Doesn’t Stephanopoulos HAVE to resign rather than apologize? As a matter of personal journalistic credibility and integrity, even if his employers have neither?
At some point don’t you have to give up the money and perks? (And shouldn’t he have enough of the former anyway, to live out his days in extreme comfort, and nothing’s stopping him from new employment anyway, at reduced but still bountiful compensation, see Carlson comma Tucker?)
Easy for me to say, it’s not my $25M a year, but still.
Replying to self: LOL not only did he not resign, he SIGNED A NEW DEAL (and also apologized to Fatso, sheesh. Should have googled before instead of after posting.)
Trump and Hitler: Frail Leaders, Big Lies, and the Press Under Siege
Donald Trump’s latest tantrum against the press—threatening lawsuits and jail for journalists—is a sad echo of Adolf Hitler's more violent war on media freedom. Trump, like Hitler, cannot abide criticism. Both men, frail and insecure, have decided that the best way to protect their fragile egos is by attacking the very foundation of democracy: a free press.
Trump has launched a series of defamation lawsuits against media outlets he dislikes, including one against ABC over a factual error and another against the Des Moines Register for publishing a poll he didn’t like. It's a classic move for a man who can’t handle the truth: if the press doesn't bow to you, sue them into submission. But Trump's strategy isn't just about seeking justice—it’s about using the legal system to drown out dissent. And with his pick for FBI director promising retribution against journalists, the chilling effect is already here.
Hitler, meanwhile, didn’t bother with lawsuits. He simply seized control. The Reich Press Law of 1933 turned independent journalism into state-approved propaganda, and anyone who resisted was either silenced or executed. No lawsuits needed—just the brute force of a regime that crushed free speech under the weight of its own delusions of grandeur. The Nazis even had their own term for “fake news”: Lügenpresse (lying press), a phrase weaponized to delegitimize dissent and discredit the media entirely.
Both leaders, in their own ways, use the media as a scapegoat for their insecurities. Trump calls the press “fake news” whenever it dares to report facts he dislikes, just as Hitler's Reich Ministry of Propaganda spun every inconvenient truth into a lie. Neither man can stomach the idea that their weak, insecure leadership might actually be questioned.
Tyranny doesn’t spring up overnight; it’s built piece by piece, first with threats and then with silence. Trump and Hitler are cut from the same cloth: insecure, petty men who would rather rule with fear than face the truth. Their war on the press is the first step in eroding democracy itself—and it must be resisted at all costs.
Let's face it, websites like Wonkette are the new media. You might be small today, but you bring the news to a lot of people each day. Your journalists are great to read. You're informative and you have integrity. This might as well be the foundation of the new American news media; we have to start somewhere, and Wonkette seems to be the perfect corner stone to build upon.
Yeah, $65 million is a lot of money, so I'm assuming Stephanopoulos isn't living paycheck to paycheck. Why, then, didn't he tell ABC/Disney to GF themselves? I will never again be able to watch him; certainly not with the sense that he is a journalist with real integrity. He's just a bus undercarriage inspector now, thanks to his Disney/ABC overlords.
One of the few AI creations I would read is a daily summary of More Evidence That Billionaires Should Not Be Allowed to Buy and Ruin Things They Don't Understand.
Ta, Marcie. Yes, the Fourth Estate has gone to hell, sans handbasket. I pay Wonkette and The Guardian; I canceled both NYT and WaPo ages ago. The last time I was on total media blackout was when the elder Bush was elected. I said, "That's it! The head of the secret police is headed to the White House," and didn't read a newspaper or watch TV during his entire term. That meant I missed some interesting stuff (e.g. The Westies). I had a friend whose job was telling me of celebrity deaths, and another friend who saved Science Times for me. This was before social media took off. I was visiting a friend who had the TV on during the first Gulf war (Barbara Bush had just broken her ankle to narrow down the approximate date); the graphics were amazing. Now, I get news from here, Graun, and BlueSky.
