The Pulitzer winner founded the Intercept to challenge official narratives and protect editorial freedom. When editors abandoned those principles, spiking a controversial story, he was forced to quit
I disagree with Greenwald on many, many things. But I have always, always admired his willingness to call out the hypocrites, the panderers, the bullshitters — regardless of their status, their connections, and most importantly their party affiliation. He gives no fucks, and I adore him for that. And I will support him, with money made working for someone who I imagine he despises with the energy of a thousand suns. And that’s awesome, and it’s why I love Substack and independent press.
Another informative and insightful work from Matt Taibbi. I still fail to understand the need to include anti-Trump aspersions such as, "It’s a difficult time for reporters, with an unstable and potentially dangerous president," presented as apparently unassailable facts. The central fact to me is illustrated by the central premise of this article and the anti-journalism represented by this latest leftist crash-and-burn by the Intercept: The Left destroys everything it touches and Trump is simply the best tool normal people have to reintroduce sanity to our institutions and society.
"It’s a difficult time for reporters, with an unstable and potentially dangerous president,"
I too noticed that line. It's like some people just cannot help themselves, even when they are almost gagging on the red pill they just refuse to finally let it go.
Wow. With such an unstable and potentially dangerous president, I haven't noticed any journalists being jailed, beaten or repressed. Or have I missed all the news about journalist purges? Please educate us on how widespread this is under the trump terror.
Or perhaps Trump may not be worst unstable dictator ever?
LOL. The article admits the police identified a problem area and arrested everyone in the area. So the journalists were not specifically targeted. Is that all you have? An incident from the inauguration? C'mon you can do better than that - or perhaps you can't. Got anything more recent, you know from the past year? Every day for the past 4 years the mainstream press pushed anti-trump stories. Surely this most unstable of dictators has put a few of them in concentration camps.
The man throws tantrums whenever anyone criticizes him or asks him a mildly challenging question. When that man happens to be the president, yeah, it means he's potentially dangerous.
You ain't enlightened, dude, you're just another tribalist making excuses for your in group.
I think you are missing his point. The consolidation of the media combined with the rise of our new tech overlords who openly censor stories or hide them is far more dangerous than a senile sociopath or even possibly an idiot in the White House. Yes, Trump is dangerous, but primary because he is so easy to manipulate by the real crazies, and better prepared sociopaths. In any extent I personally believe he is history, due to his mishandling of the two most important issues to the American people, the economy and the plague, which i think is now endemic due to his actions. I live in the heart of the Republicans, many are not voting, and want him to go away.
Yeah, that war mongering, rampaging military industrial complex manipulated him right out of any wars for the first time in decades! And talk about being manipulated by sociopaths regrading a virus that 99% of everyone recovers from and you have to get a test for in order to find out if you actually have it! Guess you bought in on that scam, genius.
He's still a war criminal just like the rest. Guess you fell for that scam since he's been using his butt buddy in ISISrael as well as the Saudi's to commit his war crimes for him.
Totally agree. Doug's post perfectly reflects the binary/ partisan/tribal mentality so apparent in both Trump supporters and detractors, each looking for and accepting only that which pleases them, that somehow the obvious mendacity and corruption of the one, validates their hero. I don't know about any of them, but I've seen way more than one bar fight where both drunks were total assholes, and deserved each blow they got.
This I will say about Trump, fake both in his anti war and populist messages; he correctly identified the problems of the ingrown elite establishment, though insincerely, but perhaps even more importantly, like Luminol draws out unseen blood at a crime scene, Trump's mere presence has shown that the supposed high minded liberal press, which is in no way left, regardless of what Doug thinks, is in fact every bit as partisan and intellectually dishonest as anything from Fox, Breitbart, Limbaugh etc., and that liberal politicians are flag waving mindless yahoos when it suits their purposes, supposedly a preserve of the right.
Once again, I will vote third party, because, like you, I'm not tabulating which would be the lesser evil, as that seems a pointless task designed to keep us locked into the duopoly's rigged game, but prefer to see them as they are; just different evils over whom people needlessly squabble.
"Nothing will fundamentally change". Finally, some truth.
Well said. I would only add that the ruling class doesn't like Trump because he is an embarrassment to them, not that they disagree with him on anything. He has exposed their game because he is such a buffoon and doesn't do it politely like the rest of them.
Yeah, Matt has destroyed Trump already - he's proven that point. He's reported those facts. He doesn't need to constantly berate every Trump move; he told you Trump would be the result of our problems. He knew Trump was always a problem.
This is exactly it. The truth has no political affiliation. That's what journalism at its very core is supposed to be striving for - finding the truth and sharing it with the public so that the public can make up their own mind.
So many people (including within journalist circles) seem to have forgotten this.
And yet, neither has delineated exactly what danger he posits. I can respect their independence and professionalism - and back it up with a paid subscription for both - and still disagree with unsubstantiated claims.
Well he poses a real danger to all of the grey wolves in America he opened hunting season on yesterday. How about the danger to the Arctic National Wildlife refuge in Alaska he's giving away to oil interests? It always floors me how no one ever mentions the systematic environmental destruction his busy bee scum appointees have been working on the last four years. Every problem the US faces today will be magnified 100 fold when the real destruction starts kicking in.
I think the danger of Trump is obvious -- he's random, a loose cannot. The US ruling class may be evil, but it knows it has to take care of _some_ business to keep the proles from resistance and revolt. Trump will keep pushing until he gets a civil war or some other disaster going because he doesn't know what he's doing, or he doesn't care. What he knows is show biz, and that's it.
Are we done with the TDS projectile vomiting and attacking for this segment? So tiresome and reveals way more about the attackers than they are ever so obviously capable of comprehending.
Agree with you 100%. I have commented on Matt's previous columns where he feels the need to bash trump first before making a pointed comment about the insanity of the left. It's as if he needs to establish anti-trump "bona fides" before criticizing the obvious insanity of the mainstream press which is now fully invested in anti-trump hate. I can kinda sorta understand it as a means of demonstrating he's not a shill for trump but in reality his opinion on trump is completely IRRELEVANT. The sickness and corruption on the left is the real story and it would be the case regardless of who occupied the white house. The leftists in academia and the mainstream press have (irony of ironies) made Trump into something like the last bastion of sanity before we all go over the precipice into total chaos. Greenwalds's resignation is a clear demarcation line that we have entered very, very dangerous times where intelligence propaganda is actively being used against american citizens. I consider myself a conservative republican but I came to the conclusion about a year ago that the CIA and FBI need to be disbanded completely and a complete overhaul of the DOJ is absolutely necessary before we can have any confidence in our federal government. Strange, scary and crazy times we live in.
So having been a conservative Republican growing up and into my early thirties I see where you see the left us bad. I don't disagree, they are bad. Problem is the Conservative Republicans are just as bad without the, "I'm smarter than you snear." Though the Republicans have the, "jesus loves me and I am morally holier than though." attitude. So looking to disband the CIA is a great start. Keep digging deeper on your side and you'll discover what a POS Gingrich, Delay, Bush Sr., Hastert, Limbaugh, Adelson, the Kochs, McConnell, and the very long list of Republicans. I k ow because I thought they were better till I stopped listening to the clips of W. and the right wong commentary that went with it and watched him for myself. He was a total buffoon. Gingerich was cheating on wife 2 with wife three while he was impeaching Clinton for Lying under oath. Which ironically is why he was kicked out of the Speakership for that exact same reason. There is no difference between the ruthless psychopaths at the top other than ones used degrees and "sophistication " for their identity and the other side uses Jesus and Morality. They are all the same.
The vast majority of conservatives I know actually aren't religious. But most of them like American flags. Just an observation.
Also, keeping digging and you'll find out what POSes literally EVERYBODY is, especially anybody in power in government, media, or industry. Humans!
I'm more interested in outcomes. If I wanted our political leaders to be good people or moral or, you know, not pathological narcissists, I would be forever disappointed. I'm much better with Trump than I am with the outcome records of either the Democrats or the Republicans, historically. Recent peace deals and relationship normalizations--that stuff is great. Not supporting Endless War is great (something I thought was not going to be the case, when Trump nominated Bolton). So . . . I'm fine with Trump. Would have preferred Tulsi Gabbard but I'm fine with Trump.
I disagree. Republican psychopaths want to enrich themselves while claiming the high ground. Democrat psychopaths want to tell you how to live, eat and breathe. There is a difference.
They both want your money. They push different sets of buttons but both have the same goal.
"The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to spoils and not to principles."-- Eugene Debs. Sept 1, 1904
And it has become more true in in the intervening 100+ years.
I have to disagree. Your saying high ground. I come from the religious right and they definitely want to tell you how to live, eat and breathe. Especially when your a child and if your female that is for a lifetime.
I agree. In 2016 I think it was reasonable to imagine that Trump was "unstable and potentially dangerous", but now we've seen how he actually conducts himself in office. And yeah, he has a big mouth, but in terms of actual actions, he's been bringing the troops home, avoided any new foreign wars, and spearheaded historic peace agreements in the Middle East. At home he's presided over the best economy possibly in our nation's history, and refused to behave like a fascist dictator as so many feared, even when the COVID crisis presented a golden opportunity.
I think the "unstable and potentially dangerous" criticism is outdated.
What troops has he brought home ? Do you actually believe this shit ? Not one war ended and let's not forget he increased the violence and committed war crimes in Syria.
Which of these wars is ended ? I haven't heard of any peace treaties or an end to the war of terror. Is having other countries and private mercenaries do the killing any different ?
After he increased troops and bombed more then Obomber. They all bring troops back home for a minute or two right before the election. Is this your first election cycle ? Why did you leave out his war crimes in Syria ?
People like Doug are my favorite part of reading Taibbi comments. Matt has written about 87000000 words about how shitty Republicans and Trump are over the last 15 years; in no way does he think the republicans are victims, or correct in their ignorant thoughts. In no way does he support Trump or any Trump narratives. Matt is an independent journalist who reports without bias; it so happens that both sides, in a broken injust system, have serious issues. It also happens that one side still has significantly more (trump/right) which is why Matt has written significantly more words of disdain towards that side. I know the right wants to claim a side here, and you think he's on your team, but he has already destroyed the credibility and legitimacy of your team over the past 15 years. Thanks for reading.
Yeah well if that’s the case, he has manifested a whole new audience regardless. Looks like he will need to “re-educate” us on how ignorant we are in light of a slew of new political developments on all sides. Who knows, time has a way of shedding new light. However, many of his new subscribers aren’t gonna be as lay down easy as you are. The times, they are a changing.
What does this even mean? Yes, I can tell you just started reading Matt. Maybe go read a book or two he's written and check back in on your "Matt's on our team" nonsense.
I'm OK that Matt still thinks Trump is "dangerous". Personally, I would not vote for a Trump in 2016 (I did in 2020) - he appeared a bit crazy and was going to be trusted with nuclear buttons.
After 4 years Trump has proven to me he is anything but dangerous and crazy (he just knows how to sell himself to a crowd, as Matt has pointed out,.) Anyway...if 4 years are not enough to prove to Matt that Trump is not dangerous I still salute Matt for all his great work and don't mind skepticism in a great journalist. And hope he come around someday :) (Or...heck..maybe Trump was dangerous - - but if he was, we had a heck of a great, non-dangerous four years - - except Covid which was not Trump's fault.)
I can't speak for everybody, and I can't and didn't vote for Trump, but in my mind the best thing about Trump these last few years is that he's exposed our national politic for what it is. A corporate shell game that has sold our country out to anybody that has a check book.
We used to think the concept of a Deep State was just tin foil, but if you still believe the concept is BS, then I have some land to sell you. Can I get your Venmo information?
Yep! If anything the media will at least keep Trump honest because one whiff of scandal and it will be all over the place. Put Joe in and they will censor all negative press about him. It’s much safer to know than to not know. A vote for Joe Biden is a wish for America to go back to sleep as the elites and Deep State rob us blind.
I find it funny that anyone seriously maintains that there is not a deep state, because its existence has been jokingly acknowledged by government employees in just about every federal agency for just decades and decades. I don't mean that the deep state is some kind of sinister conspiracy, just that there is an actual reality to the fact that the bureaucrats have their own agenda and their permanence is a source of power just as significant as the titular power of the political appointees that supposedly run these agencies. Ask any SEC Associate Director who runs the SEC and the answer you are likely to get is "it's complicated." The Commissioners can and do drive certain changes but they can also be stymied and - more importantly - there are significant controversies that the staff actively seek to handle without elevating it to the Commission. Nothing I am saying here is remotely controversial among the professionals that work for, with and against these agencies. While I have no personal experience with the State Department or the intelligence services, I think there is just zero chance that they don't have the same dynamics that play out in the DoJ, FBI, the CFTC, the SEC, the OCC and even the FRB.
Exactly-- the veneer of the "good presidents (sic) " is off. It is laughable how many Americans care more that he is "the orange man" or they are embarrassed by his language and actions, than the fact that the US is a war mongering out of control dying empire which is spewing destruction and venom everywhere , even to its supposed allies.
He's not the best - he's just what we've got. The last resort. The nuclear option against a world gone mad.
You can't express the "wrong" politics in the work place, or on TV, or on Facebook, or around friends and family, or...
So what's left but the anonymous ballot?
If the DNC is a violent street gang, Trump is the well dressed man from the Mafia politely but firmly suggesting that you pay your protection money to keep the gangs at bay. I'd obviously prefer to have neither, but gun to my head, I'd rather deal with the Mafia guy.
Well, you know, it seems to me it's ending up that way no matter what -- I can't say what I want today, but I'm pretty sure that tomorrow, I also won't be able to, whether it's street gang or mafia man.
There was a Biden rally in my area recently. Trump supporters showed up with bullhorns to drown out the speakers.
In the meantime, rights narrow, our sense of community flounders, healthcare grows more expensive, the pool of decent jobs shrinks, and we become ever more enraged. Is the nuclear option better, or does it just feel good, in the moment?
After 4 years of the insults, unsubstantiated demonizing and false accusations launched at Trump supporters daily on CNN, MSNBC, Twitter, through the young and inexperienced to the old and cynical (waving at Cher, et al)... that's a quite reasonable reaction.
I admire Trump's ability to restrain himself actually.
He's correct. No President has ever had the assault upon his person and family like Trump has - Clapper, Brennen, McCabe, Comey and all their high priced hypocrites in MSM personality pretending to be a Journalist collaborators have never sunk to this level of depraved personal attacks before.
I'm not exaggerating. Clapper, I believe it was, called Trump a traitor on CNN at the same time his private testimony to Congressional committees was that there was no evidence of collusion at the same time Schiff was repeatedly lying on those fake news shows and saying he had seen the evidence himself.
it's outrageous. Trump and his supporters are actually very very decent people or there would be way violence
I'm for sure that Melania has looked at him and thought, wtf was so bad about living in Trump towers and minding our own business? but I'm also for sure, that's the point to the incessant harrassment - never about serious policy considerations but always on the level of a 3rd grade playground as if we're idiots.
Nobody knows what Pelosi et al want an extra trillion dollars for - the media couches it in simplistic terms of empathetic vs cold hearted and we are subjected to endless "American stories" of gloom and doom designed to make us support a policy whose slogan doesn't begin to explain the actual beneficiaries to the transfer of taxpayer dollars. Bail out the NY City DiBlasio decisions like not enforcing transit users to pay at the turnstile? Offering free healthcare and housing for illegals? Call us racists when we oppose those decisions as fiscally unsound and then hold us hostage to pay for the stupidity. Seriously. That is in itself enough to make one vote for Trump.
Then these arrogant career bureaucrats, politicians, spooks and media personnel that all believe they are better positioned to impose their viewpoints than a duly elected POTUS. Oh. and federal judges. Like the one from Hawaii who felt better positioned to design American immigration policy despite that being one of the areas implicitly assigned to POTUS.
Really. The arrogance is overwhelming. Then Trump comes along with his gold plated toilets, dumping ketchup on his ribeye and... hahaha the arrogant elites heads explode.
If only he were Indian American like Harris' mother that penchant for gold plated ostentatious decorating would be a virtue and ketchup on a ribeye would be folksy.
Disagree. If you see a nail and you need a hammer, you get the hammer. If it's a screw, you get Joe. He's not a hammer. He's a screwdriver. Trump supporters think we need a hammer. Biden supporters think we need a screwdriver. LOL...or something like that. And I haven't even started drinking!
He isn't the best tool to reintroduce sanity. Insanity is guaranteed. At least with Trump I get someone that doesn't want to destroy our energy infrastructure like we have with Newsome here in California. That is the one thing that is not negotiable for me. I want natural gas and I want fossil fuel based transportation. Anyone that is not for that is out for me. I don't trust Biden or Harris on this. I could care less about all of the other stuff. But destroying our energy infrastructure and transportation systems is a bridge too far to me, and a lot of other people as well.
It doesn't need to be fossil fuel. But it needs to be a baseload energy source. A baseload energy source never stops producing energy. Nuclear, Geothermal, Tidal, Fussion, Fossil fuels. Wind and solar do not provide baseload energy and must be backed up by baseload energy sources. As a Californian when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow, we have to import energy from other states. This results in rolling blackouts, which I don't like.
I would be fine with renewables if they provided constant baseload energy. right now they do not. So making fossil fuels illegal or cost prohibitive through legislation is not a wise thing right now.
He's not. Because no one is. This is magical thinking. Sanity will either come or it won't--it has to be cultural and via osmosis and organically at this point. It's not coming from a politician or a political office.
