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I think Trump meant…greatest WHICH hunt! As in…hunting for WHICH shoe will drop next.
Where are the right wing troll Fox News supporters? Diane? OU812? Others?
I think the Fox viewers have to share the blame with Roger Ailes. Fox people have always been there since man first appeared on the planet earth. But over the last hundred years or so, they have been, more or less held in check by the better angels of the media that realized the overall value of the Fairness Doctrine. When that was eliminated, then Ailes shrewdly bet that this segment of the population could be exploited if their fears and prejudices were validated by a seemly legitimate news network.
Yes, Fox was more than willing to spew out rightwing propaganda. But it takes two to tango. I still maintain that the viewers have more influence on Fox's programing than even Ailes. Once the commitment was made by Ailes, he was a willing prisoner of his own propaganda machine.
To go against the raging, incessant demands of the viewers would have been cable news suicide. As I have said here before…you are more likely to be fired from Fox for telling the truth, than lying. The viewers won't stand for the truth!! That's the last thing they want to hear.
A leader is required
A Cromwell, Washington, Trotsky, Mirabeau type individual
Cometh the hour cometh the man
Regarding my foxmerized friends and family, November's election was the last straw. I no longer associate in a meaningful manner with any of them. They all know why and give me plenty of crap about only hanging out with my progressive crowd..... oh well.
Based on that, no one has more contempt for Ailes's Foxaganda than I do. That said, my loss of friends is minor compared to the damage Ailes has done to our country. Trump is a classic example of a foxmerized sucker. In fact in his case like many other citizens, Fox was a gateway propaganda drug to alt right sites like Breitbart.
Being a dedicated Fox News fan is just more evidence that Crooked Donny truly is a dumb ass, which is why Putin installed him.
Thom is correct, Ailes has done extreme damage to this country. Just like the Kochs and others, he had the classic ubiquitous motives, the selfish pursuit of money and power. He was an evil kingmaker... and we have faced decades of social and economic misery as a result. His name is right next to Reagans when it comes to destruction of the middle class and concentration of wealth.
Next time you're frustrated about family, friends, and citizens voting themselves and us down the crapper....remember Roger Ailes.
What I don't understand is why we all sat around and let Roger Ailes get away with it?What is our fascination with money when, after a certain amount to live on, more money does not bring happiness? Why is it that we forgot to value democracy? Why would anybody want a corptocracy, fascist state, austerity, poor education and a for-profit medical system? Why would we want America's infrastructure in complete disrepair? There's something wrong with us for going along with all of this. I can tell you, my grandparents would have been out in the streets with pitchforks rather than embrace all the corruption. Why is it that some of us have watched Faux News and been totally repulsed, while so many others became entranced and mesmerized by it? I knew this woman for 13 years. She was a devout churcher and a Tea Party (R). If her leaders and handlers told her the world was made in six days, she swore it was true and would defend this position roundly; same for climate change/global warming (AntArctica is now sprouting moss on its North Cape.) And of all the people who were put up in the (R) primaries, she would immediately be attracted to the biggest, most radical creep in the pack. How do people's brains get to be like that?
I've been saying the same thing for years. Fox News has been the most destructive force in this country for forty years. They were part of the Neo-con movement, that all started with Nixon and Reagan, and then their predisessors continued the bad turn away from the Roosevelt policies because of their greed and their sociopathic mentality. Yes, Fox News is nothing but a sick propaganda operation that works only for the corporate rich of America.
: ... Pence will still push the same horrible policies as Trump, but at least he will not be a loose cannon.
Being a loose canon is Stewie's saving grace; it keeps him from ever getting any results.
Roland
May he writhe in eternal torment as Fux News blares in his ears with no commercial breaks ...or be reanimated as the Pussy Grabber's favorite concubine. Yikes! No, that would be too horrible, even for his terrible karma. Choose option one.
To all those who want to impeach Stewie: Do you REALLY want President Pence? Wise men know to be careful in for what they wish.
And yes, Stewie will get re-elected. The Dems are so completely clueless they cannot win a single dog-catcher post. And the Progressives have yet to start getting organized. So All Hail Emperor Stewie!
