WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2023
We're looking for one forthright journalist: We're going to be rather brief today, for reasons we'll detail below.
That said, it's time for our (mainstream) journalists to drop their charade concerning one Donald J. Trump.
It's more and more clear, then more and more clear, that Trump is deeply disordered. It's more and more likely, then more and more likely, that he suffers from (technical term) "antisocial personality disorder."
That's the technical term within medical science for the closely related syndromes which may commonly be referred to as (nontechnical terms) sociopathy or psychopathy.
A citizen can google about and find many discussions of the syndrome now under review. For the Mayo Clinic, just click here. You'll find this overview:
Overview
Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to purposely make others angry or upset and manipulate or treat others harshly or with cruel indifference. They lack remorse or do not regret their behavior.
People with antisocial personality disorder often violate the law, becoming criminals. They may lie, behave violently or impulsively, and have problems with drug and alcohol use. They have difficulty consistently meeting responsibilities related to family, work or school.
With respect to the person in question, many accounts of this disorder say it may stem from a horrible upbringing, or from organic causes. At Wikipedia, the searcher will find this:
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a limited capacity for empathy as well as a difficulty sustaining long-term relationships. A long-term pattern of disregard or violation of the rights of others and a contemptuous or vindictive attitude are often apparent, as well as a history of rule-breaking that can sometimes include law-breaking, manipulation, compulsive lying for amusement or personal gain, a tendency towards chronic boredom and substance abuse, and impulsive and aggressive behavior. Antisocial behaviors often have their onset before the age of 8, and in nearly 80% of ASPD cases, the subject will develop their first symptoms by age 11.
[...]
Causes
Personality disorders are usually caused by a combination and interaction of genetic and environmental influences. Genetically, it is the intrinsic temperamental tendencies as determined by their genetically influenced physiology, and environmentally, it is the social and cultural experiences of a person in childhood and adolescence encompassing their family dynamics, peer influences, and social values. People with an antisocial or alcoholic parent are considered to be at higher risk...The condition is more common in males than females and among incarcerated populations.
According to the clinical psychologist Mary Trump, Donald Trump grew up with one parent who was an outright sociopath. He may also have been unlucky enough to have some genetic influences.
The time has come for one forthright journalist to discuss this apparent state of affairs. The psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee attempted to do so. She ended up with a best-selling book, but then lost her job at Yale.
The material to which we refer is part of 20th century medical science. Presumably, major mainstream journalists discuss this situation in private. The modern Diogenes will seek the one forthright journalist who will raise these blindingly obvious points right out in the public square.
Does Ruth Marcus believe in 20th century science? How about E. J. Dionne?
Has Rachel heard such terms bandied around? Why hasn't she spoken up?
The conversations you're seeing today are deeply, profoundly nonrational. That's true of persons like Kevin McCarthy, but it's also true of endless gangs of "our favorite reporters and friends."
Donald J. Trump seems to be "mentally ill," but no one wants to lose his or her job. Is that why no one will say it?
"Th[is] is no country for old men?" It was Yeats who said it first, then Cormac McCarthy came along.
In his once-famous poem, Yeats found himself "fastened to a dying animal." All Americans are fastened today to a thoroughly nonrational discourse, fashioned by all manner of politicians and journalists who most prize their own jobs.
Any one of those people could speak. Almost surely, no one will. That includes the entire population of "our favorite reporters and friends."
They're selling you an engaging tale. We're looking for one forthright journalist.
I'm really hoping that we can use this as an opportunity to look at some alternative presidential candidates like Robert F Kennedy Jr or Marianne Williamson.
ReplyDeleteOr somebody else you desperately want to play spoiler for Trump one logically supposes. Why don’t you stop being coy snd throw in Ye?
DeleteAnyone who isn't too old to be called a Baby Boomer would be nice.
Delete8:58,
DeleteDylan Mulvaney?
Draft Ye!
DeleteGavin Newsom is sounding good to me. He put Hannity in his place, recognizes Biden's accomplishments, would bury DeSantis, and I like what he's done in CA. RFK is a joke beside someone like Newsom who has actually governed instead of being an anti-vaccine kook.
DeleteCalifornia is badly governed. We have pretty near the highest state income tax and sales tax. Property taxes are very high in $ because houses cost to much. Nevertheless, we have mediocre schools and poor highways. Utilities are so expensive that ordinary middle class people can't really afford to live here.
DeleteOne wonders why David still lives there.
DeleteCA was formerly badly governed, to some extent, Pete Wilson was horrible, for example, a straight up racist.
DeleteCA is the 5th largest economy in the world, the US is #1 in large part due to CA, it is the most significant state by a mile.
Without CA the US would be a much less powerful country.
CA income tax is about the same as most states for average incomes, it does have higher top marginal rates but that’s due to CA having more high income earners; to misunderstand this is to misunderstand how marginal tax rate systems work.
CA property tax is one of the lowest in the nation.
CA offsets its low property tax by having high sales tax, but when you factor in local sales tax in other states, CA is actually about average for overall sales tax.
When you disaggregate students who are not from low income families, CA ranks 5th in the nation for K-12 education. So CA does pretty well in that arena.
Furthermore CA is home to the best state university system; UC Berkeley and UCLA are two of the best schools in the world.
One of the things that trigger right wingers about CA is that it has one of the highest rates for Black home ownership.
CA has recently started improving its aging infrastructure, but this is something the whole country suffers from, as well as a shrinking middle class, due to neoliberal policies dating back to, ironically, Reagan.
It’s Reagan and the Republicans’ policies that have been running our country into the ground.
"houses cost to (sic) much"
DeleteDavid, the law of supply and demand in a Capitalist country, say "Hello".
Gavin Newsom is much better than Biden. Seeing as how he isn't in his eighties and all.
DeletePersonality disorders are not considered to be mental illness. They are dysfunctional long-standing ways of relating to the environment that arise from personality. Mental illnesses are conditions like schizophrenia or major depression or bipolar disorder. Further, Trump will not be able to plead insanity because he has knowledge of right and wrong and the ability to conform his actions to that. He would not be deemed unable to cooperate in his own defense by a forensic psychologist. He would not be able to meet the legal criteria for insanity.
ReplyDeleteSomerby should know this and yet he keeps advancing this idea about Trump being mentally ill. Even Bandy Lee has said that Trump is not mentally ill by psychiatric diagnostic criteria, and in fact, cannot be diagnosed from a distance. But Somerby keeps insisting that journalists violate the ethics of their profession by calling him that.
What forthright journalist wants to lose his job over Trump? You hear crickets over that because journalists are not crazy. Ask yourself -- why is Somerby unwilling to call Trump what he clearly is -- a crook who needs to go to jail for his crimes.
Anonymouse 9:31am:
DeletePersonality disorders are not considered to be mental illnesses, therefore Trump would still be culpable for his actions.
Ok.
A mental illness would not automatically render anyone in culpable of a crime.
Ok.
However, mental illnesses or personality disorders can certainly be conditions that impair and disqualify people from certain key roles. Such as the leader of the free world?
Bob wants to have that conversation and your ridiculous reaction is to invariably argue that he’s trying to get Trump off the hook both politically and legally.
No, Cecelia, not an accurate summary of what was said.
Delete1. Personality disorders are not considered to be mental illnesses, but that is NOT why Trump is still culpable for his actions. Your "therefore" does not follow from what I said. Personality disorders are not mental illnesses because they are innate and inherent in someone's behavior, long term perhaps from birth, not curable and resistant to change. They do not have a medical or organic cause like an "illness" does either, whereas schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and similar illnesses do. Personality disorders concern the organization of a person's identity from their earliest behavior, their temperament, their habitual way of responding.
2. Whether a mental illness or personality disorder is disqualifying is up to the voters to decide. Trump did not win the popular vote, but he did manage, with the help of Russia, to work the system to put himself into office. THAT should be what Somerby discusses (he never has), not Trump's personality.
Somerby has never called Trump disabled or unfit for office or discussed the evidence to support such a claim. If he were serious about disqualifying Trump, he should be discussing Trump's unfitness with Republicans, not over here where no one voted for him, not claiming the left-wing media should be saying it.
The argument about Somerby's defense of Trump doesn't come from calling him mentally ill, but from his sentences after that, where he says Trump is to be pitied, that he shouldn't be locked up, that it is bad for the country to impeach someone who was duly elected because it denies those voters their votes, and similar stuff.
We were all saying that Trump was crazy before he became the Republican nominee. None of us liberals voted for him. None of us have been condoning what he has done, especially not the illegal stuff. We are happy when he is being held accountable under the law. Like other sociopaths, Trump has committed crimes. There are also sociopaths who don't do that and it is within Trump's power to NOT commit crimes, so he has no legal defense of insanity. Somerby is the one who thinks we need to talk about whether Trump is responsible or not, as if that were anything untrained people without a background in psychiatry or clinical psychology could do -- they don't have the background to discuss it competently. Such a conversation would be a waste of time and the net effect would be to create a smokescreen that makes it easier to argue that Trump should be let off. I think it is understandable that WE don't want to have that discussion. You need to answer why a supposed liberal would be so in favor of a discussion that would only benefit Trump by swaying public opinion in his favor or encouraging compassion for him?
I appreciate that you are trying to understand this.
That conversation was had early and often. Bob mostly pretended it wasn’t or pretended he did didn’t notice. He circles back to mental illness when the rest of his excuses for Trump and his voters are exhausted.
DeleteCecelia voted for Trump and will vote for him again.
DeletePsychiatric lingo adds nothing to what we know about Trump. We have seen him in action, for better and for worse. Many of his policies were effective. His personal behavior was abominable. If he's re-elected, well see more of the same.
DeleteEffective policies, like his covid response? His looting of natural resources? His tax cuts for the wealthy? His courting of dictators. His separation of immigrant children who were put in cages? Are you having a laugh?
Delete@5:27 -- Low inflation, booming economy (before covid), record low number of illegal immigrants, no new wars, Russia kept in check
DeleteYes, and what happened to the economy after covid? Trump owns that too. No new wars? What about Syria? Russia was not kept in check -- Putin kept America in check by manipulating Trump.
DeleteHere is what the Migration Policy Institute says about Trump's impact on immigration:
"President Donald Trump has had a singular focus on restricting immigration, and his administration has issued more than 400 executive actions that have reshaped the U.S. immigration system. Yet for all its efforts, the administration’s success in actually reducing the number of legal immigrants admitted to the United States has been notably limited. The overall number of admissions—both on a permanent and temporary basis—declined only somewhat during most of the Trump years, remaining largely in line with broader trends that predated it. This changed with the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought about a dramatic reduction in immigration unlike anything seen in years."
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/trump-effect-immigration-reality
You need to look at actual stats and not accept self-serving statements by Republicans (aka disinformation).
Here is what the same source says about Biden and immigration:
Delete"On his first day in office, President Joe Biden announced sweeping plans to reform decades-old U.S. immigration laws, undo many of the restrictive policies of the predecessor Trump administration, and provide a pathway to legal status for the nation’s estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants. Two years later, few of those ambitions have been realized and the administration presents an image of one struggling to find its footing on immigration. Despite the slim Democratic majority in both houses of Congress during the president’s first two years, lawmakers remained paralyzed on immigration and did not advance the Biden agenda. Meanwhile, Republican state officials successfully used the courts to halt many of the administration’s executive efforts.
However, the Biden administration, like the predecessor Trump and Obama presidencies, has relied on the toolbox of executive actions to implement its priorities and transform key elements of the sprawling immigration system. In fact, midway through its term, the Biden administration has far outstripped the pace of executive actions taken during the Trump administration, which was perceived as the most activist yet on immigration. From January 20, 2021 through January 19, 2023, the Biden administration took 403 immigration-related actions, according to calculations by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), putting it on track to soon overtake the 472 immigration-related executive actions MPI counted for all four years of the Trump administration.
While some executive actions have been stalled by the courts, Biden’s measures have nonetheless affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including many seeking protection. Among these changes were more targeted interior enforcement; regulations to fortify the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides work permits and protection from deportation to unauthorized immigrants who arrived as minors; expanding humanitarian protection through Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and other programs; and unblocking legal immigration channels that had been chilled by the pandemic.
Yet the daunting challenges at the U.S. southern border, which is seeing record levels of migrant encounters by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), have overshadowed actions elsewhere in the immigration realm. Federal officials and border communities have been overwhelmed, and the perception of a chaotic border has been used as a political cudgel, including through the publicized busing of asylum seekers and other migrants to New York, Washington, DC, and other cities. In fiscal year (FY) 2022, authorities recorded 2.4 million encounters of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization, the most ever. The Biden administration’s attempts to end two hallmark Trump border policies—the Migrant Protection Protocols (informally known as Remain in Mexico) and Title 42 expulsions, which prevent access to asylum—have been stalled by the courts, only muddying the waters at the southern border.
Ironically, this border surge may have been partly prompted by the administration’s actions elsewhere to shield immigrants from deportation and provide humanitarian protections, as migrants expected a warm welcome in the United States after four years of Trump. Biden’s ambitious immigration agenda, therefore, may have contributed to one of his most vexing policy challenges. This article assesses the Biden administration’s major immigration actions during its first two years in office, concentrating on interior enforcement, legal immigration, humanitarian protection, and border enforcement."
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/biden-two-years-immigration-record
The inflation and economy were already on a trend that kept going after Trump became president, so Trump did not create those conditions, just didn’t do enough bad things to undo the trend.
DeleteThat is until Trump disastrously failed to respond at all to Covid, which then tanked our economy. That’s all on Trump.
Policy-wise Trump is the least effective president in modern times.
It is true that under Trump, Putin flourished (largely because Trump was his puppet), while under Biden, Putin is getting his ass handed to him.
David,
DeleteAlthough you could argue Trump is as big a piece of shit as Reagan as a human, there is no doubt Reagan is worse than Trump as far as being President goes. Reagan is, by far, the worst President the United States of America has ever had. I don't believe anyone could rationally argue otherwise.