Trump has supporters. I did not vote for him in 2016 but I am now a supporter, not a "fan". Here are some reasons:
Energy Independence for United States
Peace in Middle East - Israel, UAE, Bahrain
Pollution in US lower now than in Obama years
Does not take bribes ("contributions") from tech companies
Began ending reliance on China
Immense, proven improvement in wages/jobs of working class.
A better deal than NAFTA, the USMC agreement
Caliphate defeated, Al-Baghdadi eliminated
Corporate tax at 21% - creating jobs
Re-built military and VA
Price transparency for medical procedures
School choice - so strongly supported by inner-city families.
Jerusalem capital
Peace negotiations in Balkans (2nd Nobel Prize nomination.)
Lowest African American Hispanic and Asian unemployment ever
Opportunity zones
Historically Black Collage & Univ. funding
Criminal justice reform
Alliance with India as counterbalance to China
Right to try potential life-saving non-FDA approved drugs - many saved
Gave university males the right to defense against accusations
Korea negotiations (not great, but better than Obama admin.)
No Sanctuary Cities - support for ending this (so convicted criminals will leave)
1st Pres. in 39 years not to embroil U.S. in war
Yep - I made this list when carefully considering my vote.
If you consume only mainstream media (CNN/MSNBC/NYT et al) then you probably never heard of any of it. If you think any of it is false, look up the facts - the accomplishments here are true.
You didn't research any of these things. You just copy and pasted them off of the list of what he claims he did.
Since I doubt you'll listen to anything else, I'm going to speak to the thing I have direct experience with, as the wife of a veteran: things have gotten /worse/ for veterans under him. My husband was approved for Voc Rehab, but then there was Trump, and suddenly, it couldn't be justified, so it got revoked. He has a /harder/ time getting medical care now, because the Trump admin believes it isn't the responsibility of the VA, and he can no longer transfer his GI benefits to our child because the Trump admin changed the rules.
I don't have to look up that "accomplishment" because I know from direct experience that it isn't true. I know from watching my husband get his schooling taken away, getting his PTSD treatment taken away, having him almost die from cancer because of the state of the VA under Trump, (who by the way thinks my husband is a loser) -- it's a grift. Our government in general doesn't care about those who give the most for it, but my gods, at least most of them have the decency not to say it out loud.
I am aware of all of this, but I would like to hear and engage with how the fans perceive things, rather than with how others perceive the fans. I don't think there's any way forward that doesn't involve that.
lol the internet... so believe it or don't I wrote this back in 2016, and never mailed it to the paper I was going to. It's my take on his "fans".
The Out of Touch and Trump's Junk March 8, 2016
In the media the question “Who can support Donald Trump?” is most often asked as a statement. The premise to a monologue about the idiocy of Americans. Idiocy brought on by underfunded schools, overfunded religion, talk radio, extreme individualism and racism. This monologue reflects the lack of experience of the speaker. Because the people who's opinions blanket the media consumed by the $80k and up demographic simply have zero frame of reference. Like asking a New York socialite for the torque value on a shovelhead. Torque? Shovelhead? Huh?
So their answers are all over the map. Usually missing the mark, always condescending in the way that an intelligent person condescends when they're expected to give an answer to something they know nothing about.
The latest puzzlement and faux shock is the reaction to Trump's response to the small fingers joke/meme that made its way into the press. That he responded at all obviously took some aback, the tone and content “shocked” them. (I say faux because as a society we revel in everything from Game of Thrones (violence) to Naked Dating (lust) to Piss Christ (irreverence) and more; commentators know this, nothing actually shocks them.)
I'm not puzzled.
In the early 80s I worked at an all night gas station in a bad area south of Seattle. Very bad – robberies, assaults, prostitution, drugs, murder. Contrary to popular opinion most people who live/work in such areas don't end up permanently scarred or dead. But they do see things. Late one night a customer pulled in to gas up his motorcycle. A biker straight out of central casting – on a chopped Harley, he was squat, big and dirty, full beard, black leather with club emblems, and a girl no older than 16 on the back. I was behind glass, and as he looked at me I was tamping a non-filter cigarette, getting ready to smoke. (For the uninitiated, that means holding the cig between your thumb and index finger and lightly tapping one end on a surface. That packs it tighter so the tobacco doesn't fall out when you puff.) He got done and came up to the booth.
“You jacking off in there?”
I looked at my cigarette and knew what he was saying, the motion of tamping and all.
“Nah... if I was it'd be a lot bigger than this.” Bravado, and it came out as dumb as it reads.
He laughed, not pleasantly. “Yeah, sure, lets see it!”
I was speechless at first, then made a lame remark about “not in front of your girl”. He laughs again and says “Don't worry about her, she's seen more dick than you know.”
I rolled over with “Hey man, umm... well... I'm not going to... hell, nobody would... hahahah... you first!”
And he did. Right there undid his jeans, pulled out and displayed his unerect wedding tackle.
“OK. Now you.”
My defeat was complete. “Man you got me...” and I rambled on like a complete dork.
“Hahahahahah, yeah, fucking chickenshit. Don't say shit you won't back up.”
Don't say shit you won't back up – that sums up perhaps THE request from much of the electorate this year. Our elected representatives have spent decades now not backing up what they say. Because reasons. Oh, and electorate, you're too stupid to truly comprehend the reasons, so just take our word for it. And here, listen to me say more shit, and vote for me!
Trump's rhetoric pours gasoline on that story line and sets it on fire. You want to dance around and play politics? Play the whisper campaign game about someone's penis size? (Cynically, I notice that though the story is “Trump talks about his junk” the truth is he didn't bring it up. His opponents, with allies in the press, did.) No need to whisper, here it is!
Trump will say shit and back it up. It's not possible? Who cares. How things work in Washington is such a black box, thanks to our current political class and their industry, activist and media supporters, that claims of “that's not possible” are met with cat calls. They have no credibility when they're so out of touch that they don't know that when someone insults your junk the only appropriate response is to whip it out and say put up or shut up. He's a narcissist? That's a hoot – Washington is Hollywood for ugly people; you cannot make it there now unless you are a narcissist so how is voting for someone already there voting against a narcissist? He's dishonest and money grubbing? When his probable general election opponent trades on her name and position for more money for one speech than many will see in their lifetime?
Who can support Donald Trump? At least some of them are people who are both dumber and smarter than their betters. They're truly stupid in the ways of politics, the nuts and bolts, the signaling and wheeling and dealing. But they're much more experienced, smarter, in the ways of real life, in their real life. They think they see someone they know, someone who will back up what he says. The media, and the rest of their betters, can't comprehend that because they've never had to live there.
Never thought about it like sports but that makes total sense. They literally believe he hasn't done any of the shit he has done or if they admit, say he did bankrupt 3 casinos, it wasn't his fault it was the economy or he declared bankruptcy and it was smart business. Not understanding how horrifyingly stupid or corrupt you have to be to bankrupt a casino, let alone 3. Anyway, good analogy.
Wall St. Big Tech and Big Pharma and big corporations are the big donors to Biden NOT TRUMP. Biden is outspending Trump at least 2 to 1. Wall St. are globalists looking for a quick buck with cheap labor outsourced.
Thank-you! Read Chris Hedges America the Farewell Tour-- lots of reasons why Trump was elected. I remember telling my US colleagues that I thought Trump would be elected and I have NEVER received so much vitriol in response. Oh I am Canadian I don't know our system 🙄, SO much anger and bullying in response to my statement. Same when I said Obama won't change anything. Sigh--this is clearly what 75 yrs plus of obvious propaganda passing as education results in.
Or it "unstable and dangerous president" applies to Obama, to the extent he knew about the spying on Trump's campaign both before and after the 2016 election. Obama totally undermined the idea of a peaceful transition. Obama and Susan Rice and Jim Comey and the DOJ....and Clapper and despised Brennan at CIA. These people were all in the Obama administration. How dangerous is that? How can anyone have any faith in these institutions? Or faith in the next transition whenever it occurs?
I agree. "..unstable and potentially dangerous president" applies more to a potential Joe Biden. Trump has not started any wars. He has been getting us out of the Mideast. So I don't understand how the evidence supports that Trump is the problem....when the actual evidence supports that Joe Biden and the Democrats have dangerously entangled the CIA and FBI in a fake Russia story for the sole purpose of gaining power by lying. How is that not dangerous no matter what Trump says. Democrats impeached Trump while the FBI had the Hunter Biden laptop and never revealed anything. Forget being Republican or Democrat--doesn't it concern any rational American that our institutions are being undermined internally? That our media is a propaganda operation? That our best and most honest reporters are "stooges." Even the few that exist? Doesn't that weaken us as a country?
Thank you for this. There really are no Dems or Reps anymore; no Conservatives or Liberals or Libertarians. There really are only Populists (that Trump and Bernie represent) and Establishment boosters (every institution with power - media, federal and congressional bureaucracy, corporations, big tech - who are using BLM, antifa types as their shock troops, even tho they have limited control over them). I think we need to realize that's where the lines are now. Everything has been disrupted and shifted and it wasn't just because of Trump. This started during GHWB and the Clinton administration when both parties glommed together for the corporate good.
Have you followed the FIRE movement? Interesting twist on top vs bottom. For those that haven't heard of it, "Financial Independence, retire early" - Live a simple life, avoid excessive consumerism and save $ - having more people check out of materialism to gain independence from consumerism (the American way) is a trend worth watching because it changes your world view (and probably your political affiliation).
You'll go broke saving money, the interest rate isn't even keeping up with inflation.
Kill capitalism and you kill the need for constant growth and the usury of the elite with one stone.
Unity is key, checking out of the facade that is the government in every 5 eyes country is the only way of stopping the elite from bringing back slavery.
The prison industrial complex is the working model. People who can't leave, feed themselves, call in sick or retire. Meanwhile, wealth continues to concentrate almost as fast as control is.
It's his opinion. He's also making a point as to where is argument lies, as nobody in the MSM or on the left generally seems to perceive it: he is not defending Trump. He doesn't like Trump. He doesn't like Trump as president. He doesn't want Trump to win the election. Which is fine. That's a perfectly legitimate opinion, just as seeing Biden as dangerous or a poor candidate and not wanting him to win is.
Taibbi is primarily a media critic in his new reporting. This isn't about supporting Trump (what others say to the contrary) but critiquing the media's new approach to framing and shaping "news", rather than reportage. And how the MSM refuses to let ideas compete in full public view, but attempts to pick winners ahead of time based on their own biases and political or ideological orientations.
Okay: The U.N. regularly puts grotesque violators of human rights on its human rights panel: Cuba, Venezuela, China. Yeah, I have lots of disagreement with the U.N.
And as much as Trump rails against the media, he has done nothing to curtail press freedoms. A lot of morally bankrupt activists posing as journalists are making a good living attacking Trump on air and in print.
Obama prosecuted more reporters for violating state secrets acts than Trump has, even though career bureaucrats have been violating public disclosure laws at a far, far higher rate under Trump than under Obama.
TDS is all too real, and even Matt seems to have a mild case of it.
I think the "left" that is objected to is crediting the CRT crazy and insane therapeutic approach to public life approach that has led to cancel culture and whatnot.
Don Lemon announces he had to cull his friends over their Trump support. hahahahaha
words are violence but violence is speech.
Christina Blasey-Ford or whatever her name was and Fienstein's revelation with subsequent character assasination of Kavanaugh was "credible". IDK but me and Cletus think you have to prove you were actually in the same location at the same time at least once in your life before you can credibly accuse a man of attempted rape.
it's all crazy and all being attributed correctly or incorrectly to the "left"
For starters the left has destroyed the Intercept, which is why Matt wrote this article. Or do you consider the editors there to be mainstream corporate media?
I watched the clip of his Joe Rogen chat. I have to say I stopped giving money to the Intercept because I felt it was becoming a Democratic cheer leader. I am so glad to see that Greenwald didn't drink the Kool-Aid (and was fighting the editorial expansion of power). Great integrity!!
Looking forward to seeing more from him with the Intercept chains gone.
Peak 2020 is listening to those stooges because they're being paid by CNN etc. to render their opinions on Foreign Policy. "Next on CNN, Jeffrey Dahmer will join us on how to meal prep for summer barbecues"
Comey, too. And, of course, the Bushes, the Clintons, Obama and most before them...war crimes, you know. Those same people gave us Trump. If Obama had done his job, we would have universal healtcare and education, have all our troops home and NATO disbanded, and no Trump.
Glenn and Matt are two of the best and will always be my first go-to reporters. Those others like them (and we all know who they are) also must report outside of mainstream. I took the New Yorker for years, famous for its fact-checking. Since they fell for the Russiagate lies and the Syria lies, and all the other lies (they hired Masha Gessen who is changing the quality even more), no longer. Some days I am disgusted by the Internet, yet it's the place to get real news, so am grateful for that. Thanks, Matt, for this writing. Way to go, Glenn.
"These fragments I have shored against my ruins." The fourth estate is a wasteland and our only resort is seek out individual truth seekers and ignore the rubble.
Matt...once again you stated the obvious with devastating clarity resulting in many needing access to the fainting couch. You may want to consider some kind of trigger warning. I am thinking something along the lines of " the following article may express opinions that deviate from accepted orthodoxy and as such readers may want to sit down before reading". In the alternative how about "go f*#k yourself if you cannot deal with an opinion that differs from what you have been told is your opinion".
Based on some of the earlier comments below I'd say that you are spot on. Nothing exemplifies triggered like the dullest tools running out of shed screaming "conspiracy!", working in overdrive to discredit any person or outlet which threatens their fragile yet absolutely certain cocoon of orthodoxy.
Too many important issues that, for a variety of reasons, reporters at major institutions wont report on or won’t do so accurately.
Just last night a major reporter for NYT seemed to question basic reporting on the riots and looting in Philadelphia. Hard to even believe. But they do this with issue after issue- just look at how dishonest they’ve been with the police shootings over the last few months. They won’t even state the facts clearly. And very few besides Matt has taken on this insane critical race theory and I’m sure after he wrote his great article- many would have cancelled him if they could..
There are journalists (and outlets) who attempt to report the truth as best they can. Then there are the ideological (and/or financial) puppets who are nothing more than water carriers for those in power. Not much gray area in between.
As Jigsaw always told his victims, "The choice is yours".
Another example; During the nightly protests in Portland - I found that the coverage in the Daily Caller was more accurate and honest than that of the Times’, whose correspondent, for whatever reason, didn’t rise to the moment.
It was a microcosm of the problems facing legacy media; pressure from social media not to cover certain stories, pressure from woke colleagues to conform to be racist, etc
It’s all very disturbing because at the end of the day I couldn’t trust the paper of record to tell me what was happening.
"Protesters" (lol) here in PDX can and do drive press away, with threats of violence and sometimes violence, from their gatherings to ensure nothing is documented. The latest:
No question it’s become dangerous. These lunatics threaten and attack and bully reporters. I’m sure it’s not easy being a reporter covering these situations. That said, it must be covered. I don’t mean to single out the Times’ reporter but if you’re working for the paper of record I think you need to find a way to get it done or transfer to a doctor beat. Reporters for the Daily Caller managed to do an excellent job apprising readers of what was actually happening in Portland.
An update, from the 11/6 Oregonian, referring to activity the night of 11/5-6. A "small group" (nothing specific, but later in the 'reporting' it mentions a "few dozen" going somewhere else after the group dispersed. lol... "small"...) went to the same commissioner's house:
"The demonstration followed a City Council vote against a proposal that would have cut millions of dollars from the Portland police budget. For months, demonstrators have demanded steep cuts to end the disproportionate policing of Black Portlanders.
Ryan, who joined the council in September, was viewed as a crucial third vote for the $18 million in proposed cuts. He voted no.
The commissioner’s house was dark when protesters arrived around 9 p.m. Some people lit flares near his house and shattered some glass on the property. Other people threw objects at the house and smashed a large flower pot."
They vandalized his empty home - breaking at least one window, were driven off by police (3 arrests). Lucky he wasn't home eh?
So, timeline. Newly elected counselor. Contentious vote coming up. Visited at night by people concealing their identities (it's the fundamental purpose of black block). Meet with them, prohibit the press from documenting the meeting; deny they knew the press were even there when the press later tells the story. Vote happens. Home visited again, this time attacked, because he didn't vote the way they wanted.
Wow. Makes the chants "Whose street? Our street!" and "This is what democracy look like!" really come to life!
Thank you for this. Cheers to GG for standing by his ethics. I gave up on the intercept a year ago. It was obviously becoming another echo chamber. When did it become so egregious to allow readers the option to read and critically think on their own!?
I won't be able to afford 100x individual subscriptions. As more and more principled journalists stand up for free speech, I won't be subscribing to many individuals. I would like Substack to work with a group of free-speech journalists, or otherwise, those journalists are going to need to band together and create a new media organisation (while it's still legal).
Agreed. Greenwald mentioned a new venture. I would bet a pretty penny Taibbi will be involved. There are only so many civil libertarian journalists left.
I get what Taibbi and Greenwald are saying, but dying on this hill in the service of another four years of a guy who is openly saying he wants to be a dictator is a choice that I'm having trouble understanding. Like would they have wanted to be the guys in Germany yelling about how unfair the media was being to Hitler (yeah yeah...)? I dunno, maybe they're right, and losing trust in our media outlets has driven us into our media bubbles and made everything worse, but I think the media (old-school and social) is just trying to figure out how to deal with a bad actor who is happy to lie at scale, with a huge ecosystem of leeches, grifters, and conspiracy-peddling enablers happy to keep the lies rolling. I don't think that Greenwald or Taibbi has the answer to this crisis, and it seems like they are focusing more on an effect of Trumpism rather than a cause, much as they'd like to think it was the reverse.
