Mark Kelly—former Navy combat pilot, astronaut, sitting United States Senator—stated a simple legal fact on video: members of the US military can refuse illegal orders.
Justice Robert Jackson in his opening statement at the Nurenberg trials:
“We will not accept the ‘I was only following orders’ excuse. We do not accept the self-serving doctrine that authority absolves the subordinate of personal guilt. The fact that a man acts under the orders of a superior does not free him from responsibility to law.”
and,
“If we were to admit the defense that men may excuse themselves for crimes by pointing to a superior, then we would be saying that authority may be exalted above the law, and that would be a complete defense to tyranny.”
And we should call out Watters specifically, naming him as a fascist, echoing Nazi propaganda straight from the book, asking whether America thinks Fox News is right to entertain Nazism, and whether they can be candid about it or are just cowards hiding behind big donors.
I only see/hear one mainstream media news commentator with the balls to speak up. Please correct me if you know of others. That news person is Lawrence O'Donnell.
Perhaps, Rachel Maddow is getting closer to Lawrence, and maybe Katy Tur as well, but they are not as direct. I wish those in Congress would speak out. Fox News is Russian narrative. What Americans are hearing is Goebbels-style propaganda. They have the right of free speech, but so do all of us, including people on the news. We have passed the time when News was just to report. It is commentary.
I think we are due a broad discussion on "free speech". While I favor maximizing it, regardless of our sensibilities, there is a limit, such as yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. How do we protect the public mental health from debilitating fear-mongering and a flood of lies? Surely we can devise sensible rules. At this point, we also have to contend with social media algorithms and the dark web. These are public airwaves. and like clean air and water, we deserve protection and education!
I’m struggling with the same ambivalence. “Free speech” is the ideal, but only in a world of fair play. In an unfair world where bots and algorithms stack the deck in favour of disinformation, then “free speech” doesn’t really exist anymore. And of course I have no clue what to do about that.
I have to make the distinction between honest opinion of normal people and the malevolent conniving of disturbed people, empowered by dark access and spread by disruptive money. If we can understand that distinction, we can craft solutions that go to the root of the problem. There are too many people being raised by stressed-out, impatient parents, not really understanding the essential means of raising normal humans with compassion. By serving the basic needs of people, we can unwind this problem.
Thank you! For the moment, my support can only be ether is, but as soon as my finances allow, it will become monetary. You matter so much; your voice is so important
What we’re really saying is that the bad faith Repugnicanism building over the past half-century has fledged into full-blown fascism (or authoritarianism – is this picking nits?), meaning more specifically for unaware Americans, that Repugnicans are no longer some version of conservative democrat (small “d”), nor republican (small “r”) in the slightest. The rest of us may be democratic republicans of various stripes, but they have abandoned it, opting instead to force their views upon the majority, to abuse and punish any deviation, and with blatant cruelty. These are emotionally disturbed people, if not mentally unstable, increasingly criminal under democratic law, not simply political opponents. This is why they have become anathema, and why Americans are turning away, saying “That’s not what we thought we were voting for”.
There are those who default to the idea that there is some kind of “normal” humanity that adopts authoritarian views. I keep saying that this is a false reading of human nature, one that is statistically stable at a minority level, thanks only to insistently imposed discipline of children that prevents them from achieving truly normal human emotional self-mastery. That is, they are proto-human, if you read the evolutionary record. This phenomenon reflects a weakness in humankind’s evolution for culture, but one we can fix with intelligence and compassion.
This means that solutions cannot solely be political, but understood as cultural adaptations to our psychological limitations, specifically addressing the child-rearing parameters for successful democracy. Solutions must also account for how corporations and general economics have taken advantage of these psychological weaknesses, how they express authoritarian tendencies. We cannot assume that the current form of corporations, and the laws they have essentially written for themselves, can be allowed to stand.
