Has U.S. Democracy Been Trumped?

[RedSpawn]

It seems to me that people of Christian faith are more susceptible to con than others, as they are conditioned to believe based on the ability of speakers to tap into their emotions; is it mere coincidence that Trump did so well among whites and evangelicals - he hit all the right notes, the religious con and the racist con.

I disagree. Propaganda sells belief systems. Our acquisition of attitudes and beliefs comes from several sources but mass media is one of them. Advertisers and mass marketers understand the psychology of the human mind and the importance of making a value proposition based on the belief system of the reader/viewer/consumer.

 

Belief systems are the stories we tell ourselves to define our personal sense of reality. If you understand the belief system (not agree with it but understand it), you can find common ground rather quickly.

 

This is why he who controls the narrative controls the universe. People base their reality on the narrative so creators tend to run the world.

Consumers just subsist in it and benefit or suffer from the intended and unintended consequences of all of these amazing creations.

 

I think racists can be just as gullible as religious zealots, I think Democrats can be just as gullible as Republicans. Tap into the belief system and all types of mind boggling manipulations are possible.

[Winstonm]

I disagree. Propaganda sells belief systems. Our acquisition of attitudes and beliefs comes from several sources but mass media is one of them. Advertisers and mass marketers understand the psychology of the human mind and the importance of making a value proposition based on the belief system of the reader/viewer/consumer.

 

Belief systems are the stories we tell ourselves to define our personal sense of reality. If you understand the belief system (not agree with it but understand it), you can find common ground rather quickly.

 

This is why he who controls the narrative controls the universe. People base their reality on the narrative so creators tend to run the world.

Consumers just subsist in it and benefit or suffer from the intended and unintended consequences of all of these amazing creations.

 

I think racists can be just as gullible as religious zealots, I think Democrats can be just as gullible as Republicans. Tap into the belief system and all types of mind boggling manipulations are possible.

 

I don't see how you disagree when you echo the same sentiments. If you look closely, you will find that most racists are religious(KKK very much so), and the religious self-identify more with the right wing of politics than the left wing. Trump uses white supremacist propaganda (anti-muslim, anti-Mexican, white discrimination, evil left) to stir his base of white voters.

 

If you note, I said most racists are religious, not that most religious are racists. But the evangelical belief systems, IMO, make it easier for those people to accept on faith a story that sounds good to them but doesn't hold up when spotlighted by the harsh lights of data and evidence. (see their take on how whites are the subjects of discrimination.)

[Winstonm]

Is this the ultimate irony or what? Politico reports:

Kushner used private email to conduct White House business

 

The senior adviser set up the account after the election. Other West Wing officials have also used private email accounts for official business.

[kenberg]

Is this the ultimate irony or what? Politico reports:

 

 

 

Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

 

Is James Comey free to head up the investigation?

[Winstonm]

Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

 

Is James Comey free to head up the investigation?

 

I think Comey was Flynn-flammed by Trump.

[rmnka447]

Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

 

Is James Comey free to head up the investigation?

We all know what the result of the investigation of that "matter" will be. Comey will say that there's not enough evidence to prosecute.

 

BTW, if the "business" wasn't about "classified" matters or content, it probably doesn't violate any laws.

 

Doesn't Kushner get to destroy 33,000 of his subpoenaed e-mails like Hillary did?

[Winstonm]

We all know what the result of the investigation of that "matter" will be. Comey will say that there's not enough evidence to prosecute.

 

BTW, if the "business" wasn't about "classified" matters or content, it probably doesn't violate any laws.

 

Doesn't Kushner get to destroy 33,000 of his subpoenaed e-mails like Hillary did?

 

Can you refresh me on the rules for plyaying Whatabout? Are there still 14 smirkles in a drubey? Can the smutter dribble-drabble or must he patter only? How does the winjimmer acton after a brusie diggles?

 

Does it matter that the person whatabouted is not in office? How does whatabout explain the actions of the person whose actions caused the whatabouter to whatabout in the first place?

 

Whatabout trying to explain the actions of the current officeholders and the administration without whatabouting about whatever whatabout currently is favored by the whatabouting tv talking head?

[cherdano]

We all know what the result of the investigation of that "matter" will be. Comey will say that there's not enough evidence to prosecute.

 

BTW, if the "business" wasn't about "classified" matters or content, it probably doesn't violate any laws.

 

Doesn't Kushner get to destroy 33,000 of his subpoenaed e-mails like Hillary did?

This is a very informative post. Not about Clinton or Comey or Kushner. No, about rmnka447. Thank you!

[jjbrr]

"thank you"

[RedSpawn]

Perhaps someone can help me form this correctly.

 

Trump reminds me of a class of person I have run into time to time throughout my life who sits in the back of the room when an invited guest comes in to talk about something considered serious, and he exchanges with like-minded others condescending nudges while either rolling his eyes, snickering, or in other ways showing smug disinterest - displaying obvious disdain and feigning superiority. The critical part of this is the "like-minded others" as his ability to interact on a broad scale is diminished by his disdain - so in the end all he can do is nudge and roll his eyes with his cohorts.

 

I've never been able to categorize this type of behavior succinctly. Perhaps Trumpian?

I am not sure that is distinctly Trumpian. This behavior sounds like classic elitism combined with a dash of American materialism to me.

 

Elitism is the belief or attitude that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people with a certain ancestry, intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, specialized training, experience, or talents—are more likely to be constructive to society as a whole, and therefore deserve influence or authority greater than that of others. In America, the term "elitism" often refers to the concentration of power on the Northeast Corridor and West Coast, where the typical American elite - lawyers, doctors, high-level civil servants (such as White House aides), businesspeople, university lecturers, entrepreneurs and financial advisors in the quarternary sector - reside, often in the university towns they graduated from.

Wikipedia

 

Trump is the result of America's cognitive bias about wealth. We assume that wealthy people have a "good" reason why they are wealthy and it must be because of their entrepreneurial ingenuity, wisdom, character and "specialness" that they have jaw-dropping displays of wealth. We also assume that wealthy people are the ones who deserve 1st consideration to the White House because middle-class and poor people are too busy with their nose to the grindstones in the daily rat race to be of much service in government leadership. They aren't special; they're normal and barely keeping their heads above water and making a wave to carry themselves to safety.

 

The Office of the President is reserved for "special" people; typically those "special" people are wealthy or highly connected people who can hob knob with other uppercrust people in Washington. And we are clear that this bias has been unhealthy for our governmental institutions and our broad and personal economy but we don't question our misplaced assumptions about wealth nor do we question why and how we got to a HRC versus Trump election for 2016!

 

True, Trump may be a con-man but he is a savvy con man who has effectively established a bankable brand in the American marketplace because he understands our biases and manipulates them for personal gain. THAT's what successful marketers do! People overlooked his character issues because his alleged wealth as a businessman "MEANS SOMETHING" in a materialistic America.

 

He must be doing something right because his material wealth says so. He is a household name!

 

Furthermore, his "straight shooter" mentality was provocative and a refreshing change for a political climate built on too much political correctness, appeasement, and insincere social niceties to appeal to a broad base.

 

Trump tells it like it is even if his view is shallow, immature, petulant, misguided, sexist or racist. And people reward Trump for this alarming "authenticity" because too many politicians hide their true selves and belief systems behind meticulously constructed semantics and firmly cemented social masks.

[y66]

From The Day the Real Patriots Took a Knee by the NYT Editorial Board:

 

At a political rally in Alabama on Friday, President Trump had clear advice for N.F.L. owners if one of their players followed the lead of Colin Kaepernick, the former Super Bowl quarterback who last season began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police injustice against minorities. “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now,” he suggested.

 

The reaction was swift and stunning in its breadth — even as Mr. Trump went further on Sunday by calling for fans to boycott games unless the league fires or suspends players who refuse to stand for the national anthem.

 

More players than ever took a knee and many teams locked arms in solidarity. Owner after owner slammed Mr. Trump. Robert Kraft, the New England Patriots owner who is reportedly among several owners who donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural celebrations, said he was “deeply disappointed” by Mr. Trump’s comments and defended his players’ right to “peacefully affect social change and raise awareness in a manner they feel is most impactful.”

 

The former N.F.L. coach Rex Ryan, who introduced Mr. Trump at a rally during the campaign, was furious and bitter at now being tied to Mr. Trump. “I never signed up for that,” Mr. Ryan said on CBS’s “Sunday N.F.L. Countdown,” where he is a commentator.