I wrote a statement talking about my conflicted feelings about trying to pin our whole shitty situation on the media. Gotta say, it's sad to see most of you have no such conflicts. I don't think punting on a poorly-sourced Hunter Biden hit job a week before the election is some conspiracy by a neoliberal warmongering media (at the Intercept!) to install Biden so we can march into Iran. And as much as GG and MT can call what they are doing noble, it ALSO happens to help Trump, and there is a whole ecosystem of bad-faith media ready to twist and amplify their message in support of Trump.
I would also be shocked if Taibbi wasn't also having some conflicted thoughts about this new career turn, especially given the new crop of red hat commentators he seems to be picking up.
And for those of you who truly think Biden is more of a liar or more dangerous than Trump, let's just say we disagree.
"I would also be shocked if Taibbi wasn't also having some conflicted thoughts about this new career turn, especially given the new crop of red hat commentators he seems to be picking up."
Guilt-by-association is the most loathsome form of criticism, IMO. It also demonstrates a weakness in the arguments about whatever the author is asserting--otherwise there would be no need to evoke the deplorables who read and comment on the article as a critique.
That being said, I don't know if Biden is more of a liar or more dangerous than Trump. But I'm pretty sure the mainstream media is. I don't care for the new media landscape of narrative shaping, redfining the meanings of words, truth-over-facts, reporting on Tweets being considered news, etc. Trump might be the ideal president for our current cultural state of affairs but he's hardly the only offender.
Also, if Greenwald and Taibbi "ALSO happen to help Trump", that's not on them. That's far more on the media generally, as their transformation from reporters to 100% opinion "journalists" is what creates an ecosystem for folks like Matt and Greenwald at all.
"I don't care for the new media landscape of narrative shaping, redefining the meanings of words, truth-over-facts, reporting on Tweets being considered news, etc. "
Amen! I totally agree. And you can say it's not on them if their arguments get twisted by others, but they are the ones who bit on this stupid Hunter Biden bait! Are we supposed to forget that the whole reason Trump was impeached was because he was trying to strongarm the leader of the Ukraine into digging up this crap?
Here’s the thing, and others made reference to it: if Twitter and Facebook hadn’t blocked this, it would barely have registered. Another story about Ukraine or Russia that’s too complex or boring, with a bunch of unpronounceable names, for most people to make note of. Part of the daily scandal churn. Same thing with censoring Greenwald. If they print his story, a bunch of liberals call him a Russian asset again, and everyone goes about their business. How many people do you suppose read the Intercept? How many of them are undecided voters?
I’m a longtime liberal, I’ve been an organizer for Pete’s sake. But most of the left has such a mania for suppressing speech that it’s impossible to help them see their own Streisand effect. If you really don’t want this story to influence voting, then don’t give it a signal boost.
Greenwald is now on Tucker Carlson talking about anti-Biden stories being spiked. Completely a self-own by the Intercept. If this ends up finding any undecided (typically low information) voters, it will be because the neoliberal left believe they can stop everyone, everywhere from encountering information that they find unfortunate or distasteful.
I feel zero conflict. It’s never defensible, ethical, or wise to push untruth in this business. Focusing on that and ignoring the politics is what protects people like me. If I cared about who was and was not “helped” by facts - and I really don’t, in fact I care a lot less than Glenn probably - I would say the people who push Russia conspiracies and cover up things like this Hunter business are/were Trump’s biggest allies. Their incompetence and dishonesty were Trump’s best argument.
By their own claims, Democrats and their base are better educated, more inclusive, more aware, more engaged, and more representative of the needs of constituents than their opponents. In my opinion, their actions and their failure to act to alleviate the massive inequalities in their society or to end the American role in destabilizing sovereign countries must be held to a higher standard. They know better than to countenance the disparity of wealth and income, the unequal provision of education and other social resources, the illegal and therefore murderous continuance of foreign aggression against mostly non-white less prosperous (but resource-rich) populations. Biden has been complicit and has either been active in the continuation of all of these, or has stood by and let it happen.
And China's Belt and Road is the real colonialism. Biden and China make a good pair. So how could anyone imagine this guy as President? If that isn't obvious---then they are brainwashed. Nothing excuses the left or the Democrats. Biden is incapable of leading this country in any way, shape or form. Ditto K. Harris.
Good Lord, asking which is worse of Trump vs. Biden is like asking who is more morally/ethically reprobate-the WWE or the Vladimir Putin regime. The neo-lib Ds/Deep State play well meaning “progressives” for moral suckers.........
Please. This is chess, not checkers. And you're asking the wrong question.
The more relevant question is "of these two candidates, whose ill-conceived policies would be easier to effectively oppose, once inaugurated President?" Real world, real time.
And don't even fall for the fallacy of two-valued logic that a vote for a presidential candidate signifies that the voter has pledged their troth to them forevermore (or whatever the numbskull take is on that, I've heard it so many times...) The Democratic Party has made a lot of ambitious proposals in the course of this campaign. If the Democrats win the Presidency and the Senate (required), there's enough free-floating discontent in this country that the people who voted for them will notice any sign of wavering or dissembling on their part. And if the Dems do pull the football away, there will be hell to pay for the Democrats. If they don't follow through, it will polarize the country worse than anything that's happened in the last four years, because the Dems will have sold out their own base of popular support, while clutching levers of power that they plainly don't deserve.
If the Republicans retain a majority in the Senate and the Democrats remain functionally disabled in that house of Congress, a lot depends on the ability of the Democrats to expose GOP obstructions (inevitable, as long as Mitch McConnell or someone like him is Senate Majority leader) and make the case that they'll only be able to accomplish their goals if they obtain a Democratic majority Senate in the 2022 midterms. This should be obvious. Unfortunately, the Establishment Democrats don't have much of a track record of fortitude on that score, and that's a big enough problem to lead to doubts as to whether the leadership cadre of the Democratic Party cares more about pursuing the goals touted in their campaign, or about keeping a ready excuse for their failures on hand.
As long as it's too early to tell, I recommend voting to permit the Democrats to take back the Senate. Just as I recommend voting for the Democratic Party candidate, despite the fact that Joe Biden would not be my top choice if we had ranked-choice voting.
So much is conditioned by the ballot system, don't you see? I learned about ranked-choice voting in 1998, and this is the 5th Presidential election I've had to suffer through, knowing that there's a way out of this rigged, bogus, stagnant status quo of two thoroughly entrenched parties and their media-reified "Red/Blue meme" offal. To speak of Polarization.
How much of the useless chatter in discussions of American Presidential elections would be totally nullified and mooted, if only voters had the ability to rank (as few as two) choices, allowing them to vote FOR the candidate they most want, instead of the current situation for most of us, of being cornered into voting AGAINST the candidate that they've concluded is the worst of two choices? Speaking from extensive personal observation: almost all of it. Which is a telling indication of how much improvement would be effected by a ranked-choice ballot reform.
Your problem is that censorship is self-reinforcing. You are sure that Trump "lies at scale" and is basically Hitler, but as we see repeatedly via Matt's reporting, anything that makes the Democrats look bad has been systematically suppressed for the past 4 years and anything that makes Trump sound like a liar is blasted out at full volume, usually manipulated in ways to make it look worse. Often claims about Trump are just made up out of whole cloth.
As a consequence you actually have no idea how much lying Biden engages in, literally no idea at all. You're comparing him to Trump but what evidence base are you using to make that comparison? Your impression derived from reading news reports? Biden could lie every day, far more than Trump, and you'd never know. I'm not saying he *does* do this, because I - like you - haven't the foggiest clue either. To be able to accurately weigh up the candidates at this point we'd need an unbiased stream of information about both, which is the opposite of what we have.
As for your claims that Trump "wants to be a dictator", the same claims were made in 2016. He's had two golden opportunities this year in the form of COVID and mass rioting, yet he's been the model of federalism throughout. State governorship never seemed so important, did it? Trump says a lot of stuff but when weighed by his actual actions, these claims don't match the reality of his presidency so far.
Trump is a liar. There's no "sounds like" to this. His entire career is based on lying.
Trump lies like a rug to cover up his incompetence and his real motives. Ask anyone he has ever owed money to. He'll sue you in a heartbeat and or screw you out of you money however he can.
Please don't try to lie everyone into believing he's a victim. Everything being done to him he has already done to someone.
You weren't bawling about the press spreading lies when Trump and faux news where smearing Obomber about his birth certificate, or the fear mongering narrative about being a secret Muslim implementing Sharia law, or having 27 social security numbers,or his secret plan to get Ebola to somehow kill only conservatives or whatever else hair on fire bullshit.
Trying to claim this as being a one sided affair when it's been going on for the entire history of politics is just getting nauseating.
Trump is getting exactly what he put out, so get over it.
Er, I'm not American and so only pay attention to stuff that's the top of the priority pile. When Trump was an "Obama birther" this was well before he was on the radar of people outside the USA, and the US media were doing their job of attacking such claims anyway, so what was there to say? I realise that you're using "you" to mean "generic American conservative", but there are lots of us out here affected by US politics for various reasons that don't follow every twist and turn of everything any presidential candidate does.
Does Trump lie a lot? For sure he does. Does he lie a lot more than other politicians? We can't tell because your press exaggerates everything bad about Trump 10x and - as we're seeing here - sinks stories that are bad about left wing candidates. So none of us can actually make a fair comparison, regardless of how strongly you feel it's clear or obvious. Biden could be talking total nonsense every day and maybe we'd hear about 1% of it.
And there we see how Trump manipulates people into thinking he's a victim despite the fact he would and has done everything that's being done to him.
The fact you actually believe the press only lies one way and just started lying when Trump took office just shows you buy into the fantasy that Trump is an honest player in crooked game that he's been contributing to his entire career.
Anyone that thinks the press hasn't been burying stories for decades now shouldn't bother commenting about American politics.
How many war crimes and scandals has the press covered up in the history of the United States ?
Did the same press not cover up the war crimes of the Bush administration ? How about Ronny Ray-gun and his war crimes or the fact he was just as bad as or worse than Biden by the end of his last term ?
Trump is getting what every president gets. The elite will pay most of his asking price in the end, and he's already told them what that is or he'd be dead already.
"You weren't bawling about the press spreading lies when Trump and faux news where smearing Obomber about his birth certificate, or the fear mongering narrative about being a secret Muslim implementing Sharia law, or having 27 social security numbers,or his secret plan to get Ebola to somehow kill only conservatives or whatever else hair on fire bullshit."
I don't remember any of those but the birth certificate one and that wasn't widely embraced by republicans.
Taibbi warned everyone about someone like Trump coming to power. He warned about Obama and Bush expanding presidential authority and taking away peoples rights. He said someone like Trump would abuse those powers for true evil.
Never once has he said Trump should be the guy to continue on. What he's saying is electing Biden isn't going to fix decades long issues. By protecting Joe we're just moving further and further away from the place we need to get to. That's the problem. I voted for Joe and I can't stand him, but I did it because Trump is truly an evil man to another level... but Joe is no saint, and people like Joe need to change the way the system works, or get the fuck out the way and let people who are willing to step in place. Otherwise, it won't matter what side you are - there won't be sides soon enough. It'll simply be those with money and power vs everyone else; even moreso than it already is.
Personally or the Trump name name in general ? Once again, we are dealing with the turd sandwich scenario due to our fake two party system.
Trump's dad was arrested at a KKK meeting and that doesn't generally happen on accident. Not to mention the Trump family red lining fortune our little trust fund baby president fell into along with all of daddies lawyers and mob connections.
I mean individually, not for the 'sins of their fathers". In the 1920s... the KKK had a LOT of membership. Look it up. They were actually very popular. It's disgusting -but not my point.
My point is that on each of their own merits, nobody can say seriously that Biden hasn't been right there helping the New World Order brand of global imperialism and tyranny.
Just one his voting record alone we can see he was responsible for everything people are fed the fuck up with from shitty banking regulation to constant war all over the world. Tens of millions killed or displaced.
Taking money from China itself and businesses that rely on china's concentration camps and slave labor. I'm not talking neck ties... that's child's play.
I'm talking Nike, Reebok, Apple, Google, Disney... Big name donors. Shall we go into Jeffrey Epstein's alleged child prostitution ring?
I mean, they're all compromised and one of them is running for the office of president.
OK then... let's add more to Joe's fucking stack then, shall we?
How about the US government's reign of imperialistic terror all over the globe deposing or toppling foreign governments so their friends can move in and generate HUGE profits while killing or displacing tens of millions since Biden has been in "public service"?
Did TRUMP'S family have a hand in Iraq 1 or 2? Afghanistan? Yemen? Ukraine? Egypt? an attempt at Syria? No. That was Biden and the NeoCon/NeoLib New World Order cunts.
Wake the fuck up asshole... you're cheering for warmongering slavers.
Sure, it's OK to have double standards with our highest ideals of freedom like speech and the press because "Muh Orange Man bad!!!!"
The resistance my old hippy ass....
Go fuck yourself -oh wait... if you voted for Biden, global imperialism and the people who rely on China's fucking concentration camps and slave labor, you already HAVE fucked yourself.
And here is an excellent example of the problems with modern reportage. Context: we don't know that Trump's father was a Klansman. Or much of anything about his relationship to the Klan. Who knows, he might have been trying to make some headway with Democratic bigwigs in 1920s New York at the time his only known association with the Klan took place:
"News reports from the day show a Fred Trump was detained at a KKK rally in 1927. But there is no evidence that Trump, father to the president, was a member or supporter of the KKK. Posts that discuss simply the detention — for which there are no existing arrest records — without context are misleading."
Might have thought it might be an avenue to get some business or maybe get to meet Woodrow Wilson. Who knows. Might have been a Grand Wizard or Cyclops or whatever stupid name they gave themselves.
But we actually don't know he was a member--or anything about his association with the KKK. Not even sure he was there in support of the KKK--might have been there in opposition. I mean, this was 1927--and he got arrested.
Just saying. Just like Biden's speaking at Strom Thurmond's funeral--or any former KKKers funeral--would have been purely political, not a statement of solidarity with the KKK.
You really think a career politician whose nearly 80 is going to change the system? That's on the same level of delusion as people who think a billionaire like Trump is a political outsider who's going to shake up the system. It seems you sort of understand the problem, but then you vote for Joe? Why not just write in Mickey Mouse if you don't like the 3rd party candidates? A vote for Joe will be read by Washington as a mandate for more of the last 30 years, but now with a twist of toxic identity politics and one-party media to silence dissenters. What evil do you fear from Donald that is worse than that? After 4 or 8 more years of declining living standards and even greater income inequality that people will be even more dissatisfied than they were after Obama. The next Trump might really be the strongman you fear.
Vote have nothing to do with policy. Think tanks funded by billionaires decide policy and sometimes they let us choose from a stacked ballet which horrible actor will rubber stamp the white page instructions sent them via K-street.
In short, this is a plutocracy and elections are a psyop.
It is not quite "rubber stamp" and "elections are a psyop": the story is indeed that the elites run the show, but they give the majority a limited power of veto, to ensure that they don't do too-unpopular policies that might result in real riots, and the ability to sort of choose which elite factions is in control of the government.
What the majority are not allowed to do is to push for policies not approved by the elites, or to choose to put in control of the government those that don't belong to an approved faction of the elites (e.g. D Trump or J Corbyn at two opposite ends).
This is the "we nominate, you elect" system and sort of balances the actual power of the elites, and the lesser power of the majority.
The current elites however have been significantly rebalancing in their own favour and narrowing the scope of the choices that they allow the majority to endorse.
Love Tulsi. She’s the most reasonable Dem bc she’s not partisan. Willing to work with the GOP to get things done and people slams her for that. It’s crazy how much the DNC and media smeared her. I hope she stays in politics.
Tulsi's the best. It would be perfect if she were Sec. of State, which the DNC would never allow. I almost respect the RNC more than the DNC because the Republicans outright run on hate and show it and don't care who knows it, unlike the DNC who pretend to be good but aren't.
Voting for Joe, who is clearly incapable of being President, is dangerous and dumb. And Matt's failure to see this is just as dumb. China is far more dangerous than Trump and has hoodwinked too many prior Presidents. Does anyone think Joe is capable of standing up to China or Iran or Russia? He can't even complete a sentence on his own. So is everyone counting on an untested Kamala Harris who got into politics by having an affair with Willie Brown? She's only been on the public payroll...locking up journalists she didn't agree with. Where are people's common sense?
How is calling out the danger of the the efforts of the MSM to squash the Post story and even label it as Russian disinformation dying in the service of Trump? Are you tripping?
Many of us are here as we see through the fallacy of thinking that any comment that questions Trump's enemies means one is pro-Trump. It's kind of the point of most of Taibbi's writing the past couple of years, and he himself is being accused of being a Trumpista with no merit to the accusation. I invite you to stop now lest you make a fool of yourself here.
Oh no...please, not another Hitler comparison. You do your comment a major disservice. Next he'll be rounding up his own family (jewish relatives) and putting them on trains. Why is everyone so quick to leap on the Hitler analogy when suppression of the press is more likely to come from the "left" these days? Strange times. Seriously, the kid gloves for Joe are obvious to anyone paying attention. That strategy is driving votes to Trump. Time for a third party.
