Solnit decries sanewashing Trump

[Kishkumen]

Here is a great interview with author Rebecca Solnit with Prospect. She discusses how the major media outlets do the country a great disservice by taking Trump's incoherent gibberish and massaging it to create the false appearance of balance in reporting. Great stuff.

https://youtu.be/H0ORWJ2RfkU?si=hRllnPYu4ek_IBDm

[dantana]

I know it's difficult to do but, technically, it's just not proper to blame stupid people for being stupid. Big ears, hairy knuckles, minimal neural connections - all the same platform. Blame the parents. Blame the grandparents. I don't know, blame the pre-existence where being valiant used to pay well.

It's not the stupid people who support Trump that need to have their knuts cut, it's the smart people. The manipulators. Jim Jordan, Lindsey Graham, Sean Hannity. Well... maybe not Sean. These guys know Trump's a cull but support him for their own selfish purposes. Cuss them.

[ceeboo]

Here is a great interview with author Rebecca Solnit with Prospect. She discusses how the major media outlets do the country a great disservice by taking Trump's incoherent gibberish and massaging it to create the false appearance of balance in reporting. Great stuff.

https://youtu.be/H0ORWJ2RfkU?si=hRllnPYu4ek_IBDm

Other than saying I could only watch for a few minutes; I have no words. Nothing.

On a different subject, I am glad that you made it through Helene safe and sound. Watching some of the news videos, it looks like there has been a TON of devastating damage in many places. Wow!

[Kishkumen]

I know it's difficult to do but, technically, it's just not proper to blame stupid people for being stupid. Big ears, hairy knuckles, minimal neural connections - all the same platform. Blame the parents. Blame the grandparents. I don't know, blame the pre-existence where being valiant used to pay well.

It's not the stupid people who support Trump that need to have their knuts cut, it's the smart people. The manipulators. Jim Jordan, Lindsey Graham, Sean Hannity. Well... maybe not Sean. These guys know Trump's a cull but support him for their own selfish purposes. Cuss them.

In this case, I think you have smart people blaming out so-called smart people for being idiots in the interest of making money and respectability. Much of the mainstream media has abandoned its duty to represent things as they are. If you listen to Trump rallies, the guy really is incoherent quite a bit, and yet what he says is "sane washed" to make it sound like he was just another candidate proposing political options. I agree that the corrupt manipulators should pay a steep price for lending whatever credibility they unfortunately have with some to the Trump authoritarian gambit.

[Kishkumen]

On a different subject, I am glad that you made it through Helene safe and sound. Watching some of the news videos, it looks like there has been a TON of devastating damage in many places. Wow!

Thanks, ceeboo! Yes, we really lucked out. I did see a pretty amazing tree casualty near my house this morning, but we have been truly fortunate.

[ceeboo]

Wow!

[Dr Exiled]

Here is a great interview with author Rebecca Solnit with Prospect. She discusses how the major media outlets do the country a great disservice by taking Trump's incoherent gibberish and massaging it to create the false appearance of balance in reporting. Great stuff.

https://youtu.be/H0ORWJ2RfkU?si=hRllnPYu4ek_IBDm

Other than saying I could only watch for a few minutes; I have no words. Nothing.

On a different subject, I am glad that you made it through Helene safe and sound. Watching some of the news videos, it looks like there has been a TON of devastating damage in many places. Wow!

I just finished the video. Ms. Solnit, a writer of books about feminism, the environment, and politics, chastised the corporate media for not being hard enough on Trump and would like to have seen more prosecutions against him for conduct she is sure happened. She believes the corporate media doesn't fact check Trump enough and would fire most of the political reporters at the NY Times. She did however say she doesn't look to corporate media for her news (because she doesn't trust it apparently). However, she is a columnist for the Guardian. Maybe her disdain for corporate media only goes so far. Anyway, I don't think you'd agree with much of what she says. She is another of the reality police that seems upset because people don't agree with her learned opinion.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I had never heard of this person before. I googled her name, read her Wikipedia profile, and then I clicked on the video which I turned it off about ten seconds into her talking points. I found the guy hosting the video and the woman speaking utterly mundane and a little aggravating.

I think I have a low tolerance for poor presentation, unstructured YouTube lectures, and the lack of graphical interface. I believe this is because I’ve realized over time just how little post-lecture information not only stays with me, but stays with others as well. I expect people who want eyeballs to understand basic ‘TedX’ish’ presentation not only because I’m only capable of average attention and information retention, but I want good information to be quickly digestible by viewers who they’re trying to persuade.

Whatever the case may be, I’m also sick to death of media AND consumers sanewashing content providers, entertainers, and public-facing officials. We’re absolutely in the Age of Manipulation (anyone get the reference?), and the only way is to not participate in that kind of relationship. But, people who may feel that way are just a drop in the ocean because, I suspect, life is hard or boring, and escapism is a nice diversion from everything. So. The insanity will continue.

- Doc

[honorentheos]

I tend to agree, Cam. The "discussion" at the link turned me off quickly as it didn't seem to be sharing information so much as a personal whine. That's fine if I'm out with a group and someone wants to vent about something bothering them. But it's not fine in an interview or presentation. I don't need to listen to someone go on for 15 minutes when the sentence, "I'm frustrated with media converting Trump's dribbling rants into coherent statements" makes the point.

Now I believe Josh Johnson made the same point as part of a comedy routine much more effectively and interestingly.

https://youtu.be/VJ64hXcNALI?t=800

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I tend to agree, Cam. The "discussion" at the link turned me off quickly as it didn't seem to be sharing information so much as a personal whine. That's fine if I'm out with a group and someone wants to vent about something bothering them. But it's not fine in an interview or presentation. I don't need to listen to someone go on for 15 minutes when the sentence, "I'm frustrated with media converting Trump's dribbling rants into coherent statements" makes the point.

Now I believe Josh Johnson made the same point as part of a comedy routine much more effectively and interestingly.

https://youtu.be/VJ64hXcNALI?t=800

Ha! That was awesome. How about this for driving home the point?



ETA: I ended up watching about 15 minutes of the video, and something Josh Johnson said stayed with me about Trump’s psychology and by extension his supporters’ mindset. When we laugh at them they feel empowered, but when you laugh at their words, they feel upset and angry. In other words, you take away their power because their ideas are so absurd as to merit laughter, not scorn! because they love that energy, but laughter because I think it confuses them. Their politics is about punching down and authority. When you laugh at their words they’re confronted with the truth you don’t respect their ideas to merit respectful engagement.