President Trump

[detltu]

Honestly, this country isn’t worth saving if its people don’t demand better than the gangster leadership of Trump. If Americans ever accept that, it is already lost beyond hope.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit as the pressure on Trump picks up. I think part of the difficulty in holding Trump to task over his screw ups (and possibly crimes) is we have been told for 20 years that these same screw ups (and possible crimes) are not a big deal. The last two democratic presidents had campaign violations much bigger than Trumps supposed violation and there was hardly a peep or any outrage about it. Clinton an other politicians have paid off former lovers to keep them quiet (sometimes even rape accusations have been covered up with hush money). Obama and the Clintons have had nefarious ties to foreign governments that were questionable at best and criminal at worst.

These are all things that should be a big deal and should be enough for us to not vote for these guys. It's part of the reason I didn't vote for Trump and the reason I didn't vote for Vitter in the last governors race. The real issue is that only one side seems to be held accountable by the press and the DOJ/FBI/etc. With the MeToo movement I think an argument could be made that Clinton wouldn't have gotten away with his indiscretions in this day and age, but some of the other items are much more recent and hard to argue that there has been a sudden shift in thinking that everyone going forward is going to be held to the same standard. I see no evidence of that. That makes it hard to muster a lot of outrage that seems to be limited to the people who want him gone anyway.

[Guisslapp]

What were the previous campaign violations? My understanding is that they were minor.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

What were the previous campaign violations? My understanding is that they were minor.

You really don't read opposing articles and opinions or watch anything other than MSNBC or CNN do you?

[Guisslapp]

Using third party funds for the purpose of influencing an election without disclosing it hits squarely at the center of what campaign finance laws are designed to prevent. Had Trump paid this out of pocket directly there would be nothing illegal about it. Nothing illegal about paying people off - it just would have made it easier for someone that he paid off to prove that he paid them off, which is what he was trying to avoid.

[Guisslapp]

You really don't read opposing articles and opinions or watch anything other than MSNBC or CNN do you?

I have. But the violations that I am aware of were garden-variety technical violations that happen in almost every campaign. Obama’s were the type you get fined for (which he did):

https://www.politico.com/story/2013/...-375000-085784

Not the type you go to jail for - like the Cohen-Trump type.

[dawg80]

I was beginning to think it was time for Trump to step aside and allow Pence to be Prez. Pence could stay the course with all the great policies and would be more likely to be re-elected (or elected for POTUS for the first time, in his case). But then...this surfaced. A lib TV station has a video of Pence driving a car...from about 10 years ago...and he is traveling 37mph in a 35 speed zone. The station is prepared to release that damaging video should he ever seek the WH, or be in a position to assume the presidency. Yep...so, given that. Might as well stick it out with Trump.

[techman05]

Name one president who has not lied, cheated, or done something unethical while in office? Anyone? Is Trump worse than them? Maybe, but we will never know because media coverage has increased 10 fold since he took office. Also, how much was observed in previous admins that was simply shoved under the rug?

[Guisslapp]

Name one president who has not lied, cheated, or done something unethical while in office? Anyone? Is Trump worse than them? Maybe, but we will never know because media coverage has increased 10 fold since he took office. Also, how much was observed in previous admins that was simply shoved under the rug?

There is no “maybe” about it. Trump lies and does something unethical daily. It isn’t remotely in the same ball park. The media coverage has increased 10 fold because he brings it upon himself (and probably relishes it) by saying lies and ridiculous things every day. Do you expect the media to ignore a lie/misrepresentation or do their job?

[techman05]

I’m going to consider your question as being rhetorical.

[johnnylightnin]

We have the media and the politicians we deserve.

[PawDawg]

We have the media and the politicians we deserve.

Interesting regarding the media.

Is it because we support them by buying the products, tuning in, or give them clicks? What did we do to deserve the media we have?

I fully understand how we got the politicians we have.

[johnnylightnin]

Boyd has explained it well in the past. Essentially, the media is a for profit entity. They are selling something. If we stop buying it, they’ll change it. That is how the media could be reformed. Instead, the right created an equally biased arm of its own.

[detltu]

Boyd has explained it well in the past. Essentially, the media is a for profit entity. They are selling something. If we stop buying it, they’ll change it. That is how the media could be reformed. Instead, the right created an equally biased arm of its own.

I can see that to an extent, but the ratings say otherwise. Fox news is what it is and ratings wise it's doing very well. Don't you think CNN or NBC or whoever could improve their ratings by presenting a more balanced take on things? Sadly I don't think even if the ratings were reversed that Fox News would stop being a propaganda arm of the republicans. I think it is ideological for all of the major news networks. I think the organizations have been built around the ideologies so long that nothing is really going to change it.
I would also argue with your last point. The right created a more biased arm of it's own and the others moved farther left to match the bias of Fox. They are all nothing more than propaganda arms of their respective parties.

[Champ967]

Boyd has explained it well in the past. Essentially, the media is a for profit entity. They are selling something. If we stop buying it, they’ll change it. That is how the media could be reformed. Instead, the right created an equally biased arm of its own.

Thank you. They are capitalist, for-profit corporations.

If their business model stops working, they'll go the way of ToyRUs. Until then, they'll keep on selling as long as people are buying.

[Guisslapp]

I can see that to an extent, but the ratings say otherwise. Fox news is what it is and ratings wise it's doing very well. Don't you think CNN or NBC or whoever could improve their ratings by presenting a more balanced take on things? Sadly I don't think even if the ratings were reversed that Fox News would stop being a propaganda arm of the republicans. I think it is ideological for all of the major news networks. I think the organizations have been built around the ideologies so long that nothing is really going to change it.
I would also argue with your last point. The right created a more biased arm of it's own and the others moved farther left to match the bias of Fox. They are all nothing more than propaganda arms of their respective parties.

FoxNews most highly viewed programming is its most partisan. Ditto for MSNBC. Hannity, Maddow and Ingraham. People tune in because they want to be told they are smart and to be entertained. They don’t watch shows that challenge the way they think. FoxNews knows this and exploit$ it.

https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/cab...bc-1202864704/

There is a reason why people that report that they watch FoxNews test out as being less informed than people that don’t watch the news at all.