 

Neither man said it directly, but Mr. Trump’s remarks provide further evidence that he has no concern for the legitimate and deeply felt fears and grievances of minority Americans.

Sunday’s revolt against Mr. Trump was not quite a victory for Mr. Kaepernick; no team has even offered him a backup position despite a striking level of mediocrity among even many starting quarterbacks. Still, it might well have been a huge victory for free speech and the cause of racial justice he has so bravely espoused.

 

Let the final word, for now, belong to a basketball player, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Upon hearing that Mr. Trump had disinvited Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors from the traditional White House ceremony honoring championship teams, Mr. James said on Twitter:

 

“U bum,” adding, “Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up!”

Not a victory for Kaepernick? We shall see.

[barmar]

He must be doing something right because his material wealth says so. He is a household name!

We're in Oz and he's the Wizard!

[Winstonm]

I am not sure that is distinctly Trumpian. This behavior sounds like classic elitism combined with a dash of American materialism to me.

 

 

 

I've never considered WWE fans elitists.

[Winstonm]

How do we combat purposeful fake news?

 

“Facts have come to light that indicate that a pivotal, close election was likely changed through voter fraud on November 8, 2016: New Hampshire’s U.S. Senate Seat, and perhaps also New Hampshire’s four electoral college votes in the presidential election. … It has long been reported, anecdotally, that out-of-staters take advantage of New Hampshire’s same-day registration and head to the Granite State to cast fraudulent votes. Now there’s proof.”

— Kris Kobach, vice chairman of the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity, in an op-ed in Breitbart, Sept. 7, 2017

 

WaPo Fact Checker discounts Kobach's claims:

 

Kobach claims that there are now “facts” and “proof” that show out-of-state voters took advantage of New Hampshire’s same-day registration provision to commit voter fraud. That is hardly the case.

 

Kobach says there were 5,313 fraudulent ballots cast by out-of-state voters in New Hampshire. That is not supported by facts. New Hampshire allows temporary residents with out-of-state IDs to vote in the state, as long as they primarily live in the state. It does not necessarily mean these voters committed fraud. The state is investigating 196 people who voted in another state but were on the New Hampshire voter list. Even if all 196 people were confirmed as fraudulent cases, it would not be enough to tip the outcome of either the Senate or the presidential race.

 

Words like “facts” and “proof” actually mean something — everything, really — to us at The Fact Checker. We award Four Pinocchios.

 

Individuals who purposefully create a false narrative, and the businesses that aid in the distribution of that known false narrative must be neutered by a continual and organized marginalization of those people and businesses every single time they open their mouth or repeat a lie.

 

This is not about free speech rights. This is about the necessity to respond forcefully and fully to propaganda that is necessary to preserve truth as the foundation of democracy.

[jjbrr]

Kris Kobach has been sued by the ACLU 4 times for voter suppression. ACLU won all 4 cases.

 

He's the real fraud, here.

[barmar]

Kris Kobach has been sued by the ACLU 4 times for voter suppression. ACLU won all 4 cases.

 

He's the real fraud, here.

Yet somehow he's second in command of the commission investigating voting irregularities. Such is the world of the Trump administration: a climate denier in charge of the EPA, someone who doesn't believe in public schools as the Secretary of Education, etc.

[RedSpawn]

We're in Oz and he's the Wizard!

Agreed.

 

With his casual racist and divisive remarks, sometimes he's the Grand Wizard.

 

Soon enough, we will learn that the Wizard has no special powers or magic at all; he's a well meaning fraud. He's a normal insecure person (just like everyone else) and feeds his insecurities in a variety of ways. The seemingly endless faux pas and eye-rolling scandals help fuel the national ratings for our American political reality show, "The Apprentice — P.O.T.U.S. Series" starring Donald Trump.

 

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsmax/files/60/6040d693-a1c0-4f0b-ac41-0c210d508e3a.jpg

 

Hopefully, we will see that the promise of America is never in the President but in the energies and ingenuity of her people. We look to our President to solve our Wizard of Oz like problems and put us on the yellow brick road to prosperity but he can't take that journey for us. He should only create policies that allows everyone reasonable access to that yellow brick road, but he can never void the hard work and sweat equity that success requires as payment.

 

Many of us are unhappy about our worsening economic problems, about the constant crisis atmosphere in our foreign policy, about our diminishing prestige around the globe, about the weakness in our economy and national security that jeopardizes world peace, about our lack of strong, straight-forward leadership.

 

And many Americans today, just as they did 200 years ago, feel burdened, stifled and sometimes even oppressed by government that has grown too large, too bureaucratic, too wasteful, too unresponsive, too uncaring about people and their problems.

 

Americans, who have always known that excessive bureaucracy is the enemy of excellence and compassion, want a change in public life—a change that makes government work for people. They seek a vision of a better America, a vision of society that frees the energies and ingenuity of our people while it extends compassion to the lonely, the desperate, and the forgotten. —Ronald Reagan 11/03/1980

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=85199

 

It's chilling that Ronald Reagan spoke these words on 11/03/1980 and here we are with bigger government, woefully inadequate political leadership, and more intimidating, worrisome problems on 09/25/2017.

 

Stay tuned for the next episode.

[Winstonm]

Kris Kobach has been sued by the ACLU 4 times for voter suppression. ACLU won all 4 cases.

 

He's the real fraud, here.

 

Yes, but keep in mind that the followers of Breitbart are only going to get part of the story - the part that makes it sound as if their false narrative is true. Who is going to take the trouble to fill in the details - and what readers of Breitbart are going to bother with details that disprove the narrative?

 

I again say that a forceful, organized and continual condemnation of this kind of fake news by explaining in detail its lies is absolutely a necessity.

[jjbrr]

Liberal tears and fake news, Winston.

[Winstonm]

Liberal tears and fake news, Winston.

 

The question to me is this: how can we introduce the Breitbart audience to facts and details that would make them at least wonder if what they are being told by Brietbart is true?

 

I know you are bright. What do you think?

[Winstonm]

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

 

This shows there are layers upon layers upon layers to be unwound. RICO anyone?

Steve Bannon plotted to plant a mole inside Facebook, according to emails sent days before the Breitbart boss took over Donald Trump’s campaign and obtained by BuzzFeed News.

 

The email exchange with a conservative Washington operative reveals the importance that the giant tech platform — now reeling from its role in the 2016 election — held for one of the campaign’s central figures

[jjbrr]

The question to me is this: how can we introduce the Breitbart audience to facts and details that would make them at least wonder if what they are being told by Brietbart is true?

 

I know you are bright. What do you think?

 

Seems rather simple to me. Take their bibles away.

[Winstonm]

BY HEDRICK SMITH

Special to McClatchy

 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 10:17 AM

 

WASHINGTON

Riding a tide of tax cuts and rising profits over four decades, the captains of corporate America have shifted $1 trillion each year from the paychecks of middle class Americans into massive payoffs to Wall Street investors and to CEO and executive pay. And now they want you to believe, once again, that cutting corporate taxes will benefit average workers.

 

Matched against history, that’s a hollow claim bordering on economic fake news. Factually, it flies in the face of the performance over the past 40 years of American business, which has generated what Citibank called the greatest inequality of income in any major nation since 16th century Spain – that is, over the past 500 years.

 

I suppose for supply-siders, this is more fake news.

[RedSpawn]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/us/politics/senate-pentagon-spending-bill.html?mcubz=3

 

Just to be clear. Our military is getting a $700 billion budget for FY2018 which is 70% of the double-stacked pallets of $100 bills in the image below.

 

Oh yeah, and a final note, a bureaucracy that receives about $700 billion ANNUALLY can not provide "clean" financial statements that its own internal auditors will approve. This has occurred for the last 17 years. That is, the financial statements are unreliable since the Department of Defense's internal controls over financial reporting have too many material weaknesses to be in conformity with governmental accounting standards.

 

Just wow.

 

http://slideplayer.com/slide/8041902/25/images/8/One+Trillion+dollars+And+finally...+$1+trillion+dollars%E2%80%A6.jpg

[y66]

Did this ever get posted here? Perhaps it was considered obvious. Saw it today in a story about Anthony Weiner.

 

The Comey Letter Probably Cost Clinton The Election. So why won’t the media admit as much? By Nate Silver

 

Filed under The Real Story Of 2016. Published May 3, 2017