and believing every shred of that monsense with such zeal that you seem incapable of reason.

        1. You obviously don’t pay attention. If you did, you would be well-aware that I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. I’m not trying to “debate” any of your ilk (as if), not trying to help you “see the light” or any other such folderol. Rather, I want you, and others who “think” like you, to just keep doin’ you. My entertainment from this place, is ridiculing the close-minded, intolerant, ill-informed trump cultists by using…wait for it…ridicule. It’s really just another manifestation of shooting fish in a barrel, but I enjoy it. So, buckle up your idiot suit, and keep postin’ away.

          this is to “ya, my neighbors are kinda backwards, come to think of it” billie

          1. Marky Mark Mark – yes you ridicule because you do not have facts on your side.

            1. Mespo and PC Schulte,.,
              -. Markypoo is not much for updating his materiel.
              Anyone who doubts that can go back over his last few dozen ( or few
              hundred of his posts and count up the number of his “Pravda Faux News” tin foil hats”, “Hannity tatoos”, etc. )
              Those phrases are as brilliant and as hilarious and convincing today as they were months ago, or years ago, when Markypoo started on this site.
              I guess he feels that his prose is “timeless”, as well as clever, edgy, chic, etc.
              All joking aside, Markypoo again gave the primary reason he “participates” in these threads.
              He’s given it before, and again today.
              It is “to entertain himself”.
              That fact pretty much justifies his consistently nauseating character and posts.
              To entertain HIMSELF. So I ( and others) need to understand that the entertainment of an obnoxious puke like Markypoo is of paramount importance.
              Compared to achieving his goal, slopping up these threads and making a nuisance out of himself are minor inconveniences for just about everybody else.

            2. Ah, just so. The “facts” are plainly evident in any television news broadcast, newspaper, telegraph wire or smoke signal on a daily basis. The fact that you can’t or won’t choose to “understand” those facts merely evidences your predispositions or biases, rather than any shortcoming of facts. So sorry for your loss.

              this is to “ya, he’s likely a traitor, but at least he’s talking tough to ‘those people’ all right” paulie

              1. Marky Mark Mark – lay out the facts that he is a traitor. I will call your bluff.

          2. ” My entertainment from this place, is ridiculing the close-minded, intolerant, ill-informed ”

            Without recognition, you do a great job of describing who you are and why nothing of content leaves your fingertips.

            1. On the contrary, my “content” leaves me quite contented. Ergo, your proposition is false. Thanks for playing.

              this is to “still doesn’t get it” allan

              1. I understand you are content but so are the baboons in my local zoo. My statement stands “nothing of content leaves your fingertips.” In that way, you are very similar to the baboon.

                1. Allan – do you have any proof the baboons at your local zoo are content? Maybe they are just faking it. 😉

    2. Clear as mud.

      My wish is for the Republican Party, my former party, to return to its senses after its disastrous embrace of the idiot child Trump.

      1. What’s the disaster?

        It’s ‘senses’ would be the hopelessly ineffectual career pol AM McConnell, the lushington John Boehner, Paul Ryan (who is an open-borders ideologue, a ditherer, a faux-budget-hawk, and quite bereft of accomplishment outside of electoral politics), Mitt Romney (capable man, but with a tendency to see issues as fungible), John McCain (some admirable features, but also spiteful, self-aggrandizing, and weird), and Team Bush (who won’t stick up for themselves much less you and who’s peculiar project is handing the southwestern United States over to Mexican colonists).

        Thanks for the input. We really needed it/

        1. Instead we got an imbecilic child man with a crush on Vladimir Putin.

          Oh well, better days are coming…

          1. The imbecilic child-man built a firm with 22,000 employees and $9.5 bn in annual revenue and then took the presidency away from the clients of the Republican Party’s Krewe of Krack Kampaign Konsultants. How’s your life going?

              1. More common to the progeny of rich people is that imbeciles inheriting money generally see that money disappear. The opposite happened with Trump so he must have been doing something right that you fail to see.

                Maybe your rhetoric doesn’t match reality. but it sounds good to those nonthinking hysterical individuals who remain distant from the truth.

              2. No, he built it. His brother superintends the family’s residential real estate business, which is the business his father founded. Trump invested in commercial real estate, resort properties, entertainment, and marketing.

                1. We have no idea how well Trump has done with his business. He refuses to show his taxes. No one outside his family honestly knows how rich he is. But we know his father was rich and Dad got Donald started. Furthermore, a great deal of Trump’s wealth was built on special tax subsidies provided by New York City. Then there was the $900 million tax write-off that Donald carried for 10 years.

                  1. “We have no idea how well Trump has done with his business. ”

                    You (not we) have no idea and you don’t have the slightest idea of how to assess the success of a business. In any event that is none of your business, but it is the business of auditors and licensing bureaus. He has problably been audited more 99+ percent of all American citizens.

                    “great deal of Trump’s wealth was built on special tax subsidies provided by New York City. ”

                    …And his investments helped prevent the City of New York from going bankrupt. Most investors at the time didn’t have the courage to invest like he did.

                    He had large earnings and used the tax code to his advantage. Instead of being stupid about these things by yelling “impeach” people should be asking him how changes could be made to improve the tax code. Remember, taxes come from successful businesses and some of the tax breaks and so-called subsidies come because it benefits municipalities.

                    Next time you go to NYC look at all the pocket parks scattered all around that are open to all of the public. How do you think those parks got there. Whose owned the land those parks sit on? Who maintains many of the parks? You really don’t have a clue, do you?

            1. My life is great, thanks for asking.
              Little to complain about, much to be thankful for. And yours?

      2. “My wish is for the Republican Party, my former party, to return to its senses after its disastrous embrace of the idiot child Trump.”

        Wildbill, there is a certain amount of disconnected logic in your comment that makes your comment either disingenuous or lacking a certain understanding of reality.

      3. My wish is that the Democratic Party return to it’s senses after embracing “lying crooked Hillary”😊😃

        1. How many wishes do we get?
          Is there a limit here, like the rule of only two links per comment?

        2. More likely pause and regroup for another assault on our Republic.

          Example


          Tennessee Dem Spokesman: ‘F—k Reaching Out to Trump Voters.… The Idiots Aren’t Listening’

          The answer to the Comrade Spokesperson. We’re too busy to listen over in the moderate constitutional centrist ranks of independents because we’re still working hard on how to ‘destroy’ the progressive socialists. They are not democratic in any case under any name and very very far from it.

          Why bother listening to a bunch of failures and losers who have nothing to offer. Same applies to the RINO contingent of the Progressive Socialist Party.

  14. “How to Get America on a Mediterranean Diet”
    Paul Greenberg
    TNYT
    2018 Jul 20

    Would certainly help. I try.

Comments are closed.

Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks

Discover more from JONATHAN TURLEY

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading