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Like supporters of Oberan, Erdogan, Bolsonaro, Modi, Putin, Duterte and Maduro, any damning direct quotes will always be claimed to mean something else entirely

Like supporters of Oberan, Erdogan, Bolsonaro, Modi, Putin, Duterte and Maduro, any damning direct quotes will always be claimed to mean something else entirely. The larger issue is that the leader's supporters know what he is and his relationship to the truth. They know when he looses the popular vote, has consistent majority disapproval and acts with dubious legality. These things don't mater. If fact, that he can retain power in spite of these things is considered a virtue. They elected him because of single minded ruthlessness and willingness to break laws to permanently eradicate liberalism and the viability of opposing parties. The mere promise of this is so thrilling to them that any action the leader takes is defended or obfuscated unwaveringly even when the defenders don't fully believe or aren't really comfortable with it themselves.

m0zg 7y ago
This works both ways though. I hope you're smart enough recognize that. There's literally nothing Trump can say or do to earn the approval of those suffering from TDS. He could say "water is wet" and you'd still argue that's not the case.
- TomMckenny 7y ago
  Even before he was president, his calls for infrastructure were praised by democrats. And many on the left praised his calls for tariffs. But after leading chants to lock up political rivals and repeatedly calling the free press the "enemy of the people"[1], there is indeed nothing any politician from any party with any agenda could ever do to become normalized by democratically minded people. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_people#Marxist%E2%80%93Leninist_states https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_people#Marxist%E2...
  - m0zg 7y ago
    But they are "the enemy of the people" figuratively speaking. They lie _all the time_, they're routinely caught and called out, and they continue to lie. The only two journalists that I know of who point out this sorry state of affairs are Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald. Neither is a fan of Trump in the least. Everyone else is perfectly OK with it. Far fewer people trust the press than the president. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/08/18/rasmussen_new_poll_shows_voters_trust_national_political_media_about_the_same_as_they_trust_wikipedia.html https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/08/18/rasmussen... They are supposed to inform. Instead, most of the time, they push disinformation to fit a predefined agenda. Jeff Zucker literally tells CNN talking heads what to say in his 9AM meeting. This is not "free press". This is a fucking disgrace, and it is actively harmful to "the people", especially when there's a crisis. Let me give you an example: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/health/arizona-coronavirus-chloroquine-death/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/health/arizona-coronavirus-ch.... Unless you read the article carefully, you will get the impression that the man medicated himself with the actual chloroquine pills. This is NOT what happened: he ate god damn aquarium cleaner by the spoonful. The front page of CNN is FULL of this bullshit. Literally all of the liberal outlets reprint these stories _knowing_ they are fake or misleading (just serarch Google for "chloroquine" and see for yourself, today - it'll be full of the same dude who ingested aquarium cleaner). And that's before we even mention lying by omission, which also happens all the time.
    - IAmEveryone 7y ago
      Your example wouldn’t even constitute a lie. It would be “misleading” at best. But it’s not that, either. You’re making up a completely fact-free accusation: The aquarium is mentioned in the headline The second sentence is: “It does not appear they took the pharmaceutical version of the drug, but rather "an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks," Banner Health said in a statement.“ If that constitutes „lying“ to you, it’s beyond hope.
      - m0zg 7y ago
        That's because they've stealth-edited the headline. Look it up in other news sources. The initial headline was extremely, and deliberately misleading. Here's what it was: https://twitter.com/axios/status/1242425467438858241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedonald.win%2F https://twitter.com/axios/status/1242425467438858241?ref_src... And if this does not constitute lying to you, you need to wake up.
      - milankovic 7y ago
        Just ask yourself: Why did CNN decide to publish this story?

m0zg 7y ago

This works both ways though. I hope you're smart enough recognize that. There's literally nothing Trump can say or do to earn the approval of those suffering from TDS. He could say "water is wet" and you'd still argue that's not the case.

TomMckenny 7y ago
Even before he was president, his calls for infrastructure were praised by democrats. And many on the left praised his calls for tariffs. But after leading chants to lock up political rivals and repeatedly calling the free press the "enemy of the people"[1], there is indeed nothing any politician from any party with any agenda could ever do to become normalized by democratically minded people. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_people#Marxist%E2%80%93Leninist_states https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_people#Marxist%E2...
- m0zg 7y ago
  But they are "the enemy of the people" figuratively speaking. They lie _all the time_, they're routinely caught and called out, and they continue to lie. The only two journalists that I know of who point out this sorry state of affairs are Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald. Neither is a fan of Trump in the least. Everyone else is perfectly OK with it. Far fewer people trust the press than the president. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/08/18/rasmussen_new_poll_shows_voters_trust_national_political_media_about_the_same_as_they_trust_wikipedia.html https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/08/18/rasmussen... They are supposed to inform. Instead, most of the time, they push disinformation to fit a predefined agenda. Jeff Zucker literally tells CNN talking heads what to say in his 9AM meeting. This is not "free press". This is a fucking disgrace, and it is actively harmful to "the people", especially when there's a crisis. Let me give you an example: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/health/arizona-coronavirus-chloroquine-death/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/23/health/arizona-coronavirus-ch.... Unless you read the article carefully, you will get the impression that the man medicated himself with the actual chloroquine pills. This is NOT what happened: he ate god damn aquarium cleaner by the spoonful. The front page of CNN is FULL of this bullshit. Literally all of the liberal outlets reprint these stories _knowing_ they are fake or misleading (just serarch Google for "chloroquine" and see for yourself, today - it'll be full of the same dude who ingested aquarium cleaner). And that's before we even mention lying by omission, which also happens all the time.
  - IAmEveryone 7y ago
    Your example wouldn’t even constitute a lie. It would be “misleading” at best. But it’s not that, either. You’re making up a completely fact-free accusation: The aquarium is mentioned in the headline The second sentence is: “It does not appear they took the pharmaceutical version of the drug, but rather "an additive commonly used at aquariums to clean fish tanks," Banner Health said in a statement.“ If that constitutes „lying“ to you, it’s beyond hope.
    - m0zg 7y ago
      That's because they've stealth-edited the headline. Look it up in other news sources. The initial headline was extremely, and deliberately misleading. Here's what it was: https://twitter.com/axios/status/1242425467438858241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedonald.win%2F https://twitter.com/axios/status/1242425467438858241?ref_src... And if this does not constitute lying to you, you need to wake up.
    - milankovic 7y ago
      Just ask yourself: Why did CNN decide to publish this story?