Fighting to police, penalize and correct dangerous disinformation is vital, and obviously something the right-wing establishment hates and will oppose by yelling “first amendment!” over and over. With the free market approach to information on the internet and social media came the huge responsibility to limit harmful false information. But the platforms have been very slow and limited in their ability to do it. Disinformation is used to control and manipulate people. I believe Republicans would rarely win a seat anywhere if they were required to only use true, verified information. Disinformation divides people, it causes people to suffer harm to themselves and to hurt others, and it makes our society weaker and less stable. The truth, and society’s shared grasp of it, is essential to prevent paranoia and chaos.
I fucking love this post. It reminds me of Bulverism.
When someone's arguments are just so completely wrong that they could not have been acquired through rational thought, then there's nothing to be gained by respectfully refuting them with facts. Bulverism is your new friend: "You just believe this shit because you are weird." Sometimes an ad hominem is the right prescription, for it addresses the source of the problem far better than a logical argument would.
And from the author by way of wikipedia: << You must show that a man is wrong before you start explaining why he is wrong. The modern method is to assume without discussion that he is wrong and then distract his attention from this (the only real issue) by busily explaining how he became so silly. In the course of the last fifteen years I have found this vice so common that I have had to invent a name for it. I call it "Bulverism". Some day I am going to write the biography of its imaginary inventor, Ezekiel Bulver, whose destiny was determined at the age of five when he heard his mother say to his father—who had been maintaining that two sides of a triangle were together greater than a third—"Oh you say that because you are a man." "At that moment", E. Bulver assures us, "there flashed across my opening mind the great truth that refutation is no necessary part of argument. Assume that your opponent is wrong, and explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong or (worse still) try to find out whether he is wrong or right, and the national dynamism of our age will thrust you to the wall." That is how Bulver became one of the makers of the Twentieth Century.
Interestingly, I wrote about telling better, more compelling stories about ourselves that counter disinformation by redefining ourselves using our own words and actions and lives, while Binkowski is talking about telling stories about the people selling the disinformation about us to redefine them as weak, sad poop.
These seem like entirely complimentary strategies to me
The military used to see “counterterrorism” as synonymous with “try and kill the bad guys, hopefully before they kill a bunch of good guys.” That generally just produced bodies, on both sides, and more bad guys. Now the concept has evolved into a complex system of information operations, human and electronic intelligence, targeted humanitarian assistance, diplomacy, covert operations and, still, the occasional Hellfire up the tailpipe.
It’s an all-hands-on-deck, coordinated, interconnected, smart kind of thing, which while by no means perfect is a shitton better than it used to be. That’s how we need to be running this war against the trolls.
I learned so much from this, thank you! I'll be reading again and again.
'Debunking' has those lovely notes of deflating nonsense, rebutting bunkum, and kicking off scratchy military-issue blankets. At least to me, a former fact-checker who was never even remotely in your league.
ANTIDISINFORMATION ALERT: anyone with half a brain (meaning they understand fractions) would realize that as global warming happens and the oceans rise there will be LESS oceanfront property.
Ask the Floridians about their current home insurance premiums.
Even if your property isn't directly on the beach, the insurance companies no longer care. Florida is a Hurricane Terror Zone and your insurance will cost you accordingly.
ANTIDISINFORMATION ALERT: anyone with half a brain (meaning they understand fractions) would realize that as global warming happens and the oceans rise there will be LESS oceanfront property.
They are 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 not spotting 'weaponized narratives' because those who pay their salaries are vested in the outcomes of those same 'weaponized narratives'
(and BTW, are paying fewer and fewer of them every year, thanks to consolidation and stripmining the remains)
I find the old term 'BULL' (or it's modern extension bulls**t) useful. With bull, the speaker may or may not know anything. The sole intent of the speech is to elicit an emotional reaction tn the audience. The truth of the words is irrelevant and indeed may not be known or knowable. Which suddenly clarifies the AI problem! An AI system does not know truth. Truth is above its pay grade. The content of the 'speech' is determined by unknown rules elicited by the initial question.
I was watching video game streamers earlier today. One of the characters in the video game is a cat woman and she was kidnapped. The AI summary of the chat discussion was that we were "talking about the latest episode where a cat goes missing, and the audience is wondering if she was microchipped."
AI bots also do not understand the nuance of chat jokes either.