It means that we need to take a harder look at people calling themselves Republicans, exploring whether this is stubborn nostalgia, semantic mischief, or a genuinely cautious outlook on drastic changes needed to survive our increasingly problematic future. There’s plenty of room for debate on a number of subjects, but we need not shy away; we simply need a lot more clarity and a heaping helping of compassion.
You can probably add to this something that really concerns me. Those in this country that are unhappy with Trump MAINLY because the economy is not good or great, as Trump promised. If this is America's concern with Trump (The economy) and not a shocking concern to the level of dismay and anger at the violation of human rights and the violence that Trump has "normalized," then I say this country is fucked.
Of late, there is cause for optimism. I hope so, but I have met so many ignorant people in my life, including too many of my medical colleagues, that my prognosis for the US is "dismal." I hope on this matter I am wrong.
What I am amazed at is the totality of insanity imposed on Americans insofar as Trump's antics towards Ukraine and the discontinuation of support of Ukraine and Europe's timid support. Putin can bring in N. Koreans or Chinese to fight the Ukrainians, but we in favor of democracy and sovereignty can sit by and watch Putin destroy a nation and murder, and kidnap its people. We can watch Trump order ICE, mask and all, discard due process and smack down and harm Americans; we can stand by and watch Trump bomb boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, tear down part of the White House, speak violence to the Nation and we do what-- we care about the fucking economy as our priority? We can watch children who are actually starving while we talk of FOOD INSECURITY to a nation of overweight to morbidly obese Americans. What hypocrisy.
I must be food insecure too; I have not had my 3,000 calories today. Show me one American child that looks malnourished, and I will donate to that charity in the next 24 hours. In my state of Oregon, they have Food Drives and yet wherever I go, I see fat people of all ages, even those in baby carriages. I spent my life trying to extend life, only to see a nation of obesity that fosters disease, and also raises healthcare costs.
You've struck a nerve. Another theme I carry on about is the numbing of the citizenry into consumership, making us too spectatorly. Marjorie Kelly and others have dissected how to democratize corporations and the general economy, a great training ground for taking citizenship more seriously.
If we get to a point where people are generally engaged in community, and where basic health coverage is guaranteed, the focus can change to positive creativity. I won't be overly sanguine about it, but that's the new civilization we need to inhabit and steer.
You would very much like "A Continuous Harmony" by Wendell Berry. Try getting it via ThriftBooks (usually significantly cheaper than Amazon). The delivery may take a week, but you're not adding to the coffers of Jeff Bezos. No fee for delivery if your order is $15 or higher.
“One humane family can humanize a whole state; one courteous family can lift a whole state into courtesy; one grasping and perverse man can drive a nation to chaos.”
— Berry, Wendell. A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural (p. 39).
Now we have to get mainstream TV news to stop reporting it like this:
"The Pentagon says it might recall Democratic Senator Mark Kelly to active duty so he can face court martial for participating in a video that the Pentagon says undermines military discipline."
When it should be reported as "Donald Trump's toady Pete Hegseth says that he might recall Senator Kelly to active duty so that he can be unjustly court-martialed for plainly stating a fact of law that has been well-understood and agreed upon since WWII."
There's no mistake in the agenda that Trump had in appointing the most reckless, most malleable, and stupidest buffoons in his cabinet. He wants thoughtless loyalty to use against the people of this country when his dictatorship is threatened. Hegseth is so immature and incompetent, he will do anything to get approval of his father figure, Donald Trump.
What is astounding is that the Senate confirmation vote is by simple majority. And this is what I am particularly mad about. How can this country have not created greater restraints by passing legislation regarding:
• The need for a 60 vote and not a simple majority to confirm a DOJ, DOD, or other key cabinet role.
• Need to undo Presidential Pardon and make that a 60 vote requirement in the Senate or some far firmer law than allowing another Trump to pardon blatant criminals.
• Need for legislation to remove Justices of the Supreme Court and also do away with lifetime appointments.