Hillary Clinton literally corralled the Press up like ponies behind ropes and refused to take live questions for 9 months of a Presidential campaign and they all kissed her butt for treating them that way.
It is insane. President Obama got deflections like people really cared if he wore a tan suit instead of being upset that he sent a planeful of cash to Iran on his way out the door.
Freaking crazy making, gas lighting, ass kissing poseurs pretending to Journalism
Trump is the third party. The Republicans didn't want him. But they didn't cheat in their primaries....so there he was...on their ticket. Why would anyone imagine a lightweight could stand up to the worst dictators in the world? Trump is unpredictable, as asset in foreign policy. And he's a fighter....not a quality in big supply. He's fighting the entire Washington establishment. Who else has done that?
You have the chronology all wrong. Trump was elected because of loss of faith in media and other institutions. Media has been on this downhill slide, where their aim has been to shape and control the masses and bend them to the will of the DNC, not inform them. This corruption is not new. When you do this, you get Trump. When you scream “Hitler, Hitler, Hitler” at people giving the middle finger to failed and corrupted institutions, you’ll get more Trump.
Even if I accepted your premises which I don't, I still can't construct a self consistent interpretation of the universe where Joe Biden constitutes some kind of antidote to lying..
It is categorically impossible to describe Trump as aspiring to be a dictator in a post-COVID world. If Trump was going to seize power, he could not have asked for a better scenario than a global pandemic. And Trump's reaction was instead "it's the states job, not mine."
Liberal media has plenty of horrible things to report about Trump without having to make shit up. They chose instead to spend most of their time spreading a completely false narrative about Russia. Mainstream media rarely ever talked about the reasons Trump was elected in the first place. Why should Taibbi or Greenwald report about Trump, when almost every media outlet on the planet is already doing so 24/7? You seem to be ignoring all of the lies, grifters and conspiracy-peddling enablers in the DNC and Intelligence community that the liberal media is almost completely ignoring.
Trump is not Hitler. It is hard to read on for a comment that compares Trump to Hitler. The reason why Hitler came to power was a compliant set of people. People who didn't reject the common theme of the media and those in power is what allowed Nazi Germany to spread. We certainly don't have a compliant media behind Trump, so no danger there. What we do have is a media that is compliant with one set of beliefs. That is the danger, not Trump.
Democrats needs to win elections. How do you win elections when the Democrats have such bad ideas for how to proceed? I am destroying energy intensive jobs is not a winning strategy.
No one is Hitler, but from the start Trump has been playing a modern American version of him on TV, in the manner of a scripted professional wrestling character. It works, it feeds a base, and as you know, Trump declared himself the de facto leader of the fascist movement. I don't care that it's a show. Given what his regime has achieved so far and, more importantly, given that they are promising you openly to steal the election by voter suppression, violent intimidation on the streets, and rigged courts, why do you want to see how much longer it takes before play-acting Hitler becomes more like the real thing? (Note: This is not a defense of Biden!)
I must have missed his declaration of being the de facto leader of the fascist movement. Can you please reply with the clip or text of when he said that. I missed it. Also must have missed the part where "they" are promising to openly steal the election and rigging the courts illegally. Who is "they" and can you forward us all the clips and text of when "they" said that? That would be helpful. And please don't send us the texts of "they" if "they" are Trumps opponents. Because "they" don't count. Only an actual statement by Trump declaring that he will lead the fascist movement will get me to believe it.
You are clearly living in a CNN MSNBC bubble. You need to get out of your bubble and start paying attention to what is really happening.
Asshole, I have not watched two minutes of either network in more than 10 years. What he said is, "proud Boys, stand back and stand by," thus at least affecting to be their leader. Which of course you know, and requires no clip. What his family and crew furthermore said is that armed fascists should show up at the polls to intimidate voters, which they call a "Trump Army," but everyone else in the world who isn't in a FOX or Q bubble understands fascism. It doesn't matter how many fat fucks follow this order, it's an order. What he also did is order lot of deskbound fat fucks from DHS etc., who are organized as paramilitary reserves (already by the prior right-wing governments of Obama, Bush, etc.) into the field to attack assembly by U.S. citizens. What he also did is repeatedly offer to use these forces in imposing martial law on American cities. And this is just the start. You're going to affect more ignorance, and pretend it's "anger" or some such because I'm speaking frankly about fucking fascists, so fuck off forever, you can write another sixteen moron comments here. All this you know, and you don't need no goddamn clips. Now fuck the fuck off.
«No one is Hitler, but from the start Trump has been playing a modern American version of him on TV, in the manner of a scripted professional wrestling character. It works, it feeds a base, and as you know, Trump declared himself the de facto leader of the fascist movement. [...] before play-acting Hitler becomes more like the real thing?»
The hallucinations induced by TDS are tiresome. Consider far worse things like McCarthysm or the extensive bipartisan support for mass murdering tyrants for decades in central and south America (and many other places), and then electoral boasts by GW Bush, BH Obama (and D Trump himself) as to making extensive use of death squads to abduct, torture, and eliminate hundreds or thousands of "enemies of the state" by executive decree. D Trump has been no more fascist than any post-WW2 president, and if anything he is the only recent president not to have started a major war of aggression.
To gain historical context, Alexis de Toqueville's famous "Democracy in America" book of 1834 has this quote (my usual):
«The first newspaper over which I cast my eyes, after my arrival in America, contained the following article:
"In all this affair, the language of Jackson has been that of a heartless despot, solely occupied with the preservation of his own authority. Ambition is his crime, and it will be his punishment too: intrigue is his native element, and intrigue will confound his tricks, and will deprive him of his power; he governs by means of corruption, and his immoral practices will redound to his shame and confusion. His conduct in the political arena has been that of a shameless and lawless gamester. He succeeded at the time, but the hour of retribution approaches, and he will be obliged to disgorge his winnings, to throw aside his false dice, and to end his days in some retirement where he may curse his madness at his leisure; for repentance is a virtue with which his heart is likely to remain for ever unacquainted."»
You are missing the point and not actually reading what I wrote. Especially if you project any kind of defense on the rest of those war criminals on me. None of them played Hitler on TV, which is Trump's main schtick and thus a whole new level of danger. I stand by it.
(Looks like my comment failed to post. If it's a double, sorry.) Orwell went to Spain to shoot at fascists, genius, he wasn't their spokesperson. Rather than affecting to be speaking for him, maybe you should learn to read English and correctly understand the meaning of what was written before wasting our time with a stupid reply.
"but dying on this hill in the service of another four years of a guy who is openly saying he wants to be a dictator is a choice that I'm having trouble understanding"
If you've ever read anything by Taibbi, you'd know that story selection is one way the media expresses their biases. By choosing to focus on this stupid Hunter Biden story (which apparently even Tucker Carlson is backing away from: https://www.thedailybeast.com/tucker-carlson-suddenly-says-its-time-to-leave-hunter-biden-alone), Matt has decided it is worth caring about, which is what everyone pushing the story would like us to do.
Perhaps a refresher course on interpretation & analysis are in order for you good sir. Matt's words are not about caring or not caring about the story. It is about suppressing the story. I can read a story and determine whether I care about it or not. I have a brain. I just don't want stories suppressed so that I can't even make up my own mind.
But in the end, suppressing this story actually makes Biden look guilty in my opinion. Otherwise, why suppress it? If there is nothing to the story, then run with it and people will decide there is nothing there. I got the story anyway because I (unlike probably 80% of the people that read Matt) actually read CNN, MSNBC, Fox and multiple news sources so that I can see the BS that is actually being fed to us on a daily basis. Anyone that doesn't realize that both the news on the left and the right is basically propaganda is a buffoon.
I took Carlson's comments differently. I understood he believes Hunter Biden has demons that he needs to deal with and there is no good reason to pile anything on HB. Do you think Carlson believes this story is false?
Still don't get the irony? The cause is the overt press partisanship in the form of self-censorship which has led to these two reporters having to publish here as opposed to the NYT or Post. Russia, Russia, Russia! I would rather have 4 more years with the press crawling up Orangeman's arse daily than 4 years of an unchecked administration with reporters serving as an echo chamber for spooks.
I just fired off an email to Ms Reed. I suggest others do as well. Also lets encourage Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to resign. All the writers and journalists with Integrity as well. Its seems like Aaron Mate has been having the same problems as Glenn Greenwald
Well done. By sound of things here, The Intercept will be losing a fair amount of income as a result of this.
Anyone else notice that 'liberals' attack Glenn's sexuality when he stops towing the party line? That's not a group that respects you, but uses it as shameful ammo to get you to shut up. Glenn, if you're reading this, please stay strong and carry on. You're getting flak when you're over the target.
Yeah, how can anyone even pretending to be progressive take that tack? I'm not even sure that the NY Post itself would go after someone in this way in this day and age. Though I do admit to not being a regular reader of that outlet...
Disgusting!! I have such a problem that it seems that comments on sexuality are fine, but mention the two areas that are verboten and yup--its a problem. Infuriating!
Yeah, cancelling my subscription immediately. I was hesitant to read the detail, but to see how many of these mainstream fucking hacks are crawling all over this, it's plain to see that when they're flaunting this "Greenwald is throwing a tantrum" e-mail, what Matt says is plain to see - they've been warped by this trump-distortion field.
They can sit there and circle jerk all they want -it's not fooling the majority of this country though. They will see though... and their heads will probably explode on Nov 5th.
Cancelled my monthly donation. I didn't want them to fuck with my cancellation so I didn't mention a specific reason, although I'm guessing they'll get the clue if many people cancel. Regardless, just waiting for the confirmation and I'll fire another one telling them I'm out because they've become a joke.
Tbh I have to say I was getting annoyed by even their coverage lately. Greenwald walking out on them over this is, in my estimation, a good sign that I was right about them.
I just withdrew my recurring donation and subscription to the newsletter Indicating it was in solidarity with Greenwald. Agree, Poitras and Scahill should join Greenwald, tho that’s their business. Most important is not to support this morphed news service and support Greenwald wherever he chooses to go. He is a jewel.
the "writing" has been on the wall for some time, even for those plebs who merely followed TI from its early years. anyone who remains is well aware of the circumstances.
So depressing. I've been donating to the Intercept for 3 years now and just stopped today- my money is going to Greenwald's substack now. I'm a college professor and regularly used their articles in my classroom and would always tell my students it was a safe place to get their news. I'm not so sure anymore.
Very sad, I had focused so much on Greenwald, I didn't see the rot seeping into the rest of the Intercept. It's fine to oppose Trump and want an end to that regime, but, it's also a complete disaster when you allow that to infect even the pretense of some kind of objectivity.
The fact they had absolutely no criticisms of the factuality of his article is very telling.
This is so critical. Thank you Matt. I wasn't shocked when Glenn resigned but I was by the asinine response of the editors and some of his peers (esp. Naomi Klein)
It is disappointing to see the current state of adversarial journalism. Thank God for the likes of you, Glenn, and the Grayzone.
(on that, be great to get your voices on the OPCW scandle!)
Hear Hear!!! agreed. Naomi Klein lost me a few years back. She almost at the Cancel Culture level. Sad because I have admired her work (No Logo especially), but over the years seeing her at various venues she has been pulled in by her hate of the right. So sad. Everyone needs to be heard, she is getting more orthodox--sad. Happens to the best of lefties!!
Yeah, I gave up on Klein for a reason most will consider odd, which was her reporting on the Scottish independence vote. It was not that she came down on the wrong side particularly, just obvious that she did not understand the complexities involved and had not spent time there.
Not understanding the complexities NEVER stops her from commenting. Her husband Avi Lewis (son of Canadian royalty) and her researchers fill in the gaps.
The main reason I subbed to the Intercept was because of GG's principles and now I subbed to his substack. Dropped NYT for MT; Dropped WaPo for Sirota; dropping Tampa Bay Times for Greenwald. Have only so much $ and it's going to Substack journalists looks like.
I used to read both and when the Tampa Tribune folded all objectivity disappeared from what is now the TBT. They just echo the MSM now. Except they have good Tampa Bay Rays coverage, so I guess with Dodger win there isn't a reason to sub anymore.
I had a recent revelation that if I wanted any good data, I was going to have to pay for it (thank you Jaron Lanier). Hence, paying (the pittance) for Matt's work and those of a few others who have the ethics and courage to write things that aren't necessarily popular, but stick to facts. Critical thinking, kids--it's good for ya!
Lanier is great but his politics are, how should I say, not exactly of emancipation through solidarity. Evgeny Morozov wrote some great stuff in The Baffler 5-7 years ago (back when that publication was still really good) about separating tech criticism from politics is insufficient. Tech as currently constituted is power.
Matt and Glen are two of the best reporters working and I’m thankful that they’re able to go direct with Substack.
Agree!!
100% with you!
I disagree with Greenwald on many, many things. But I have always, always admired his willingness to call out the hypocrites, the panderers, the bullshitters — regardless of their status, their connections, and most importantly their party affiliation. He gives no fucks, and I adore him for that. And I will support him, with money made working for someone who I imagine he despises with the energy of a thousand suns. And that’s awesome, and it’s why I love Substack and independent press.
Such a truly beautiful sentiment. When I think of those dollars provided by your employer going to Glenn and Matt I get giddy hahha
Another informative and insightful work from Matt Taibbi. I still fail to understand the need to include anti-Trump aspersions such as, "It’s a difficult time for reporters, with an unstable and potentially dangerous president," presented as apparently unassailable facts. The central fact to me is illustrated by the central premise of this article and the anti-journalism represented by this latest leftist crash-and-burn by the Intercept: The Left destroys everything it touches and Trump is simply the best tool normal people have to reintroduce sanity to our institutions and society.
"It’s a difficult time for reporters, with an unstable and potentially dangerous president,"
I too noticed that line. It's like some people just cannot help themselves, even when they are almost gagging on the red pill they just refuse to finally let it go.
Wow. With such an unstable and potentially dangerous president, I haven't noticed any journalists being jailed, beaten or repressed. Or have I missed all the news about journalist purges? Please educate us on how widespread this is under the trump terror.
Or perhaps Trump may not be worst unstable dictator ever?
How big a field did it take to provide the straw for THAT straw man? 50 acres? 100?
In other words trump is not an unstable dictator.
You may have missed this? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/25/business/media/journalists-arrested-trump-inauguration.html
LOL. The article admits the police identified a problem area and arrested everyone in the area. So the journalists were not specifically targeted. Is that all you have? An incident from the inauguration? C'mon you can do better than that - or perhaps you can't. Got anything more recent, you know from the past year? Every day for the past 4 years the mainstream press pushed anti-trump stories. Surely this most unstable of dictators has put a few of them in concentration camps.
The man throws tantrums whenever anyone criticizes him or asks him a mildly challenging question. When that man happens to be the president, yeah, it means he's potentially dangerous.
You ain't enlightened, dude, you're just another tribalist making excuses for your in group.
I think you are missing his point. The consolidation of the media combined with the rise of our new tech overlords who openly censor stories or hide them is far more dangerous than a senile sociopath or even possibly an idiot in the White House. Yes, Trump is dangerous, but primary because he is so easy to manipulate by the real crazies, and better prepared sociopaths. In any extent I personally believe he is history, due to his mishandling of the two most important issues to the American people, the economy and the plague, which i think is now endemic due to his actions. I live in the heart of the Republicans, many are not voting, and want him to go away.
Yeah, that war mongering, rampaging military industrial complex manipulated him right out of any wars for the first time in decades! And talk about being manipulated by sociopaths regrading a virus that 99% of everyone recovers from and you have to get a test for in order to find out if you actually have it! Guess you bought in on that scam, genius.
He's still a war criminal just like the rest. Guess you fell for that scam since he's been using his butt buddy in ISISrael as well as the Saudi's to commit his war crimes for him.
Passed the largest defense budget increase in US history so thinking he isn't some Quaker pacifist. Just wanted to make sure the boys got paid.
That is no better than the woke MO. Any sentence, any parenthetical clause, that isn't woke disqualifies. That's his opinion. It's his right.
Meant to add that your comments are what free speech is about; you are expressing your opinions, not advocating censorship.
Matt was THIS close to put "potentionally" in front of "unstable" as well.
Totally agree. Doug's post perfectly reflects the binary/ partisan/tribal mentality so apparent in both Trump supporters and detractors, each looking for and accepting only that which pleases them, that somehow the obvious mendacity and corruption of the one, validates their hero. I don't know about any of them, but I've seen way more than one bar fight where both drunks were total assholes, and deserved each blow they got.
This I will say about Trump, fake both in his anti war and populist messages; he correctly identified the problems of the ingrown elite establishment, though insincerely, but perhaps even more importantly, like Luminol draws out unseen blood at a crime scene, Trump's mere presence has shown that the supposed high minded liberal press, which is in no way left, regardless of what Doug thinks, is in fact every bit as partisan and intellectually dishonest as anything from Fox, Breitbart, Limbaugh etc., and that liberal politicians are flag waving mindless yahoos when it suits their purposes, supposedly a preserve of the right.
Once again, I will vote third party, because, like you, I'm not tabulating which would be the lesser evil, as that seems a pointless task designed to keep us locked into the duopoly's rigged game, but prefer to see them as they are; just different evils over whom people needlessly squabble.
"Nothing will fundamentally change". Finally, some truth.
Well said. I would only add that the ruling class doesn't like Trump because he is an embarrassment to them, not that they disagree with him on anything. He has exposed their game because he is such a buffoon and doesn't do it politely like the rest of them.