@6:35 Trump did not restrict immigration. On the contrary, he encouraged a million legal immigrants a year. He talked. about raising the number of legal immigrants
DeleteTo say that fighting against illegal immigration is "restricting immigration" is like saying that fighting against bank robberies is "restricting bank account withdrawals."
@7:41, I shouldn't take the bait. Reagan had two extraordinary accomplishments. He defeated the Soviet Union while avoiding nuclear war. His policies created an economic expansion that lasted for many years.
DeleteGorbachev ended the cold war, Reagan was too stupid to take yes for an answer.
DeleteReagan also committed treason just to get elected and ended up committing treason again by selling missiles to our sworn enemy.
President Clinton's economic record beat Reagan's.
Bob is throwing all his stale eggs into the insanity defense basket. Nice he has discovered Mary Trump after YEARS of insisting
ReplyDeleteno one has talked about Trump’s mental case. In addition to decades of insisting it was dirty pool for journos to go there.
“Commander and Cheat” by the way, is indirectly one of the best books on Trump as nutcase, and O”Donnell plugged the hell out of it on his show. But the book ALSO takes a look at the people who make his behavior possible.
It doesn't make any difference what Trump's personality disorder is. Many other people in politics are similarly disordered. It is not a defense. It is not even an explanation. It is irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteAdvancing it as Somerby has done today is like the folks who offered the Twinkie defense. They should have been ashamed of themselves. It is worse because of the context -- Trump jeopardized the national security of our nation and placed people's lives in danger (agents operating covertly). It is worse, not better, if Trump did that unknowingly. Either way it demonstrates his unfitness for the presidency, past and present.
The only question is whether Somerby understands this and still knowingly argued that Trump should be treated as a mentally ill person (because what else would be the point of discussing his disorders), or whether Somerby is a huge idiot. I am not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, after he made similar arguments in defense of Roy Moore. YMMV. But clearly this is as lame as the other Trump defenses, such as that he has the right to do what he did in violation of law because he is God, the real president still, or he declassified the docs using his mind (even if they are still US property and not his).
Somerby is no liberal. Neither is Mary Trump.
I would argue there are not too many people affected in public life as Trump is. When Ted Cruz was caught slinking off to Cancun, he was shamed into coming back. Trump seems to know no shame, to possess no conscience.
DeleteEven if this is true, what does it matter? People knew what he was and they elected him anyway.
DeleteHow is Bob excusing Trump?
DeleteHow also did Bob ever excuse Moore? All he said was that the accusations against him had been overdone — such as he was not a pedophile and that not every woman had accused him of assault.
You have answered your own question.
DeleteWhere is Mao? He disappeared after the Dems won the midterms, but his past comments have been changed from his nym to anonymous:
ReplyDelete"
AnonymousJuly 30, 2022 at 10:48 AM
Oh dear. Some brain-dead dembots produced some idiotic drivel for some rank&file brain-dead dembot consumption. Stop the presses!
...meanwhile, your tribal chiefs, dear Bob, apparently unsatisfied with their nuclear brinkmanship vis-a-vis the Russian Federation, decided to escalate by provoking the People's Republic of China. Nice.
Alas, November is getting less and less likely, dear Bob.
...do the future anthropologists living in caves inside your head say anything? Do you hear their voices, or did they suddenly turn silent inside your head?"
How does someone do that? I cannot figure out how to do it with even my comments posted under a blogspot account. Does anyone know how?
If this is something Somerby would be able to do, why would he do it for Mao? And if blogspot took him down for bad behavior, why would they change his preexisting comments to Anonymous? Very odd.
Mao is dead. Long live Mao. I suspect his Russian paymaster ran out of cash.
Delete"He may also have been unlucky enough to have some genetic influences."
ReplyDeleteRFK Jr.'s got nothing on Somerby.
TDH keeps flogging this theory, that Trump is mentally ill. If only Ruth Marcus or E.J Dionne would follow up in this, apparently something positive would be the result; maybe his legion of adorers would then realize Trump is a nut and turn to someone else (like any of the numerous republicans challenging him for the nomination, although maybe they all suffer from the same or some other disorder). TDH is off-base on a number of levels. He's not a professional shrink. He is giving a layman's diagnosis. Mary Trump and Bandy Lee are hardly impeccable or conclusive sources. Mary sued Trump, unsuccessfully, claiming he (or other family members) cheated her out of an inheritance. She's presumably biased. Her views are not the equivalent of incontrovertible fact. The same goes for Dr. Lee. HThe reason for her dismissal from her unpaid position at Yale is not that simple. TDH should perhaps look into it. Humorously perhaps, it seems that what broke the straw on the camel's back was her published assertion that Alan Dershowitz was a psychopath (not all would disagree) leading that noted professor to complain to the school. Bandy's lawsuit over her dismissal was dismissed by a Federal Court judge (TDH should read the decision), though it's on appeal (where she'll probably lose). Anti-social personality disorder is not a disease that can be diagnosed by physical tests, like cancer or covid or a broken bone. Psychiatrists don't always agree on diagnoses. TDH has never interacted with Trump personally; his diagnosis is on that basis quite shallow. In fact, there is a Netflix documentary with several shrinks all claiming Trump has some anti-social disorder - what effect has that had? TDH seems to have missed it. I could go on but you (though evidently not TDH) get my point (which others, including TDH's obsessive critics, have also made to one degree or another, so I agree with them on this one).
