Bizarre, Media, Politics

Chuck Todd Asks Whether Trump Supporters Simply Want To Be Lied To

NBC News anchor Chuck Todd is under fire for an openly derisive comment about Trump supporters as effectively delusional drones who want to be lied to. He even added a dig at belief in biblical accounts like Noah’s Ark. It is the latest example of how open bias has become the norm on mainstream media. Imagine if Todd said Obama supporters are ignorant voters who just want to be lied to. This is precisely why the media is now driving some voters to Trump and reinforcing echo-journalism on both sides.

On Sunday’s  “Meet the Press,” Todd criticized “misinformation” in the media and referenced a “fascinating” letter to the editor of the Lexington Herald Leader from last January. The letter read, “[W]hy do people support Trump? It’s because people have been trained from childhood to believe in fairy tales… This set their minds up to accept things that make them feel good… The more fairy tales and lies he tells the better they feel . . . Show me a person who believes in Noah’s ark and I will show you a Trump voter.”

Todd used the letter to say to New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet “This gets at something, Dean, that my executive producer likes to say, ‘Hey, voters want to be lied to sometimes.’ They don’t always love being told hard truths.”

Baquet was not sold on the theory and responded “I’m not quite sure I buy that. I’m not convinced that people want to be lied to. I think people want to be comforted, and I think bad politicians sometimes say comforting things to them.”

My first reaction was to recoil at the transparent use of a letter to say indirectly what Todd did not want to say directly. The point however was abundantly clear as was the inherent bias. The fact that Todd and Baquet would have a pseudo intellectual discussion of whether Trump voters are mindless zombies only magnifies the concerns. The issue was presented as whether this is now a clear fact or a developing fact. The question itself however is treated as mainstream and obvious.

Half of this country opposes impeachment and over 40 percent Trump. Are they all mindless drones seeking to be lied to? Stay tuned to NBC for the developing answer.

176 thoughts on “Chuck Todd Asks Whether Trump Supporters Simply Want To Be Lied To”

  1. Well, I think Todd deserves an Irish Poem! Because he believes a lot more foolish crap than the Great Deluge.

    Up – Chuck Todd???
    An Irish Poem by Squeeky Fromm

    There once was a shill named Chuck Todd!
    Who deplored the Believers in God!
    But he had no “maybe’s”
    ‘Bout men having babies-
    And didn’t even think that was odd!

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

        1. Squeeky – I am not sure money is going to be your need during the Great Zombie Apocalypse. You need weapons, silver bullets, ammo and a couple of years of food. 😉

  2. Like most of The Collective that drone gets programmed and is just a machine part. Ad Machina.

  3. ‘I’m Thankful to God’: 71-Year-Old Trump-Supporting TX Hero Took Down Church Shooter in 6 Seconds

    You train but you hope you never have to go to that extreme but if you do, your training will kick in — and that was evident yesterday.”

    He hoped it’d never happen, but Jack Wilson was well prepared for a scenario exactly like what went down in a church in the town of White Settlement, Texas this weekend.

    Security camera footage shows a man wearing a coat and some sort of hood approach a church member and begins to fire. Wilson, who is head of the security team at West Freeway Church of Christ, said his training kicked in when he saw the strange man pull a gun.

    Wilson regularly trains others as part of his position headling up church security. In the video footage, multiple church members are seen drawing their weapons. Most of those are believed to be on Wilson’s church security team — including one of the victims.

    “I just want to thank all who have sent their prayers and comments on the events of today,” Wilson wrote on his personal Facebook page shortly after the shooting took place. “The events at West Freeway Church of Christ put me in a position that I would hope no one would have to be in, but evil exists and I had to take out an active shooter in church. I’m thankful to GOD that I have been blessed with the ability and desire to serve him in the role of head of security at the church. I am very sad in the loss of two dear friends and brothers in CHRIST, but evil does exist in this world and I and other members are not going to allow evil to succeed,” he wrote.

    https://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2019/december/im-thankful-to-god-71-year-old-trump-supporting-texas-hero-who-took-down-a-church-shooter-in-6-seconds-speaks-out

    1. Come on Jonathan Your readerships was right about your law school ranking I was wrong Butdo you actually believe that’s hurricane was going to strike Alabama. Do you actually believe that windmill are a bided graveyard Come on Jonathan you know better

      1. Maybe you are getting confused about the difference in lies and horribly bad predictions. I mean a prediction no matter how far out it is, can’t really be a lie, can it?

  4. TURLEY DECLARES WAR ON THE TRUTH

    Here the esteemed Professor is not disturbed by the endless falsehoods uttered by Donald Trump. Instead the Professor is upset that Chuck Todd wondered if Trump supporters appreciate the falsehoods. And this is what the Trump era has come to: ‘Legal scholars complaining that Sunday morning hosts are verbalizing the obvious’.

    1. Peter Shill strikes again

      Never to be content with discussing objective statements, it is always Saul Alinsky Rules for Radicals

      ###

      The Rules

      “Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.”
      “Never go outside the expertise of your people.”
      “Whenever possible go outside the expertise of the enemy.”
      “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
      “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”
      “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.”
      “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.”
      “Keep the pressure on.”
      “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”
      “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.”
      “If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside.”
      “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.”
      “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

      – Wiki

      1. Anonymous here you are scrutinizing the names I use like it’s a scandal of some kind. Yet my names give you a good idea of who I really am. Yet ‘Anonymous’ could be any pussy afraid of real exchanges. It’s a fear of looking bad in a public forum.