Yeah, Matt has destroyed Trump already - he's proven that point. He's reported those facts. He doesn't need to constantly berate every Trump move; he told you Trump would be the result of our problems. He knew Trump was always a problem.
What a cop out.
This is exactly it. The truth has no political affiliation. That's what journalism at its very core is supposed to be striving for - finding the truth and sharing it with the public so that the public can make up their own mind.
So many people (including within journalist circles) seem to have forgotten this.
And yet, neither has delineated exactly what danger he posits. I can respect their independence and professionalism - and back it up with a paid subscription for both - and still disagree with unsubstantiated claims.
Well he poses a real danger to all of the grey wolves in America he opened hunting season on yesterday. How about the danger to the Arctic National Wildlife refuge in Alaska he's giving away to oil interests? It always floors me how no one ever mentions the systematic environmental destruction his busy bee scum appointees have been working on the last four years. Every problem the US faces today will be magnified 100 fold when the real destruction starts kicking in.
I think the danger of Trump is obvious -- he's random, a loose cannot. The US ruling class may be evil, but it knows it has to take care of _some_ business to keep the proles from resistance and revolt. Trump will keep pushing until he gets a civil war or some other disaster going because he doesn't know what he's doing, or he doesn't care. What he knows is show biz, and that's it.
Thank you! Well said.
Are we done with the TDS projectile vomiting and attacking for this segment? So tiresome and reveals way more about the attackers than they are ever so obviously capable of comprehending.
I agree. It’s so tiring.
Agree with you 100%. I have commented on Matt's previous columns where he feels the need to bash trump first before making a pointed comment about the insanity of the left. It's as if he needs to establish anti-trump "bona fides" before criticizing the obvious insanity of the mainstream press which is now fully invested in anti-trump hate. I can kinda sorta understand it as a means of demonstrating he's not a shill for trump but in reality his opinion on trump is completely IRRELEVANT. The sickness and corruption on the left is the real story and it would be the case regardless of who occupied the white house. The leftists in academia and the mainstream press have (irony of ironies) made Trump into something like the last bastion of sanity before we all go over the precipice into total chaos. Greenwalds's resignation is a clear demarcation line that we have entered very, very dangerous times where intelligence propaganda is actively being used against american citizens. I consider myself a conservative republican but I came to the conclusion about a year ago that the CIA and FBI need to be disbanded completely and a complete overhaul of the DOJ is absolutely necessary before we can have any confidence in our federal government. Strange, scary and crazy times we live in.
So having been a conservative Republican growing up and into my early thirties I see where you see the left us bad. I don't disagree, they are bad. Problem is the Conservative Republicans are just as bad without the, "I'm smarter than you snear." Though the Republicans have the, "jesus loves me and I am morally holier than though." attitude. So looking to disband the CIA is a great start. Keep digging deeper on your side and you'll discover what a POS Gingrich, Delay, Bush Sr., Hastert, Limbaugh, Adelson, the Kochs, McConnell, and the very long list of Republicans. I k ow because I thought they were better till I stopped listening to the clips of W. and the right wong commentary that went with it and watched him for myself. He was a total buffoon. Gingerich was cheating on wife 2 with wife three while he was impeaching Clinton for Lying under oath. Which ironically is why he was kicked out of the Speakership for that exact same reason. There is no difference between the ruthless psychopaths at the top other than ones used degrees and "sophistication " for their identity and the other side uses Jesus and Morality. They are all the same.
The vast majority of conservatives I know actually aren't religious. But most of them like American flags. Just an observation.
Also, keeping digging and you'll find out what POSes literally EVERYBODY is, especially anybody in power in government, media, or industry. Humans!
I'm more interested in outcomes. If I wanted our political leaders to be good people or moral or, you know, not pathological narcissists, I would be forever disappointed. I'm much better with Trump than I am with the outcome records of either the Democrats or the Republicans, historically. Recent peace deals and relationship normalizations--that stuff is great. Not supporting Endless War is great (something I thought was not going to be the case, when Trump nominated Bolton). So . . . I'm fine with Trump. Would have preferred Tulsi Gabbard but I'm fine with Trump.
I agree except I question the ability of Gabbard or any Democrat to stand against the absolute poison that party is planning for the United States.
You're fine with with the establishment being offended. Nothing will change due to the fact the system cannot change policy goals.
I disagree. Republican psychopaths want to enrich themselves while claiming the high ground. Democrat psychopaths want to tell you how to live, eat and breathe. There is a difference.
They both want your money. They push different sets of buttons but both have the same goal.
"The Republican and Democratic parties, or, to be more exact, the Republican-Democratic party, represent the capitalist class in the class struggle. They are the political wings of the capitalist system and such differences as arise between them relate to spoils and not to principles."-- Eugene Debs. Sept 1, 1904
And it has become more true in in the intervening 100+ years.
I have to disagree. Your saying high ground. I come from the religious right and they definitely want to tell you how to live, eat and breathe. Especially when your a child and if your female that is for a lifetime.
Conservative 'Holier than Though' == Liberal 'Woke'. The difference is I'm not getting voluntold to attend trainings on Christian ideals at work.
Voluntold-first time I’ve heard that term. I like it!!
Depends on where you live but I agree with what your saying on the whole.
I agree. In 2016 I think it was reasonable to imagine that Trump was "unstable and potentially dangerous", but now we've seen how he actually conducts himself in office. And yeah, he has a big mouth, but in terms of actual actions, he's been bringing the troops home, avoided any new foreign wars, and spearheaded historic peace agreements in the Middle East. At home he's presided over the best economy possibly in our nation's history, and refused to behave like a fascist dictator as so many feared, even when the COVID crisis presented a golden opportunity.
I think the "unstable and potentially dangerous" criticism is outdated.
What troops has he brought home ? Do you actually believe this shit ? Not one war ended and let's not forget he increased the violence and committed war crimes in Syria.
In Iraq, from around 7,000 in December 2016 to 3000 by year's end.
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2017/11/27/26000-us-troops-total-in-iraq-afghanistan-and-syria-dod-reports/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/us/politics/iraq-troops-trump.html
In Afghanistan, from over 10,000 when he took office to 2,500 by year's end.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/us/politics/us-troops-afghanistan.html
Which of these wars is ended ? I haven't heard of any peace treaties or an end to the war of terror. Is having other countries and private mercenaries do the killing any different ?
After he increased troops and bombed more then Obomber. They all bring troops back home for a minute or two right before the election. Is this your first election cycle ? Why did you leave out his war crimes in Syria ?
People like Doug are my favorite part of reading Taibbi comments. Matt has written about 87000000 words about how shitty Republicans and Trump are over the last 15 years; in no way does he think the republicans are victims, or correct in their ignorant thoughts. In no way does he support Trump or any Trump narratives. Matt is an independent journalist who reports without bias; it so happens that both sides, in a broken injust system, have serious issues. It also happens that one side still has significantly more (trump/right) which is why Matt has written significantly more words of disdain towards that side. I know the right wants to claim a side here, and you think he's on your team, but he has already destroyed the credibility and legitimacy of your team over the past 15 years. Thanks for reading.
Yeah well if that’s the case, he has manifested a whole new audience regardless. Looks like he will need to “re-educate” us on how ignorant we are in light of a slew of new political developments on all sides. Who knows, time has a way of shedding new light. However, many of his new subscribers aren’t gonna be as lay down easy as you are. The times, they are a changing.
What does this even mean? Yes, I can tell you just started reading Matt. Maybe go read a book or two he's written and check back in on your "Matt's on our team" nonsense.
You're putting words in my mouth that I didn't say. What's wrong with you? It's like you're terrified.
"The Left"? Meaning what? You think anyone who opposes Trump is a Trotskyite?
I'm OK that Matt still thinks Trump is "dangerous". Personally, I would not vote for a Trump in 2016 (I did in 2020) - he appeared a bit crazy and was going to be trusted with nuclear buttons.
After 4 years Trump has proven to me he is anything but dangerous and crazy (he just knows how to sell himself to a crowd, as Matt has pointed out,.) Anyway...if 4 years are not enough to prove to Matt that Trump is not dangerous I still salute Matt for all his great work and don't mind skepticism in a great journalist. And hope he come around someday :) (Or...heck..maybe Trump was dangerous - - but if he was, we had a heck of a great, non-dangerous four years - - except Covid which was not Trump's fault.)
Why in the world do you think that Trump of all people is the best tool to reintroduce sanity?
I can't speak for everybody, and I can't and didn't vote for Trump, but in my mind the best thing about Trump these last few years is that he's exposed our national politic for what it is. A corporate shell game that has sold our country out to anybody that has a check book.
We used to think the concept of a Deep State was just tin foil, but if you still believe the concept is BS, then I have some land to sell you. Can I get your Venmo information?
Those are good enough reasons to give the guy your vote.
Yep! If anything the media will at least keep Trump honest because one whiff of scandal and it will be all over the place. Put Joe in and they will censor all negative press about him. It’s much safer to know than to not know. A vote for Joe Biden is a wish for America to go back to sleep as the elites and Deep State rob us blind.
Why? He's one of the guys with a check book.
I find it funny that anyone seriously maintains that there is not a deep state, because its existence has been jokingly acknowledged by government employees in just about every federal agency for just decades and decades. I don't mean that the deep state is some kind of sinister conspiracy, just that there is an actual reality to the fact that the bureaucrats have their own agenda and their permanence is a source of power just as significant as the titular power of the political appointees that supposedly run these agencies. Ask any SEC Associate Director who runs the SEC and the answer you are likely to get is "it's complicated." The Commissioners can and do drive certain changes but they can also be stymied and - more importantly - there are significant controversies that the staff actively seek to handle without elevating it to the Commission. Nothing I am saying here is remotely controversial among the professionals that work for, with and against these agencies. While I have no personal experience with the State Department or the intelligence services, I think there is just zero chance that they don't have the same dynamics that play out in the DoJ, FBI, the CFTC, the SEC, the OCC and even the FRB.
Exactly-- the veneer of the "good presidents (sic) " is off. It is laughable how many Americans care more that he is "the orange man" or they are embarrassed by his language and actions, than the fact that the US is a war mongering out of control dying empire which is spewing destruction and venom everywhere , even to its supposed allies.
He's not the best - he's just what we've got. The last resort. The nuclear option against a world gone mad.
You can't express the "wrong" politics in the work place, or on TV, or on Facebook, or around friends and family, or...
So what's left but the anonymous ballot?
If the DNC is a violent street gang, Trump is the well dressed man from the Mafia politely but firmly suggesting that you pay your protection money to keep the gangs at bay. I'd obviously prefer to have neither, but gun to my head, I'd rather deal with the Mafia guy.
Well, you know, it seems to me it's ending up that way no matter what -- I can't say what I want today, but I'm pretty sure that tomorrow, I also won't be able to, whether it's street gang or mafia man.
There was a Biden rally in my area recently. Trump supporters showed up with bullhorns to drown out the speakers.
In the meantime, rights narrow, our sense of community flounders, healthcare grows more expensive, the pool of decent jobs shrinks, and we become ever more enraged. Is the nuclear option better, or does it just feel good, in the moment?
After 4 years of the insults, unsubstantiated demonizing and false accusations launched at Trump supporters daily on CNN, MSNBC, Twitter, through the young and inexperienced to the old and cynical (waving at Cher, et al)... that's a quite reasonable reaction.
I admire Trump's ability to restrain himself actually.
He's correct. No President has ever had the assault upon his person and family like Trump has - Clapper, Brennen, McCabe, Comey and all their high priced hypocrites in MSM personality pretending to be a Journalist collaborators have never sunk to this level of depraved personal attacks before.
I'm not exaggerating. Clapper, I believe it was, called Trump a traitor on CNN at the same time his private testimony to Congressional committees was that there was no evidence of collusion at the same time Schiff was repeatedly lying on those fake news shows and saying he had seen the evidence himself.
it's outrageous. Trump and his supporters are actually very very decent people or there would be way violence
Because he’s the only one we have right now as crazy as he is.
Yep. He’s the only one who’s crazy enough to stand up against all the madness. I think it’s admirable.
I'm for sure that Melania has looked at him and thought, wtf was so bad about living in Trump towers and minding our own business? but I'm also for sure, that's the point to the incessant harrassment - never about serious policy considerations but always on the level of a 3rd grade playground as if we're idiots.
Nobody knows what Pelosi et al want an extra trillion dollars for - the media couches it in simplistic terms of empathetic vs cold hearted and we are subjected to endless "American stories" of gloom and doom designed to make us support a policy whose slogan doesn't begin to explain the actual beneficiaries to the transfer of taxpayer dollars. Bail out the NY City DiBlasio decisions like not enforcing transit users to pay at the turnstile? Offering free healthcare and housing for illegals? Call us racists when we oppose those decisions as fiscally unsound and then hold us hostage to pay for the stupidity. Seriously. That is in itself enough to make one vote for Trump.
Then these arrogant career bureaucrats, politicians, spooks and media personnel that all believe they are better positioned to impose their viewpoints than a duly elected POTUS. Oh. and federal judges. Like the one from Hawaii who felt better positioned to design American immigration policy despite that being one of the areas implicitly assigned to POTUS.
Really. The arrogance is overwhelming. Then Trump comes along with his gold plated toilets, dumping ketchup on his ribeye and... hahaha the arrogant elites heads explode.
If only he were Indian American like Harris' mother that penchant for gold plated ostentatious decorating would be a virtue and ketchup on a ribeye would be folksy.
His press secretary is better at standing up to the madness than he is. But he picked her so . . . there you go.
The fact that something is the only tool available does not mean that it will accomplish the job.
Disagree. If you see a nail and you need a hammer, you get the hammer. If it's a screw, you get Joe. He's not a hammer. He's a screwdriver. Trump supporters think we need a hammer. Biden supporters think we need a screwdriver. LOL...or something like that. And I haven't even started drinking!
He isn't the best tool to reintroduce sanity. Insanity is guaranteed. At least with Trump I get someone that doesn't want to destroy our energy infrastructure like we have with Newsome here in California. That is the one thing that is not negotiable for me. I want natural gas and I want fossil fuel based transportation. Anyone that is not for that is out for me. I don't trust Biden or Harris on this. I could care less about all of the other stuff. But destroying our energy infrastructure and transportation systems is a bridge too far to me, and a lot of other people as well.
Why does it need to be fossil fuels?
It doesn't need to be fossil fuel. But it needs to be a baseload energy source. A baseload energy source never stops producing energy. Nuclear, Geothermal, Tidal, Fussion, Fossil fuels. Wind and solar do not provide baseload energy and must be backed up by baseload energy sources. As a Californian when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow, we have to import energy from other states. This results in rolling blackouts, which I don't like.
I would be fine with renewables if they provided constant baseload energy. right now they do not. So making fossil fuels illegal or cost prohibitive through legislation is not a wise thing right now.
He's not. Because no one is. This is magical thinking. Sanity will either come or it won't--it has to be cultural and via osmosis and organically at this point. It's not coming from a politician or a political office.
Trump has supporters. I did not vote for him in 2016 but I am now a supporter, not a "fan". Here are some reasons:
Energy Independence for United States
Peace in Middle East - Israel, UAE, Bahrain
Pollution in US lower now than in Obama years
Does not take bribes ("contributions") from tech companies
Began ending reliance on China
Immense, proven improvement in wages/jobs of working class.
A better deal than NAFTA, the USMC agreement
Caliphate defeated, Al-Baghdadi eliminated
Corporate tax at 21% - creating jobs
Re-built military and VA
Price transparency for medical procedures
School choice - so strongly supported by inner-city families.
Jerusalem capital
Peace negotiations in Balkans (2nd Nobel Prize nomination.)
Lowest African American Hispanic and Asian unemployment ever
Opportunity zones
Historically Black Collage & Univ. funding
Criminal justice reform
Alliance with India as counterbalance to China
Right to try potential life-saving non-FDA approved drugs - many saved
Gave university males the right to defense against accusations
Korea negotiations (not great, but better than Obama admin.)
No Sanctuary Cities - support for ending this (so convicted criminals will leave)
1st Pres. in 39 years not to embroil U.S. in war
Yep - I made this list when carefully considering my vote.
If you consume only mainstream media (CNN/MSNBC/NYT et al) then you probably never heard of any of it. If you think any of it is false, look up the facts - the accomplishments here are true.
You didn't research any of these things. You just copy and pasted them off of the list of what he claims he did.
Since I doubt you'll listen to anything else, I'm going to speak to the thing I have direct experience with, as the wife of a veteran: things have gotten /worse/ for veterans under him. My husband was approved for Voc Rehab, but then there was Trump, and suddenly, it couldn't be justified, so it got revoked. He has a /harder/ time getting medical care now, because the Trump admin believes it isn't the responsibility of the VA, and he can no longer transfer his GI benefits to our child because the Trump admin changed the rules.
I don't have to look up that "accomplishment" because I know from direct experience that it isn't true. I know from watching my husband get his schooling taken away, getting his PTSD treatment taken away, having him almost die from cancer because of the state of the VA under Trump, (who by the way thinks my husband is a loser) -- it's a grift. Our government in general doesn't care about those who give the most for it, but my gods, at least most of them have the decency not to say it out loud.
I am aware of all of this, but I would like to hear and engage with how the fans perceive things, rather than with how others perceive the fans. I don't think there's any way forward that doesn't involve that.
lol the internet... so believe it or don't I wrote this back in 2016, and never mailed it to the paper I was going to. It's my take on his "fans".