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that Bob considers mental illness in a charismatic leader to be a particular danger, and not in a way that renders the followers inculpable. We were able to call Hitler charismatic and crazy without absolving anyone of anything.
DeleteBob sees Trump as particularly disordered and is interested in exploring what got the country to where we are in a fashion that isn’t political polemics and narrative crafted for a specific tribe.
That has been his focus for years. I don’t know why you’d be surprised.
Hitler’s followers were like Trump’s in the day. It is only now that there is lack of absolution. Hitler was on Time Magazine!
DeleteYou say that Somerby wants to explore this stuff, then why doesn’t he do it? And why is it you claiming this and not Somerby himself?
There has been a lot of analysis of why people follow Trump when he is disordered. Somerby addresses none of it. He only blames the left for invented nonsense. That makes the sincerity of your claim about his motives questionable.
Being on the cover of Time didn’t mean he was a nice guy. It meant he was in the news.
Deleteanon 5:20, a small thing - she said it was her "guess." She wasn't "claiming" anything.
DeleteThere was a faction in America that followed Hitler the way people now follow Trump. You can quibble over trivialities but that was the case. There was also an American Nazi Party with widespread support among businessmen and the upper classes before we entered the war supporting the Allies. His picture was not on Time Magazine for invading Poland -- the timing was wrong for that. You can find the issue and go read what they said about him, if you want.
DeleteWe “entered the war” after Japan attacked us and Germany and Italy declared war on us.
DeleteAnonymices, you affirm my opinion that anonymices don’t actually read the blog, they do opposition research.
DeleteI knew the Hitler analogy would be overstated in Bob’s case, but would strike a chord with you. It would give you some recognition of the national analysis Bob thinks the media (his focus) the intelligentsia, our “sachems”, should engage in.
It isn’t that difficult and preposterous a concern now, is it.
Bob may want a more bipartisan focus than anonynomices, but if I can take it, so can you.
Unresolved childhood trauma, emerging from a knife’s edge existence, is likely our society’s largest problem, yet Somerby can’t be bothered with this issue.
DeleteSomerby would rather attempt to externalize blame to the victims.
As Dr Bandy Lee has said, the underlying condition of right wingers keeps them stuck in survivor mode such that reasonable persuasion has no impact. Trump can do any evil under the sun or moon, his cult will still support him.
Somerby and his fanboys are all on the spectrum of the Right, their comments are irrelevant as they are merely an expression of their tragically wounded and lost souls.
Cecelia spoke of national analysis. Did she mean rational analysis? This is the kind of error we expect from a male chimpanzee.
Delete“Mental illness in a charismatic leader”
DeleteBut the Republican Party and right wing media are deliberately feeding the paranoia, and this predates Trump. Trump cannot act in a vacuum, and his lies and what Somerby calls “delusions” are fleshed out and relentlessly promoted by a significant faction within the Republican Party and by right wing media. We know that Fox personalities knew the notion of the stolen election was a lie. Many of the people supporting Trump’s “delusions/lies” are fully aware that they are delusions/lies. If it works for them, and for Trump, why wouldn’t they be considered calculating, rather than delusional? The spreading of delusion to attain power is not a sign of mental illness.
mh, why would you think that Somerby disagrees with the majority of your assessments simply because he wants to talk about how things got so whacked that we elected a guy that Bob calls a highly disordered sociopath?
DeleteWhy would you think THAT assessment is exculpatory of anyone?
Why must you denigrate members of your own party who enjoy Bob’s commentary?
Why does it never occur to you that you’re a walking representation and victim of the sort of extreme polarization that this blog explores?
.
This blog doesn’t explore anything. It blames and name-calls liberals and journalists without evidence. It isn’t something to “enjoy” but should be informative, but it isn’t.
DeleteAnonymouse 7:39pm, and you’re an organ grinder.
DeleteAnd you don’t know the difference between a monkey and a chimp.
DeleteAnonymouse 10:46pm, but I know you’re an organ grinder.
DeleteSee, this is why you have no friends here.