              1. Mr. Schulte,
                I’m not certain what the appeal of these Revolutionary War figures is for one of those who comments here.
                But portraits of Warner, Burgoyne, etc. in powdered wigs does not mean that they were men in drag.
                Those wigs were just the custom of the day.

                2. Anonymous – it could be that Peter is carrying some oppressorer genes.

              2. Estovir: are you really the editor of a Gay Catholic journal in South Florida..?? Enquiring minds want to know because new research points to ‘you’.

        2. . Yet my names give you a good idea of who I really am.

          Revolutionary-era officers? Chuckles, If that were your object PH, you’d sign in as “George Michael” every time.

        3. Phillip/ Peter/ Seth/Burgouyne/ Skeene et Al,
          I don’t think it’s a scandal that all of you are stuck in the 18th Century. Weird, maybe, but not scandalous.
          As far having a real exchange with one or all of you, I don’t think that’s really possible.
          You seem to be exclusively focused on presenting Brock- fed talking points, so even if future attempts were made to engage one or all of you in a “real exchange”, it’s pointless.

          1. Anonymous, only in the rightwing bubble do people even refer to Dave Brock. I honestly didnt know that name until I came here.

            2. Peter – if you do not know who David Brock is, you are woefully ignorant of the progressive propaganda machine.

              1. “Peter – if you do not know who David Brock is, you are woefully ignorant of the progressive propaganda machine.”

                Paul that is obvious every time Peter opens his mouth.

              2. Shill knows perfectly well who David Brock is. Shill’s a news junkie with a lot of opinions about public affairs. He may not know sh!t from apple butter, but he can certainly recognize the names of the players on his team.

                What’s amusing about his pose is that Brock’s an embarrassment to anyone who produced or consumed starboard opinion journalism back in they day. We’d all happily forget the man, but you cannot miss someone who won’t go away.

                1. Absurd, here you amuse us again with your epicene writing voice. One hears an aging queen who fancies himself as ‘oh terribly witty’.

                    1. Anonymous @ 2:15 PM,
                      Thank you for posting a link to those comments.
                      I already thanked Steve F. and Monument Colorado yesterday for their humor.
                      I’m glad that you also saw the humor in and felt that it was worth repeating.

        4. “It’s a fear of looking bad in a public forum.”

          Nope, but maybe someone will tell you this year. You certainly won’t figure it out on your own.

        5. When will Seth Warner / Enoch Poor / Burgoyne / Peter Shill come out and expose his identity?

          Angelo Carusone Biography – President of Media Matters

          The American born Angelo Carusone is the president of Media Matters for America, which is a non-profit organisation established for monitoring, analysing, and correcting the misinformation in the US media. Carusone, being the president of this organisation has a net worth of $2 million.

          The 36-years-old Angelo Carusone was born on May 16, 1982. Carusone, who served as the deputy CEO, finance and administration, for the 2016 Democratic National Convention Committee, replaced Bradley Beychok for the post in 2016. This wealthy president of Media Matters for America (MMA) is gay and has been married to Brett Abrams.

          Carusone and Abrams used to date way back, and they got married in 2013.

          Facts about Angelo Carusone

          He is the organiser of the Dump Trump campaign.
          He served as the Deputy CEO, Finance and Administration for Democratic National Convention Committee in 2016.
          Carusone organised a campaign with 25,000 active participants through social media to put extreme pressure in reducing advertiser rates for Glenn Beck’s Fox News Show, ultimately making Beck cancel the program.
          He has been serving for the Media Matters for America for eight years.
          Angelo Carusone’s father, Stephen passed away in 2015, a few months ago from his birthday. Angelo did not share this news to the world until December 28

    3. I don’t really know prof Turley’s motives but he didn’t say Todd lied. he said he was biased. that can mean telling the truth selectively.

  5. More false equivalency, Jon. Trump IS a pathological liar–he lies every single day, and not just little lies or distortions of truth–anything he thinks makes him look good, important or successful. No other politician in U.S. history has been as deceitful and narcissistic, or less-successful. The point Todd was making is that Trump supporters continue supporting him, despite the fact that he constantly lies, that he cheated to get into the White House with the active assistance of Russia, that he abuses the power of office by trying to leverage aid to Ukraine and even though he obstructs justice by doing everything possible to hamstring investigations, first Mueller’s investigation, and then the Congressional investigation into the Ukraine scandal. They tune in to Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News for their daily affirmation about the bad “libs, Dems, and the Left”. They ignore the lie about Mexico being forced to pay for the wall, the historical turnover of agency leaders, caging young children to punish their parents for trying to immigrate to a better life, the fact that world leaders laugh at him, and his lack of much in the way of tangible achievements. So, you have to wonder about his supporters.

