The contrast between the Donald Trump who gave a solo press conference on Thursday and the Donald Trump who spoke to 9,000 of his own supporters in a Floridian airplane hangar on Saturday is quite revealing.
Everyone has their comfort zones and there is no doubt that the President is far more suited to the latter of the two settings outlined above. However, the way he handles his discomfort with the media is quite startling. He brands CNN “Very Fake News”, and the NY Times gets tagged with the moniker “failing” whenever he mentions them.
BBC World Service’s The Inquiry program asked the NYT Executive Editor Dean Baquet how a newspaper covers a powerful public figure who repeatedly treats them with such contempt…
As the overall title of the BOTL episode suggests, the media is far from an innocent victim in the wider political context; in fact it could be said that Trump’s march to the White House is in many ways down to all the free coverage he received.
Putting it most bluntly is Farron Cousins of The Ring of Fire…
We like Ring of Fire here at FPP but on this we couldn’t disagree more.
Of course the corporate-controlled media pays more attention to its advertizers than any Progressive worth their salt would like, but we still feel it’s important to keep tabs on what they are saying. So we say don’t switch them off, just make sure when you do watch, you’re switched on to where they’re coming from, so you can keep tabs on what is being fed into the bloodsteam of the media-hungry masses. JLP
We’d like to thank the President for summarizing his own 4th week for us and saving us a lot of time. It’s pretty much all here…
We did have a go at summarizing the speech…
“Thank you for coming. Alexander Acosta is my new Labor pick. He’s a great guy. No, he’s not here. You media are all dishonest. But that’s fine. I think you’re good people. I’m glad you’re here. It’s great. But you’re still dishonest. Look at all I’ve done. It’s everything I’ve said I’d do. And I’m going to redo all the things I have done that have failed because of circuits. I know what circuits are. I inherited a mess!!! Obamacare disaster. Now I’m going to mention my daughter Ivanka to show how much I love women. That’s not creepy at all. I won my election almost as well as Reagan did his. But the dishonest media won’t report that. You’ll say I’m angry. I’m perfectly calm. The failing New York Times!!! Now ask me a question. Yes, I’m pointing at you, NPR, not Breitbart for once. Flynn? Great guy. Wonderful guy. Nobody has ever appointed a guy greater than him. But he had to resign. He made the VP look bad. Russia? FAKE NEWS! Look, you media are dishonest. But I’m calm. Next? Yeah, maybe the Reagan thing was wrong, I was given that information. See how calm I am? Nobody is calmer than me. What’s that? Anti-semitism? Already covered that when I said I won the Electoral College. Not 207, not 220, not even 270. 306! I love this job. And the people love me. I’m going to Florida on Saturday to remind myself how much the people love me. God bless America.”
Perhaps I’m paraphrasing.
He did leave out a few things…meeting the leaders of Japan, Canada & Israel, treating guests at Mar-a-Lago to some nuclear chit-chat over North Korea, his Labor pick being forced to withdraw…but the press conference stole the show.
I can understand why the mainstream media are reluctant to tie this incident to Trump, but I do not share their reluctance. They won’t even call it an attack, and it has been a week since it happened yet still no desire to draw conclusions from any investigation. Might I suggest it was “Radical Christian Terror”? >
We shouldn’t really get his wife involved I know…but after reading this headline I REALLY want them to follow through on this (remember…she spoke publicly in support of Trump’s “birther” movement) >
A tweet from August 2013 is shared by the fascinating account @roguePOTUSstaff (whether it’s legitimate or not)….it’s almost like he knew something we didn’t! >
Be prepared, there is a small chance that our horrendous leadership could unknowingly lead us into World War III.
Kelly-Anne Con Artist follows her own tried & tested political strategy…say anything to support your opinion, and even if it’s wrong you can let it circulate before either clarifying or doubling down as needs be…
Naturally there are a lot of things about the Trump presidency I find worrying, but here’s one you won’t hear much about.
I’m worried that when he eventually stops being President (that IS definitely going to happen, right?) many people who have been drawn to following politics will presume order has been restored and think all is right with the world again. Sure if someone’s not as bad as Trump, their policies have to be ok, right? As the man himself would say…WRONG!
Some former congressional staffers have put together a handy guide for organizing community political campaigns and putting pressure on your local public representative to resist the Trump agenda, using the Tea Party movement as an example of how it can succeed when done right. It is very detailed and The Best of the Left podcast this week featured it in audiobook form
Here’s how it starts…
Donald Trump is the biggest popular-vote loser in history to ever call himself President-Elect. In spite of the fact that he has no mandate, he will attempt to use his congressional majority to reshape America in his own racist, authoritarian, and corrupt image. If progressives are going to stop this, we must stand indivisibly opposed to Trump and the Members of Congress (MoCs) who would do his bidding. Together, we have the power to resist — and we have the power to win.
The thing is…I believe this guide can be used for more issues than just the Trump agenda.
Here in Ireland we have been seen a duopoly of pro-business parties running the country since the formation of the State. Sure, the regimes led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael aren’t exactly in Trump territory, but acknowledging that can be a dangerous thing. There is a great deal of fixable income equality in this country, and neither party has done much about it over the years.