DeleteDemocrats also have fleshed out “delusions” relentlessly promoted by a significant factions within the the Party and ALL MAJOR media. Tons of them. Remember Russia was paying for bounties in Afghanistan? Remember it was racist to suggest the virus came from a lab? Remember how the Trump campaign was colluding with Russia?
DeleteYou idiots believed all that and it was promoted by the most powerful institutions we have. Was it calculating or delusional? That was propaganda foisted on toadies. Always was.
11:10,
DeleteKeep it going:
Saddam had WMDs.
CRT is taught in elementary schools.
Banning abortions is "Liberty".
501(c) political groups are "concerned parents".
Republican voters are "economically anxious" (or know anything at all about economics).
Biden didn't win the 2020 Presidential election in a landslide.
There is a Republican voter who isn't a bigot.
The GOP isn't an amoral dumpster fire.
There are lots of delusions out there. Try not to get caught up believing them.
Once the media made the collective decision to disappear the open bigotry of Republican voters as the reason Trump was elected President in 2016, stories like Russiagate were inevitable.
DeleteYes, both sides foist propaganda on their toadies. Both side's toadies believe it. That's why it's idiotic to bring it up as something afflicting only one of the two parties.
DeleteBut you're right - not to getting caught up believing them is the name of the game.
Can Capitalism work without propaganda? I don't see how?
DeleteThat's why it's idiotic to bring it up as something afflicting only one of the two parties.
Delete11:27
DeleteRussiagate accusations came long before he was elected. The Clinton campaign made them up and then fed them to the media and the FBI as we all now know. This story was based on information provided to the reporter from the Clinton campaign that the Clinton campaign knew was completely and totally false.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html
But ..... racism!!
Delete7:20
DeleteJust give John Durham a few more years, I'm sure he'll be able to prove some of that bullshit you're spewing. LOL
It is proven you stupid sheep.
DeleteI get that the poor little sweet baby doesn't want it to be true. Poor little thing.
Deletehttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-durham-investigation-robby-mook/
DeleteI'm sorry you have this sick problem with girls, 7:43. Really, you shouldn't be afraid of them. They won't laugh at your little weewee.
Delete7;20,
DeleteRussiagate came from the corporate-owned, Right-wing media.
It also came after the media was laughed out of the room for pretending Trump voters were "economically anxious" (can you imagine?). The media had been (still is) afraid to cop to the fact that Republican voters were turned-on by Trump's bigotry, and THAT was the reason Trump won the 2016 Presidential election. That was pretty much proven when Republican voters threw a childish temper tantrum on January 6, 2021, just because black peoples votes were counted in the 2020 Presidential election.
Nice try with the Hillary bullshit, but, alas, I was paying attention.
I'm willing to bet 7:20 really believed what he was typing about Hillary Clinton.
DeleteRemember, they blamed her for deaths at Benghazi, that were caused by the Republican Congress reducing security funding at foreign outposts, who did so to punish Barack Obama for winning the 2008 Presidential election*.
* while black.
Of course you totally avoid the substance of the Clinton campaign feeding the story to the FBI and Slate by flooding the zone with bullshit.
DeleteYou cannot change the truth of the matter. The Clinton campaign made up a story about Trump and Russia in July of 2016 and took it to the media and the FBI knowing it was completely false. They were trying to Swift boat him. This was the week immediately after he got the nomination and Clinton got her nomination.
DeleteYou're stupidly trying to deny it which is impossible. What's so bad about it anyway? They were trying to win. Politics is a dirty game and they were playing dirty to win. Isn't that what you want?
Why do you cover up the Clinton campaigns enormous missteps and mistakes? Maybe you really are just propagandaized.
Delete8:30,
DeleteIt could be worse. They could have actually bought the media's story that Republican voters were economically anxious. At least there is a Russia.
What was the name of the poster on TDH, who left to find the Republican voter who cares about something other than bigotry and white supremacy? I wonder if he's finally given-up on that impossible task.
Delete8:30, I realize that you don't give two shits that the Russian Government and Vlad, Trump's buddy, attacked Hillary Clinton's campaign, hacked the campaign and the DNC and laundered the unverified emails through Wikileaks. But I care. As I said, just give John Durham a few more years and he'll prove your hallucinations. Is Hillary in the room with you now?
DeleteThe issue isn't Russia's interference into the election, it is the Clinton campaign's election interference by planting false stories in the press. Nice try changing the subject. Sorry you can't cop to them getting caught.
DeleteWho fired Paul Manafort, asshole?
DeleteWhy is that relevant?
DeleteYou can't be real about shit if it conflicts with a narrative. You're weak.
DeleteThe issue is that the corporate-owned Right-wing media pretended to try to figure out how Trump won the 2016 Presidential election, and that it could have been anything in the Universe, except that Republican voters were turned-on by Trump's bigotry.
