“President Trump is watching Fox News... peddling info from Fox... tweeting about Fox stories... giving most of his interviews to Fox... and getting support from Fox stars. He's promoting Fox as 'fair' and attacking its rivals as 'fake.' He's working with former Fox staffers. And now he's dealing with an international incident provoked by a Fox commentator. That's what we're witnessing. A presidency shaped by Fox News. Do you like what you see?” -- Brian Stelter, from CNN Reliable Sources newsletter
For a couple years, I was a member of the Reddit community, although I didn't post much. (And when I did post, no one cared.) However, it was short-lived, based on two major factors from a minority of Redditors: the negative preoccupations with so-called "social justice warriors" (SWJ's) and the ramp-up to the 2016 election. I still lurk on Reddit now and again, but it just isn't the same knowing those devolved dopes are out there. However, every now and again, someone manages to encapsulate my thoughts on a given topic area. Thanks to Reddit user BaronBifford for responding to the CNN article "Trump’s relationship with the truth is becoming a national embarrassment" with such wisdom and alacrity. For your examination:
"It's an embarrassment for the Republicans and conservative Americans.
I am Belgian and am a longtime observer of American politics. I am neither a liberal nor a conservative because these only make sense in an American context. I guess I lean left but I am not part of the leftist culture of the US.
Frankly, I think the conservative half of America is insane. There's an amazing level of paranoia and lack of self-awareness. The leftists ("liberals" in your vernacular) have their nutcases too but they pale in comparison to the conservatives.
The conservatives deny the reality of climate change. The US government is the only government in the world that does not fully accept the reality of climate change, and the skepticism comes entirely from the Republicans. They accuse scientists of perpetuating a myth so as to sustain their funding. So conservatives think that the science community functions like the business world, that they must create artificial demand for their services to stay in business.
The conservatives tried desperately to tarnish the image of Barack Obama, but it turns out his past is so squeaky clean that they had to make up bullshit like that he was a Kenyan who forged his birth certificate, that he was trying to bring sharia or Communism to America (or both, somehow). They pounced on every little thing he did in person, from ordering luxury brand mustard to expensive golf vacations. When he made vague and emotional remarks about the shooting of Treyvon Martin and the riots in Ferguson, they accused him of inciting a race war.
Now it's 2016 and the Republicans have chosen Trump as their President. You all know very well all of Trump's indiscretions, you rant about them endlessly in this subreddit. And the conservative press is bending over backward to downplay all his faults, spin his decrees as brilliant, and accuse officials who obstruct his illegal behavior as traitors from the "deep state". The hypocrisy of the Republicans is staggering. Obama has been spun into a modern day Trotsky, supposedly managing a conspiracy against Trump despite not holding any political office. Obama cannot reward or protect anyone who goes against Trump.
Obamacare was regarded as a vector for introducing socialism to the United States. Never mind that all of America's allies in Canada and Western Europe have some form of socialized healthcare yet are not commie hellholes. Never mind that Communism ended as a serious geopolitical force in 1991.
The conservatives seriously think the American way of life is under threat by Islamism. To do that, al Qaeda would have to invade the US with an army, overthrow its government and impose their will on a very large and proudly liberal and Christian country. The Japanese couldn't do this, the Mexicans couldn't do this, the Spanish couldn't do this, and the British couldn't do this. So how can a few dozen guys with homemade bombs do this? Conservative America obviously has a desperate need for some great ideological enemy, but by inflating the seriousness of the Islamist threat they have ended up dividing the country because half the country doesn't buy their bullshit.
We in Europe are terribly worried about the fracturing of America. America was very good for us in the past. You underestimate how much in general we hold America in esteem. We still depend on America for our security, so to see Trump go to war with the intelligence community is disturbing because the intelligence community does most of the important work in the War on Terror. Forget the precious "troops", it's the cops and spies who matter most.
We couldn't imagine how a man like Trump could have made it to the White House. I used to think that the free press safeguarded the White House against such personalities, because the press digs up whatever dirt it can on a candidate (and in the case of Obama, makes shit up when it finds nothing). The press did its job, but the public ignored what they had to say. Nearly 40 years of bad press, mind you; they have been bashing Trump since the 1970s. We hated George W. Bush, but only after his foolish invasion of Iraq; before that he seemed like a reasonable President, and even today I cannot real find any serious fault with him as a person. We had no bias against Republicans.
The day after Trump's inauguration, we observed the Women's March, the greatest mass protest in the country's history. That's Day 1 for Donald Trump. Then we hear about intelligence officials leaking embarrassing information on the President less than a month into his term. Usually when the intelligence community has issues with the White House, it is operational, not ideological in nature (Trump isn't even much of an ideologue). Bush and Reagan never had these problems, at least not immediately. My guess is that they fear Trump will ruin their projects, like he ruined his own enterprises. I do not see how Trump could be an effective President with so much bad will against him. The Presidential election of America is not a winner-take-all affair. The winner must somehow get along with his opponents in Congress, the various institutions that administrate and safeguard the country, and foreign allies who enable America to project its military and cultural might against its foreign enemies. Bush was wise enough to condemn Islamophobia, because he needed cooperative Muslims to wage the War on Terror. Only right-wing pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity can get away with being so incendiary, because they don't set policy and thus will face no consequences. Bush and then Obama had to sort out the Iraq mess while Fox News preferred to ignore it when things became awkward. I think Donald Trump would have made a great talk radio host."