    Social scientists who have studied Trump and his followers note that they are largely white, non-college-educated people who think that a president can return America to post WWII, when blacks and women knew their places (which were, of course, below that of a white male), when there were good-paying secure factory or coal mining jobs, and when coal was a major energy source. Such beliefs are naïve at best, delusional at worse. When Trump lies to them about bringing back dirty, polluting coal as a major energy source, they believe him (that is never going to happen). When he lies about US factories going back to manufacturing the component parts and consumer goods that we mostly import nowadays, they don’t blink an eye. When he praises White Supremacists after they killed a protester, and when he calls migrants “animals, vermin, criminals, rapists and murderers”, they’re okay with that, too. Yes, like Todd, any reasonable person would have to wonder whether Trump supporters do like being lied to, because they don’t seem to object.

      1. The US will have a brighter and more-hopeful future just as soon as the US rids itself of the hemorrhoid known as “Trump” from the White House. Because he cheated to get there, and tried to cheat to stay there and because of the damage he is doing to America (Republicans in the Senate foregoing their oath to fairly try impeachment–publicly announcing in advance that they are unwilling to even receive evidence), every day he continues to occupy the White House is wrongful.

        Instead of Kellyanne pivoting to try to insult me, point out your version of alternative facts–did Trump lie about the biggest inauguration crowd ever? Did he promise that Mexico would pay to build the wall, or that he called migrants “criminals, rapists, animals and vermin”? Do other world leaders mock him? Did he praise the White Supremacists who killed Heather Heyer “fine people’? Does he cage migrants and separate small children from their parents, as a “deterrent” (according to Jeff Sessions) to others considering migrating? Has his administration experienced a record number of turn overs of agency heads? Did Trump side with Putin over American Intelligence officials regarding 20`6 election interference, and has he tried to pin this on Ukraine? Did he withhold aid to Ukraine for 84 days, while asking for a “favor” in the form of an announcement that Ukraine would be investigating the Biden family? Did he hide the actual transcript of this call, along with calls with other world leaders, in a secure vault intended for state secrets, and if so, what does he have to hide? Did he refuse to cooperate with either the Mueller or Congressional investigations without any legal authority supporting his refusal, other than Article II of the Constitution, which Trump claims gives him the power to do whatever he wants? Did he brag about grabbing women by the genitalia? Did he pay off a porn star and a nude model? I could go on and on.

        1. Natacha – you pretty much tarred with a broad brush there. Back in the 1950s we would have said you called Trump everything but white.

    3. NUTCHACHA, the American fertility rate is in a “death spiral.” More actual Americans die than are born. A simple extrapolation would reveal that the 19th Dumbmendment was actually a “death warrant” for America. The American population is being imported and in 100 years, there won’t be an actual American left in America. Women are the true misogynists who hate pregnancy, childbirth and child nurturing. Women don’t need to vote. Women need to have babies. The government must focus on returning the American economy to America – on returning American jobs to American men – and women should focus on making a population sufficient to defend and grow the nation. The 19th Dumbmendment should be repealed with extreme prejudice.

      Apparently the only way for the world to go forward is for America to be conquered, to be subsumed and to die. I’ll bet that sounds really good to you, COMRADE NUTCHACHA.

    4. I’m in a postmodern posture towards “truth,” and I am in respect of “ethics,” too.

      See this is what you guys don’t like. You said all truth and ethics were relative, ie, contrived.

      But when “right wingers” decide to act on that premise, suddenly, you want truth and ethics to make comeback.

      Payback’s a beeeyotch

      see you next year folks

  6. Why would anyone listen to Chuck “Joseph Goebbels” Todd? Why would anyone listen to PMSNBC? Answer: Because their skulls full of mush are forced to. There is a limited amount of air time and the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats) fill it with propaganda for the purpose of indoctrination. Judging from their success shaping low-information and millennial skulls full of mush regarding faux “global warming,” “climate change” or whatever they call the “party line” currently, it appears that their strategy has been effective, that the “inmates have taken over the asylum” and that America is ripe for the picking by the globalist communist party.

    The entire communist American welfare state is unconstitutional. Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto 59 years after the adoption of the Constitution because none of the principles of the Communist Manifesto were in the Constitution. Had the principles of the Communist Manifesto been in the Constitution, Karl Marx would have had no reason to write the Communist Manifesto. The principles of the Communist Manifesto were not in the Constitution then and the principles of the Communist Manifesto are not in the Constitution now.

    Where’s George Washington when you need him?

    Ben Franklin et al. gave Americans the Second Amendment…think about it.
    ___________________________________________________________

    We gave you “…a republic, if you can keep it.”

    – Ben Franklin, 1787
    ________________

    We gave you “…a republic, if you can take it back.”

    – Ben Franklin, 2020

  7. This explains everything

    😅

    The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.
    — Saint Augustine
    From De Genesi ad Litteram (400s), Book 2, xviii, 37

  8. I actually accidentally inadvertently caught this comment whilst doing dishes (deplorables gotz to live, you know, no house servants for us) and it literally stopped me, like, mid-sponge. And so I walked into the parlor – turned “Living Room” – to glance at the TV (wife was surfin’ the Net, NBC playing in the background, ’cause, too many foxes on Fox for her, you know) and my very first thoughts: “Yup, there it is, another ‘clinger’ zinger directed at suburban Catholics and bible belt deplorables. And lookee there, from Chuck Todd, a Jew no less, author of “Obama,” who derives virtually ALL of his income from ‘The Party’.” And that my friends is why I keep my face in the books and my eyes on the Net; I rarely watch TV, due to the inanity.

