The public doesn’t understand the risks of a Trump victory. That’s the media’s fault
The public doesn’t understand the risks of a Trump victory. That’s the media’s fault
With democracy in the balance, the press must relay the crucial importance of this election and the dangers of a Trump win
The press must get across to American citizens the crucial importance of this election and the dangers of a Trump win. They don’t need to surrender their journalistic independence to do so or be “in the tank” for Biden or anyone else.
It’s now clearer than ever that Trump, if elected, will use the federal government to go after his political rivals and critics, even deploying the military toward that end. His allies are hatching plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on day one.
Because the media want him to run. Trump brings ratings. They are not incentivized to care about educating anyone; entertainment pays the bills.
Also because the media is owned by billionaires, who skew towards favoring fascism as a matter of class solidarity.
Also because billionaires tend to be sociopaths since that kind of wealth hoarding isn’t really possible unless you have little empathy for others. Sociopaths love fascism because it lets them take what they want by force, ignore social norms, and enslave or genocide anyone who they deem an impediment.
That I will not understand. Fascists are opportunists first. If they see a reason to hate on some billionaire they’ll eat him faster than the poor will. They don’t care that you gave them millions in campaign money, if your kid is gay and you say “maybe it’s okay to have gay kids” they’ll turn on you.
You don't say? When all they do is treat this as a football game highlights. Reporting on the dumbest shit and the important things are clips or in the bottom text box.
What's worse is the media isn't emphasizing how dangerous any Republicans winning right now is. They are far more dangerous and bold than Trump is right now. They are doing a fascism in Ohio for example.
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Go to any yt video on antarctica
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Read the comments and count how many are about "the Dome", aliens, flat Earth.
This is your public.
Go to most any non-specialized social media platform and most any post devolves into fringe and/or right wing BS. Person a) “Nice day today…” person b) “…except for that bitch Pelosi.” a) “Man, it’s cold today.” b) “Fucking libs lying about climate change”. a) Picture of the sky, has a contrail. b) “chemtrails! The Illuminati and globalists are trying to control us!” a) “Nice day today…” b) only because god praise lord Jesus Christ died for your nice day and our veterans and police officers I support blah blah blah…
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"The Public" is not one thing. There's plenty of people who "understand the risks of a Trump victory." The fact that half of the public not only doesn't, but desires a Trump victory is also not the fault of "The Media," because we all have access to the same media.
People who are okay with Trump being in charge of anything are fascists, and that's their fault.
It's more like 1/3 dem, 1/3 fasc, 1/3 doesn't care until it affects them directly and often still don't since their world is so insular they have a hard time understanding the decisions of others controls much of how their life operates.
I would hazard a 1/3 to 1/2 of that last third genuinely doesn't have any resources to stay aware and engaged in the electoral process because they're already used up on surviving and on their individual scale it doesn't feel like either choice has a meaningful difference. The liberal establishment does itself no favors (and I say this a leftist who votes democrat)
Not just trump. Any Republican president will use the federal government to go after his political rivals and critics. The entire GOP is an openly-fascist political arm of the billionaire class.
And let's be clear. "Democrat" is simply sucking their fucking dick.
It doesn't help that the media gamely both-sides every issue, even when the issue in question is not one that has two legitimate sides.
For example, it's a story when women lose their rights and protections and bodily autonomy, when brown and poor voters lose their voting rights or have their representative power gerrymandered away, when powerful men violate the law and aren't held accountable, etc.
There are two sides to these stories, but one of them is outside the bounds of the peace that makes civilization possible and when 'the media' decline to call that out, they've picked a side and it's not the one that will sustain or defend a republic
Nearly every single repub politician is a fucking worthless traitor.
"But.. but.. fairness! Both sides!"
Yeah, that's the damage Fox News has done to our national discourse. As if all sides of the story are backed equally by facts.
To quote Gingrich, "As a political candidate, I'll go with what people feel..." Because manipulating people's feelings is easier than manipulating facts.
found the centrist
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While I know what you mean, it's ironic that you posted this on a comment chain about a guardian article. It's literally an independent left wing newspaper.
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This is objectively bullshit.
Not if you still watch TV
A trump victory is great for ratings of mainstream media. They are fueled by trump hatred and it makes them billions.
the "Press" is Capitalism ~ only clicks and impressions matter ~ the world can burn
If the public didn't learn from his prior presidency then we are well and truly fucked and this country is over and done with.
Through the time, the media has changed. No so long ago, it was to inform the population of what was happening outside. The news freedom is important at this point. It allows everyone to build an opinion, and it's a counter power to the state. The last decade saw a radical change in how we use the media. It's for a good part of them about making money. Where money was critical to inform the population, this same money became critical to make profit. Internet accelerates the movement with the clicks and the views. The run to maximize the profit coming from the media ruined the quality of the articles behind the motto "more and shorter".
This change has been coming since the 90s, ever since Reagan shut down the Fairness Doctrine in the FCC and the media cross-ownership rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_cross-ownership_in_the_United_States
After the 1996 Telecommunications Act, most of those rules were repealed and we began to see quick consolidation of media outlets. That's why most newspapers and broadcast stations are owned by a single corporate parent. It has not led to greater competition and better journalism. Quite the opposite.
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Almost nobody gets any news from anything that would be covered by the fairness doctrine, which was only a possible federal power due to the FCC being in control of allocating radio frequency.
Stop preaching like it would have made any difference at all, because it functional died with the rise of cable TV anyway, Reagan or no Reagan.
