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Dayne Relihan's avatar

Biden's approval ratings are in the tank in large part due to the f%cking asinine approach the media takes in covering literally anything. I have read dozens of articles on Biden, the economy, the campaign, Ukraine, etc and nearly everyone is wishcasting for an outcome that is fraught with bad news, and little of it has come to fruition, maybe a little introspection is warranted. The MSM has adopted Trump's tactic, play to fear and hatred and your finances will improve, the Les Moonves approach this time around will be the end of our democracy.

The reality is this election should not be covered with the usual horse race political anaylsis. It should be covered as American Democracy vs Authoritarian Insurgency, fuck the polls, they've been wrong nearly every election since Cheeto Benito entered the arena. The MSM should be calling Trump out for exactly what he is, a future dictator in waiting, not political candidate. Images of 1930s-40s Germany should be a mainstay of this coverage. Analogies to Hitler should be a regular topic, for that is exactly where this country is headed if this stark raving lunatic is re-elected. Maybe remind Americans, or more accurately inform them for ths first time, of the Beer Hall Putsch, the manner in which the Weimar Republic appeased the Nazi Party and with ample amounts of hubris assumed they could control Hitler. No one will be able to control Trump, no one.

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Joy Crouch's avatar

I agree with your comments. I wish the media would the media would also point out that Hilter was elected because the Kasier and his fellowers thought they could all work together. We who study know how that worked out. Trump is our Hilter! He must be defeated at the ballot box and sent to jail.

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E. A. Bare's avatar

This is the precise reason I cancelled my subscription to the WaPo. In November of 2022 a few days before the election they published a front page article entitled Biden has lied hundreds of times. If you read the article, apparently Biden tends to say he has a very expansive relationship with XI, "has known him for years". This was his "lied hundreds of times" by using that one statement.

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Tai's avatar

The mainstream media is wrapping itself around the axle haplessly.

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Harley "Griff" Lofton's avatar

The CNN Sunday "State of the Union" spent a whole segment on Hunter Biden's love child and how Joe Biden is responding or failing to respond to the situation. Once again the mainstream media lets Republican wackos set the agenda and privilege their narrative.

When Republicans lie about Biden's successes none will counter their claims with FACTS... and all of these Republicans will take credit back home for all the Biden successes which they voted against.

So many contradictions in the polling. For example polls indicate that the economy is weak and Biden's handling of the economy awful. BUT when asked about their local/state economy things are going well. And this is consistent whether the state is dominated by Republicans or Democrats. So how can 50 economies be gangbusters but the national economy on the precipice of disaster?

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Mark W. Bantz's avatar

Voters are dumb in general. Pretty simple!

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mark clark's avatar

The MSM, bless its heart, is still fundamentally a (classical) liberal institution, with notions (illusions?) of non-sectarian alignment. When a norm-breaker like Trump appears in the electoral lists, the MSM doesn't really have a ontological category for him. He is still "Mr. Trump," a putative normal candidate that accepts the rules of the game.

To the NYT, Hitler was usually "Herr Hitler," even into 1940.

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Lisa Gottschalk's avatar

Expected headlines to come: “Biden cured cancer, but is it enough?”, “World temperatures under Biden Climate policies lowered Earth’s TEMP by 2 degrees - but wind turbines are ugly”, “Manufacturing & supply chains returned to US but folks demand lower prices.”

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rlritt's avatar

You're right. I don't know why the supposidly left wing media isn't supporting Biden. This isn't a normal election. The left wing media needs to stop worrying about possible drilling for oil or no student loan forgiveness. Trump and his followers will kill or imprison the left wing media. Don't they realize that not only will the left wing media be destroyed, the people who produce it will be destroyed. The far right has said they will do it. Trump says he will eliminate any thing in the government that does not support him. Wake up. The supposed left wing and non partisan media should be praising Biden every day. They should be talking about the great economy. They should be talking about how crime is down. They should be lambasting Putin in every news cast and showing how stupid and lazy Trump is.

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Isobel Novak's avatar

There’s never been a left wing media. That’s nonsense. Every Democratic campaign was had to fend off ridiculous lies about the candidate from the right, their media apparatus and MM media that follows suit. Corporate media fears being though partisan and politicians targeting them.

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rlritt's avatar

I agree. They have always said that network media is left wing because some TV personalities are Democrats. Some TV personalities are Republicans too. But I have never seen any liberal counterpart to the Fox News and some of the other outlets who lie without shame. Fox got sued and he is still more popular than ever. And it's brain washing pure and simple. Yes, MSNBC has a Democratic slant to their news and maybe they stretch the truth, but their audience is a fraction of the Right Wing media that has insinuated itself into everything.

