Tag: American News Media
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Our News Media Is A False Equivalence Factory
America’s news media is lost. Last night epitomized that fact. Joe Biden delivered a remarkable State Of The Union Address including the part where he swatted down repeated Republican heckling. Fact: both sides don’t do that – heckle a POTUS while they’re delivering the SOTU. Both sides don’t shout out “You lie!” during it. But,…
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In America, Rich White Guys Have A “Margin Of Error”
What can explain the fact that Donald Trump – a criminal’s criminal – walks around a free man after all the crimes he’s committed? America is built on “innocent until proven guilty” – but only in theory. Rich, white men certainly get the benefit of every conceivable doubt when it comes to assessing their innocence…
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Welcome To Propaganda’s Golden Age
Kellyanne Conway – of all people – nailed Trumpism’s biggest contribution to American culture (it’s what makes The Big Lie possible). In response to a question about whether Trump’s then press-secretary had lied to the press, she claimed (on Meet The Press, January 22, 2017) “You’re saying it’s a falsehood and Sean Spicer, our press…
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All Opinions Are NOT Created Equal
Everyone has an opinion. In America, we believe everyone has that right – to hold an opinion that’s uniquely theirs (no matter how goofy). It’s a wonderful thing! But just having an opinion doesn’t make that opinion correct. It’s entirely possible to hold an opinion completely formed by feelings with not an iota of fact…
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The “Out Of Tune” Sound Of Liars & Their Lying
People telling the truth sound one way. People who are lying sound another. Try as hard as they like, most liars give themselves away in real time. If the people hearing their lies know what to listen for? They’ll hear the confession for themselves. Experienced liars invest that “experience” into not looking like they’re lying.…
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The News Media’s Failure Of Imagination Is Killing Our Democracy
How long did it take the news media – a profession built in theory upon the collection of facts – to decide that a man who lied to them every single day was a liar? By lie number three, any reasonable person would have begun to see a pattern. By lie number ten, that pattern…
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The Truth Is Elections DON’T Matter – Not To Republicans
Ever notice how the news media loves to taunt Democrats? They don’t taunt Republicans the same way because Republicans won’t be taunted by people – the news media – they dismiss. Republicans are fact averse because facts don’t support most of what they want the way their feelings do. The Trumpification of the GOP didn’t…
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Q: In The Coming Election, What Is The “Republican Alternative”? A: There Isn’t One
Maybe if our news media didn’t insist on seeing EVERYTHING through a binary lens, we wouldn’t be in the deep trench we’re in where the alternatives are so stark. Per our news media, the world’s either “this way” or “that way”. The middle ground – a much desired thing called “bi-partisanship” – remains forever out…
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Do We Really Need To Connect ALL The Dots To Prove Trump Is A Traitor?
For the entirety of his presidency, our news media couldn’t fathom why Donald Trump seemed so unnaturally beholden to Vladimir Putin. I bet the actual number of times our press wondered aloud about Trump’s subservience is literally incalculable. Personally, I’m shocked most TV talking heads don’t have actual divots in their scalps from scratching their…