That's an important factor, but another is the shift from print to the internet. With print you bought a paper then looked to see what was inside. You could know which papers had more reliable reporting. With the internet there's no audience loyalty and most people are not paying, so they're always desperate to get you to click on their article instead of someone else's for the sake of the advertising views. So shock, outrage and clickbait win every time, not responsible reporting.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The poll, of course, is only one snapshot and it has been criticized, but it still tells a cautionary tale – especially when paired with the certainty that Trump, if elected, will quickly move toward making the United States an authoritarian regime.
Almost as troubling, two New York Times stories outlined Trump’s autocratic plans to put loyal lawyers in key posts and limit the independence of federal agencies.
Here’s what must be hammered home: Trump cannot be re-elected if you want the United States to be a place where elections decide outcomes, where voting rights matter, and where politicians don’t baselessly prosecute their adversaries.
“Women don’t want to die for Mike Johnson’s religious beliefs,” as Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast said on MSNBC, referring to the theocratic House speaker.
The Guardian’s David Smith laid out the contrast: “Since Biden took office the US economy has added a record 14m jobs while his list of legislative accomplishments has earned comparisons with those of Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson … Trump, meanwhile, is facing 91 criminal indictments in Atlanta, Miami, New York and Washington DC, some of which relate to an attempt to overthrow the US government.”
Pin down Republicans about whether they support Trump’s lies and autocratic plans, as ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos did in grilling the House majority leader Steve Scalise about whether the 2020 election was stolen.
The original article contains 950 words, the summary contains 227 words. Saved 76%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Most people aren't that bright to begin with.
Almost no one is smart when stressed, scared, or worried about survival and basic needs.
A lot of people in the US are stressed and worried about basic needs.
So you have a lot of people who weren't that sharp to begin with rolling with huge penalties because they're scared and worried if they're going to be able to pay their bills or be homeless.
It's not a good situation.
Fixing it won't be easy. Basic income, nationalized health care, breaking up monopolies would all help. But here we are.
Yes.
WAIT NO. This meatballs running again???!
Yes. It's now a race between convicting and imprisoning him, and him winning the election and pardoning himself. And then using being president to both dodge punishment and likely issue in a fascist autocracy via Project 2025.
Fuuuck no, it's been so nice and quiet for the last 2 years
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And don't forget, there is no constitutional law that forbids a president from being in prison.
Honestly, I think Trumps gonna win.
Slowest pitch in history, and at the nth hour Biden outs himself as a genocidal fascist.
What a fucking moron.
Republicans will dutifully vote red and Democrats will refuse to support genocide.
Burn it to the ground 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Edit- or feel free to keep taking it. Put up with the same media that between 2014-16 published THOUSANDS of articles about Hillary Clinton's emails and benghazi and next to nothing about the truth and dangers of that mutant trump. Keep taking it like good consumers. Let Billionaire agendas influence and control the narrative of your lives. Keep paying into the system that empowers plutocracy and divides us as a nation and is destroying the fabric of society and our planet just so some assholes that couldn't spend their entire wealth in multiple lifetimes can add a few more zeros onto their bank statement.
Even applying the military? Come on guys. Really? I hate the orange fuck as much as anyone else but this makes us look silly.
That's not hyperbole.
The Washington Post reported the plan includes immediately invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement and directing the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue Trump adversaries.
Fucking Christ.
I only wish.
it's so so sooooo difficult to take this language seriously. because EVERY election is phrased with this sky-is-falling rhetoric. i am 45 and for as long as i have been a voter, this-next-one is the-big-one.
nevertheless, i do actually think that this time bad things really will happen.
also, i want to get it out there that even though this guardian piece downplays "biden is old", i cannot stress enough that i will unconditionally NOT vote for biden. so these fuckers better put up a reasonable candidate very quickly.
In other words, you're going to help enable the "bad things" that you agree really will happen.
How brave of you.
I'm 50 something. 2015 was the only big one the USA has experienced during that time. Yet people were too goddamned moronic to see it.
I think you'd have to ignore everything Trump did 2016-20 and ignore what the SCOTUS has become to not see this election as the second big one.
But if Americans are really this idiotic, then I guess we will get what we deserve.
So... you're the proof of the article I guess?
Lmao. Anyone conscious during the Trump presidency will not risk him in office again... unless they have little knowledge of history or unless they harbor fascist tendencies. But hey, keep trying.
I have little doubt that the country will end up as some version of Trump's authoritarian state. The question is the timing.
I actually think that our best chance of avoiding it (in the long run) is another Trump victory. He will make those changes so abruptly that people will react far more strongly than if we slid into an authoritarian state gradually. I mean....think about the possibility of Trump having won in 2020. The DNC would have to accept that they need to nominate a truly progressive candidate, and people would be demanding change immediately. Instead, we're justifying Biden/Harris again because they're not Trump.
I actually think that our best chance of avoiding it (in the long run) is another Trump victory. He will make those changes so abruptly that people will react far more strongly than if we slid into an authoritarian state gradually.
Too late. He's already normalized this behavior for too many people.
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Are you serious? Deploying the military to put down dissent is his strategy to deal with that. And we've seen it happen around the world. If the military gets involved in politics at home, it's bad news for everyone.
If Trump won in 2020 we'd never have another real election. That's the stakes now.
Almost reminds me of some other "president" from a different country. Vlad Putita? Or something like that.
Likely American windows will become flimsy and people just start falling randomly out of windows.
The DNC would have to accept that they need to nominate a truly progressive candidate
I think they'd rather die.
If he wins again he already has a plan and people working to have the military in the streets to slaughter protesters on day one. He is also planning to arrest/execute anyone that has tried to hold him responsible for anything. If he wins its game over for democracy full stop, he isn't going to take a chance of going to prison again.