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Isobel Novak's avatar

There’s been a 50 year effort in the right to “work the refs”. Anyone that could hold right partisans accountable has been targeted. First it was the media, then the judges, now the FBI.

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rlritt's avatar

It's shocking and depressing. I'm looking at apts for rent in Malta.

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Anne Lowe's avatar

Thank you for articulating this so well.

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HistoricalHolli's avatar

Biden is old and people are shallow with the memory of a goldfish.

The 14% who said "other" will no doubt come back to Biden when the independent voter wishcasting that the other option won't be Trump ends. Something tells me that old Biden won't matter as much when he's standing next to Jumpsuit Donnie.

But I'm in the small percentage who thinks he's the best president of my lifetime -- after being handed one of the biggest shit sandwiches in history -- so what do I know?

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E. A. Bare's avatar

t***p is only 3 years younger than Biden and by all indications in worse physical shape. But of course you would never know that by MSM coverage.

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mel ladi's avatar

I wish Biden wouldn’t wade into the culture war issues, since the culture wars were created to be divisive and as Jane Coasten said in a rerun Focus Group, those can never be won or lost. Biden’s strength is in his support for collective bargaining, building the damn bridges, bringing industry back -- the meat and potatoes (or vegan equivalent) of people’s daily lives.

So no, I don’t think he is the best president ever because he has to do fan service just as much as people accuse Republicans of doing.

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rlritt's avatar

You hope the 14% will vote for Biden. The fault is the supposedly left wing media. They should be praising Biden everyday. The economy is good, unemployment is down and even crime is down. Stop worying about drilling leases that won't be activated for years. Why doesn't the mainstream media realize they will be replaced when Trump is elected. They may even be killed.

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Aug 1, 2023Edited
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Ben Gruder's avatar

Trump comes off as more physically vigorous than Biden. Part of this is that Trump acts like a 5 year old.

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Tracey Henley's avatar

Which is why it’s so important to STOP HARPING ON BIDEN’S AGE. There’s nothing we can do about it; there’s no alternative to Biden, period; the alternative, Trump, is unthinkable.

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Karl's avatar

That's not all. There's a broad dissatisfaction with "how things are" and the incumbent President is going to be blamed regardless of his culpability. Consumer prices and business sluggishness arising from lack of sufficient staff are major factors. Civil infrastructure has crumbled and it will take time for the funded fixes to be implemented. Congressional dysfunction is a problem which is often perceived as a presidential leadership failure. The COVID hangover is taking a long time to dissipate and the public seems to blame Biden more for it than Trump, probably based on the propaganda spread by the right-wing noise machine.

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Sko Hayes's avatar

The Senate, run by Democrats, seems to be functioning fine. The House, run by the GOP, is a clusterf*ck. The Hunter Biden hearings are a disaster and an obvious hail mary to take attention off of Trump and his pending indictments.

I don't know how the GOP dysfunction can be blamed on Biden.

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NanceeM's avatar

People are largely low information and un/misinformed, which leads to superficial and incorrect assessments, without regard to reality.

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Mark W. Bantz's avatar

Does that mean stupid?

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NanceeM's avatar

Said another way . . .

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Carolyn Spence's avatar

Trump as President is like Bill the Cat driving the school bus.

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BriDub's avatar

Toonces the Driving Cat!

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Aug 1, 2023
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R Mercer's avatar

And Bill the Cat has more charisma and speaks better. I always loved Bill the Cat, had a Bill the Cat T shirt back in the day,

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TomD's avatar

Let's not forget Mussolini's march on Rome, which, unlike the Beer Hall, succeeded brilliantly the year before.

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Pat Mcmenamin's avatar

I've always thought that the precise historical analog for Trump is Mussolini and not Hitler.

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TomD's avatar

Only Mussolini was much brighter and much more competent than Trump.

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TomD's avatar

The polls have been wrong since people stopped answering their telephones.

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Peter  V's avatar

I think the expression goes something like this: "A lie can travel around the world while the truth is just putting on its shoes. "

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Dan-o's avatar

A lie gets half way around the world before the truth can get it's pants on.

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GlenD's avatar

“A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.” Mark Twain." Ol' Mark was in fact restating an adage whose origins predate his birth.

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Peter  V's avatar

tragic that truth doesn't wear crocs

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TomD's avatar

And when the lie is automated by bots and cyborgs, it can travel around the world twice or three times.

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