So I reckon that if you take this guide and make a few substitutions, like “Member of Oireachtas” for “Member of Congress” and “Civil War Parties” for “Trump”, it can help communities up and down the country who have similar views on issues like income equality, housing, water charges & repealing the 8th amendment co-ordinate their action towards pressuring TDs and councillors.
More people should be more interested in their government no matter who is in the White House. Personally I wouldn’t mind if “Indivisible” was made into a school textbook. JLP
We suggest below a draft letter that people concerned with the application of the Executive Order in US pre clearance in Irish airports might find useful should they wish to write to TDs in relation to it. Of course, people should adjust it to reflect their preferred language and approach to the issue, but we hope it might be useful.
Dear
I am writing to you [as a constituent [and] citizen] to express my deep concern about the continued operation of the Aviation (Preclearance) Act 2009 and associated agreements in Irish airports during the administration of President Donald J. Trump.
In the first week and a half of his presidency we have already seen Trump attempt to subvert the Immigration and Nationality Act 1965 in order to apply discrimination in immigration and undermine international refugee law through Executive Order. As a result of the preclearance agreement between Ireland and the USA, this Order is being applied on Irish soil and in Irish airports. As you will be aware, Article II(1) of that agreement makes it clear that Irish law continues to apply in those preclearance areas. The application of this Order may result in, for example, EU Citizens with dual citizenship with a listed country experiencing nationality based discrimination, facilitated by Irish law, in clear contravention of the TFEU. I remind you also that it is not possible effectively to renounce citizenship in Iran, Syria, Libya and Yemen.
I remind you that under the 2009 Act, those turned away at preclearance are at the frontiers of the state and must be treated in accordance with the Immigration Act 2004. The Irish state also has obligations of non-refoulement which may arise. Furthermore, any Irish officials including Gardaí who may be involved in any way in policing the preclearance area are obliged as always to act in full compliance with the Constitution and with the ECHR.
Even if Congress supports President Trump’s policies through legislation, thus amending the 1965 Act inasmuch as that is constitutionally permissible, Ireland must ensure that rights under the Irish Constitution continue to be protected in these preclearance areas, and that violations of international law are not facilitated through the application of the agreement.
Bearing all of the above in mind, I would be grateful if you could please seek from the Taoiseach and appropriate minister, and provide me with, details of the following:
A. Measures that are being taken to ensure that unlawful discrimination is not being undertaken or facilitated at Irish airports through the application of Trump policy in preclearance areas.
B. Measures that the Irish government is taking to ensure that international refugee law is not subverted through the application of Trump policy in preclearance areas.
C. Mechanisms in place to ensure Ireland’s obligations under the TFEU, the ECHR and other applicable international law are fully complied with in preclearance areas.
D. Procedures for withdrawal from the preclearance agreement and bases upon which withdrawal would be contemplated by the Irish government
All over the United States this weekend lawyers and others have protested against this unlawful, cruel, Islamophobic and xenophobic attempt to undermine the rule of law. I ask the Oireachtas and the Irish government, in my name, to stand with them. I also ask you to ensure that Ireland provides protection to people seeking asylum from Syria, in particular, who President Trump seeks to preclude from receiving refugee status in the United States.
Given the evident urgency of the matter, I look forward to your swift response.
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes examines the President’s obsession with his own image in his first week in an interview with possible 2020 Democratic candidate Cory Booker:
When your goal is to keep an eye on the mainstream media, naturally it’s not all about scrutinising what they actually report. It is also very important to pay mind to the stuff they leave out of their broadcasts and publications.
Rachel Maddow and Politico are among the few to have latched on to what seems to be a very clear and distinct plan by Mitch McConnell and his fellow Congressional Republicans to minimise the amount of resistance the Democrats can manage against the many changes they want to make under the upcoming Trump administration.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s conference has scheduled six Cabinet-level confirmations hearings for next Wednesday, Jan. 11, the same day the chamber will likely slog through an all-night vote-a-rama on a budget and the president-elect will give his first press conference in six months.
When John Stewart hosted The Daily Show he brilliantly depicted the way the mainstream media can be so easily distracted by using the dog in the Disney movie “Up!”. The pet had a fancy device attached which meant he could talk but when he was in the middle of talking to you he’d suddenly look away and say…
…and what better way to deflect attention from the rake of confirmation hearing for Trump’s Cabinet of Deplorables than to have the man himself say words out loud?
Of all the incredible stuff said by Donald Trump throughout his campaign, large chunks of it were lost in memory as we tried to focus on his most recent offerings.
This one definitely fell through the cracks but is very much gaining significance now.
I’ve always said, ‘Why didn’t the National Enquirer get the Pulitzer Prize for Edwards, and OJ Simpson, and all of these things?’
Yes, he actually said that (out loud, not in a tweet for once), about a publication that literally prints whatever it wants. And going by the trends shown by its headline articles, like the one above that attacked Ted Cruz, arguably Trump’s biggest rival for the Republican nomination, what it wants more than anything is to show the President Elect in as good a light as possible.
Its current cover, for example, tells readers President Obama has “ignited” a national security crisis, but Americans shouldn’t worry – because Donald Trump will “fix” the problem.
He discounts the intelligence presented to him by the country’s leading federally-funded agencies yet he’s willing to trust a tabloid available at supermarket counters for just over a dollar. Not a good sign.
First Person Plural 