Roland
Right. Hillary lost. Big. As the most despised woman in America, she had no chance at all. Even sarah Palin would have beaten her. And after what she and Debbie did to Bernie, I shall never vote for another Democrat.
Roland
Bill O'Reilly is whining crybaby, who masquerades as a bully. O'Reilly knows damn well that Roger Ailes was a victim of his own making. Just as Trump brought his own problems on himself, Roger Ailes' own behavior caused his downfall. Ironically, the talking heads at Fox News like O'Reilly, Ailes, Hannity, etc. are hypocritically big on personal responsiblity for everyone but themselves. Like Trump, these clowns think that somehow they are above the rules and norms of society that apply to the rest of us. I am surprised that O'Reilly didn't blame Ailes' death on the usual suspects, President Obama and/or Hillary Clinton.
Nope. The Dems are so obsessed with their "we wuz robbed" and "Trump is so politically incorrect" hysteria that they are sure to go down in flames even bigger in 2018.
Roland
Reagan opened the door for him to run his vial scam, with the guidence of Karl Rove. The whole Nazi coup was as unamerican as could be.
The way that I read it was he fell 7days ago and hit his head. Never went to the hospital. Fell into a coma and died from brain bleeding. I wonder if his wife was holding a baseball bat when he fell.
Bill O'Reilly ignores the part about hitting his head and says that it was the public shame that killed him, with fake news being blamed. Two of a kind.
As always, Outback's overall points and reasoning are solid and well defended. Given the sad reality of the nearly completed takeover of our two-party system and Supreme Court by the tiny class of wealthy elites, who have no interest at all in ever ceding any of their power back to the People -- as the rebellious signatories to the Declaration of Independence would have demanded, at the point of a bayonet -- I really don't have a strong argument for giving the Democratic Party one more chance to recognize their fatal errors and to prove their mettle. That would mean, in my mind anyway, following Bernie's lead, pledging not to take any corporate money, and letting the Progressive Caucus lead the charge on every issue, especially their wonderful budget proposal and Medicare for all.
Nevertheless, as remote as that possibility seems, I feel compelled to give the Democrats a last chance, despite the long odds, which seem only slightly better than trying to build up the necessary head of steam to get an effective third party up to speed in time for the next election cycle. In fact, time is so short that the greatest watershed moment in the entire history of our democratic republic is likely upon us, which could determine our fate for generations to come. The day of reckoning is now down to a matter of months, no more than a year according to Yale historian Timothy Snyder (his new book: On Tyranny). We will know very soon if the oligarchs take the final steps to all-out fascism and if we the people can stop them.
It really is up to us. We must each realize deep within ourselves that fundamental change is in order, rather than passively waiting on the sidelines for something or someone to make the change for us. Neither will it work to merely tweak a corrupt and entrenched system at the peripheral of the political battle field. Whether it's fighting desperately within the existing parties to completely reverse course or through a third party that has the potential to alter the political dynamic, the ultimate solution is exactly what Outback prescribes: "...above all else, grab our neighbor by the lapel and shake some sense into him or her." We have all the power -- not the greedy bastards at the top!
So far, it doesn't look good -- our fortunes are not turning and the battle is still an uphill struggle. Having been lied to so badly for so long by corporate media, extremist propaganda, and the political establishment, the people are divided, conquered, and dispirited, preferring escapism and false narratives over facing the hard truths of a failing democracy. They can't even agree on the simple, outward facts of objective reality to make informed decisions, which is one of the fundamental admonitions of the First Amendment.
Thomas Jefferson said that an ignorant electorate sounds the death knell of a people's republic. Are we now realizing his worst fear? Have we already lost it? Are we a defeated people?
Radical (#24):
Actually, I'm an Irish Kerry Bog Pony stallion, even though Diane maintains I'm nothing but a Mr. Ed gelded jackass.
:--))
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The “lesser of two weasels” phenomenon when applied to party affiliation is a dangerous game. For one thing, given only the two choices it becomes much easier for the accused, exchanging winks, to engage in in the same base behavior enabled by Citizens United, for example.
I don't often disagree with deepspace, but on the issue of whether it's better to confront the villain du jour while trying to administer triage to last decade's villain I am in complete disagreement. The exercise is futile, as they share the same fundamental DNA.