It was the press conference seen round the world. Laughed at round the world. Laughter not directed solely at the star of the proceedings - a wrecked, decrepit, decomposing pumpkin standing in his equally sad, dark, desperately-in-need-of-updating-and-lots-of-Febreeze golf palace - but guffaws targeted at the assembled "journalists" who sat for it.
I couch that word in quotation marks because the media present had been hand selected by Trump's woefully inept team the day before. Chosen for the certitude that they would not ask anything relevant, riveting, or important, and certainly not push for an actual substantive answer.
Which brings us to the sad state of what passes for journalism in this country. If it were fabric, it would be the cheapest linen, with more wrinkles than a topographical map of Tibet, burn holes, underarm sweat stains, and buttons missing. A shirt that can barely be called a shirt anymore. Ill fitting, pulled from the closet floor where it has been balled up for months.
In short, our press needs pressing.
Since Trump's announcement to run in 2015, media outlets have whored themselves out, taking a prostitutial knee, as it were, for access. Maggie Haberman of the NYT is a prime example. She has practically lived up his loose colon for almost 10 years now. News channels gave up the word news in order to get viewers. And they knew that given Trump's constant stream of verbal gaffes and outlandish outbursts, the more they kept the cameras on him, the more clicks and ratings they would garner.
Just as video killed the radio star, access journalism killed the news business. The honest reporting of who, what, when, how, where was kicked to the curb in order to script a reality show for viewers. Handpicked, chyron hyped, and completely partisan. Walter Cronkite, who?
Think about that. At one time, Cronkite was called "the most trusted man in America" because he reported the news of the day to viewers. The facts. Not the spin. That is what news once was. Trusted bodies that worked to gather, interview, hold accountable, and report what was happening in our world. But as dollars and drama became more important than Dan Rather and deep, insightful news gathering, we got clowns like Glenn Beck and his blackboard.
One wrinkle in the fabric of journalism begat another wrinkle and so on and so on. Like the Faberge' commercial from the 70s, it multiplied before our eyes. We all chose our camps. Conservatives who loved being frightened and fed conspiracy via batshit Beck flocked to FOX. Liberals who longed for actual news and to see things called out headed for CNN and MSNBC.
And then the biggest wrinkled came along and there is not an industrial steam presser big enough to get it out. The billionaires bought the news. Television and print and web. Murdoch, Bezos, Redstone, Jobs, Adelson, Musk and on and on. Once venerable institutions like the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, etc became nothing more than blatantly partisan outlets shilling for their favorite politicians. News sharing sites like Twitter were bought, throttled, shadow banned and Nazified into a white supremacy wetdream called X where Elon Musk caters to the Andrew Tates and Catturds of the world.
And just as Trump brought eyes to channels he brought sales to print, both on the streets and online. Cash is king, as the saying goes. So the press anointed Trump, vilified all who got in his way (Hilary's emails, anyone?), looked past his obvious shortcomings, ignorance, avarice, and criminality and 2016 saw him installed in the Oval.
Their bootlicking only grew. Access was everything. (Again, see Haberman.) Any organization who dared to call him out, report truthfully about him and his administration were blacklisted, called fake news, and the flow of access was immediately cut off. Thinking that they would iron themselves out after he was ousted was folly. Their cameras and microphones have stayed steadily trained on the human shitshow because he never fails to deliver. And their thirst for ratings and the promise of more beyond 2024 is why we are where we found ourselves yesterday.
Screwed for actual coverage. Honest reporting.
One subpar debate performance by President Biden and the press went apeshit for weeks. A constant flow of articles, headlines, pundits and political players filled every outlet questioning his health, his mental acuity, his age, his age, his age. Nonstop, wall-to-wall coverage of every sneeze, step, oration. It was as obvious as it was shameful. A full court press designed to grab ratings while pushing one man out in favor of elevating a felon who guaranteed endless soundbites.
Age? Fine. Talk about it. Mental sharpness? Absolutely. Must be considered. OF BOTH CANDIDATES. Yet despite Trump's advanced age, obvious mental decline, and abject stupidity on any subject, the spotlight never strayed from Biden. Until the rally where shots were fired and we all learned Trump has an ear that regrows as fast as a Chia pet.
An assassination attempt. HUGE news. Or it should have been. Yet where were the reporters, the investigative journalists finding out what, who, where, how? Where was the push for medical records, hell, a press conference with the treating physician? Where was the thirst to get the story, break some news? There simply was none. The press took the position of that balled up shirt at the back of the closet. Content to lie there, be ignored, passed over.
