“I would like to be less controversial,” Donald Trump told Fox News anchor Bret Baier . “I find the press is extremely dishonest, and if I’m not combative, I don’t get my word across.” His remarks occurred during a contentious interview.
Zen Trump
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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“I find the press is extremely dishonest.”
Go on, tell me he’s wrong. Tell me that’s a lie.
Anyone who followed the LA Times cheerful crucifixion of Ted Rall’s reputation at the behest of the LAPD pension fund, go on, tell me I should believe a word the LA Times writes.
Anyone who sat there, stunned, when Abby Phillip knifed Bernie Sanders in the back with “in 2018 you told her that you did not believe that a woman could win the election. Why did you say that?” and who was even further gobsmacked when she not only remained employed at CNN but continued to advance, please, tell me that the press is extremely honest.
Most of the people in prison for really serious super-bad things? They’re there because the made one bad call. They drove instead of calling a cab. They took a swing at the guy instead of walking away. They simply couldn’t handle that McDonald’s had stopped serving breakfast at exactly 11. And so on. It seems draconian when it’s presented that way. But that’s how journalism is supposed to be: you fabricate one quote, you’re gone. You plagiarize deliberately? There’s no extenuating circumstance? You’re gone. Because that’s how it has to be. If you lie once in a news item, it just gets easier the next time. And in certain circumstances, such as the two outlined above, the deception, the violation of the precepts, is demonstrably systemic.
You’d have to be an idiot to believe the media anymore. (Sure, there are still a few reliable sources, but, invariably, they have small audiences, so their ability to influence or mediate the public discourse is minuscule.) Trump’s right. The press is dishonest, and you do have to be combative to be heard. Now, off to moderation.
Well said. I can’t speak to how people like Sanders get treated but the media has declared open war on Republicans since the 2000 election. People recognize that and Trump is popular because he tries to stand up to them, as coarse about it as he is
The media certainly is biased; many articles present only the half of the facts that support some agenda, but not the other half. The best way to get a fuller picture of these complicated issues is to listen to multiple, opposing sources.
Instances of actual lies are rarer. (No, lying is not actually rare enough, but at least it is rarer.) Some of the lies are directed at Trump but the majority of what is directed at Trump (or Biden, etc.) is the “the other half” of the facts. These are certainly combative and inconvenient, but mostly do not cross the line into dishonesty.
Yes, there are examples that do cross the line! But they are not close to a majority.
What an image–Trump in deep meditation….”’tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.” ….and the whole posse of misleading Dems and Repubs out there in the forest with him. Love it–thank you!