If the Democrats gain control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, and such considerations are not made, I will say that there is no future for Democracy to ever continue or for the US to thrive. This assumes that Trump's expected coup is unsuccessful.
"What is astounding is that the Senate confirmation vote is by simple majority." What is truly astounding is that Republicans were so afraid of Trump's "wrath" that they bowed down and approved his nominations despite knowing that not a single one of them was qualified. They folded faster than the Flash on laundry day, and I've seen better cabinets on discount at the dollar store.
Even if there had been a need for 60 votes, the Republicans would have lowered the threshold to 50 votes; the rules of the chamber are not legal obstructions nor Constitutional limitations.
There is no limitation on Presidential pardons because no one previously ever considered that a dictatorial, infantile, narcissistic jackass would be elected president.
The element of fear you mention needs to be seen for what it represents. Fear of what? The fear is a reflection of that individual's prioritization of power and greed (staying in political office (power, ego) and the greed that we know results in many of those in the House and Senate and which accrues through all kinds of perks and also from criminal activity such as insider trading, and other forms of economic leverage that the ordinary non-politician does not have. I do not buy the ethics committee's dismal of Kelly Loeffler, former Senator from Georgia, accusation of being not-guilty of insider trading. I realize her husband is a CEO, but "The combined net worth of Kelly Loeffler and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is estimated to be between $800 million and $1 billion."
"But when I see a bird that quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, has feathers and webbed feet and associates with ducks, I’m certainly going to assume that he IS a duck.”
The modern media’s cult of balance is almost as bad as state tv. It wipes away truth just as well and leaves viewers confused and cynical. “One side says X, the other side says Y, we report and you decide!”
I do not agree, because it is the obligation of the citizen to delve deeper than a 5 minute news story or a Tweet, or other social media message. I have not yet seen Google or the impressive Google AI called Gemini reply to a query with nonsense or fiction. I have caught mistakes with AI which are being called "hallucinations" but these are being fixed per my intense use and review of AI over the last 8 months. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence + curiosity should be able to discern shit from shinola. But like Nilsson says and sings: "You see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear."
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” — Thomas Jefferson
My point is that “he said she said” is not useful news. Truth is the goal. For example if one party’s leader stokes violence then that’s the news, but the Balance Cultists will comb through low level examples from the other party to offset the truth, and as a result the viewer is left believing both sides want violence.
Or take climate change. 99% of scientists agree it is a real phenomenon yet the balance cultists will feature one scientist from “each side” to argue. The viewer sees this and concludes it’s a 50/50 issue, undecided and confused.
There is a fine and important point in your comment. When FOX News makes some inane or insane report or comment, the intellect of other media that are not into lies presented as Russian narrative should take them fully to task and blast them out of the water with proof after proof.
Just as we saw what seemed to be the emergence of a stronger and more committed Democratic Party (that then had 8 members in Congress that caved to the GOP) we need to see that same "no bullshit" attitude in the mainstream media that most of us consider generally reliable. I validate anything that smells fishy from the major networks, and I really can think of an instance where any presented nonsense.
I believe firmly that what most Americans would like to see is pretty much that scene in Annie Hall where Keaton and Allen are standing in line for a movie, and some academic "intellect" is spouting off about the philosophy of Marshall McLuhan. Allen says, I wish McLuhan were here. Voila! McLuhan appears on the spot, and says to the "intellect," "You know nothing of my work, ...." See the video clip here:
Thank you for clearly stating what should be the obvious to anyone who has had high school civics.
The problem, as you know, is that the government has seen fit not to require this subject be taught. If they can keep us stupid, they can manipulate the masses.
Frederick Douglass learned this lesson as a young boy. His master’s wife generously included him while teaching her own son to read. The master came home and saw what she was doing. He rebuked her and informed her that teaching slaves to read will one day lead to an uprising after they learn to communicate effectively amongst themselves.
Perhaps that’s the reason the government is no longer teaching cursive in schools. It makes one wonder.