    Comments likes this are, as intended, infuriating. And all from greedy people of “untold” millions, directed at those who yet aspire to be. The media mafia grows richer thanks to the likes of George Soros while depriving all others.

    We have become “The Sick Society.” No words will be left to mourn let alone document our demise, the “human tragedy,” because all have grown too duplicitous to record even a single truthful word.

    1. We have become “The Sick Society.” No words will be left to mourn let alone document our demise, the “human tragedy,” because all have grown too duplicitous to record even a single truthful word.

      From the beginning of the Catholic Mass up to the moment of receiving Communion, the thrust of the Liturgy is looking inwardly. The faithful are guided to contrast their disposition with that of God’s existence, love, sacredness and holiness. Such a ritual, done for millennia, have led millions of believers to see their broken, fallible, sinful nature and they choose to be conformed to the Triune God: We are in need of God’s mercy.

      All of this has been abandoned in our culture. Instead of deference to each other, it is ad hominem. Instead of living a life modeled on the Good Samaritan, it is the sinful Prodigal Son: “give me what is mine” (e.g. Hillary Clinton 2016 election loss).

      Until Americans find a higher more noble standard to which they can conform their lives, like religion, entropy is sure to grow and destruction right behind. Its all a matter of physics

      “You have that choice, that awful choice, to reject God”
      Elisabeth Elliott

  9. Uh . . . hello? ALL of us have been lied to on a regular basis by the media and DNC since 2015, and no, we don’t like it. That any of these clowns think they have retained a shred of credibility is far more troubling to me, frankly. There has always been media bias, but their blatant falsehoods and collective willingness to run with them of late are something new entirely, in this country, anyway. Give me a break.

    1. **********
      Baquet was not sold on the theory and responded “I’m not quite sure I buy that. I’m not convinced that people want to be lied to. I think people want to be comforted, and I think bad politicians sometimes say comforting things to them.”
      *********

      ?????
      Is he saying BAD politicians comfort. GOOD politicians instill fear.
      Therefore looking for a better future is evil and “I FEAR he will win if we don’t impeach” is GOOD.
      Thank you prof Turley. I could not understand why so many people would rather believe a bad lie than a good truth.
      What an epiphany.

  10. I’d like to see Chuck Todd call any, ANY aspect of Islam a “fairy tale”. But there’s two problems with that, it would go against the Narrative (Christianity bad, Islam good) and Chuck has no balls. The Muslims would riot like the savages they are and Todd would crawl under a rock like the pussy he is.

  11. Typical Democrat. Any honest person would be asking if the Democrats simply want to be lied to – as in Rachel Maddows 3 year Russiagate nonsense, or that lying b*tch who said Kavanough touched her or something, and that she was afraid to fly ever since, unless it was on surfing trips to New Zealand. Laughable. And the whole Project Veritas thing with CNN.

    Yep, the Democrats always accuse other people of doing what they, the Democrats, are doing.

    Squeeky Fromm
    Girl Reporter

    1. “Yep, the Democrats always accuse other people of doing what they, the Democrats, are doing.”

      Squeeky, it sounds like outspoken Democrats define the word sociopath.

      In the early 20th century many were known as The Progressives which was changed to The Liberals and then back again to The Progressives. In the next metamorphisis perhaps they should be known as The Sociopaths.

  13. I’m enjoying the comments here today. I watched meet the press Sunday for the first time in probably a decade. The consensus here today is that it was mostly a whole bunch of bravo sierra. In my 73 years I’ve voted for Ds and Rs. I don’t care for the dumpster….I did vote for him and probably will again primarily because he aligns himself with my main political beliefs…. supreme court, judges, borders, smaller government, strong military and law enforcement support and support for the constitution. I adamantly dislike his lack of humility and his trouble with being truthful among other things.

    Back to Todd’s MTP …. while I like the one guy he had on from the Heritage outfit, it seemed as though NBC picked the most milk-toasted guy they could find to represent a right-leaning conservative view.

    For me the entire episode Sunday was great comedy and actually reinforced their clear bias and unfairness.

    Lastly, shortly after the house voted to impeach, I think the Nicole Wallace reaction said it all… if she could have done back flips on the set she would have…. there was absolutely zero restraint on her joy and bias.

  15. Of course, Obama did not lie (as has been fact-checked regarding Trump) about 15,000 times in his first three years in office.

    1. Oh well if you don’t count “shovel ready jobs”, “if you like your plan you can keep your plan”, and that line about Benghazi he had his people pawn off. Serious lies like that matter, exaggerations and hyperbole from Trump are not lies.

  16. So Todd says Trump supporters like being lied to. This is the network that relies on TOP TIER liars like Brennen, Clapper, Strzok, McCabe, Comey and others who plotted to remove the President. Todd is so deep in the swamp he’s lost the ability to differentiate truth from lies. It amazes me how CNN survives.

    1. So Todd says Trump supporters like being lied to. This is the network that relies on TOP TIER liars like Brennen, Clapper, Strzok, McCabe, Comey and others who plotted to remove the President.
      __________________________________________________
      There is considerable good evidence those gentlemen are all chronic liars and they tell the type of lies that the Democrats want to hear.