For a couple years, I was a member of the Reddit community, although I didn't post much. (And when I did post, no one cared.) However, it was short-lived, based on two major factors from a minority of Redditors: the negative preoccupations with so-called "social justice warriors" (SWJ's) and the ramp-up to the 2016 election. I still lurk on Reddit now and again, but it just isn't the same knowing those devolved dopes are out there. However, every now and again, someone manages to encapsulate my thoughts on a given topic area. Thanks to Reddit user BaronBifford for responding to the CNN article "Trump’s relationship with the truth is becoming a national embarrassment" with such wisdom and alacrity. For your examination:
"It's an embarrassment for the Republicans and conservative Americans.
I am Belgian and am a longtime observer of American politics. I am neither a liberal nor a conservative because these only make sense in an American context. I guess I lean left but I am not part of the leftist culture of the US.
Frankly, I think the conservative half of America is insane. There's an amazing level of paranoia and lack of self-awareness. The leftists ("liberals" in your vernacular) have their nutcases too but they pale in comparison to the conservatives.
The conservatives deny the reality of climate change. The US government is the only government in the world that does not fully accept the reality of climate change, and the skepticism comes entirely from the Republicans. They accuse scientists of perpetuating a myth so as to sustain their funding. So conservatives think that the science community functions like the business world, that they must create artificial demand for their services to stay in business.
The conservatives tried desperately to tarnish the image of Barack Obama, but it turns out his past is so squeaky clean that they had to make up bullshit like that he was a Kenyan who forged his birth certificate, that he was trying to bring sharia or Communism to America (or both, somehow). They pounced on every little thing he did in person, from ordering luxury brand mustard to expensive golf vacations. When he made vague and emotional remarks about the shooting of Treyvon Martin and the riots in Ferguson, they accused him of inciting a race war.
Now it's 2016 and the Republicans have chosen Trump as their President. You all know very well all of Trump's indiscretions, you rant about them endlessly in this subreddit. And the conservative press is bending over backward to downplay all his faults, spin his decrees as brilliant, and accuse officials who obstruct his illegal behavior as traitors from the "deep state". The hypocrisy of the Republicans is staggering. Obama has been spun into a modern day Trotsky, supposedly managing a conspiracy against Trump despite not holding any political office. Obama cannot reward or protect anyone who goes against Trump.
Obamacare was regarded as a vector for introducing socialism to the United States. Never mind that all of America's allies in Canada and Western Europe have some form of socialized healthcare yet are not commie hellholes. Never mind that Communism ended as a serious geopolitical force in 1991.
The conservatives seriously think the American way of life is under threat by Islamism. To do that, al Qaeda would have to invade the US with an army, overthrow its government and impose their will on a very large and proudly liberal and Christian country. The Japanese couldn't do this, the Mexicans couldn't do this, the Spanish couldn't do this, and the British couldn't do this. So how can a few dozen guys with homemade bombs do this? Conservative America obviously has a desperate need for some great ideological enemy, but by inflating the seriousness of the Islamist threat they have ended up dividing the country because half the country doesn't buy their bullshit.
We in Europe are terribly worried about the fracturing of America. America was very good for us in the past. You underestimate how much in general we hold America in esteem. We still depend on America for our security, so to see Trump go to war with the intelligence community is disturbing because the intelligence community does most of the important work in the War on Terror. Forget the precious "troops", it's the cops and spies who matter most.
We couldn't imagine how a man like Trump could have made it to the White House. I used to think that the free press safeguarded the White House against such personalities, because the press digs up whatever dirt it can on a candidate (and in the case of Obama, makes shit up when it finds nothing). The press did its job, but the public ignored what they had to say. Nearly 40 years of bad press, mind you; they have been bashing Trump since the 1970s. We hated George W. Bush, but only after his foolish invasion of Iraq; before that he seemed like a reasonable President, and even today I cannot real find any serious fault with him as a person. We had no bias against Republicans.
The day after Trump's inauguration, we observed the Women's March, the greatest mass protest in the country's history. That's Day 1 for Donald Trump. Then we hear about intelligence officials leaking embarrassing information on the President less than a month into his term. Usually when the intelligence community has issues with the White House, it is operational, not ideological in nature (Trump isn't even much of an ideologue). Bush and Reagan never had these problems, at least not immediately. My guess is that they fear Trump will ruin their projects, like he ruined his own enterprises. I do not see how Trump could be an effective President with so much bad will against him. The Presidential election of America is not a winner-take-all affair. The winner must somehow get along with his opponents in Congress, the various institutions that administrate and safeguard the country, and foreign allies who enable America to project its military and cultural might against its foreign enemies. Bush was wise enough to condemn Islamophobia, because he needed cooperative Muslims to wage the War on Terror. Only right-wing pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity can get away with being so incendiary, because they don't set policy and thus will face no consequences. Bush and then Obama had to sort out the Iraq mess while Fox News preferred to ignore it when things became awkward. I think Donald Trump would have made a great talk radio host."
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