Shameful. Once upon a time, a presidential candidate calling a media blackout over something this massive would have resulted in a free for all of reporters vying for information, scoops, FACTS. Radio silence was not simply accepted back in the day. But again, access. Fear of not having it kept them all at bay. Which is exactly how Trump wanted it so he could continue to script the narrative of manufactured bullshit. And manufacture it he did. His entire RNC week consisted of him wearing a Kotex over his ear to better bring home the seriousness of his wound and his warrior-like resilience. Pardon my incredulity here, but give me a fucking break. Everything he and his team would have us believe about his injury is completely belied by what we can see with our own eyes. But no matter. Look! All his cultists are wearing maxipads on their heads in solidarity. Report on that!
JFC...Even falling for his "new tone" bullshit. I can't. Same man as he ever was. Filled with hubris, ego, and arrogance aplenty. Then what happens? RNC is over. They are still harping on Biden's age and debate performance, secure in the knowledge they will once again nonreport Trump to the Oval and...Biden announces he will not seek re-election, throwing his complete support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. And the crowd goes wild! But the press doesn't. HUGE wrinkle for them. Wait, wut?!? But we had our entire script written!
Harris becomes a juggernaut. Donations, endorsements, excitement. The press scrambles for anything they can throw that may stick. Where are the Obamas? Oops, shit, there they are. Is this even legal? Well, crap it is, the delegates have not voted yet. Snoop Dogg could get the nod and it would be legal. Then the desperation, with on screen anchors suggesting Biden must surely be on his death bed. Dammit. Primetime from the Oval Office.
Even Trump's campaign, faced with this unexpected turn of events, does not know what to do besides whine foul! Like the media, there entire angle was to continually beat the drum of Biden's age only to be left holding the saggy ballbag of the oldest candidate to ever run for the presidency.
As Harris continued to pick up steam, important endorsements, and campaign cash, the press stayed skeptical. Trying in vain to find the chink in the armor of the grassroots excitement and momentum. Ari Melber pulled all manner of rap out of his cringey ass to try to downplay the reality. FOX heads disparaged Harris in every way. Despite what has been happening, they still desperately need this to be a horse race for their ratings. (And note, just because your cable news allows their anchors to drop words like shit and damn, it doesn’t mean that they are truth tellers, or edgy and going after the facts. It just means that they have more latitude to cuss because you pay for the channel.)
Then Tim Walz was chosen. And the press autopsy of him began. Good luck with that. 24 year veteran, teacher, father, GOOD GUY. As he and Harris began their campaign travels, Trump literally fell off the face of the planet. Yet no breathless headlines or chyrons. A paucity of campaign field offices. Nothing. Biden had COVID and the press set their hair on fire with speculation for a week. Trump disappears and nothing? (Rick Wilson did ask, Where's Weirdo?)
The actual pressure on Trump and his minions came not from the media, but from an onslaught of online criticism from larger voices and a lot of smaller ones. And so, the announcement yesterday morning of a press conference set for 2pm at Mar-a-Lago. A press conference decided upon on Thursday when his campaign handpicked the reporters to be invited and the questions to be asked.
Anyone knowing that part knew that what was to take place was not a true press conference where a candidate stands for actual questions, answers, pushback and clarification. Rather it was set to be a coddle sesh in which Trump could stand in his safe space and expound on whatever synapsis misfired through his rotting cerebellum.
Substack won't allow me to post it all but it's worth the read at the link.
We have one party that has descended into a cult of personality and cannot see that their emperor has no clothes, and another party that has decided to make fun of them for this fact.
I crave truth and facts. I was raised to believe that when news was news and those two things mattered. The moral injury that accompanies all this disinformation, alternate facts, lies and smears is overwhelming. I find it very difficult to trust anyone.
" I never get invited to parties any more for some reason." Shocking, just shocking!
So timely, thank you for all you do.
Fighting to police, penalize and correct dangerous disinformation is vital, and obviously something the right-wing establishment hates and will oppose by yelling “first amendment!” over and over. With the free market approach to information on the internet and social media came the huge responsibility to limit harmful false information. But the platforms have been very slow and limited in their ability to do it. Disinformation is used to control and manipulate people. I believe Republicans would rarely win a seat anywhere if they were required to only use true, verified information. Disinformation divides people, it causes people to suffer harm to themselves and to hurt others, and it makes our society weaker and less stable. The truth, and society’s shared grasp of it, is essential to prevent paranoia and chaos.
