As Ruth Ben-Ghiat says, the wall-to-wall lying we're seeing Trump engage in right now as the election nears is par for the course for authoritarians, who have to control reality for their followers. She says that "Trump’s campaign … is better understoo...

William Lindsey :toad:

"We don’t know what kind of malignant sickness is metastasizing throughout the political newsroom at the Times. And we don’t know what’s going to happen on November 5.

But if Kamala Harris loses, the New York Times’s absolute failure to meet the historical moment — not just this year, but ever since 2015 — will be a big part of the story of how the United States of America ended up where it ended up."

#Trump #KamalaHarris #media #NewYorkTimes #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence
/11

eberhofer

@wdlindsy wow - utter dereliction of journalistic duty was my phrase so far.

This is worse - it's, like, prime spreader of propaganda? Or co-conspiracy?

#MoronikaForMorons

William Lindsey :toad:

Mary Trump notes that Washington Post has jumped on Kamala Harris for saying she would like to see Medicare expanded to cover long-term at-home care. WaPo asks where the money will come from.

Mary Trump responds:

"Here’s a question I never hear the corporate media ask: What is the cost of not addressing an issue that affects millions of Americans?"

#Trump #KamalaHarris #media #WashingtonPost #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence
/12

https://www.marytrump.org/p/what-it-costs-us?

DJH

@wdlindsy

maybe they are just too intellectual

William Lindsey :toad:

"In the wake of two devastating hurricanes, Helene and Milton, that’s a question we should be asking in context of climate change: What is the cost of failing to address the increasingly dangerous combination of increasing air temperatures, warming waters, and rising sea levels in terms of loss of human life, destruction of property, and the quality of our existence?"

#Trump #KamalaHarris #media #WashingtonPost #BothSidesism #FalseEquivalence #Helene #Milton #hurricanes #ClimateChange
/13

Phoenix Gee 🥥🌴😸💃

@wdlindsy This is like looking at the Pravda pre-1989...

William Lindsey :toad:

@PhoenixGee Indeed, it is.

Patrick, Grand Arbiter

@wdlindsy They never ask how we're going to pay for corporate tax cuts either

William Lindsey :toad:

@DJHDJH It's not clear which particular excerpt in the thread you're responding to. Since your comment follows Evan Hurst speaking about New York Times, I'll assume — but I may be wrong — that "they" refers to NYT.

To which I'd reply: Yes, they think they're highly intellectual.

But what we think about ourselves and the reality of ourselves is often highly disconnected, especially when arrogance distorts our self-understanding.

William Lindsey :toad:

@patricks Never. That question is ONLY ever asked of Democrats. Never Republicans.

William Lindsey :toad:

@eberhofer A good phrase — utter dereliction, indeed.

William Lindsey :toad:

@martinvermeer I agree. He's a perceptive commentator and a good writer.

William Lindsey :toad:

@Dave_Goldsmith That's right. This is one reason I value Mary Trump's testimony, since she has known him up-close for years and tells the truth about who he is.

DJH

@wdlindsy

I find it fascinating to see how, despite deep thinking, you still can't grasp reality. It's like playing checkers in a game of chess.

William Lindsey :toad:

@DJHDJH If the pronoun "you" refers to me directly, then I wonder how you grasp the reality of someone you don't even know. And why you assume that you grasp reality….

DJH

@wdlindsy

Oh no, it is you in general. I'm also talking about me and NYT.

Sorry, I'm dutch and we use the word you for you and more general like in someone.

Greengordon

@wdlindsy

And this is exactly how capitalism 'succeeds': corporations dump all these 'external' costs on the rest of us.

"What is the cost of failing to address the increasingly dangerous combination of increasing air temperatures, warming waters, and rising sea levels in terms of loss of human life, destruction of property, and the quality of our existence?"

#capitalism #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

Philip Cardella

@wdlindsy I agree with the author's assessment but have a hard time accepting the premise that the media doesn't know better. After seven years?

It's a choice. The question is why?

eberhofer

@wdlindsy thanks - but now it's worse. They're not just not doing their duty in the face of fascism. They're an active part of it.

Martin Vermeer FCD

@wdlindsy Note that Harris hasn't actually *criticised* the legacy media: you cannot do that as a politician. Americans have internalized the vital role the press *ought to* play in a living democracy, and attacking the press is what authoritarians do. You don't want to be in that company. But, *she knows*.