May I ask, the first half of your post is so clear and the alarms so loud in my head, is it necessary in second half to escalate to haranguing the reader?
Yes. Absolutely. Unfortunately, the alarms are not so loud in everyone's head, and I hope that people are passing this around to those who are still "on the fence" (though how anyone of sound mind and body can be "on the fence" at this point baffles me).
Telling people they shouldn't do illegal things, is being called a crime? I hardly know where to start with how crazy this is. How is anyone still supporting this unhinged lunatic?
"You had an option, sir. You could have said, 'I am not going to do it.' ... You had an option, sir — to say 'no' — and you chose to say 'yes' ... That sir, if I may say respectfully, that is not good enough."
"I had no option."
"That is an avowal of failure! ... You had an option, sir. You could have done better."
(Excerpted from the English-language leaders' debate, exchange between John Turner and Brian Mulroney, 1984 general election, Canada, July 25, 1984)
And now the US is killing survivors. Basically shooting unarmed people in the back as they run away. Blowing them up as they cling to the wreckage. This is like a WWII pilot shooting a plane down then going back to machine gun the poor buggers who managed to eject and are now hanging helplessly from their parachutes. It's pure cowardice, unlawful, immoral, and utterly abhorrent. Even Nazi fighter pilots had respect for their enemies.
“This isn’t approaching fascism. This isn’t fascism-adjacent. This is fascism—the actual thing, not the metaphor, happening in real time on national television while we debate whether calling it fascism is too divisive.”
I have been calling Trump for what he is a long time-- blatant fascist. Finally, after so many years, the media and invited guests are ALMOST using the F word. C'mon, people, stand up and speak up--for your rights. I ordered a customized sweatshirt, which I am wearing right at this moment. It reads, in big, black, caps:
TRUMP IS A FASCIST
I Am ANTI-FAcist
I AM ANTIFA
Of course, there is no Antifa organization. That's just more Trump bullshit and more Fox News Russian narrative. What you hear on Fox News, if you can stomach it, is Russian narrative. Been there, heard it. That so many Americans buy into this fecalization of speech defies my imagination.
I am a Vietnam veteran. I cared for American soldiers and their dependents. I saw faceless young men, ravaged by the very napalm we were using to deforest Vietnam. I and other veterans would stand alongside those like Mark Kelly to denounce Trump and his blatantly incompetent cabinet-many of whom should end up incarcerated. We have a gang, leader and all, not running our country, but RUINING our country.
Let me say this about the murder of those on the high seas, as well as the US military being used in cities against Americans (citizens or not). I understand the malignancy of Trump's devious mind. Remember this. Trump is trying to prepare the American citizenry for the inevitable coup by Trump and the US military to retain control of the country. Remember Lafayette Square and shoot citizens in the legs? Remember his remark about shooting someone on 5th avenue? When the country is truly had it with Trump and tries to return to normalcy, Trump will stage a coup of sorts and use the US Military to injure or murder American citizens. Mark my words. Trump is the poster-boy (more correctly, child) for a malignant narcissist with sociopathic personality. Always think ahead of what Trump does or says, because he is an open book of pathology.
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
A good analysis of Trump's psychopathy per a MD psychiatrist can be heard on this video:
Also, can I just add, these guys are my heroes? I know they're just stating an obvious truth, which at any other time in history wouldn't have been necessary, but it seems standing up for reality, publicly, takes incredible bravery these days.
Justice Robert Jackson in his opening statement at the Nurenberg trials:
“We will not accept the ‘I was only following orders’ excuse. We do not accept the self-serving doctrine that authority absolves the subordinate of personal guilt. The fact that a man acts under the orders of a superior does not free him from responsibility to law.”
and,
“If we were to admit the defense that men may excuse themselves for crimes by pointing to a superior, then we would be saying that authority may be exalted above the law, and that would be a complete defense to tyranny.”