The Out of Touch and Trump's Junk March 8, 2016
In the media the question “Who can support Donald Trump?” is most often asked as a statement. The premise to a monologue about the idiocy of Americans. Idiocy brought on by underfunded schools, overfunded religion, talk radio, extreme individualism and racism. This monologue reflects the lack of experience of the speaker. Because the people who's opinions blanket the media consumed by the $80k and up demographic simply have zero frame of reference. Like asking a New York socialite for the torque value on a shovelhead. Torque? Shovelhead? Huh?
So their answers are all over the map. Usually missing the mark, always condescending in the way that an intelligent person condescends when they're expected to give an answer to something they know nothing about.
The latest puzzlement and faux shock is the reaction to Trump's response to the small fingers joke/meme that made its way into the press. That he responded at all obviously took some aback, the tone and content “shocked” them. (I say faux because as a society we revel in everything from Game of Thrones (violence) to Naked Dating (lust) to Piss Christ (irreverence) and more; commentators know this, nothing actually shocks them.)
I'm not puzzled.
In the early 80s I worked at an all night gas station in a bad area south of Seattle. Very bad – robberies, assaults, prostitution, drugs, murder. Contrary to popular opinion most people who live/work in such areas don't end up permanently scarred or dead. But they do see things. Late one night a customer pulled in to gas up his motorcycle. A biker straight out of central casting – on a chopped Harley, he was squat, big and dirty, full beard, black leather with club emblems, and a girl no older than 16 on the back. I was behind glass, and as he looked at me I was tamping a non-filter cigarette, getting ready to smoke. (For the uninitiated, that means holding the cig between your thumb and index finger and lightly tapping one end on a surface. That packs it tighter so the tobacco doesn't fall out when you puff.) He got done and came up to the booth.
“You jacking off in there?”
I looked at my cigarette and knew what he was saying, the motion of tamping and all.
“Nah... if I was it'd be a lot bigger than this.” Bravado, and it came out as dumb as it reads.
He laughed, not pleasantly. “Yeah, sure, lets see it!”
I was speechless at first, then made a lame remark about “not in front of your girl”. He laughs again and says “Don't worry about her, she's seen more dick than you know.”
I rolled over with “Hey man, umm... well... I'm not going to... hell, nobody would... hahahah... you first!”
And he did. Right there undid his jeans, pulled out and displayed his unerect wedding tackle.
“OK. Now you.”
My defeat was complete. “Man you got me...” and I rambled on like a complete dork.
“Hahahahahah, yeah, fucking chickenshit. Don't say shit you won't back up.”
Don't say shit you won't back up – that sums up perhaps THE request from much of the electorate this year. Our elected representatives have spent decades now not backing up what they say. Because reasons. Oh, and electorate, you're too stupid to truly comprehend the reasons, so just take our word for it. And here, listen to me say more shit, and vote for me!
Trump's rhetoric pours gasoline on that story line and sets it on fire. You want to dance around and play politics? Play the whisper campaign game about someone's penis size? (Cynically, I notice that though the story is “Trump talks about his junk” the truth is he didn't bring it up. His opponents, with allies in the press, did.) No need to whisper, here it is!
Trump will say shit and back it up. It's not possible? Who cares. How things work in Washington is such a black box, thanks to our current political class and their industry, activist and media supporters, that claims of “that's not possible” are met with cat calls. They have no credibility when they're so out of touch that they don't know that when someone insults your junk the only appropriate response is to whip it out and say put up or shut up. He's a narcissist? That's a hoot – Washington is Hollywood for ugly people; you cannot make it there now unless you are a narcissist so how is voting for someone already there voting against a narcissist? He's dishonest and money grubbing? When his probable general election opponent trades on her name and position for more money for one speech than many will see in their lifetime?
Who can support Donald Trump? At least some of them are people who are both dumber and smarter than their betters. They're truly stupid in the ways of politics, the nuts and bolts, the signaling and wheeling and dealing. But they're much more experienced, smarter, in the ways of real life, in their real life. They think they see someone they know, someone who will back up what he says. The media, and the rest of their betters, can't comprehend that because they've never had to live there.
Never thought about it like sports but that makes total sense. They literally believe he hasn't done any of the shit he has done or if they admit, say he did bankrupt 3 casinos, it wasn't his fault it was the economy or he declared bankruptcy and it was smart business. Not understanding how horrifyingly stupid or corrupt you have to be to bankrupt a casino, let alone 3. Anyway, good analogy.
Wall St. Big Tech and Big Pharma and big corporations are the big donors to Biden NOT TRUMP. Biden is outspending Trump at least 2 to 1. Wall St. are globalists looking for a quick buck with cheap labor outsourced.
Really what about sax playing, skirt chasing Bill Clinton?
Thank-you! Read Chris Hedges America the Farewell Tour-- lots of reasons why Trump was elected. I remember telling my US colleagues that I thought Trump would be elected and I have NEVER received so much vitriol in response. Oh I am Canadian I don't know our system 🙄, SO much anger and bullying in response to my statement. Same when I said Obama won't change anything. Sigh--this is clearly what 75 yrs plus of obvious propaganda passing as education results in.
Or it "unstable and dangerous president" applies to Obama, to the extent he knew about the spying on Trump's campaign both before and after the 2016 election. Obama totally undermined the idea of a peaceful transition. Obama and Susan Rice and Jim Comey and the DOJ....and Clapper and despised Brennan at CIA. These people were all in the Obama administration. How dangerous is that? How can anyone have any faith in these institutions? Or faith in the next transition whenever it occurs?
It's no different than Ronny Ray gun did to Carter with the October surprise.
Why are you still stuck on Obomber anyway ? This has gone on far longer than Obomber and goes clear back to at least the Kennedy's.
The elite have always ran this country and this world. Stop trying to blame it all on the Wall Street shill Obomber.
I agree. "..unstable and potentially dangerous president" applies more to a potential Joe Biden. Trump has not started any wars. He has been getting us out of the Mideast. So I don't understand how the evidence supports that Trump is the problem....when the actual evidence supports that Joe Biden and the Democrats have dangerously entangled the CIA and FBI in a fake Russia story for the sole purpose of gaining power by lying. How is that not dangerous no matter what Trump says. Democrats impeached Trump while the FBI had the Hunter Biden laptop and never revealed anything. Forget being Republican or Democrat--doesn't it concern any rational American that our institutions are being undermined internally? That our media is a propaganda operation? That our best and most honest reporters are "stooges." Even the few that exist? Doesn't that weaken us as a country?
So as long as we just maintain the seven we are already in we have a "stable" president ? Ha !
Thank you for this. There really are no Dems or Reps anymore; no Conservatives or Liberals or Libertarians. There really are only Populists (that Trump and Bernie represent) and Establishment boosters (every institution with power - media, federal and congressional bureaucracy, corporations, big tech - who are using BLM, antifa types as their shock troops, even tho they have limited control over them). I think we need to realize that's where the lines are now. Everything has been disrupted and shifted and it wasn't just because of Trump. This started during GHWB and the Clinton administration when both parties glommed together for the corporate good.
Wrong, there's just top and bottom going back centuries. Everything else has been a propaganda construct in order to keep those on top on top.
Have you followed the FIRE movement? Interesting twist on top vs bottom. For those that haven't heard of it, "Financial Independence, retire early" - Live a simple life, avoid excessive consumerism and save $ - having more people check out of materialism to gain independence from consumerism (the American way) is a trend worth watching because it changes your world view (and probably your political affiliation).
Common sense is now a movement!?!?
You'll go broke saving money, the interest rate isn't even keeping up with inflation.
Kill capitalism and you kill the need for constant growth and the usury of the elite with one stone.
Unity is key, checking out of the facade that is the government in every 5 eyes country is the only way of stopping the elite from bringing back slavery.
The prison industrial complex is the working model. People who can't leave, feed themselves, call in sick or retire. Meanwhile, wealth continues to concentrate almost as fast as control is.
Good luck everyone.
It's his opinion. He's also making a point as to where is argument lies, as nobody in the MSM or on the left generally seems to perceive it: he is not defending Trump. He doesn't like Trump. He doesn't like Trump as president. He doesn't want Trump to win the election. Which is fine. That's a perfectly legitimate opinion, just as seeing Biden as dangerous or a poor candidate and not wanting him to win is.
Taibbi is primarily a media critic in his new reporting. This isn't about supporting Trump (what others say to the contrary) but critiquing the media's new approach to framing and shaping "news", rather than reportage. And how the MSM refuses to let ideas compete in full public view, but attempts to pick winners ahead of time based on their own biases and political or ideological orientations.
Right you are sir!
Lol. The UN. Lol.
Okay: The U.N. regularly puts grotesque violators of human rights on its human rights panel: Cuba, Venezuela, China. Yeah, I have lots of disagreement with the U.N.
And as much as Trump rails against the media, he has done nothing to curtail press freedoms. A lot of morally bankrupt activists posing as journalists are making a good living attacking Trump on air and in print.
Obama prosecuted more reporters for violating state secrets acts than Trump has, even though career bureaucrats have been violating public disclosure laws at a far, far higher rate under Trump than under Obama.
TDS is all too real, and even Matt seems to have a mild case of it.
The same UN that allows Cuba and Sudan on the Human Rights Commission.......
TL:DR: I found this article to be UNBiden and so will discount it in favor of news that makes me glad I'm not someone else and even tells me so!
I think the "left" that is objected to is crediting the CRT crazy and insane therapeutic approach to public life approach that has led to cancel culture and whatnot.
Don Lemon announces he had to cull his friends over their Trump support. hahahahaha
words are violence but violence is speech.
Christina Blasey-Ford or whatever her name was and Fienstein's revelation with subsequent character assasination of Kavanaugh was "credible". IDK but me and Cletus think you have to prove you were actually in the same location at the same time at least once in your life before you can credibly accuse a man of attempted rape.
it's all crazy and all being attributed correctly or incorrectly to the "left"
Christine Blasey-Ford's talk would have been appropriately taken at face value by a therapist in a private session.
As testimony against a Supreme Court nominee - that was crazy.
For starters the left has destroyed the Intercept, which is why Matt wrote this article. Or do you consider the editors there to be mainstream corporate media?
Got any proof the "left" destroyed it ? The elite funded it and that's who destroyed it. Why can't people think outside of the tribal partisan box. ?
I watched the clip of his Joe Rogen chat. I have to say I stopped giving money to the Intercept because I felt it was becoming a Democratic cheer leader. I am so glad to see that Greenwald didn't drink the Kool-Aid (and was fighting the editorial expansion of power). Great integrity!!
Looking forward to seeing more from him with the Intercept chains gone.
Why does anybody listen to Clapper and Brennan? They are the jerks who lied about “yellow cake uranium”. Didn’t anybody learn anything from that?
There are absolutely zero reasons why Clapper is not currently in prison.
(See above) Comey, too.
Peak 2020 is listening to those stooges because they're being paid by CNN etc. to render their opinions on Foreign Policy. "Next on CNN, Jeffrey Dahmer will join us on how to meal prep for summer barbecues"
nope
Because they say things that are useful to certain agendas with such glorious **gravitas**.
Comey, too. And, of course, the Bushes, the Clintons, Obama and most before them...war crimes, you know. Those same people gave us Trump. If Obama had done his job, we would have universal healtcare and education, have all our troops home and NATO disbanded, and no Trump.
They can't remember it is more than likely the case. On top of that, the same liars keep failing back into key positions.
Glenn and Matt are two of the best and will always be my first go-to reporters. Those others like them (and we all know who they are) also must report outside of mainstream. I took the New Yorker for years, famous for its fact-checking. Since they fell for the Russiagate lies and the Syria lies, and all the other lies (they hired Masha Gessen who is changing the quality even more), no longer. Some days I am disgusted by the Internet, yet it's the place to get real news, so am grateful for that. Thanks, Matt, for this writing. Way to go, Glenn.
"These fragments I have shored against my ruins." The fourth estate is a wasteland and our only resort is seek out individual truth seekers and ignore the rubble.
Add Scahill and The Gray Zone-- Max Blumenthal et al
Of course, and Aaron Mate, and those who write for ConsortiumNews, CounterPunch, MintPress, moonofalabama, Mondoweiss, electronic intifada...
And Yves Smith et al. I'm glad Matt linked nakedcapitalism.com in the above. Daily reading for me.
Thanks, Tom.
Rob Roy
Here here!
Greenwald and Taibbi, Kings of Journalism!
Matt...once again you stated the obvious with devastating clarity resulting in many needing access to the fainting couch. You may want to consider some kind of trigger warning. I am thinking something along the lines of " the following article may express opinions that deviate from accepted orthodoxy and as such readers may want to sit down before reading". In the alternative how about "go f*#k yourself if you cannot deal with an opinion that differs from what you have been told is your opinion".
Based on some of the earlier comments below I'd say that you are spot on. Nothing exemplifies triggered like the dullest tools running out of shed screaming "conspiracy!", working in overdrive to discredit any person or outlet which threatens their fragile yet absolutely certain cocoon of orthodoxy.
Or immediately branding anyone who dares have a close look at the DNC's candidate as being a "Trumper" whatever that means.
Sticks and stones... whoopety doo
Too many important issues that, for a variety of reasons, reporters at major institutions wont report on or won’t do so accurately.
Just last night a major reporter for NYT seemed to question basic reporting on the riots and looting in Philadelphia. Hard to even believe. But they do this with issue after issue- just look at how dishonest they’ve been with the police shootings over the last few months. They won’t even state the facts clearly. And very few besides Matt has taken on this insane critical race theory and I’m sure after he wrote his great article- many would have cancelled him if they could..
There are journalists (and outlets) who attempt to report the truth as best they can. Then there are the ideological (and/or financial) puppets who are nothing more than water carriers for those in power. Not much gray area in between.
As Jigsaw always told his victims, "The choice is yours".
Another example; During the nightly protests in Portland - I found that the coverage in the Daily Caller was more accurate and honest than that of the Times’, whose correspondent, for whatever reason, didn’t rise to the moment.
It was a microcosm of the problems facing legacy media; pressure from social media not to cover certain stories, pressure from woke colleagues to conform to be racist, etc
It’s all very disturbing because at the end of the day I couldn’t trust the paper of record to tell me what was happening.
"Protesters" (lol) here in PDX can and do drive press away, with threats of violence and sometimes violence, from their gatherings to ensure nothing is documented. The latest:
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2020/10/portland-commissioner-dan-ryan-promised-protesters-he-would-meet-with-them-if-they-didnt-record-demonstrators-confronted-journalists-who-did.html
Extra ordinary about this time a couple of nights ago is our city commissioner helped them do it.
No question it’s become dangerous. These lunatics threaten and attack and bully reporters. I’m sure it’s not easy being a reporter covering these situations. That said, it must be covered. I don’t mean to single out the Times’ reporter but if you’re working for the paper of record I think you need to find a way to get it done or transfer to a doctor beat. Reporters for the Daily Caller managed to do an excellent job apprising readers of what was actually happening in Portland.
An update, from the 11/6 Oregonian, referring to activity the night of 11/5-6. A "small group" (nothing specific, but later in the 'reporting' it mentions a "few dozen" going somewhere else after the group dispersed. lol... "small"...) went to the same commissioner's house:
"The demonstration followed a City Council vote against a proposal that would have cut millions of dollars from the Portland police budget. For months, demonstrators have demanded steep cuts to end the disproportionate policing of Black Portlanders.
Ryan, who joined the council in September, was viewed as a crucial third vote for the $18 million in proposed cuts. He voted no.
The commissioner’s house was dark when protesters arrived around 9 p.m. Some people lit flares near his house and shattered some glass on the property. Other people threw objects at the house and smashed a large flower pot."
They vandalized his empty home - breaking at least one window, were driven off by police (3 arrests). Lucky he wasn't home eh?
So, timeline. Newly elected counselor. Contentious vote coming up. Visited at night by people concealing their identities (it's the fundamental purpose of black block). Meet with them, prohibit the press from documenting the meeting; deny they knew the press were even there when the press later tells the story. Vote happens. Home visited again, this time attacked, because he didn't vote the way they wanted.
Wow. Makes the chants "Whose street? Our street!" and "This is what democracy look like!" really come to life!
I'm in PDX too. Which commissioner? Hardesty probably. Although Eudaly would be my second pick.
Newsnation with WGN seems a good summary of the day's news so far.
Thank you for this. Cheers to GG for standing by his ethics. I gave up on the intercept a year ago. It was obviously becoming another echo chamber. When did it become so egregious to allow readers the option to read and critically think on their own!?
They think there is a cool kids room and want to be in it.
I won't be able to afford 100x individual subscriptions. As more and more principled journalists stand up for free speech, I won't be subscribing to many individuals. I would like Substack to work with a group of free-speech journalists, or otherwise, those journalists are going to need to band together and create a new media organisation (while it's still legal).
Agreed. Greenwald mentioned a new venture. I would bet a pretty penny Taibbi will be involved. There are only so many civil libertarian journalists left.
Agreed x2
As I was subscribing to Greenwald and Taibbi on substack I was thinking the same thing. Thank you.