DeleteAsk the media how sun spots helped Trump win the election. I'm sure they'll tell you how.
You'll be happier when you start being real about shit in your life.
DeleteThe media: We don't know how Trump won the 2016 Presidential election. It could have been literally any reason in the world.
DeleteThose paying attention: Could it have been that Republican voters were turned-on by Trump's bigotry during the campaign.
The Media: Correction. We don't know how Trump won the 2016 Presidential election. It could have been literally any reason in the world, except that one.
John Durham spent 4 years trying to prove what you claim, and did a beautiful face plant. But who needs evidence when you have a great myth to attack a women you hate.
DeleteGreat news for Republican voters.
DeleteHillary Clinton has been charged with all the crimes she committed.
11:31 PM,
DeleteAnd right on cue, 7:20 AM shows-up to prove your point.
No need for Durham to prove anything. Clinton's campaign manager admitted it. And Durham showed the emails. There's no debate about it.
DeleteSo you're claiming Clinton lied to the FBI? That's a crime, when will the indictments be coming?
DeleteIt wasn't found to be a crime.
DeleteI'm not claiming it. Her campaign manager admitted it.
DeleteYou can't be real about it? Why? What are you afraid of?
Lying to the FBI is a crime, asshole.
Deletelt's good to at least stop denying it happened. That only makes you look ignorant because there's no debate it happened. Obama was briefed about the Clinton campaign's intention to tie Trump to Russia in the summer of 2016.
DeleteLying to the FBI is a felony. A bunch of Trump folks were charged and found / pled guilty to lying to the FBI about meeting with Russians*. Then Trump pardoned them for their crimes.
Delete*Trump, if you're listening, can you give us an explanation why?
The whole Russiagate story is about burying the bigotry of Republican voters.
DeleteFunny thing is, the media doesn't think they'll be on the list after blacks, Jews, gays, minorities, trans, etc.
They are so clueless.
That's hilarious, the conspiracy keeps getting bigger and bigger. You ought to write this all down and sell a book for posterity. Obama was "briefed", eh. Bwahahaha!!! Did Fox NOOZ tell you that?
DeleteJoe Biden told me
Deletehttps://www.cnn.com/2017/01/12/politics/joe-biden-donald-trump-intelligence-report/index.html
You'll have a much better life when you start to be real about shit.
10:34,
DeleteThat link says Obama and Biden were briefed about the intelligence report in January of 2017.
Some conspiracy that goes back to before the 2016 election that turned-out to be.
Would you like to try again?
10:34,
DeletePro-tip: Read linked articles before you post them.
10:34,
DeleteDid you read about the Trump/ Russia intelligence report after the 2016 election? If so, does that mean you were in on the conspiracy, too?
Yes that was my mistake - that was Biden explaining his briefing on the Steele Dossier, the 'intelligence report' paid for by the Clinton campaign in 2016 that falsely linked Trump to Russia.
DeleteIt doesn't mention the finding from Durham that Obama was briefed on the Clinton campaigns intention to link Trump to Russia before the election. I can get you the exact quote from the report if you would like.
I know the reality of what the Clinton campaign did is hard for you to deal with. I don't exactly understand why.
Delete11:16,
DeleteSure. Provide the link.
If it's in the Durham Report, I'll know it's real. Like CRT being taught in grammar schools.
A lot of lies about Hillary Clinton have been promulgated by the Reich Wing over the past 25-30 years, many of which have been documented right here on this blog. Like you're doing now in your demented defense of Donald J Chickenshit.
DeleteYou should read the whole thing! Page 86:
DeleteThe Office also considered as part of its investigation the government's handling of
certain intelligence that it received during the summer of 2016. That intelligence concerned the
purported "approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her foreign
policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the
Russian security services." 391 We refer to that intelligence hereafter as the "Clinton Plan
intelligence.'' DNI John Ratcliffe declassified the following information about the Clinton Plan
intelligence in September 2020 and conveyed it to the Senate Judiciary Committee:
• In late July 2016, U.S. intelligence agencies obtained insight into Russian intelligence
analysis alleging that U.S Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had approved a
campaign plan to stir up a scandal against U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump by
tying him to Putin and the Russians' hacking of the Democratic National Committee.
The IC does not know the accuracy of this allegation or the extent to which the Russian
intelligence analysis may reflect exaggeration or fabrication.
• According to his handwritten notes, CIA Director Brennan subsequently briefed
President Obama and other senior national security officials on the intelligence, including
the "alleged approval by Hillary Clinton on July 26, 2016 of a proposal from one of her
foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming
interference by Russian security services."
I guess you think Durham is a racist that made that up. ;)
11:38 It's not a defense of Trump. It just being real about the truth. You should try it! You won't die! (Well, your ego maybe.)