And we should call out Watters specifically, naming him as a fascist, echoing Nazi propaganda straight from the book, asking whether America thinks Fox News is right to entertain Nazism, and whether they can be candid about it or are just cowards hiding behind big donors.
I only see/hear one mainstream media news commentator with the balls to speak up. Please correct me if you know of others. That news person is Lawrence O'Donnell.
Perhaps, Rachel Maddow is getting closer to Lawrence, and maybe Katy Tur as well, but they are not as direct. I wish those in Congress would speak out. Fox News is Russian narrative. What Americans are hearing is Goebbels-style propaganda. They have the right of free speech, but so do all of us, including people on the news. We have passed the time when News was just to report. It is commentary.
I think we are due a broad discussion on "free speech". While I favor maximizing it, regardless of our sensibilities, there is a limit, such as yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. How do we protect the public mental health from debilitating fear-mongering and a flood of lies? Surely we can devise sensible rules. At this point, we also have to contend with social media algorithms and the dark web. These are public airwaves. and like clean air and water, we deserve protection and education!
I’m struggling with the same ambivalence. “Free speech” is the ideal, but only in a world of fair play. In an unfair world where bots and algorithms stack the deck in favour of disinformation, then “free speech” doesn’t really exist anymore. And of course I have no clue what to do about that.
I have to make the distinction between honest opinion of normal people and the malevolent conniving of disturbed people, empowered by dark access and spread by disruptive money. If we can understand that distinction, we can craft solutions that go to the root of the problem. There are too many people being raised by stressed-out, impatient parents, not really understanding the essential means of raising normal humans with compassion. By serving the basic needs of people, we can unwind this problem.
Again, Nuremberg-style trials for all of them. And yes, we need to include the fascist-supporting members of the "free press" as well.
Thank you! For the moment, my support can only be ether is, but as soon as my finances allow, it will become monetary. You matter so much; your voice is so important
What we’re really saying is that the bad faith Repugnicanism building over the past half-century has fledged into full-blown fascism (or authoritarianism – is this picking nits?), meaning more specifically for unaware Americans, that Repugnicans are no longer some version of conservative democrat (small “d”), nor republican (small “r”) in the slightest. The rest of us may be democratic republicans of various stripes, but they have abandoned it, opting instead to force their views upon the majority, to abuse and punish any deviation, and with blatant cruelty. These are emotionally disturbed people, if not mentally unstable, increasingly criminal under democratic law, not simply political opponents. This is why they have become anathema, and why Americans are turning away, saying “That’s not what we thought we were voting for”.
There are those who default to the idea that there is some kind of “normal” humanity that adopts authoritarian views. I keep saying that this is a false reading of human nature, one that is statistically stable at a minority level, thanks only to insistently imposed discipline of children that prevents them from achieving truly normal human emotional self-mastery. That is, they are proto-human, if you read the evolutionary record. This phenomenon reflects a weakness in humankind’s evolution for culture, but one we can fix with intelligence and compassion.
This means that solutions cannot solely be political, but understood as cultural adaptations to our psychological limitations, specifically addressing the child-rearing parameters for successful democracy. Solutions must also account for how corporations and general economics have taken advantage of these psychological weaknesses, how they express authoritarian tendencies. We cannot assume that the current form of corporations, and the laws they have essentially written for themselves, can be allowed to stand.
It means that we need to take a harder look at people calling themselves Republicans, exploring whether this is stubborn nostalgia, semantic mischief, or a genuinely cautious outlook on drastic changes needed to survive our increasingly problematic future. There’s plenty of room for debate on a number of subjects, but we need not shy away; we simply need a lot more clarity and a heaping helping of compassion.
You can probably add to this something that really concerns me. Those in this country that are unhappy with Trump MAINLY because the economy is not good or great, as Trump promised. If this is America's concern with Trump (The economy) and not a shocking concern to the level of dismay and anger at the violation of human rights and the violence that Trump has "normalized," then I say this country is fucked.
