A whole new level of denial
Remember when Hillary asked, ‘Why aren’t I 50 points ahead?’
No politician should ever have to ask that.
Since the election defeat the denial has gotten more extreme.
Democrats have spent the last 10 days flailing around blaming everyone except for themselves, constructing a carousel of villains and scapegoats — from Julian Assange, Vladimir Putin, James Comey, the electoral college, “fake news,” and Facebook, to Susan Sarandon, Jill Stein, millennials, Bernie Sanders, Clinton-critical journalists, and, most of all, insubordinate voters themselves — to blame them for failing to fulfill the responsibility that the Democratic Party, and it alone, bears: to elect Democratic candidates.
This Accept-No-Responsibility, Blame-Everyone-Else posture stands in stark contrast to how the Republican National Committee reacted in 2012, after it lost the popular vote for the fifth time in six presidential elections.
The denial with Democrats is as bad as I've ever seen with a political party, but there is one place where the denial is even more extreme - the news media.
Suddenly 'fake news' is everywhere. 'Fake news' is a scourge that must be destroyed.
It's the only possible explanation for the election results.
The news media told us who to vote for and we didn't listen to them, so we must have been deceived by 'fake news'.
It couldn't possibly be that people don't trust the media.
“Freedom of expression is a bedrock of American democracy,” the Washington Post‘s editorial board writes in a November 18 jeremiad, “but its irresponsible exercise can distort and destabilize our politics.”
The Post‘s editors, mining the bottomless pit of mainstream media excuses for not predicting Donald Trump’s victory in November’s presidential election, think they’ve hit the mother lode with their newfound
focus on “fake news” stories going viral in social media.The Post coming out against “fake news?” That’s rich, especially given the last few months, during which the Post‘s reporters went all in for Hillary Clinton even to the extent of manufacturing “news” that Trump, and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks, were in bed with Vladimir Putin and the Russian government.
Recall that just two months ago this poll came out.
Americans' trust and confidence in the mass media "to report the news fully, accurately and fairly" has dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. This is down eight percentage points from last year.
The news media seems to be under the false impression that the American public is unfamiliar with fake news. In fact fake news is what we've come to expect.
Much like the Democrats, the news media seems to have an opinion of the voters as a bunch of knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing idiots that need to be led by the nose. They have no respect for you at all. Nada. Zip. Zero.
Which is a weird contradiction with capitalism, in which the basic assumption is that everyone is making 'rational choices'.
Or maybe that's all a lie too.
Either way, the American news media is not alone with this opinion.
China's ambitions to tighten up regulation of the Internet have found a second wind in old fears - terrorism and fake news.
Chinese officials and business leaders speaking at the third World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen last week called for more rigid cyber governance, pointing to the ability of militants to organize online and the spread of false news items during the recent U.S. election as signs cyberspace had become dangerous and unwieldy.
Ren Xianling, the vice minister of China's top internet authority, said on Thursday that the process was akin to "installing brakes on a car before driving on the road".
Ren, number two at the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), recommended using identification systems for netizens who post fake news and rumors, so they could "reward and punish" them.
Maybe that totalitarian state is onto something, ya think?
Comments
I'm being as honest as I can here. I live in a blue state
so had the luxury of voting my conscience. Were I in a swing state I'd likely have voted for Hillary and tossed my breakfast right outside the polling place.
Bernie is not responsible for her loss. What he brought to the table, tho, demonstrated for the first time a true, though imperfect alternative. I was able to see what was possible and my eyes were opened to the corruption, duplicity, conniving and 'basket of deplorables' that was the HRC campaign. It makes me wonder whether other people, who saw that glimmer of hope in Bernie's campaign and couldn't return to politics as usual were unable to pull the lever for her in those swing states that she lost. There must've been others who thought like I do/did but who just couldn't bring themselves to vote for her. I understand them also.
Now we have a different sh*tshow than we'd have had w her.
Don't believe everything you think.
