Vance admits to lying about Springfield

[Chap]

JD Vance admits he is willing to ‘create stories’ to get media attention
Republican vice-presidential candidate defends spreading false, racist claims demonizing Haitian immigrants

In a stunning admission, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, JD Vance, said he was willing “to create stories” on the campaign trail while defending his spreading false, racist rumors of pets being abducted and eaten in a town in his home state of Ohio.

Vance’s remarks came during an appearance on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, where he said he felt the need “to create stories so that the … media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people”.

Asked by the CNN host Dana Bash whether the false rumors centering on Springfield, Ohio, were “a story that you created”, Vance replied, “Yes!”

How very unexpected.

[honorentheos]

Buttigieg made an interesting observation after the debate that Trump and his campaign share bizarre conspiracy theories out of a strategy. The goal of the strategy? To distract the discourse away from the Trump presidency's record. Debating silly Facebook conspiracies is a low cost topic. So what if they end up being wrong? They are just sharing what folks had been saying. But what about the state of the economy at the end of Trump's presidency? The root causes of inflation? His trade policies and impacts of tariffs? His lack of an alternative to the Affordable Care Act then and unlikely ability to create one now despite saying he is working on one?

ETA: relevant link
https://youtu.be/fDkNe1K9IJI?si=G_08BDAuXmIFEtwC

[Jersey Girl]

They're stoking violence in Ohio. He and Vance keep setting fires, trying to make citizens think they're our only hope. Emotional and political arsonists is what they are. Absolutely despicable.

[Moksha]

Stoking hatred and resentment, while inflating national pride worked in Germany, Italy, and Japan. Republicans are keenly aware of this in their march to bring back "the good old days".

[Gadianton]

Buttigieg made an interesting observation after the debate that Trump and his campaign share bizarre conspiracy theories out of a strategy. The goal of the strategy? To distract the discourse away from the Trump presidency's record. Debating silly Facebook conspiracies is a low cost topic. So what if they end up being wrong? They are just sharing what folks had been saying. But what about the state of the economy at the end of Trump's presidency? The root causes of inflation? His trade policies and impacts of tariffs? His lack of an alternative to the Affordable Care Act then and unlikely ability to create one now despite saying he is working on one?

ETA: relevant link
https://youtu.be/fDkNe1K9IJI?si=G_08BDAuXmIFEtwC

I'm partially on board with this explanation, it's a diversion, but first of all, it's not a calculated one. To the extent that it works, it works for unintended reasons. Trump again is in the headlines for controversy. And his affair with Laura Loomer is the same thing. Loomer is an over-the-top racist so much that even the normalized MAGA racists are apologizing for her. But she's a net positive, not a negative, because it's keeping that spotlight running. I don't see Trump failing to talk economics as a bad. He doesn't need to articulate anything, he just needs to pump crypto and tax cuts, keeping the the hope for a Trump victory bull trap alive. Neither he nor Harris can fix inflation. Even on the side of sanity, we're settling for avoiding a dictatorship and accepting the status quo.

Aside from the spotlight, the big unintended benefit that I see is that it triggers the left into melting down about racism. Republicans are either racist themselves or it's just one of Trump's "warts" that they accept. But the left melting down about racism puts them in their weakest spot tactically, in my opinion, because it affirms them as the DEI party that doesn't know how to do anything else but worry about inclusion.

It would be an interesting experiment to try (although not practical) if we all could ignore the diversion and keep focus on Trump's criminality in regards to elections in particular, project 2025, and if you're going to point to Loomer, the racism is the lesser problem; it shows how easily Trump is bought with flattery, and completely unfit as a world leader surrounded by actual strongmen; Putin, Xi, Kim Jong.

[Doctor Steuss]

This article in the Atlantic by Christianity Today editor Russell Moore is poignant and well worth reading. Although I'm hesitant in being hopeful those who would benefit most from reading it will take the time to do so.

When we are willing to see children terrorized rather than stop telling lies about their families, we should step back, forget about our dogs and cats for a moment, and ask who abducted our consciences. That's especially true for those of us who, like me, claim to be followers of Jesus of Nazareth, who told us that on the Day of Judgement, "people will give account for every carless word they speak (Mt 12:36).

[Edit: I had forgotten that Atlantic puts things behind a pay-wall. They do offer a free trial if interested]
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/ar ... es/679886/

[Moksha]

Hopefully, Springfield can get back to normal someday. I wonder if Ohio learned a lesson from this.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Well well well…



- Doc

[huckelberry]

I stumbled into this short clip from Tucker Carlson explaining the cat eating business. It actually explains a lot. It also illustrates how Trump is able to lead the media around by the nose.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fkPpHdkL1Zc

[Some Schmo]

Trump and Vance, and by extension the entire GOP, are addicted to and subsumed by their lies. It's not strategy; it's pathology.