As tired as I get of NPR bending over backwards to find something good to say about Republicans, I do consider them a legitimate news source. I'm really tired of the "Can't we all just get along?" shows they've been doing lately. (Honestly, I think some of those are MPR, so only in Minnesota). The Guardian is quite good. Beyond that, I think you can find facts from other news sources, but it's best to cross-reference them to see what the slant is. I'm not saying they intentionally lie, but I think they leave a lot out to spin the narrative they want to spin. I used to seek out right-leaning sources to challenge my own assumptions, but I don't think there is a legitimate right-leaning media outlet anymore. The Hill has become utter dreck. Maybe Forbes, but I'm not going to pay for it. So my spectrum of coverage only ranges from Newsweek to The Jacobin anymore. I kind of like Ground News which gives you a number of columns on the same event while rating their bias. I would move every publication they list at least one column further to the right, though. NPR is not left-leaning, Fox is not right-leaning, Breitbart is far right, not right, and The Hill is certainly not neutral.
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—On Monday a spokesman for ABC News apologized for what he called “an unfortunate incident of freedom of the press.”
“Earlier this year, an employee exercised a right that is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution,” the spokesman said. “We have spoken to him, and he won’t do it again.”
Doubling down on ABC’s apology, the spokesman said, “Our employee deeply regrets speaking ill of someone who calls other people ‘vermin.’”
ABC executives reportedly flew to Mar-a-Lago to grovel, but had to wait in line behind Joe and Mika.
About all those Mar a Lago visits... I want to know how many of these journalists tickled tRump's croutons while they tossed his salad - or were they too busy playing flute?
I cancelled NYT home delivery this summer when their cryptofascist bias became too much to bear. And, indeed, with Wonkettee, New Yorker, NY Review of Books, London Review of Books, Economist, Guardian (online), Vanity Fair, plus decent bloggers like Snyder, Hartman, Kamil Galeev, Philips O'Brien, etc., who needs "All the Propaganda that Fits, We Print"?
Kudos to Jim Acosta formerly of CNN( can not news) for standing up for the truth!
Doesn’t Stephanopoulos HAVE to resign rather than apologize? As a matter of personal journalistic credibility and integrity, even if his employers have neither?
At some point don’t you have to give up the money and perks? (And shouldn’t he have enough of the former anyway, to live out his days in extreme comfort, and nothing’s stopping him from new employment anyway, at reduced but still bountiful compensation, see Carlson comma Tucker?)
Easy for me to say, it’s not my $25M a year, but still.
Replying to self: LOL not only did he not resign, he SIGNED A NEW DEAL (and also apologized to Fatso, sheesh. Should have googled before instead of after posting.)
Well, fuck another “journalist” I guess.
Trump and Hitler: Frail Leaders, Big Lies, and the Press Under Siege
Donald Trump’s latest tantrum against the press—threatening lawsuits and jail for journalists—is a sad echo of Adolf Hitler's more violent war on media freedom. Trump, like Hitler, cannot abide criticism. Both men, frail and insecure, have decided that the best way to protect their fragile egos is by attacking the very foundation of democracy: a free press.
Trump has launched a series of defamation lawsuits against media outlets he dislikes, including one against ABC over a factual error and another against the Des Moines Register for publishing a poll he didn’t like. It's a classic move for a man who can’t handle the truth: if the press doesn't bow to you, sue them into submission. But Trump's strategy isn't just about seeking justice—it’s about using the legal system to drown out dissent. And with his pick for FBI director promising retribution against journalists, the chilling effect is already here.
Hitler, meanwhile, didn’t bother with lawsuits. He simply seized control. The Reich Press Law of 1933 turned independent journalism into state-approved propaganda, and anyone who resisted was either silenced or executed. No lawsuits needed—just the brute force of a regime that crushed free speech under the weight of its own delusions of grandeur. The Nazis even had their own term for “fake news”: Lügenpresse (lying press), a phrase weaponized to delegitimize dissent and discredit the media entirely.
Both leaders, in their own ways, use the media as a scapegoat for their insecurities. Trump calls the press “fake news” whenever it dares to report facts he dislikes, just as Hitler's Reich Ministry of Propaganda spun every inconvenient truth into a lie. Neither man can stomach the idea that their weak, insecure leadership might actually be questioned.
Tyranny doesn’t spring up overnight; it’s built piece by piece, first with threats and then with silence. Trump and Hitler are cut from the same cloth: insecure, petty men who would rather rule with fear than face the truth. Their war on the press is the first step in eroding democracy itself—and it must be resisted at all costs.