      But

      Where is the evidence that they plotted to remove the President?
      it sure looked to me that they were instrumental in getting the President elected in 2016.

      Do you see your contradiction?
      You believe they are liars but you also believe they mean what they say.

      1. Jinn, outside of Brennan accusing Trump of treason, and Strzok talking about the “insurance policy” against an unlikely Trump win in 2016, there may not be a lot of additional evidence.
        But those two examples seem to indicate that these guys weren’t wishing Trump a successful and complete first full term.
        I’m not sure what the Ohrs’ intention was, but when one is working for Fusion GPS and the other is a DOJ official acting as a conduet for the Steele Russian Dossier, it does raise some questions.
        We may get some answers when Durham completes his investigation.

        1. outside of Brennan accusing Trump of treason, and Strzok talking about the “insurance policy” against an unlikely Trump win in 2016, there may not be a lot of additional evidence.
          _______________________________________________

          Are you taking the words of liars as evidence?
          Forget what they said. Lets look at what they did.

          Did they reveal that Trump was the subject of an investigation? Nope, but they did remind voters on three occasions that Clinton was the subject of criminal FBI investigation. I’d like someone to explain why I’m being asked to believe that they were helping Clinton?

          Why wasn’t the Steele Dossier released shortly before the election. If the purpose of this document was to harm Trump campaign why was it not released when it would have maximum effect to accomplish that purpose?

          1. Jinn,
            Make up your mind. You asked for evidence that there were some plotting to remove Trump.
            I gave you a few examples. Now you come back and say, yeah, but they were liars.
            So what? That doesn’t have anything to do with your question or my answer. It would be better if you just said, up-front, that you’re going to find a half-assed reason to reject any reply to any of your comments.
            Hope you can find more people to play your games, and have fun with your playtime here.

            1. Steele and Fusion GPS tried to promote the allegations in the Russian Dossier to the manor media outlets.
              CNN, The NY Times, and others would not run with an unverified piece of opposition research prior to the 2016 election.
              The closest thing to success Steele had was to get a ragije Mother Jones to print some of the dossier’s allegations before the election.
              So when these idiots say “well, it wasn’t released”, or why didn’t Trump’s opposition use it against him”, they conveniently ignore the fact that they tried to use it prior to the election.
              And failed. To the extent that it was “useful”, that use came after Trump won. The accusations in that dossier did a good job of undercutting an incoming president, of making sure he’d be under and stay under a cloud of suspicion with unverified accusations.

              2. Sounds like you are saying it was the NYTimes and CNN that helped get Trump elected.

                The point you are ignoring is that Trump could have easily been kept from even being nominated or elected if that was the game plan.

                1. The attempts to get the allegations from the dossier published was obviously part of the game plan.
                  That’s pretty hard to miss, unless you’re trying to pretend that you’re that dense.
                  The established media did not bite. That, the widespread coverage of the Access Hollywood tape weeks before the election, probably show that the they helped Trump get elected.
                  They were obviously rooting for him all along, just had a funny way of showing it.🤭

                  1. The attempts to get the allegations from the dossier published was obviously part of the game plan.
                    __________________________________

                    I don’t believe believe that in the era of the internet the most powerful internet propaganda source in the world could not get a story published.

                    I also believe that if the FBI was trying to hurt Trump they would have told voters that Trump was the subject of a criminal investigation and kept silent about the investigations of Clinton, but instead they repeatedly reminded voters that Clinton was the subject of the criminal investigations and said not a word about investigating Trump.

            2. Make up your mind. You asked for evidence that there were some plotting to remove Trump.
              I gave you a few examples. Now you come back and say, yeah, but they were liars.
              ________________________________________

              You use their words as evidence and call them liars.
              but
              You can’t see any problem with that evidence?

              1. Then if a liar tries to torpedo a candidate or a president, then that doesn’t count.
                Yeah, I get it. 🙄

                1. Then if a liar tries to torpedo a candidate or a president, then that doesn’t count.
                  ____________________________________

                  Without any hard evidence “tries to torpedo a candidate” is just a story. And what’s worse the story comes from those you call liars.
                  All you got is liars telling stories and you are trying to pretend that is evidence.

                  There is no doubt that both Trump and the people who work under him (DOJ, FBI, CIA, NSA etc) have created this narrative that they are engaged in some sort of mortal combat. So sure you can find evidence the narrative exists everywhere, but its a story made up by liars.

                  This phony adversarial relationship storyline is known as “kayfabe” in pro-wrestling

    2. I don’t think Chuck is delusional or anything. He gets paid to not see things. Big buck, just like Rachel Maddow. They know they are lying and simply do not care. They get to have a big salary, lots of attention, and go to nice parties.

      Squeeky Fromm
      Girl Reporter

      1. Squeeky:

        Of all the MSM punks, Chucky needs the poke in the mouth the most. Isn’t he the epitome of the whiny, knob-kneed kid who was picked last for basketball and who completed the perfect day by ratting you out to the teacher for the slight? Toad is what happens when you remove — by cultural fiat — male aggression. You don’t get this type of guy on an athletic field with his passive-aggressive horsepoop. I’m betting he’s got a “Violence Solves Nothing” t-shirt for every day!