DeleteBecause Trump is bad doesn't automatically mean the Clinton campaign is not immoral.
DeleteThank you for the link of the Durham Report, which alleges Hillary Clinton approved of a plan of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services.
DeleteThose allegations are damning, even if there is no actual proof behind them.
It'd be easier, if Hillary Clinton would just publicly confess to her crimes, like Trump does. I hope Durham investigates why she won't.
11:39,
DeleteDoes the Durham Report allegedly purport that Hillary Clinton approved of a plan of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services, or does it purportedly allege Hillary Clinton approved of a plan of a proposal from one of her foreign policy advisors to vilify Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian security services?
It's hard to tell from the piece you posted.
Hope you can clarify.
Thanks in advance.
The proof that Hillary Clinton was behind the Russiagate story is right there in the allegations about it in the Durham Report. Those allegations are all the proof one needs.
DeleteI am not a crank.
It's alleged that purportedly all Republican voters are goat-fuckers.
DeleteThat's all the proof i need. I'm not sure why you people can't live in the real world, where all Republican voters have been found to fuck goats.
It must be the tribalism.
And then Donald and Eric and Junior and Ivanka all lived happily ever after. Tell us another fairy tale, Mr. Durham.
DeleteIt's not Durham making things up - he shows us all the emails and we have the articles written with the false information written by Slate etc. And we have the Steele dossier etc. The Clinton campaign is caught. The cat is out of the bag. There's no two ways about it.
DeleteOne can act like a jackass - your tactic to avoid the reality of it - or do whatever. It's awkward for everyone to admit it. That's what makes it fascinating.
You're a really ignorant jackass though!!
Purportedly, it's alleged that Durham could have proven everything in a court of law, but Hillary's superior intellect and clinical persuasion techniques convinced him to put out some milquetoast report with a bunch of allegations and no actual proof instead.
DeleteThere oughta be a law, i tell ya.
Did you read it?
DeleteAnswer: No. No, you didn't.
Are you talking out of your ass?
Answer: Yes. Yes clearly you are a jackass talking out of your ass.
I guess you're ok acting like a fool. Why is that? You would rather act like a fool and play a jackass than admit something is true that you don't want to be. That's a tough place to be.
DeleteI'm trying to understand something. Did Hillary purportedly arrange for **George Papadopoulos to purportedly spill the beans to those Australian diplomats purportedly? Cause that's some fancy footwork for the Clinton campaign, I purportedly must admit.
Delete**George Papadopoulos, 31, pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI to conceal his contacts with Russians and Russian intermediaries during the presidential campaign.
A federal judge also sentenced Papadopoulos to one year of supervised release and imposed a fine of $9,500.
The operatives whom Papadopoulos met offered him "dirt" on Hillary Clinton and "off-the-record" meetings in overtures he discussed with leaders of Donald Trump's campaign.
His lawyers say Papadopoulous acted out of a "misguided sense of loyalty to his master" and to preserve his career options in the new administration.
President Donald Trump (alias, Donald J Chickenshit) granted a full pardon on Tuesday to George Papadopoulos, a former campaign aide who pleaded ...
George Papadopoulos????
DeleteGeorge Papadopoulos???????
GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS??????
BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHHAHAHHAHAHHAHGAH!!!!!!!!!
GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS!!!!
This was covered in the Mueller report.
That is funny though. George Papadopoulos. Girl, you got it BAD!!!!
I'll take that as a "NO" then, trollboy.
DeleteHillary purportedly had nothing to do with Papadopoulos
You don't know anything about the case if you bring up Papadopoulos.
DeletePapadopoulos. Funny.
I know one thing, fuckface, I know Hillary didn't make up the fact that Trump's BF, Putin, attacked her campaign.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteYes, that is the fallback position of Russiagaters when faced with proof Trump didn't collude and Hillary did.
DeleteThey say ' yes well but Russia interfered." something that was never disputed.
Y'all are lame af!
Yes, I am sorry, but your argument for your purported theory of the case might be a little more persuasive if DJ Chickenshit hadn't obstructed the investigation and pardoned so many of his co-conspirators.
DeleteI know you feel that way! Thanks for resharing your feelings!
DeleteSure, no problem. Sorry to say for you, Clinton Derangement Syndrome is terminal. I hope one day you can make peace with yourself, but I know it can never happen.
DeleteI read the Durham Report. Nothing but a bunch of accusations, backed-up with feelings and theories, about a conspiracy Durham wishes was true.
DeleteI’m not an organ grinder.
ReplyDeleteI was a friend of Cecelia until she said, “Pull your panties out of your crack, you’ll feel better.” Now we’re estranged.
ReplyDeleteHope Bob is feeling better.
ReplyDeleteBob Hope is feeling better.
DeleteThan what?
Delete