…are you me?
I fucking love this post. It reminds me of Bulverism.
When someone's arguments are just so completely wrong that they could not have been acquired through rational thought, then there's nothing to be gained by respectfully refuting them with facts. Bulverism is your new friend: "You just believe this shit because you are weird." Sometimes an ad hominem is the right prescription, for it addresses the source of the problem far better than a logical argument would.
Further reading:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Bulverism
And from the author by way of wikipedia: << You must show that a man is wrong before you start explaining why he is wrong. The modern method is to assume without discussion that he is wrong and then distract his attention from this (the only real issue) by busily explaining how he became so silly. In the course of the last fifteen years I have found this vice so common that I have had to invent a name for it. I call it "Bulverism". Some day I am going to write the biography of its imaginary inventor, Ezekiel Bulver, whose destiny was determined at the age of five when he heard his mother say to his father—who had been maintaining that two sides of a triangle were together greater than a third—"Oh you say that because you are a man." "At that moment", E. Bulver assures us, "there flashed across my opening mind the great truth that refutation is no necessary part of argument. Assume that your opponent is wrong, and explain his error, and the world will be at your feet. Attempt to prove that he is wrong or (worse still) try to find out whether he is wrong or right, and the national dynamism of our age will thrust you to the wall." That is how Bulver became one of the makers of the Twentieth Century.
— C. S. Lewis, Bulverism>>
Interrupting their stories with better stories is just what I was writing about a few weeks ago:
https://pervertjustice.substack.com/p/capitalist-media-tells-what-sells
Interestingly, I wrote about telling better, more compelling stories about ourselves that counter disinformation by redefining ourselves using our own words and actions and lives, while Binkowski is talking about telling stories about the people selling the disinformation about us to redefine them as weak, sad poop.
These seem like entirely complimentary strategies to me
The military used to see “counterterrorism” as synonymous with “try and kill the bad guys, hopefully before they kill a bunch of good guys.” That generally just produced bodies, on both sides, and more bad guys. Now the concept has evolved into a complex system of information operations, human and electronic intelligence, targeted humanitarian assistance, diplomacy, covert operations and, still, the occasional Hellfire up the tailpipe.
It’s an all-hands-on-deck, coordinated, interconnected, smart kind of thing, which while by no means perfect is a shitton better than it used to be. That’s how we need to be running this war against the trolls.
I learned so much from this, thank you! I'll be reading again and again.
'Debunking' has those lovely notes of deflating nonsense, rebutting bunkum, and kicking off scratchy military-issue blankets. At least to me, a former fact-checker who was never even remotely in your league.
Make 'em cry.
On the subject of counterdisinformation...
I saw the greatest name for Andrew Taint the other day.
Eunuch Powell.
It's just so gorram perfect. It's shiny, is what it is.
ANTIDISINFORMATION ALERT: anyone with half a brain (meaning they understand fractions) would realize that as global warming happens and the oceans rise there will be LESS oceanfront property.
Ask the Floridians about their current home insurance premiums.
Even if your property isn't directly on the beach, the insurance companies no longer care. Florida is a Hurricane Terror Zone and your insurance will cost you accordingly.
Shhhhhhh!
ANTIDISINFORMATION ALERT: anyone with half a brain (meaning they understand fractions) would realize that as global warming happens and the oceans rise there will be LESS oceanfront property.
"We currently have an anemic press filled with journalists untrained in the art of spotting weaponized narratives"
Upton Sinclair comes immediately to mind: "𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵."
They are 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 not spotting 'weaponized narratives' because those who pay their salaries are vested in the outcomes of those same 'weaponized narratives'
(and BTW, are paying fewer and fewer of them every year, thanks to consolidation and stripmining the remains)
I find the old term 'BULL' (or it's modern extension bulls**t) useful. With bull, the speaker may or may not know anything. The sole intent of the speech is to elicit an emotional reaction tn the audience. The truth of the words is irrelevant and indeed may not be known or knowable. Which suddenly clarifies the AI problem! An AI system does not know truth. Truth is above its pay grade. The content of the 'speech' is determined by unknown rules elicited by the initial question.
I was watching video game streamers earlier today. One of the characters in the video game is a cat woman and she was kidnapped. The AI summary of the chat discussion was that we were "talking about the latest episode where a cat goes missing, and the audience is wondering if she was microchipped."