    3. there’s a lot of fools in America. not that any place is very different. this is the bell curve showing its persistent reality.

      and CNN sells that segment who fall beneath the mean, advertising for shiny new junk. that’s the business model.

  17. This is what happens when people surround themselves with ideologues and try to out-do each other in being the most piously dogmatic. The oddity is that they promote themselves as such original thinkers, but in actuality they are nothing more than sheep fighting to be the most conformist within their circle.

    1. For once we agree Darren, but not all of us here have so little regard for facts that we dispute the objective proof that Trump is as likely to lie as tell the truth. It makes no difference to him, and only fools and ideologues can’t see that

  18. We don’t watch TV at home but often discuss the collapse of the credibility of the news media industry. It is striking that CNN continues to race to the bottom as to ratings and loss of revenues, yet it has no intention of changing its business strategies. Fox News continues to decimate the competition with their ascent of ratings and revenues, even if a small vocal minority continuously mocks Fox News

    https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/category/ratings/

    It is telling that those who are enduring a blood bath 3+ years, and losing their shirts mock the other side for eating the lunch of the losing side

    1. It is striking that CNN continues to race to the bottom as to ratings and loss of revenues, yet it has no intention of changing its business strategies.
      ________________________________________________
      CNN and the other news outlets were in the toilet and swirling down the drain in 2015 and then Trump decide to run for President and it was a huge shot in the arm for their revenues and bottom line. Those news outlets are not about to let some damp piece of cardboard like Joe Biden get elected as President and put them back to circling the drain on their way to oblivion.

    2. Much of the news broadcast today is better labeled as entertainment. I was hesitant at first to use the word “entertainment” instead of “propaganda” but given the increasing number of people out there who want to be outraged and angry it would seem that since they are so wanting to watch this, it must somehow be entertaining to them.

        1. I liken it to the Colosseum and the killing of Christians by the Romans unleashing lions. The Roman citizens would sit on the choicest steps (senators had front row, the poor had nose bleed seats) and cheer

          The state of discussions in our polarized nation is very much similar. Then there is Twitter….

    3. Estovir, doctors frequently are accused of not washing their hands enough. Perhaps if they were punished by forcing them to watch CNN compliance would improve.

      1. Oh Lawd…..I immerse myself in my music headphones or iPad music videos at the gym while doing cardio, and refuse to watch the TV monitors esp CNN. but alas I do look for a nanosecond and I see people on CNN (and Fox) who are paid very handsomely, way above the median income of Americans, and they do what they do while laughing at Americans

        Why empower them? Tune them out.

        There is a reason why we cut our TV satellite cables and returned to basics: cooking, washing dishes together after meals, discussing our day, reading and prayers as a family before bedtime

        Call us Luddites…it works for us

        Compliance amongst physicians is trending in the negative direction. More than 50% of physicians are burnt out, and the misery index is fairly high. Caveat emptor

        1. “refuse to watch the TV monitors”

          Estovir, does that lead to a well rounded and culturally aware person? I don’t think so. Hollywood and television represent our culture and though I don’t listen to television very much I do want to know how the culture presents itself.

          I am a Tivo addict. I can cut advertisements and announcements including getting the show started and ended leaving me with 50% of their content. I can knock out most of the rest by fast forwarding what I find to be not useful. That permits me to see 3 hours of television in less than an hour if I wish to spend that much time. Alternatively the Tivo can run while other things are accomplished. Tivo can be referred to when something of interest happened on TV.

          In the gym I listen to podcasts from some of the most intelligent people or listen to books that I value. They too can be sped up based on the type of content or the part of a book one is reading. I can’t effectively do more than 2 X but some have told me they can do 3 times speed leaving a 12 hour book done in 4 hours. I’m not a snob so I find some value in almost anything but I try to mostly hit the high value targets.

          “Why empower them? Tune them out.“

          How does the above type of television watching empower anyone? You are pretty young and probably with young children at this time in your life. In general TV and social communication on the net should be greatly limited in families and except for those of us requiring phones to always be on, they should be banned from the dinner table or during discourse.

          “More than 50% of physicians are burnt out”

          Physicians are burned out and that means they retire early requiring new physicians to take their place. That means a tremendous loss of capital investment and a brain drain since fine scientific minds enter the medical profession where a good portion of their brain may remain unused.

          1. That means a tremendous loss of capital investment and a brain drain since fine scientific minds enter the medical profession where a good portion of their brain may remain unused.

            The caliber of students going through medical schools today is concerning. Most MD students expect someone to hire them after training. Few seek to go where their freshly minted physician skills and services are needed most (e.g. rural) and build a business on their own fee scales.

            There has been a significant encroachment of politics into medical education at the expense of teaching basic physician skills particularly in the realm of patient encounters and diagnostic skills. The WSJ article recently published by a former Associate Dean at Penn was brave but all true.