Here is an economist's view of why Hillary lost
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/11/bill-black-hillarys-threat-to-wag...
And it's all the fault of who Obama relied on. Austerity was ignored as to what effects it had on working class Americans. And Hillary promised more of the same. Clueless, denial of effects on Americans not living in the bubble.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
her heinous trapped herself by running
as a repuglican on the economy, the deplorables, the working class mattered not to her, only the donors and fundraising mattered to her.
The audience was also surprised to hear two groups of economists explain that Hillary Clinton’s fiscal policies remained pure New Democrat (austerity forever) even as the economic illiteracy of those policies became even clearer – and even as the political idiocy of her fiscal policies became glaringly obvious. Austerity is one of the fundamental ways in which the system is rigged against the working class. Austerity was the weapon of mass destruction unleashed in the New Democrats’ and Republicans’ long war on the working class. The fact that she intensified and highlighted her intent to inflict continuous austerity on the working class as the election neared represented an unforced error of major proportions. As the polling data showed her losing the white working class by staggering amounts, in the last month of the election, the big new idea that Hillary pushed repeatedly was a promise that if she were elected she would inflict continuous austerity on the economy. “I am not going to add a penny to the national debt.”
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
One thing constantly lost in all this is Hillary's
"Pied Piper strategy" in which her campaign, the DNC, and the media collaborated in "elevating" Donald Trump because everybody thought she could beat him.
So Hillary, her campaign, the DNC, and the corporate media (w/the exception of Fox) actually, literally did bring us Donald Trump.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Yes
Repeat at every opportunity (I have.)
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
The only person in the world who could
lose to trump, did, talk about a being in a bubble, sheesh.
Jimmy pretty much nails it.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrqAUebq6Ic&feature=youtu.be]
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
... Austerity was ignored as
Was it really ignored, though? To
mangleparaphrase a famous George Orwell quote used in certain people's signatures: austerity for the 99%, draining virtually everything up to the upper fraction of the 1%, is the purpose of austerity for the 99%, draining virtually everything up to the upper fraction of the 1%.Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Hillary's very public
hobnobbing with rich and famous celebrities and movie stars, all the while she seemed to hold herself aloof from the public generally, didn't help to bolster her image among working class people.
native
I have glimpses of both sides
Of the very rich and the minority working class. It is too easy to not know anyone, or sympathize with anyone, outside of your income class. The democratic elite live in a very, very rarefied bubble and Clinton's utter contempt and disregard for the rest of us was evident to anyone with eyes willing to see. Her whole history and indeed the way she ran her campaign proved it.
Empathy by association
I gave this as a reason for my exit essay over at Orange State. I won't link to it ("OK I'm Done" if you care) but this quote had some data behind it:
Then there is the Parable of the Polygons.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Fake news is and has been a serious problem for over a century,
and the blame lies squarely on the mainstream media, which continues to be the principal purveyor thereof. When I wish to see some fake news, I pick up a paper or turn on the teebee, and there will be the same oild snake oil salespersons selling the same old lies.
Anybody remember the Maine? How about Dewey's administration?
To be honest, about half of the time they are repeating the lies they are told by the government, the liar in chief and beeslebub's replacement as the father of lies, but they are not required to repeat and embellish that shit and more than they are required to make shit up on their own.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
The Guardain article
by Sarah Churchill was nauseating. The comment section was interesting as most thought the article was garbage and totally shot down the whole concept of empty identity politics. Good for people who don't fall for the freaking chattering class's fixation of breaking corporate glass ceiling =feminism. also good to see the Gallup poll which shows that only the constant 30% willfully or pig ignorant believe the establishment media online and off is nothing but a 1% propaganda arm full of sound and fury, signifying nothing'.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Guardian-British-newspaper
I have read the Guardian for years and they were a reliable source for actual news and varied opinion. They may have been politically establishment 'center-left' and New Labour/Dem Lib but they still offered actual investigative journalism along with a variety of differing opinion. Glenn Greenwald's/Snowden investigative journalism and reports were excellent They used to have Stuart Ackerman as an American editor.