Of late, there is cause for optimism. I hope so, but I have met so many ignorant people in my life, including too many of my medical colleagues, that my prognosis for the US is "dismal." I hope on this matter I am wrong.
What I am amazed at is the totality of insanity imposed on Americans insofar as Trump's antics towards Ukraine and the discontinuation of support of Ukraine and Europe's timid support. Putin can bring in N. Koreans or Chinese to fight the Ukrainians, but we in favor of democracy and sovereignty can sit by and watch Putin destroy a nation and murder, and kidnap its people. We can watch Trump order ICE, mask and all, discard due process and smack down and harm Americans; we can stand by and watch Trump bomb boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, tear down part of the White House, speak violence to the Nation and we do what-- we care about the fucking economy as our priority? We can watch children who are actually starving while we talk of FOOD INSECURITY to a nation of overweight to morbidly obese Americans. What hypocrisy.
I must be food insecure too; I have not had my 3,000 calories today. Show me one American child that looks malnourished, and I will donate to that charity in the next 24 hours. In my state of Oregon, they have Food Drives and yet wherever I go, I see fat people of all ages, even those in baby carriages. I spent my life trying to extend life, only to see a nation of obesity that fosters disease, and also raises healthcare costs.
You've struck a nerve. Another theme I carry on about is the numbing of the citizenry into consumership, making us too spectatorly. Marjorie Kelly and others have dissected how to democratize corporations and the general economy, a great training ground for taking citizenship more seriously.
If we get to a point where people are generally engaged in community, and where basic health coverage is guaranteed, the focus can change to positive creativity. I won't be overly sanguine about it, but that's the new civilization we need to inhabit and steer.
You would very much like "A Continuous Harmony" by Wendell Berry. Try getting it via ThriftBooks (usually significantly cheaper than Amazon). The delivery may take a week, but you're not adding to the coffers of Jeff Bezos. No fee for delivery if your order is $15 or higher.
“One humane family can humanize a whole state; one courteous family can lift a whole state into courtesy; one grasping and perverse man can drive a nation to chaos.”
— Berry, Wendell. A Continuous Harmony: Essays Cultural and Agricultural (p. 39).
Thanks for the tip. I admire Wendell Berry, and it's been a while!
Now we have to get mainstream TV news to stop reporting it like this:
"The Pentagon says it might recall Democratic Senator Mark Kelly to active duty so he can face court martial for participating in a video that the Pentagon says undermines military discipline."
Then
"We'll be right back with the weather."
When it should be reported as "Donald Trump's toady Pete Hegseth says that he might recall Senator Kelly to active duty so that he can be unjustly court-martialed for plainly stating a fact of law that has been well-understood and agreed upon since WWII."
There's no mistake in the agenda that Trump had in appointing the most reckless, most malleable, and stupidest buffoons in his cabinet. He wants thoughtless loyalty to use against the people of this country when his dictatorship is threatened. Hegseth is so immature and incompetent, he will do anything to get approval of his father figure, Donald Trump.
What is astounding is that the Senate confirmation vote is by simple majority. And this is what I am particularly mad about. How can this country have not created greater restraints by passing legislation regarding:
• The need for a 60 vote and not a simple majority to confirm a DOJ, DOD, or other key cabinet role.
• Need to undo Presidential Pardon and make that a 60 vote requirement in the Senate or some far firmer law than allowing another Trump to pardon blatant criminals.
• Need for legislation to remove Justices of the Supreme Court and also do away with lifetime appointments.
If the Democrats gain control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency, and such considerations are not made, I will say that there is no future for Democracy to ever continue or for the US to thrive. This assumes that Trump's expected coup is unsuccessful.
"What is astounding is that the Senate confirmation vote is by simple majority." What is truly astounding is that Republicans were so afraid of Trump's "wrath" that they bowed down and approved his nominations despite knowing that not a single one of them was qualified. They folded faster than the Flash on laundry day, and I've seen better cabinets on discount at the dollar store.