I, too, regret that Bernie didn't choose to run as an independent from the outset, though I understand his reasons for going the way he did. His public exposure in that venue likely helped him early on. But as the primary battle wore on and it became clear that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her cronies had no intention of giving him a fair shot at the nomination, Sanders made the fatal error of not breaking off and taking his people with him. He had the momentum and the numbers in addition to an absolutely justifiable reason to do so, say, three months before the Democratic Primaries. I think he could have pulled it off as a third party candidate at that particular point. As pointed out by DHBranski above “ In the end, roughly half of all voters rejected both, and voted third party or withheld their votes”, with reference to Trump and Clinton. I'd take those odds any day. I worked for the Sanders Campaign for a time, but voted for Jill Stein and will never be able to completely forgive Bernie for rolling over so nicely for Hillary, who represented the diametrical opposite of the principles he espoused.
And regarding the concept of rebuilding the Democratic Party into a kinder, gentler version which will heed the call to again represent the masses, one only need look to the recent rebuilding of the DNC and consider who came out on top. I don't see one slim chance that the grass roots is going to alter the nature of the Democratic Party leadership's “global corporate paradigm”. Even if theoretically possible, it would take generations.
Not that we shouldn't support progressives on the ballot at every level, but I believe the best hope we have as individuals to affect change is to promote the growing independent media, to fight at every turn the looming specter of a corporate takeover of the internet, and above all else, grab our neighbor by the lapel and shake some sense into him or her. Of course, in some cases, there is simply no cure for stupidity.
Deep nSpace is thanked for his great comments. He or she is right. The only thing is Pence will be Presented if he becomes President as the adult in the room thoughtfull responsible and dignified everything a President should be. The Corporate Media will shove him down our throat. Trump is a gigantic millstone around the Republicans neck and I want him to stay right there untill 2020 or so close to it it doesn't matter. I want no one to ever forget that the Republicans put him in office and they are responsible and guilty of everything he does.
The years of the Bush administration were spent pursuing the same claims. No matter how many times claims of (for example) voter supression are repeated, it means nothing if solid evidence of such supression isn't produced, and then pursued via the legal system.
It has become a solid tradition for one side or the other the call for impeachment. Impeachment is actually a complicated legal process. First, charges of impeachable offenses need to be drawn up. These must be based on evidence, not just allegations and/or fears. Then Congress would need to pursue those charges. It's unrealistic to think that the current crop of Democrats would do that.
The Democrats' anti-Russian campaign began within a week of the election, as headlines jumped from "Trump stole the election!" to "Russia stole the election!" The election results are actually more complicated. Both candidates were opposed by much of their own voting bases. In the end, roughly half of all voters rejected both, and voted third party or withheld their votes. Trump is so alarming that Clinton won the most votes, the Electoral College vote went to Trump, and none of this had anything to do with Russia.
It would be wise to consider how deeply Democrats have split apart their own voting base. The Dem voting base had (at least since FDR) consisted of the "masses" -- poor and middle class, for the common good. The Clinton wing split this base apart in the 1990s, and the past eight years confirmed that this split is permanent.
Well worth a re-read for all the fake engineered drama leftie/socialists out there,
Ou812 • 14 hours 15 min ago
#2
It's all slipping away...trying to drum of charges saying President Trumps conspired with the Russians....the bogus obstruction of justice charges for firing Comey.....Now there is a special prosecuter. He'll find nothing, because there's nothing to be found. You are running out of options....the only thing accomplished by all of this is you've pissed off Trump and those who elected him...Payback is a bitch....I hope you know that, like you know it's all slipping away.
A third party will not work at this time. That is why Bernie ran as a Democrat and why the Tea Party never separated and formed a third party. You just will split the party. We now need to stregthen the Democratic Party. We have suppressed voters, so we know we have to get more out to vote. Hopefully a lot of these idiots that voted Republican are learning from the current mess that they got us into and will change their vote.
trump was never a president! He is merely the chairman of the board that considers the people of America and the world as mere slaves to his whims. Along with the impeachment, we need to nullify the 2016 election because of the massive voter suppression that put the corrupt republicans in control with no checks or balances.
America loses again if Pence become president and everything else remains as it is now!