            Corrupting Medical Education
            https://www.wsj.com/articles/corrupting-medical-education-11568578153

            Curriculum focusing on “Health disparities“, preaching transgender as normal, forcing physicians to use gender neutral language, “pronouns” and the like are maddening for most physicians. It is like a emasculation to educated professionals who largely owe over $200K to finance their MD Degree. Medicine is dying before Americans eyes but few realize how sick their doctor really is

            Unlike most physicians I do not discourage pre-med students who aspire to be medical doctors to pursue medicine as a career. I just wish they saw medicine as a vocation instead of as a job. I wish they had the grit snd vision to take control of their profession, and tell all of the voyeurs to bug off. I posted these thoughts on a previous thread Turley had on Obamacare. Its all true. Physicians are killing themselves, and their misery index is alarmingly high, particularly for the healing profession

            The best Rx I give Americans is to stay healthy: practice preventative medicine to avoid seeing a doctor. If you must go, take an attorney with you to sue the hospital administration. Medical errors account for the third leading cause for deaths and poor outcomes.

            https://www.bmj.com/content/353/bmj.i2139

            Hospitals just hide them.

            1. Yes, the skill sets of many physicians has fallen and it is my belief that the only reason we are not seeing overall medical expertise showing holes all over the place is that technology is making up for a lot of things physicians have lost or given up. .

              Politics does not belong in medicine but that is what one gets as soon as the government is involved. Politics in medicine has been growing along with the costs since WW2. The tax deduction for healthcare at that time was a big mistake which was followed by mistake after mistake.

              Be careful with the medical error scenarios which in great part is a way to get funding, votes, etc..

        2. “More than 50% of physicians are burnt out, and the misery index is fairly high.” -Estovir

          https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/opinion/doctors-nurses-and-the-paperwork-crisis-that-could-unite-them.html

          “The current system is pushing both doctors and nurses to the breaking point. Enough doctors in the United States commit suicide every year to fill two large medical school classes. A 2019 MedScape report found that 44 percent of physicians feel “burned out,” driving many to alcoholism and depression, or to leave the profession entirely.”

          1. Physicians have the highest rate of suicide of all professions.
            Depression, addiction, divorce…..its all there

            The burnout rate varies among specialties.

            https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/medical-specialties-highest-burnout-rates

            Compared to 2011, burnout rates were higher for all specialties in 2014. In fact, nearly a dozen specialties experienced more than a 10 percent increase in burnout over those three years:

            Family medicine (51.3 percent of physicians reported burnout in 2011 versus 63.0 percent in 2014)
            General pediatrics (35.3 percent versus 46.3 percent)
            Urology (41.2 percent versus 63.6 percent)
            Orthopedic surgery (48.3 percent versus 59.6 percent)
            Dermatology (31.8 percent versus 56.5 percent)
            Physical medicine and rehabilitation (47.4 percent versus 63.3 percent)
            Pathology (37.6 percent versus 52.5 percent)
            Radiology (47.7 percent versus 61.4 percent)
            General surgery subspecialties (42.4 percent versus 52.7 percent).

            1. https://www.statista.com/statistics/186226/active-doctors-of-medicine-in-patient-care-in-the-us-since-1975
              Considering that the number of physicians per capital has risen by a substantial amount over the past couple of generations, the raw “supply – to – population ” numbers seem at odds with the idea that there’s a physician shortage in the U.S.
              The number of those( per capital) in the nursing profession seems to have are at least kept pace over the same period.

              1. There were about 750,000 practising RNs in 1970 v. about 3,000,000 today .
                The population did not double over the past 50 year…..maybe up 80%?…..
                and the number of RNs has quadrupled in that same time frame.

              2. You need to account for our aging population. Plus we are sicker today due in large part for reasons I have articulated on these pages many times, while angering quite a few commenters

                Significant Primary Care, Overall Physician Shortage Predicted by 2025

                America faces a significant physician shortage by 2025, according to a physician workforce projection report(www.aamc.org) released by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) today titled The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections from 2013 to 2025.

                [Medical team standing together in bright room]
                According to an AAMC press release,(www.aamc.org) the United States could be short between 46,000 and 90,000 physicians overall by that time

                The analysis, compiled for the AAMC by IHS Inc., a global information company headquartered in Englewood, Colo., estimates a primary care shortage of 12,500 to 31,100 primary care physicians and a shortfall of 28,200 to 63,700 nonprimary care physicians, “most notably among surgical specialists.

                “The doctor shortage is real — it’s significant — and it’s particularly serious for the kind of medical care that our aging population is going to need,” AAMC President and CEO Darrell Kirch, M.D., said in the release.

                https://www.aafp.org/news/practice-professional-issues/20150303aamcwkforce.html

                1. I’ve considered factors like an aging population, but give that the per capital growth rate of the physician/ nurse, something is still not additional up.
                  IOW, if the very large increase in the number of these health care professionals relative to actual population growth is not enough to keep up with demand, what kind of increase in providers is “enough”?
                  If the per capital suppy numbers have tripled or quadrupled, and that isn’t “enough”, what the heck kind of per capita increase is “enough”?

            2. Estovir, the funny thing is that years ago physicians on average worked harder and longer hours. They were paid less than today and today the number of self employed physicians has fallen drastically.

              A question that can be asked is has the personal character of the physician changed over the decades.

              1. They were paid less than today and today the number of self employed physicians has fallen drastically.

                Annual cash compensation per worker has doubled in nominal terms since 1997. That for physicians and surgeons has increased by about 70% in nominal terms.

                1. Look in earlier years DSS and trace the earnings. Also make sure you look at the hours worked along with what would bring compensation down. Averages are a bad way of looking at things when there are so many changes.