Not so much since Katherine Viner became the editor replacing Alan Rusbridger who was editor for 20 years. They went after Corbyn with a vengeance and have always carried water for the Blairites. Hiring Richard Wolfe (the political toady hack and plagiarist) to cover the 2016 American election was the last straw for me. Since they went full bore corporate in 2014 like dkos they are nothing but neoliberal /neocon propagandist's who play fast and lose with the truth. They have no credibility.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/10/alan-rusbridger-stand-down...
The Guardian Media Group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_Media_Group
Here's an interesting historical article about the papers beginnings in the early 1800's. Right from the beginning there seems to have been a rift between the bourgeoisie middle class 'liberals' and the 'radical' working class unionists over the direction the paper should take. Looks like in 2016 they have decided that anyone who doesn't 'identify' with the 1% neoliberals/neocons globally is a bigoted, sexist, racist, Dr. Commie Rat. Breaking Corporate Glass Ceilings is what feminism is all about, not.
http://spartacus-educational.com/PRguardian.htm
Well the wretch has crawled out of her safe space and again
is inflicting herself on the public.
***
SNIPPET FROM NBC ARTICLE:
Hillary Clinton on Wednesday night made her first public appearance since delivering her concession speech a week ago today, making an emotional plea for the country to focus on helping underprivileged children while acknowledging the pain she feels after her unexpected failure to defeat Donald Trump for the presidency.
*
Clinton, who was honored at the gala for her dedication and contributions to the organization and child advocacy throughout her career, admitted, "coming here tonight wasn’t the easiest for me. There have been a few times this past week that all I wanted to curl up with a good book or our dogs and never leave the house again. But if there is anyone who knows how to pick yourself up and get back on your feet and get back to work it is [CDF founder and president] Marian [Wright Edelman]."
When Clinton spoke about the struggles her late mother, Dorothy Howell Rodham, endured as a child, she became noticeably emotional. "I dream of going up to her," Clinton said, "and sitting next to her and taking her in my arms and saying, 'Look, look at me and listen. You will survive. You will have a family of your own, three children. And as hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will grow up to be a United States senator, represent our country as secretary of state and win more than 62 million votes as president of the United States.'"
*
Clinton's speech highlighted an issue she made a central theme of her campaign: helping children. And this may provide a hint about her plans.
END OF SNIPPET FROM ABC NEWS
***
She's all of a sudden interested in helping someone else beside herself, the family slush fund, and Wall Street/1%? Let's hope that the next four years allow Judicial Watch and the Repubbies to show how corrupt her and her family of grifters (and all the hangers-on who are more than willing to throw an election for the old woman) really are. And I can call her an old woman being one myself. But at least I'm not an anything-for-a-buck war whore supporting old woman, nor will I ever be one. She's like Nixon (only more to the right) in that her reputation and her past can never be rehabilitated no matter how damn hard they try.
EDIT: Forgot link
Clinton's new line of bullshit
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
How appropriate. Stealing her new direction from a dead woman.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh2sWSVRrmo]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Of course she'll go back to her lies about caring for kids.
It's rule #1 for woman grifters in politics! YECCH! That was the first thing I tried to discover about their damn foundation. Seemed to me, that with all of our problems here, the Foundation had done nothing re: child poverty, lack of access to medical care, poor schools. The only thing I could find was some program about encouraging kids to be healthy, which as a parent of HS kids, I know those programs are bullshit brochures or such like.
Can you fix your link?
Don't know where ABC article went but it sure was there when I
did that cut-and-paste job. Regardless, here's NBC's article. Am on a cell phone now so can't do all that editing stuff. Posting at all on it sucks.
LINK TO NBC ARTICLE
Hillary Clinton Makes First Public Appearance Since Conceding the Election
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amp/never-ever-g...
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
The Clinton Fundation will
The Clinton Fundation will maintain its revenue stream by garnering donations to give pretty impoverished children airplane trips and island vacations?
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
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