AI bots also do not understand the nuance of chat jokes either.
OUTSTANDING article, thank you so much!
She is so spot on with this. It is worth the read.
Linda Sharp - Pressing the Press.
https://dontgetmestarted-lindasharp.typepad.com/dont_get_me_started_with_/2024/08/pressing-the-press.html
It was the press conference seen round the world. Laughed at round the world. Laughter not directed solely at the star of the proceedings - a wrecked, decrepit, decomposing pumpkin standing in his equally sad, dark, desperately-in-need-of-updating-and-lots-of-Febreeze golf palace - but guffaws targeted at the assembled "journalists" who sat for it.
I couch that word in quotation marks because the media present had been hand selected by Trump's woefully inept team the day before. Chosen for the certitude that they would not ask anything relevant, riveting, or important, and certainly not push for an actual substantive answer.
Which brings us to the sad state of what passes for journalism in this country. If it were fabric, it would be the cheapest linen, with more wrinkles than a topographical map of Tibet, burn holes, underarm sweat stains, and buttons missing. A shirt that can barely be called a shirt anymore. Ill fitting, pulled from the closet floor where it has been balled up for months.
In short, our press needs pressing.
Since Trump's announcement to run in 2015, media outlets have whored themselves out, taking a prostitutial knee, as it were, for access. Maggie Haberman of the NYT is a prime example. She has practically lived up his loose colon for almost 10 years now. News channels gave up the word news in order to get viewers. And they knew that given Trump's constant stream of verbal gaffes and outlandish outbursts, the more they kept the cameras on him, the more clicks and ratings they would garner.
Just as video killed the radio star, access journalism killed the news business. The honest reporting of who, what, when, how, where was kicked to the curb in order to script a reality show for viewers. Handpicked, chyron hyped, and completely partisan. Walter Cronkite, who?
Think about that. At one time, Cronkite was called "the most trusted man in America" because he reported the news of the day to viewers. The facts. Not the spin. That is what news once was. Trusted bodies that worked to gather, interview, hold accountable, and report what was happening in our world. But as dollars and drama became more important than Dan Rather and deep, insightful news gathering, we got clowns like Glenn Beck and his blackboard.
One wrinkle in the fabric of journalism begat another wrinkle and so on and so on. Like the Faberge' commercial from the 70s, it multiplied before our eyes. We all chose our camps. Conservatives who loved being frightened and fed conspiracy via batshit Beck flocked to FOX. Liberals who longed for actual news and to see things called out headed for CNN and MSNBC.
And then the biggest wrinkled came along and there is not an industrial steam presser big enough to get it out. The billionaires bought the news. Television and print and web. Murdoch, Bezos, Redstone, Jobs, Adelson, Musk and on and on. Once venerable institutions like the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, etc became nothing more than blatantly partisan outlets shilling for their favorite politicians. News sharing sites like Twitter were bought, throttled, shadow banned and Nazified into a white supremacy wetdream called X where Elon Musk caters to the Andrew Tates and Catturds of the world.
And just as Trump brought eyes to channels he brought sales to print, both on the streets and online. Cash is king, as the saying goes. So the press anointed Trump, vilified all who got in his way (Hilary's emails, anyone?), looked past his obvious shortcomings, ignorance, avarice, and criminality and 2016 saw him installed in the Oval.
Their bootlicking only grew. Access was everything. (Again, see Haberman.) Any organization who dared to call him out, report truthfully about him and his administration were blacklisted, called fake news, and the flow of access was immediately cut off. Thinking that they would iron themselves out after he was ousted was folly. Their cameras and microphones have stayed steadily trained on the human shitshow because he never fails to deliver. And their thirst for ratings and the promise of more beyond 2024 is why we are where we found ourselves yesterday.
Screwed for actual coverage. Honest reporting.
One subpar debate performance by President Biden and the press went apeshit for weeks. A constant flow of articles, headlines, pundits and political players filled every outlet questioning his health, his mental acuity, his age, his age, his age. Nonstop, wall-to-wall coverage of every sneeze, step, oration. It was as obvious as it was shameful. A full court press designed to grab ratings while pushing one man out in favor of elevating a felon who guaranteed endless soundbites.
Age? Fine. Talk about it. Mental sharpness? Absolutely. Must be considered. OF BOTH CANDIDATES. Yet despite Trump's advanced age, obvious mental decline, and abject stupidity on any subject, the spotlight never strayed from Biden. Until the rally where shots were fired and we all learned Trump has an ear that regrows as fast as a Chia pet.