For a deeper look into how Trump’s tactics echo those of pre-WWII Hitler, read my full article here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-153103008.
It explores their shared strategies of exploiting grievances, manipulating followers, and undermining democracy.
Subscribe for more insights on the dangerous rise of authoritarianism and the fight to protect our freedoms.
Let's face it, websites like Wonkette are the new media. You might be small today, but you bring the news to a lot of people each day. Your journalists are great to read. You're informative and you have integrity. This might as well be the foundation of the new American news media; we have to start somewhere, and Wonkette seems to be the perfect corner stone to build upon.
Yeah, $65 million is a lot of money, so I'm assuming Stephanopoulos isn't living paycheck to paycheck. Why, then, didn't he tell ABC/Disney to GF themselves? I will never again be able to watch him; certainly not with the sense that he is a journalist with real integrity. He's just a bus undercarriage inspector now, thanks to his Disney/ABC overlords.
Pusillanimous is the word I'm using these days.
One of the few AI creations I would read is a daily summary of More Evidence That Billionaires Should Not Be Allowed to Buy and Ruin Things They Don't Understand.
Ta, Marcie. Yes, the Fourth Estate has gone to hell, sans handbasket. I pay Wonkette and The Guardian; I canceled both NYT and WaPo ages ago. The last time I was on total media blackout was when the elder Bush was elected. I said, "That's it! The head of the secret police is headed to the White House," and didn't read a newspaper or watch TV during his entire term. That meant I missed some interesting stuff (e.g. The Westies). I had a friend whose job was telling me of celebrity deaths, and another friend who saved Science Times for me. This was before social media took off. I was visiting a friend who had the TV on during the first Gulf war (Barbara Bush had just broken her ankle to narrow down the approximate date); the graphics were amazing. Now, I get news from here, Graun, and BlueSky.
As tired as I get of NPR bending over backwards to find something good to say about Republicans, I do consider them a legitimate news source. I'm really tired of the "Can't we all just get along?" shows they've been doing lately. (Honestly, I think some of those are MPR, so only in Minnesota). The Guardian is quite good. Beyond that, I think you can find facts from other news sources, but it's best to cross-reference them to see what the slant is. I'm not saying they intentionally lie, but I think they leave a lot out to spin the narrative they want to spin. I used to seek out right-leaning sources to challenge my own assumptions, but I don't think there is a legitimate right-leaning media outlet anymore. The Hill has become utter dreck. Maybe Forbes, but I'm not going to pay for it. So my spectrum of coverage only ranges from Newsweek to The Jacobin anymore. I kind of like Ground News which gives you a number of columns on the same event while rating their bias. I would move every publication they list at least one column further to the right, though. NPR is not left-leaning, Fox is not right-leaning, Breitbart is far right, not right, and The Hill is certainly not neutral.
“You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!”
PBS is on the chopping block, is it not?
Well, there's always NPR.
What?
Is this the same Disney that so memorably pantsed DeSantis?
When did they get tired of winning?
The moment they met someone they are truly afraid of.
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—On Monday a spokesman for ABC News apologized for what he called “an unfortunate incident of freedom of the press.”
“Earlier this year, an employee exercised a right that is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution,” the spokesman said. “We have spoken to him, and he won’t do it again.”
Doubling down on ABC’s apology, the spokesman said, “Our employee deeply regrets speaking ill of someone who calls other people ‘vermin.’”
ABC executives reportedly flew to Mar-a-Lago to grovel, but had to wait in line behind Joe and Mika.
About all those Mar a Lago visits... I want to know how many of these journalists tickled tRump's croutons while they tossed his salad - or were they too busy playing flute?
I cancelled NYT home delivery this summer when their cryptofascist bias became too much to bear. And, indeed, with Wonkettee, New Yorker, NY Review of Books, London Review of Books, Economist, Guardian (online), Vanity Fair, plus decent bloggers like Snyder, Hartman, Kamil Galeev, Philips O'Brien, etc., who needs "All the Propaganda that Fits, We Print"?
Call me crazy, but maybe billionaires who want to curry favor with the government shouldn’t own media outlets.
Yup, ABC folded. They are all folding. WTF?
They're all terrified of the lamest, stupidest, most feckless asshole to ever squat in the White House. The mainstream media is well and truly dead.