I get what Taibbi and Greenwald are saying, but dying on this hill in the service of another four years of a guy who is openly saying he wants to be a dictator is a choice that I'm having trouble understanding. Like would they have wanted to be the guys in Germany yelling about how unfair the media was being to Hitler (yeah yeah...)? I dunno, maybe they're right, and losing trust in our media outlets has driven us into our media bubbles and made everything worse, but I think the media (old-school and social) is just trying to figure out how to deal with a bad actor who is happy to lie at scale, with a huge ecosystem of leeches, grifters, and conspiracy-peddling enablers happy to keep the lies rolling. I don't think that Greenwald or Taibbi has the answer to this crisis, and it seems like they are focusing more on an effect of Trumpism rather than a cause, much as they'd like to think it was the reverse.
‘I get what Taibbi is saying’ then goes on to write a statement which shows he doesn’t get it at all.
How often does that happen with a Taibbi article?.. it's become like the standard intro for the "whataboutism" crowd
I wrote a statement talking about my conflicted feelings about trying to pin our whole shitty situation on the media. Gotta say, it's sad to see most of you have no such conflicts. I don't think punting on a poorly-sourced Hunter Biden hit job a week before the election is some conspiracy by a neoliberal warmongering media (at the Intercept!) to install Biden so we can march into Iran. And as much as GG and MT can call what they are doing noble, it ALSO happens to help Trump, and there is a whole ecosystem of bad-faith media ready to twist and amplify their message in support of Trump.
I would also be shocked if Taibbi wasn't also having some conflicted thoughts about this new career turn, especially given the new crop of red hat commentators he seems to be picking up.
And for those of you who truly think Biden is more of a liar or more dangerous than Trump, let's just say we disagree.
"I would also be shocked if Taibbi wasn't also having some conflicted thoughts about this new career turn, especially given the new crop of red hat commentators he seems to be picking up."
Guilt-by-association is the most loathsome form of criticism, IMO. It also demonstrates a weakness in the arguments about whatever the author is asserting--otherwise there would be no need to evoke the deplorables who read and comment on the article as a critique.
That being said, I don't know if Biden is more of a liar or more dangerous than Trump. But I'm pretty sure the mainstream media is. I don't care for the new media landscape of narrative shaping, redfining the meanings of words, truth-over-facts, reporting on Tweets being considered news, etc. Trump might be the ideal president for our current cultural state of affairs but he's hardly the only offender.
Also, if Greenwald and Taibbi "ALSO happen to help Trump", that's not on them. That's far more on the media generally, as their transformation from reporters to 100% opinion "journalists" is what creates an ecosystem for folks like Matt and Greenwald at all.
"I don't care for the new media landscape of narrative shaping, redefining the meanings of words, truth-over-facts, reporting on Tweets being considered news, etc. "
Amen! I totally agree. And you can say it's not on them if their arguments get twisted by others, but they are the ones who bit on this stupid Hunter Biden bait! Are we supposed to forget that the whole reason Trump was impeached was because he was trying to strongarm the leader of the Ukraine into digging up this crap?
Here’s the thing, and others made reference to it: if Twitter and Facebook hadn’t blocked this, it would barely have registered. Another story about Ukraine or Russia that’s too complex or boring, with a bunch of unpronounceable names, for most people to make note of. Part of the daily scandal churn. Same thing with censoring Greenwald. If they print his story, a bunch of liberals call him a Russian asset again, and everyone goes about their business. How many people do you suppose read the Intercept? How many of them are undecided voters?
I’m a longtime liberal, I’ve been an organizer for Pete’s sake. But most of the left has such a mania for suppressing speech that it’s impossible to help them see their own Streisand effect. If you really don’t want this story to influence voting, then don’t give it a signal boost.
Greenwald is now on Tucker Carlson talking about anti-Biden stories being spiked. Completely a self-own by the Intercept. If this ends up finding any undecided (typically low information) voters, it will be because the neoliberal left believe they can stop everyone, everywhere from encountering information that they find unfortunate or distasteful.
David Bromwich's pointed criticism of the contemporary American media in the November 2020 issue of Harper's arrives at much the same conclusion https://harpers.org/archive/2020/11/is-america-ungovernable/
yes, this.
I feel zero conflict. It’s never defensible, ethical, or wise to push untruth in this business. Focusing on that and ignoring the politics is what protects people like me. If I cared about who was and was not “helped” by facts - and I really don’t, in fact I care a lot less than Glenn probably - I would say the people who push Russia conspiracies and cover up things like this Hunter business are/were Trump’s biggest allies. Their incompetence and dishonesty were Trump’s best argument.
It's more about which facts one focuses on. Which facts are most relevant to our most pressing existential dilemmas.
By their own claims, Democrats and their base are better educated, more inclusive, more aware, more engaged, and more representative of the needs of constituents than their opponents. In my opinion, their actions and their failure to act to alleviate the massive inequalities in their society or to end the American role in destabilizing sovereign countries must be held to a higher standard. They know better than to countenance the disparity of wealth and income, the unequal provision of education and other social resources, the illegal and therefore murderous continuance of foreign aggression against mostly non-white less prosperous (but resource-rich) populations. Biden has been complicit and has either been active in the continuation of all of these, or has stood by and let it happen.
Totally, which is why I voted for Bernie.
And China's Belt and Road is the real colonialism. Biden and China make a good pair. So how could anyone imagine this guy as President? If that isn't obvious---then they are brainwashed. Nothing excuses the left or the Democrats. Biden is incapable of leading this country in any way, shape or form. Ditto K. Harris.
Good Lord, asking which is worse of Trump vs. Biden is like asking who is more morally/ethically reprobate-the WWE or the Vladimir Putin regime. The neo-lib Ds/Deep State play well meaning “progressives” for moral suckers.........
Please. This is chess, not checkers. And you're asking the wrong question.
The more relevant question is "of these two candidates, whose ill-conceived policies would be easier to effectively oppose, once inaugurated President?" Real world, real time.
And don't even fall for the fallacy of two-valued logic that a vote for a presidential candidate signifies that the voter has pledged their troth to them forevermore (or whatever the numbskull take is on that, I've heard it so many times...) The Democratic Party has made a lot of ambitious proposals in the course of this campaign. If the Democrats win the Presidency and the Senate (required), there's enough free-floating discontent in this country that the people who voted for them will notice any sign of wavering or dissembling on their part. And if the Dems do pull the football away, there will be hell to pay for the Democrats. If they don't follow through, it will polarize the country worse than anything that's happened in the last four years, because the Dems will have sold out their own base of popular support, while clutching levers of power that they plainly don't deserve.
If the Republicans retain a majority in the Senate and the Democrats remain functionally disabled in that house of Congress, a lot depends on the ability of the Democrats to expose GOP obstructions (inevitable, as long as Mitch McConnell or someone like him is Senate Majority leader) and make the case that they'll only be able to accomplish their goals if they obtain a Democratic majority Senate in the 2022 midterms. This should be obvious. Unfortunately, the Establishment Democrats don't have much of a track record of fortitude on that score, and that's a big enough problem to lead to doubts as to whether the leadership cadre of the Democratic Party cares more about pursuing the goals touted in their campaign, or about keeping a ready excuse for their failures on hand.
As long as it's too early to tell, I recommend voting to permit the Democrats to take back the Senate. Just as I recommend voting for the Democratic Party candidate, despite the fact that Joe Biden would not be my top choice if we had ranked-choice voting.
So much is conditioned by the ballot system, don't you see? I learned about ranked-choice voting in 1998, and this is the 5th Presidential election I've had to suffer through, knowing that there's a way out of this rigged, bogus, stagnant status quo of two thoroughly entrenched parties and their media-reified "Red/Blue meme" offal. To speak of Polarization.
How much of the useless chatter in discussions of American Presidential elections would be totally nullified and mooted, if only voters had the ability to rank (as few as two) choices, allowing them to vote FOR the candidate they most want, instead of the current situation for most of us, of being cornered into voting AGAINST the candidate that they've concluded is the worst of two choices? Speaking from extensive personal observation: almost all of it. Which is a telling indication of how much improvement would be effected by a ranked-choice ballot reform.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/noam-chomsky-believes-trump-is-the-worst-criminal-in-human-history?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Daily_103020&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=5bd671322ddf9c619438fc6f&cndid=24278960&hasha=7d8ad0fda519b9b8585e02f385348a5f&hashb=9c52d86f5153366b965fcda04506280590253260&hashc=8f92ddff50df3a53edcc90367150c5edbf23b453c3d64b1d9f445d52126760ca&esrc=&utm_term=TNY_Daily
Your problem is that censorship is self-reinforcing. You are sure that Trump "lies at scale" and is basically Hitler, but as we see repeatedly via Matt's reporting, anything that makes the Democrats look bad has been systematically suppressed for the past 4 years and anything that makes Trump sound like a liar is blasted out at full volume, usually manipulated in ways to make it look worse. Often claims about Trump are just made up out of whole cloth.
As a consequence you actually have no idea how much lying Biden engages in, literally no idea at all. You're comparing him to Trump but what evidence base are you using to make that comparison? Your impression derived from reading news reports? Biden could lie every day, far more than Trump, and you'd never know. I'm not saying he *does* do this, because I - like you - haven't the foggiest clue either. To be able to accurately weigh up the candidates at this point we'd need an unbiased stream of information about both, which is the opposite of what we have.
As for your claims that Trump "wants to be a dictator", the same claims were made in 2016. He's had two golden opportunities this year in the form of COVID and mass rioting, yet he's been the model of federalism throughout. State governorship never seemed so important, did it? Trump says a lot of stuff but when weighed by his actual actions, these claims don't match the reality of his presidency so far.
Trump is a liar. There's no "sounds like" to this. His entire career is based on lying.
Trump lies like a rug to cover up his incompetence and his real motives. Ask anyone he has ever owed money to. He'll sue you in a heartbeat and or screw you out of you money however he can.
Please don't try to lie everyone into believing he's a victim. Everything being done to him he has already done to someone.
You weren't bawling about the press spreading lies when Trump and faux news where smearing Obomber about his birth certificate, or the fear mongering narrative about being a secret Muslim implementing Sharia law, or having 27 social security numbers,or his secret plan to get Ebola to somehow kill only conservatives or whatever else hair on fire bullshit.
Trying to claim this as being a one sided affair when it's been going on for the entire history of politics is just getting nauseating.
Trump is getting exactly what he put out, so get over it.
Er, I'm not American and so only pay attention to stuff that's the top of the priority pile. When Trump was an "Obama birther" this was well before he was on the radar of people outside the USA, and the US media were doing their job of attacking such claims anyway, so what was there to say? I realise that you're using "you" to mean "generic American conservative", but there are lots of us out here affected by US politics for various reasons that don't follow every twist and turn of everything any presidential candidate does.
Does Trump lie a lot? For sure he does. Does he lie a lot more than other politicians? We can't tell because your press exaggerates everything bad about Trump 10x and - as we're seeing here - sinks stories that are bad about left wing candidates. So none of us can actually make a fair comparison, regardless of how strongly you feel it's clear or obvious. Biden could be talking total nonsense every day and maybe we'd hear about 1% of it.
And there we see how Trump manipulates people into thinking he's a victim despite the fact he would and has done everything that's being done to him.
The fact you actually believe the press only lies one way and just started lying when Trump took office just shows you buy into the fantasy that Trump is an honest player in crooked game that he's been contributing to his entire career.
Anyone that thinks the press hasn't been burying stories for decades now shouldn't bother commenting about American politics.
How many war crimes and scandals has the press covered up in the history of the United States ?
Did the same press not cover up the war crimes of the Bush administration ? How about Ronny Ray-gun and his war crimes or the fact he was just as bad as or worse than Biden by the end of his last term ?
Trump is getting what every president gets. The elite will pay most of his asking price in the end, and he's already told them what that is or he'd be dead already.
"You weren't bawling about the press spreading lies when Trump and faux news where smearing Obomber about his birth certificate, or the fear mongering narrative about being a secret Muslim implementing Sharia law, or having 27 social security numbers,or his secret plan to get Ebola to somehow kill only conservatives or whatever else hair on fire bullshit."
I don't remember any of those but the birth certificate one and that wasn't widely embraced by republicans.
Bullshit, stop lying please.
Ok, I'll bite. Please provide a link where trump openly said he wants to be a dictator. My money says you can't.
Dictators never say that until much, much later.
Are you relying on "sources familiar with his thinking"?
He's too lazy to be a dictator.
Taibbi warned everyone about someone like Trump coming to power. He warned about Obama and Bush expanding presidential authority and taking away peoples rights. He said someone like Trump would abuse those powers for true evil.
Never once has he said Trump should be the guy to continue on. What he's saying is electing Biden isn't going to fix decades long issues. By protecting Joe we're just moving further and further away from the place we need to get to. That's the problem. I voted for Joe and I can't stand him, but I did it because Trump is truly an evil man to another level... but Joe is no saint, and people like Joe need to change the way the system works, or get the fuck out the way and let people who are willing to step in place. Otherwise, it won't matter what side you are - there won't be sides soon enough. It'll simply be those with money and power vs everyone else; even moreso than it already is.
Meh, if you stacked them up side by side I bet Biden has committed or helped to commit way more inhumanity than Drumpf -and that's saying a lot.
I don't recall Trump ever supporting segregation, or speaking at a known Klansman senator's funeral like Biden did, (Strom Thurmond! WTF? VILE!)
Personally or the Trump name name in general ? Once again, we are dealing with the turd sandwich scenario due to our fake two party system.
Trump's dad was arrested at a KKK meeting and that doesn't generally happen on accident. Not to mention the Trump family red lining fortune our little trust fund baby president fell into along with all of daddies lawyers and mob connections.
Jesus, what a shit show !
I mean individually, not for the 'sins of their fathers". In the 1920s... the KKK had a LOT of membership. Look it up. They were actually very popular. It's disgusting -but not my point.
My point is that on each of their own merits, nobody can say seriously that Biden hasn't been right there helping the New World Order brand of global imperialism and tyranny.
Just one his voting record alone we can see he was responsible for everything people are fed the fuck up with from shitty banking regulation to constant war all over the world. Tens of millions killed or displaced.
Taking money from China itself and businesses that rely on china's concentration camps and slave labor. I'm not talking neck ties... that's child's play.
I'm talking Nike, Reebok, Apple, Google, Disney... Big name donors. Shall we go into Jeffrey Epstein's alleged child prostitution ring?
I mean, they're all compromised and one of them is running for the office of president.
Joe Kennedy?
Trumps father was a Klansman; lol you guys are rich and so ignorant. Trump segregated his own apartment complexes.
OK then... let's add more to Joe's fucking stack then, shall we?
How about the US government's reign of imperialistic terror all over the globe deposing or toppling foreign governments so their friends can move in and generate HUGE profits while killing or displacing tens of millions since Biden has been in "public service"?
Did TRUMP'S family have a hand in Iraq 1 or 2? Afghanistan? Yemen? Ukraine? Egypt? an attempt at Syria? No. That was Biden and the NeoCon/NeoLib New World Order cunts.
Wake the fuck up asshole... you're cheering for warmongering slavers.
Sure, it's OK to have double standards with our highest ideals of freedom like speech and the press because "Muh Orange Man bad!!!!"
The resistance my old hippy ass....
Go fuck yourself -oh wait... if you voted for Biden, global imperialism and the people who rely on China's fucking concentration camps and slave labor, you already HAVE fucked yourself.
Dumb cunt.
And here is an excellent example of the problems with modern reportage. Context: we don't know that Trump's father was a Klansman. Or much of anything about his relationship to the Klan. Who knows, he might have been trying to make some headway with Democratic bigwigs in 1920s New York at the time his only known association with the Klan took place:
"News reports from the day show a Fred Trump was detained at a KKK rally in 1927. But there is no evidence that Trump, father to the president, was a member or supporter of the KKK. Posts that discuss simply the detention — for which there are no existing arrest records — without context are misleading."
Might have thought it might be an avenue to get some business or maybe get to meet Woodrow Wilson. Who knows. Might have been a Grand Wizard or Cyclops or whatever stupid name they gave themselves.
But we actually don't know he was a member--or anything about his association with the KKK. Not even sure he was there in support of the KKK--might have been there in opposition. I mean, this was 1927--and he got arrested.
Just saying. Just like Biden's speaking at Strom Thurmond's funeral--or any former KKKers funeral--would have been purely political, not a statement of solidarity with the KKK.
No basis to assert Trump segregated anything...unless you are relying on the MSM stories. That is a nothingburger.
He accidentally got arrested at a Klan march because it happens all the time ! Really ? How many other people has this happened to ?
You really think a career politician whose nearly 80 is going to change the system? That's on the same level of delusion as people who think a billionaire like Trump is a political outsider who's going to shake up the system. It seems you sort of understand the problem, but then you vote for Joe? Why not just write in Mickey Mouse if you don't like the 3rd party candidates? A vote for Joe will be read by Washington as a mandate for more of the last 30 years, but now with a twist of toxic identity politics and one-party media to silence dissenters. What evil do you fear from Donald that is worse than that? After 4 or 8 more years of declining living standards and even greater income inequality that people will be even more dissatisfied than they were after Obama. The next Trump might really be the strongman you fear.
Vote have nothing to do with policy. Think tanks funded by billionaires decide policy and sometimes they let us choose from a stacked ballet which horrible actor will rubber stamp the white page instructions sent them via K-street.
In short, this is a plutocracy and elections are a psyop.
It is not quite "rubber stamp" and "elections are a psyop": the story is indeed that the elites run the show, but they give the majority a limited power of veto, to ensure that they don't do too-unpopular policies that might result in real riots, and the ability to sort of choose which elite factions is in control of the government.
What the majority are not allowed to do is to push for policies not approved by the elites, or to choose to put in control of the government those that don't belong to an approved faction of the elites (e.g. D Trump or J Corbyn at two opposite ends).