An assassination attempt. HUGE news. Or it should have been. Yet where were the reporters, the investigative journalists finding out what, who, where, how? Where was the push for medical records, hell, a press conference with the treating physician? Where was the thirst to get the story, break some news? There simply was none. The press took the position of that balled up shirt at the back of the closet. Content to lie there, be ignored, passed over.
Shameful. Once upon a time, a presidential candidate calling a media blackout over something this massive would have resulted in a free for all of reporters vying for information, scoops, FACTS. Radio silence was not simply accepted back in the day. But again, access. Fear of not having it kept them all at bay. Which is exactly how Trump wanted it so he could continue to script the narrative of manufactured bullshit. And manufacture it he did. His entire RNC week consisted of him wearing a Kotex over his ear to better bring home the seriousness of his wound and his warrior-like resilience. Pardon my incredulity here, but give me a fucking break. Everything he and his team would have us believe about his injury is completely belied by what we can see with our own eyes. But no matter. Look! All his cultists are wearing maxipads on their heads in solidarity. Report on that!
JFC...Even falling for his "new tone" bullshit. I can't. Same man as he ever was. Filled with hubris, ego, and arrogance aplenty. Then what happens? RNC is over. They are still harping on Biden's age and debate performance, secure in the knowledge they will once again nonreport Trump to the Oval and...Biden announces he will not seek re-election, throwing his complete support behind Vice President Kamala Harris. And the crowd goes wild! But the press doesn't. HUGE wrinkle for them. Wait, wut?!? But we had our entire script written!
Harris becomes a juggernaut. Donations, endorsements, excitement. The press scrambles for anything they can throw that may stick. Where are the Obamas? Oops, shit, there they are. Is this even legal? Well, crap it is, the delegates have not voted yet. Snoop Dogg could get the nod and it would be legal. Then the desperation, with on screen anchors suggesting Biden must surely be on his death bed. Dammit. Primetime from the Oval Office.
Even Trump's campaign, faced with this unexpected turn of events, does not know what to do besides whine foul! Like the media, there entire angle was to continually beat the drum of Biden's age only to be left holding the saggy ballbag of the oldest candidate to ever run for the presidency.
As Harris continued to pick up steam, important endorsements, and campaign cash, the press stayed skeptical. Trying in vain to find the chink in the armor of the grassroots excitement and momentum. Ari Melber pulled all manner of rap out of his cringey ass to try to downplay the reality. FOX heads disparaged Harris in every way. Despite what has been happening, they still desperately need this to be a horse race for their ratings. (And note, just because your cable news allows their anchors to drop words like shit and damn, it doesn’t mean that they are truth tellers, or edgy and going after the facts. It just means that they have more latitude to cuss because you pay for the channel.)
Then Tim Walz was chosen. And the press autopsy of him began. Good luck with that. 24 year veteran, teacher, father, GOOD GUY. As he and Harris began their campaign travels, Trump literally fell off the face of the planet. Yet no breathless headlines or chyrons. A paucity of campaign field offices. Nothing. Biden had COVID and the press set their hair on fire with speculation for a week. Trump disappears and nothing? (Rick Wilson did ask, Where's Weirdo?)
The actual pressure on Trump and his minions came not from the media, but from an onslaught of online criticism from larger voices and a lot of smaller ones. And so, the announcement yesterday morning of a press conference set for 2pm at Mar-a-Lago. A press conference decided upon on Thursday when his campaign handpicked the reporters to be invited and the questions to be asked.
Anyone knowing that part knew that what was to take place was not a true press conference where a candidate stands for actual questions, answers, pushback and clarification. Rather it was set to be a coddle sesh in which Trump could stand in his safe space and expound on whatever synapsis misfired through his rotting cerebellum.
Substack won't allow me to post it all but it's worth the read at the link.
This is good, but along with access "journalism" you have to mention the malignant cancer that is Broderism, that "both sides do it."
Both sides do what, at this point?
We have one party that has descended into a cult of personality and cannot see that their emperor has no clothes, and another party that has decided to make fun of them for this fact.
I crave truth and facts. I was raised to believe that when news was news and those two things mattered. The moral injury that accompanies all this disinformation, alternate facts, lies and smears is overwhelming. I find it very difficult to trust anyone.