                  Now it is time to put such things away and go party.

              2. years ago physicians on average worked harder and longer hours. They were paid less than today and today the number of self employed physicians has fallen drastically.

                If this topic really interests you, head over to SDN. It’s a group of all things medicine with discussions led by academic physicians, specialists, Fellows, Residents, MD Students and pre-meds. You will probably nod off because the discussions can be dry and very medical specific but the following thread provides data on this topic.

                Average physician salary by decade?
                https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/average-physician-salary-by-decade.1139365/

                1. Estovir, thank you for the http. I was involved in such discussions probably long before SDN was even thought of. The discussions were not in blog format and included a lot of notable people in the field some who were at Jackson Hole and involved elsewhere. You probably know some of their names. Other participants were professors of economics and health care economics, politicians, insurers doctors, nurses, government employees, statisticians etc.

                  We actually discussed some of the major studies in detail (NEJM, Lancet. etc. ) having to do with health care. I probably have forgotten more than I know today.

                  I quickly scanned SDN and will have to return later to further look at the site. Though I didn’t read the entirety of anything posted I did note Luca: “Actually I think everyone would be surprised to know that doctors didn’t really make a lot of money until the mid 80s” … ” Yup, back then you lived in the hospital as an intern. No salary. Just enough to live and eat at the hospital”

                  On this blog we are quite superficial. DSS being a contrarian disputed what I said about financial compensation and started with his chosen dates and didn’t really address the nature of my statement and the actual increase in financial compensation. None the less I value comments by DSS as for the most part they are factual and educatedl even when not fully addressing the question at hand.

                  Again, thank you for the site. When I have time I want to closely read the article by Luca.

                  1. You’re welcome

                    The discussions were not in blog format and included a lot of notable people in the field some who were at Jackson Hole and involved elsewhere.

                    SDN is a cesspool. You can join it (it is open to anybody) and get a feel for what physicians think when they are anonymous. I left it years ago because it, like JT’s blog, can be addictive and a colossal time suck. However, if you have the time there are (were in my day) physicians who argue from evidenced based data (EBD) and bring to the forum scholarly contributions. The discussions are usually academic medicine so be forewarned

                    On this blog we are quite superficial.

                    Two of my favorite topics to discuss, as you may have noticed, are medicine and theology. Studying requires work. Posting anonymously on blogs does not. I use JT’s blog strictly as entertainment. My reading material is on a level that is truly nerdy and can be exhausting. I come to JT’s blog to play – strictly fun.

                    If you cherish medical EBD and seek data that are disease specific, you can try uptodate

                    https://www.uptodate.com/contents/pathogenesis-of-atherosclerosis

                    DSS being a contrarian

                    We all have a story. None of us arrive into this world in sterile conditions, and fewer still leave the world unblemished. Communication is essential in the grand scheme of the universe: cells, tissues, organisms, etc all require communication with their neighbor in order to survive. Americans are intent of doing otherwise hence our pathology. So consider that everyone on this blog has their own story, and approach accordingly. Some IMHO are truly Axis II and it is best to just let sleeping dog lies

                    I am being summoned for breakfast

                    🙂

                    1. “SDN is a cesspool. ”

                      Thank you Estovir for letting me know. I don’t need any more cesspools. This one is overly sufficient.

                      “I use JT’s blog strictly as entertainment.”

                      We have something in common. Unfortunately this was a potentially excellent debate blog doomed the day it started. None the less one does need to listen to the crazies and the ignorant because they represent a large number of people and one has to recognize and deal with their existence. JT, however, provides excellent commentary when dealing with the law. I came here impressed even by his commentary elsewhere that I didn’t agree with.

                      All aspects of medicine are interesting but EBD can become political, much of it has, so one has to be quite cautious. We have to recognize that a lot of studies published even in the major journals are funded by others including the government so one can expect researchers to be attempting to prove what the funders desire.

                      Theology is not my thing unless it is tied into morality and ethics that we deal with on a daily basis. That personality disorders exist on the blog should be expected. They exist all over but the climate in our nation that we are seeing today is extremely dangerous so I don’t know that it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. Now a days I deal with a good number of people that are trying to alter the direction of the nation in a positive fashion but one has to know the enemy and what makes him tick.

  19. If voters wanted to be lied to they would have elected Hillary Rotten Clinton. Todd has single handedly taken a venerable news program for decades and turned it into the GONG SHOW.

  20. Chuck Todd is just projecting what HE does daily (lie and misrepresent the truth) and what his viewers accept (his lies and biased misrepresentations) and he’s too ignorant and biased to see it. For almost 3 years (and for the better part of 3 decades), Chuck Todd and the Press has literally lied every day to the American public. THese most recent lies started when Todd ignored obvious wrong-doing about email servers being “wiped clean”, continued with Todd’s endorsement of Steele’s disgusting Democrat hit job and were perpetuated when Todd suggested hundred’s of times that President Trump, his family, Jeff Sessions, Gen Flynn and essentially all Republicans are traitors to America. It has continued with lies about Covington Catholic, Kavanaugh, and the rest of the Administration. He is an embaressment to our nation.

    Smart, college educated suburban women like me have ignored his lies for too long and had hoped that he would see his ignorance but now we are angry and not going to let the liars like him lie any more.

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