This is the "we nominate, you elect" system and sort of balances the actual power of the elites, and the lesser power of the majority.
The current elites however have been significantly rebalancing in their own favour and narrowing the scope of the choices that they allow the majority to endorse.
I wrote in Tulsi Gabbard. Not voting for Trump or Joe--although if I had to pick between the two, I'd have picked Trump.
God bless the write-in candidate. Even if it's a protest vote.
Love Tulsi. She’s the most reasonable Dem bc she’s not partisan. Willing to work with the GOP to get things done and people slams her for that. It’s crazy how much the DNC and media smeared her. I hope she stays in politics.
Tulsi's the best. It would be perfect if she were Sec. of State, which the DNC would never allow. I almost respect the RNC more than the DNC because the Republicans outright run on hate and show it and don't care who knows it, unlike the DNC who pretend to be good but aren't.
Love your thinking outside the box-- making lemonade out of lemons!
Voting for Joe, who is clearly incapable of being President, is dangerous and dumb. And Matt's failure to see this is just as dumb. China is far more dangerous than Trump and has hoodwinked too many prior Presidents. Does anyone think Joe is capable of standing up to China or Iran or Russia? He can't even complete a sentence on his own. So is everyone counting on an untested Kamala Harris who got into politics by having an affair with Willie Brown? She's only been on the public payroll...locking up journalists she didn't agree with. Where are people's common sense?
How is calling out the danger of the the efforts of the MSM to squash the Post story and even label it as Russian disinformation dying in the service of Trump? Are you tripping?
Yes..I believe this is part of the problem. People are definitely tripping
They're tripping alright.... and when they come down they'll see that they don't have as many people fooled as they think -just like 2016.
Fucking global imperialist crooks.
I'm not a "Trump guy".
I have never voted for him. I don't like his style and don't believe for a second that he's "capable".
You're a dimwitted tool. For something to fit inside the construct in your stupid and UNwoke head, it HAS to be definable for you.
News flash: Even the most predictable idiots are still complicated beings.
But if you have to tell yourself lies to reinforce your programming, that's cool.
Many of us are here as we see through the fallacy of thinking that any comment that questions Trump's enemies means one is pro-Trump. It's kind of the point of most of Taibbi's writing the past couple of years, and he himself is being accused of being a Trumpista with no merit to the accusation. I invite you to stop now lest you make a fool of yourself here.
Are you the cat going around in comment sections counteracting anything that goes against the programming of your groupthink?
Seems like you are and cunt bag and a shill.
You don't get it. Taibbi and Greenwald are ready to die on the hill of independent journalism, not of Trump.
Oh no...please, not another Hitler comparison. You do your comment a major disservice. Next he'll be rounding up his own family (jewish relatives) and putting them on trains. Why is everyone so quick to leap on the Hitler analogy when suppression of the press is more likely to come from the "left" these days? Strange times. Seriously, the kid gloves for Joe are obvious to anyone paying attention. That strategy is driving votes to Trump. Time for a third party.
I know right!!!
Hillary Clinton literally corralled the Press up like ponies behind ropes and refused to take live questions for 9 months of a Presidential campaign and they all kissed her butt for treating them that way.
It is insane. President Obama got deflections like people really cared if he wore a tan suit instead of being upset that he sent a planeful of cash to Iran on his way out the door.
Freaking crazy making, gas lighting, ass kissing poseurs pretending to Journalism
Galleta,
Obama, even worse, gave Israel (which he didn't even like) $38billion when he was "on his way out the door."
How is that worse?
Trump is the third party. The Republicans didn't want him. But they didn't cheat in their primaries....so there he was...on their ticket. Why would anyone imagine a lightweight could stand up to the worst dictators in the world? Trump is unpredictable, as asset in foreign policy. And he's a fighter....not a quality in big supply. He's fighting the entire Washington establishment. Who else has done that?
You have the chronology all wrong. Trump was elected because of loss of faith in media and other institutions. Media has been on this downhill slide, where their aim has been to shape and control the masses and bend them to the will of the DNC, not inform them. This corruption is not new. When you do this, you get Trump. When you scream “Hitler, Hitler, Hitler” at people giving the middle finger to failed and corrupted institutions, you’ll get more Trump.
Especially when it's combined with the adoration and cult-like news conferences afforded Obama, Clinton and now Biden
Kinda like they did with Ronny Raygun isn't it ? Wake up please.
To the DNC ? You don't get it at all do you ?
Even if I accepted your premises which I don't, I still can't construct a self consistent interpretation of the universe where Joe Biden constitutes some kind of antidote to lying..
It is categorically impossible to describe Trump as aspiring to be a dictator in a post-COVID world. If Trump was going to seize power, he could not have asked for a better scenario than a global pandemic. And Trump's reaction was instead "it's the states job, not mine."
Liberal media has plenty of horrible things to report about Trump without having to make shit up. They chose instead to spend most of their time spreading a completely false narrative about Russia. Mainstream media rarely ever talked about the reasons Trump was elected in the first place. Why should Taibbi or Greenwald report about Trump, when almost every media outlet on the planet is already doing so 24/7? You seem to be ignoring all of the lies, grifters and conspiracy-peddling enablers in the DNC and Intelligence community that the liberal media is almost completely ignoring.
Sorta like Trump "investigating" Obomber's birth certificate for Faux news isn't it ?
Trump is not Hitler. It is hard to read on for a comment that compares Trump to Hitler. The reason why Hitler came to power was a compliant set of people. People who didn't reject the common theme of the media and those in power is what allowed Nazi Germany to spread. We certainly don't have a compliant media behind Trump, so no danger there. What we do have is a media that is compliant with one set of beliefs. That is the danger, not Trump.
Democrats needs to win elections. How do you win elections when the Democrats have such bad ideas for how to proceed? I am destroying energy intensive jobs is not a winning strategy.
No one is Hitler, but from the start Trump has been playing a modern American version of him on TV, in the manner of a scripted professional wrestling character. It works, it feeds a base, and as you know, Trump declared himself the de facto leader of the fascist movement. I don't care that it's a show. Given what his regime has achieved so far and, more importantly, given that they are promising you openly to steal the election by voter suppression, violent intimidation on the streets, and rigged courts, why do you want to see how much longer it takes before play-acting Hitler becomes more like the real thing? (Note: This is not a defense of Biden!)
I must have missed his declaration of being the de facto leader of the fascist movement. Can you please reply with the clip or text of when he said that. I missed it. Also must have missed the part where "they" are promising to openly steal the election and rigging the courts illegally. Who is "they" and can you forward us all the clips and text of when "they" said that? That would be helpful. And please don't send us the texts of "they" if "they" are Trumps opponents. Because "they" don't count. Only an actual statement by Trump declaring that he will lead the fascist movement will get me to believe it.
You are clearly living in a CNN MSNBC bubble. You need to get out of your bubble and start paying attention to what is really happening.
Asshole, I have not watched two minutes of either network in more than 10 years. What he said is, "proud Boys, stand back and stand by," thus at least affecting to be their leader. Which of course you know, and requires no clip. What his family and crew furthermore said is that armed fascists should show up at the polls to intimidate voters, which they call a "Trump Army," but everyone else in the world who isn't in a FOX or Q bubble understands fascism. It doesn't matter how many fat fucks follow this order, it's an order. What he also did is order lot of deskbound fat fucks from DHS etc., who are organized as paramilitary reserves (already by the prior right-wing governments of Obama, Bush, etc.) into the field to attack assembly by U.S. citizens. What he also did is repeatedly offer to use these forces in imposing martial law on American cities. And this is just the start. You're going to affect more ignorance, and pretend it's "anger" or some such because I'm speaking frankly about fucking fascists, so fuck off forever, you can write another sixteen moron comments here. All this you know, and you don't need no goddamn clips. Now fuck the fuck off.
«No one is Hitler, but from the start Trump has been playing a modern American version of him on TV, in the manner of a scripted professional wrestling character. It works, it feeds a base, and as you know, Trump declared himself the de facto leader of the fascist movement. [...] before play-acting Hitler becomes more like the real thing?»
The hallucinations induced by TDS are tiresome. Consider far worse things like McCarthysm or the extensive bipartisan support for mass murdering tyrants for decades in central and south America (and many other places), and then electoral boasts by GW Bush, BH Obama (and D Trump himself) as to making extensive use of death squads to abduct, torture, and eliminate hundreds or thousands of "enemies of the state" by executive decree. D Trump has been no more fascist than any post-WW2 president, and if anything he is the only recent president not to have started a major war of aggression.
To gain historical context, Alexis de Toqueville's famous "Democracy in America" book of 1834 has this quote (my usual):
«The first newspaper over which I cast my eyes, after my arrival in America, contained the following article:
"In all this affair, the language of Jackson has been that of a heartless despot, solely occupied with the preservation of his own authority. Ambition is his crime, and it will be his punishment too: intrigue is his native element, and intrigue will confound his tricks, and will deprive him of his power; he governs by means of corruption, and his immoral practices will redound to his shame and confusion. His conduct in the political arena has been that of a shameless and lawless gamester. He succeeded at the time, but the hour of retribution approaches, and he will be obliged to disgorge his winnings, to throw aside his false dice, and to end his days in some retirement where he may curse his madness at his leisure; for repentance is a virtue with which his heart is likely to remain for ever unacquainted."»
You are missing the point and not actually reading what I wrote. Especially if you project any kind of defense on the rest of those war criminals on me. None of them played Hitler on TV, which is Trump's main schtick and thus a whole new level of danger. I stand by it.
Agree with you here sabasarge. NEL needs to be ignored. His is filled with rage and hate and cannot control his temper. Very Orwellian type of person.
(Looks like my comment failed to post. If it's a double, sorry.) Orwell went to Spain to shoot at fascists, genius, he wasn't their spokesperson. Rather than affecting to be speaking for him, maybe you should learn to read English and correctly understand the meaning of what was written before wasting our time with a stupid reply.
"but dying on this hill in the service of another four years of a guy who is openly saying he wants to be a dictator is a choice that I'm having trouble understanding"
They're not in service of anybody but the truth.
If you've ever read anything by Taibbi, you'd know that story selection is one way the media expresses their biases. By choosing to focus on this stupid Hunter Biden story (which apparently even Tucker Carlson is backing away from: https://www.thedailybeast.com/tucker-carlson-suddenly-says-its-time-to-leave-hunter-biden-alone), Matt has decided it is worth caring about, which is what everyone pushing the story would like us to do.
But Taibbi isn't focusing on the Hunter Biden story here... he's focusing on the media reaction to the story.
Perhaps a refresher course on interpretation & analysis are in order for you good sir. Matt's words are not about caring or not caring about the story. It is about suppressing the story. I can read a story and determine whether I care about it or not. I have a brain. I just don't want stories suppressed so that I can't even make up my own mind.
But in the end, suppressing this story actually makes Biden look guilty in my opinion. Otherwise, why suppress it? If there is nothing to the story, then run with it and people will decide there is nothing there. I got the story anyway because I (unlike probably 80% of the people that read Matt) actually read CNN, MSNBC, Fox and multiple news sources so that I can see the BS that is actually being fed to us on a daily basis. Anyone that doesn't realize that both the news on the left and the right is basically propaganda is a buffoon.
Oh my, you actually believe you're completely immune to propaganda ? That explains quite a bit.
If it's so suppressed than how come everyone knows about it ?
I took Carlson's comments differently. I understood he believes Hunter Biden has demons that he needs to deal with and there is no good reason to pile anything on HB. Do you think Carlson believes this story is false?
"openly saying he wants to be a dictator"
Can you please provide an example? If it's openly stated I'm sure you can share a YouTube link to prove it? Surely.
Still don't get the irony? The cause is the overt press partisanship in the form of self-censorship which has led to these two reporters having to publish here as opposed to the NYT or Post. Russia, Russia, Russia! I would rather have 4 more years with the press crawling up Orangeman's arse daily than 4 years of an unchecked administration with reporters serving as an echo chamber for spooks.
What of the effects of bogus journalism?
Come on, man. Corn Pop has the car runnin'... out front at the hotel man. We got to... you know the thing.
I just fired off an email to Ms Reed. I suggest others do as well. Also lets encourage Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to resign. All the writers and journalists with Integrity as well. Its seems like Aaron Mate has been having the same problems as Glenn Greenwald
Well done. By sound of things here, The Intercept will be losing a fair amount of income as a result of this.
Anyone else notice that 'liberals' attack Glenn's sexuality when he stops towing the party line? That's not a group that respects you, but uses it as shameful ammo to get you to shut up. Glenn, if you're reading this, please stay strong and carry on. You're getting flak when you're over the target.
Yeah, how can anyone even pretending to be progressive take that tack? I'm not even sure that the NY Post itself would go after someone in this way in this day and age. Though I do admit to not being a regular reader of that outlet...
Disgusting!! I have such a problem that it seems that comments on sexuality are fine, but mention the two areas that are verboten and yup--its a problem. Infuriating!
Yeah, cancelling my subscription immediately. I was hesitant to read the detail, but to see how many of these mainstream fucking hacks are crawling all over this, it's plain to see that when they're flaunting this "Greenwald is throwing a tantrum" e-mail, what Matt says is plain to see - they've been warped by this trump-distortion field.
They can sit there and circle jerk all they want -it's not fooling the majority of this country though. They will see though... and their heads will probably explode on Nov 5th.
Cancelled my monthly donation. I didn't want them to fuck with my cancellation so I didn't mention a specific reason, although I'm guessing they'll get the clue if many people cancel. Regardless, just waiting for the confirmation and I'll fire another one telling them I'm out because they've become a joke.
Tbh I have to say I was getting annoyed by even their coverage lately. Greenwald walking out on them over this is, in my estimation, a good sign that I was right about them.
I just withdrew my recurring donation and subscription to the newsletter Indicating it was in solidarity with Greenwald. Agree, Poitras and Scahill should join Greenwald, tho that’s their business. Most important is not to support this morphed news service and support Greenwald wherever he chooses to go. He is a jewel.
the "writing" has been on the wall for some time, even for those plebs who merely followed TI from its early years. anyone who remains is well aware of the circumstances.
So depressing. I've been donating to the Intercept for 3 years now and just stopped today- my money is going to Greenwald's substack now. I'm a college professor and regularly used their articles in my classroom and would always tell my students it was a safe place to get their news. I'm not so sure anymore.
Better to tell your students to ALWAYS question and to ALWAYS follow the money and to ALWAYS ask themselves 'who benefits".
Very sad, I had focused so much on Greenwald, I didn't see the rot seeping into the rest of the Intercept. It's fine to oppose Trump and want an end to that regime, but, it's also a complete disaster when you allow that to infect even the pretense of some kind of objectivity.
The fact they had absolutely no criticisms of the factuality of his article is very telling.
Christ, you didnt read Risen? (shivers)
Risen has lost his mind...seriously
too right. talk about writing on the wall - that mf was 5' high letters in dayglo spray paint.
Indeed. I could hardly believe that invited that snake to the dinner table!
This is so critical. Thank you Matt. I wasn't shocked when Glenn resigned but I was by the asinine response of the editors and some of his peers (esp. Naomi Klein)
It is disappointing to see the current state of adversarial journalism. Thank God for the likes of you, Glenn, and the Grayzone.
(on that, be great to get your voices on the OPCW scandle!)
Hear Hear!!! agreed. Naomi Klein lost me a few years back. She almost at the Cancel Culture level. Sad because I have admired her work (No Logo especially), but over the years seeing her at various venues she has been pulled in by her hate of the right. So sad. Everyone needs to be heard, she is getting more orthodox--sad. Happens to the best of lefties!!
Yeah, I gave up on Klein for a reason most will consider odd, which was her reporting on the Scottish independence vote. It was not that she came down on the wrong side particularly, just obvious that she did not understand the complexities involved and had not spent time there.
Not understanding the complexities NEVER stops her from commenting. Her husband Avi Lewis (son of Canadian royalty) and her researchers fill in the gaps.
I just subscribed to Glenn's new substack account. I pay or three news sources now;, Matt, Glenn and the WSJ, but only for the WSJ Op Ed.
The main reason I subbed to the Intercept was because of GG's principles and now I subbed to his substack. Dropped NYT for MT; Dropped WaPo for Sirota; dropping Tampa Bay Times for Greenwald. Have only so much $ and it's going to Substack journalists looks like.
Same here for the most part. It’s an interesting development, isn’t it?
Fight the power!! You are what a librarian should aspire to be!
Lol St. Pete Times... I used to live there and read that rag for far too long.
I used to read both and when the Tampa Tribune folded all objectivity disappeared from what is now the TBT. They just echo the MSM now. Except they have good Tampa Bay Rays coverage, so I guess with Dodger win there isn't a reason to sub anymore.
I had a recent revelation that if I wanted any good data, I was going to have to pay for it (thank you Jaron Lanier). Hence, paying (the pittance) for Matt's work and those of a few others who have the ethics and courage to write things that aren't necessarily popular, but stick to facts. Critical thinking, kids--it's good for ya!
Lanier is great but his politics are, how should I say, not exactly of emancipation through solidarity. Evgeny Morozov wrote some great stuff in The Baffler 5-7 years ago (back when that publication was still really good) about separating tech criticism from politics is insufficient. Tech as currently constituted is power.
Quillette is also worth a look if you're interested in essays and opinions.
So true.
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."
I've posted that line many times over the past few years. These are the Orwellian years.