Even if there had been a need for 60 votes, the Republicans would have lowered the threshold to 50 votes; the rules of the chamber are not legal obstructions nor Constitutional limitations.
There is no limitation on Presidential pardons because no one previously ever considered that a dictatorial, infantile, narcissistic jackass would be elected president.
The element of fear you mention needs to be seen for what it represents. Fear of what? The fear is a reflection of that individual's prioritization of power and greed (staying in political office (power, ego) and the greed that we know results in many of those in the House and Senate and which accrues through all kinds of perks and also from criminal activity such as insider trading, and other forms of economic leverage that the ordinary non-politician does not have. I do not buy the ethics committee's dismal of Kelly Loeffler, former Senator from Georgia, accusation of being not-guilty of insider trading. I realize her husband is a CEO, but "The combined net worth of Kelly Loeffler and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, is estimated to be between $800 million and $1 billion."
"But when I see a bird that quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, has feathers and webbed feet and associates with ducks, I’m certainly going to assume that he IS a duck.”
The modern media’s cult of balance is almost as bad as state tv. It wipes away truth just as well and leaves viewers confused and cynical. “One side says X, the other side says Y, we report and you decide!”
I do not agree, because it is the obligation of the citizen to delve deeper than a 5 minute news story or a Tweet, or other social media message. I have not yet seen Google or the impressive Google AI called Gemini reply to a query with nonsense or fiction. I have caught mistakes with AI which are being called "hallucinations" but these are being fixed per my intense use and review of AI over the last 8 months. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence + curiosity should be able to discern shit from shinola. But like Nilsson says and sings: "You see what you want to see and you hear what you want to hear."
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” — Thomas Jefferson
My point is that “he said she said” is not useful news. Truth is the goal. For example if one party’s leader stokes violence then that’s the news, but the Balance Cultists will comb through low level examples from the other party to offset the truth, and as a result the viewer is left believing both sides want violence.
Or take climate change. 99% of scientists agree it is a real phenomenon yet the balance cultists will feature one scientist from “each side” to argue. The viewer sees this and concludes it’s a 50/50 issue, undecided and confused.
I don’t like platforming a lunatic in the interest of “balance”.
There is a fine and important point in your comment. When FOX News makes some inane or insane report or comment, the intellect of other media that are not into lies presented as Russian narrative should take them fully to task and blast them out of the water with proof after proof.
Just as we saw what seemed to be the emergence of a stronger and more committed Democratic Party (that then had 8 members in Congress that caved to the GOP) we need to see that same "no bullshit" attitude in the mainstream media that most of us consider generally reliable. I validate anything that smells fishy from the major networks, and I really can think of an instance where any presented nonsense.
I believe firmly that what most Americans would like to see is pretty much that scene in Annie Hall where Keaton and Allen are standing in line for a movie, and some academic "intellect" is spouting off about the philosophy of Marshall McLuhan. Allen says, I wish McLuhan were here. Voila! McLuhan appears on the spot, and says to the "intellect," "You know nothing of my work, ...." See the video clip here:
Woody Allen meets Marshall McLuhan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXJ8tKRlW3E
This is what CNN, MSNow and other more reliable networks need to do.
🎯
Thank you for clearly stating what should be the obvious to anyone who has had high school civics.
The problem, as you know, is that the government has seen fit not to require this subject be taught. If they can keep us stupid, they can manipulate the masses.
Frederick Douglass learned this lesson as a young boy. His master’s wife generously included him while teaching her own son to read. The master came home and saw what she was doing. He rebuked her and informed her that teaching slaves to read will one day lead to an uprising after they learn to communicate effectively amongst themselves.
Perhaps that’s the reason the government is no longer teaching cursive in schools. It makes one wonder.
May I ask, the first half of your post is so clear and the alarms so loud in my head, is it necessary in second half to escalate to haranguing the reader?
Yes. Absolutely. Unfortunately, the alarms are not so loud in everyone's head, and I hope that people are passing this around to those who are still "on the fence" (though how anyone of sound mind and body can be "on the fence" at this point baffles me).
Telling people they shouldn't do illegal things, is being called a crime? I hardly know where to start with how crazy this is. How is anyone still supporting this unhinged lunatic?
"I had no option."
"You had an option, sir. You could have said, 'I am not going to do it.' ... You had an option, sir — to say 'no' — and you chose to say 'yes' ... That sir, if I may say respectfully, that is not good enough."
"I had no option."
"That is an avowal of failure! ... You had an option, sir. You could have done better."
(Excerpted from the English-language leaders' debate, exchange between John Turner and Brian Mulroney, 1984 general election, Canada, July 25, 1984)
Mike! Is it an “official act” of the Presidency to investigate your political opponent?
I think not!
Grounds for criminal misconduct!
“Lock em up!”
And now the US is killing survivors. Basically shooting unarmed people in the back as they run away. Blowing them up as they cling to the wreckage. This is like a WWII pilot shooting a plane down then going back to machine gun the poor buggers who managed to eject and are now hanging helplessly from their parachutes. It's pure cowardice, unlawful, immoral, and utterly abhorrent. Even Nazi fighter pilots had respect for their enemies.
Orwellian in the 21st century-as I am making my way through 1984 once more after my first read almost fifty years ago.
This is such excellent writing on your part. TY for the time and effort to produce these readings and shining light on reality.
“This isn’t approaching fascism. This isn’t fascism-adjacent. This is fascism—the actual thing, not the metaphor, happening in real time on national television while we debate whether calling it fascism is too divisive.”
Things are going to get a lot worse.
With all this fascism bubbling up in the US, bear in mind who worked hard to spur it on.
https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/chapter-1-russias-fascist-foundations
I have been calling Trump for what he is a long time-- blatant fascist. Finally, after so many years, the media and invited guests are ALMOST using the F word. C'mon, people, stand up and speak up--for your rights. I ordered a customized sweatshirt, which I am wearing right at this moment. It reads, in big, black, caps:
TRUMP IS A FASCIST
I Am ANTI-FAcist
I AM ANTIFA
Of course, there is no Antifa organization. That's just more Trump bullshit and more Fox News Russian narrative. What you hear on Fox News, if you can stomach it, is Russian narrative. Been there, heard it. That so many Americans buy into this fecalization of speech defies my imagination.
I am a Vietnam veteran. I cared for American soldiers and their dependents. I saw faceless young men, ravaged by the very napalm we were using to deforest Vietnam. I and other veterans would stand alongside those like Mark Kelly to denounce Trump and his blatantly incompetent cabinet-many of whom should end up incarcerated. We have a gang, leader and all, not running our country, but RUINING our country.
Let me say this about the murder of those on the high seas, as well as the US military being used in cities against Americans (citizens or not). I understand the malignancy of Trump's devious mind. Remember this. Trump is trying to prepare the American citizenry for the inevitable coup by Trump and the US military to retain control of the country. Remember Lafayette Square and shoot citizens in the legs? Remember his remark about shooting someone on 5th avenue? When the country is truly had it with Trump and tries to return to normalcy, Trump will stage a coup of sorts and use the US Military to injure or murder American citizens. Mark my words. Trump is the poster-boy (more correctly, child) for a malignant narcissist with sociopathic personality. Always think ahead of what Trump does or says, because he is an open book of pathology.
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. When you are ignorant of the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
A good analysis of Trump's psychopathy per a MD psychiatrist can be heard on this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OtO-cypKmY
Also, can I just add, these guys are my heroes? I know they're just stating an obvious truth, which at any other time in history wouldn't have been necessary, but it seems standing up for reality, publicly, takes incredible bravery these days.