Yesterday, in my browser feed was the headline Tucker Carlson said (whatever). That is not news. Carlson is an opinion host whose modus operandi does not always include the truth, which is actually a generous comment. What he, Rachel Maddow, Sean Hannity, Lawrence O’Brien, Laura Ingraham et al, espouse is not news. It is opinion. And, in Carlson’s case, includes purposeful disinformation as he covers for the untruthful and seditious bent of the former president.
I have been a broken record that the news too often covers things that are not news. I do not care who wins or loses by an action or inaction, I want to know what it is, who will benefit, what it costs and when will it be implemented. Congress largely does nothing but run for office. The fact we have to wait, every time, to fund the government at the last minute is a travesty, in my view. Stop the stop gap measures and do something with more forethought and action.
One thing I fault the media on is focusing on too many little things with the former president. Yes, he did all those things, but by focusing on little faux pas, the bigger transgressions get overlooked. Here is an example. In the middle of the 2020 election, the former president’s foundation was ordered by a judge to be disbanded and Trump repay money he used from people’s donations for personal use. The repaid monies would be distributed per the foundation’s bylaws by a group of new trustees with no one named Trump among them. Yet, this news got overshadowed and not many people knew it occurred.
I mention this example as it is a precursor to what is happening with the Trump business today. The former president and his children have been ordered to testify in court in the criminal proceedings against the company regarding misrepresentation of financials. It should be noted the Trump accounting firm resigned from the account and said do not rely on the last eleven financial statements, which is extraordinary. This is not a witch hunt, nor was the foundation story above. This is alleged malfeasance.
This must be focused on as this person is still considering running for president again. This is in spite of his Big Lie that the election was stolen from him that he has been unable to prove in spite of a lot of money, effort and now suspended attorneys’ time. This is in spite of the investigation that the former president committed seditious actions against a branch of government leading up to and on January 6. No, Mr. Carlson, this was not a false flag operation.
These are needed news stories. Yet, I would rather we talk about addressing climate change, water concerns, shoring up electrical grids to meet the growing renewable energy production, investing in the new jobs of the future, improving healthcare access, dealing better with our debt and deficit, etc. Yet, we still have to talk about the former president’s poor stewardship, untruthful nature and alleged malfeasance and sedition.
musingsofanoldfart 
I recently learned about Airborne leaflet propaganda. Used during wartime, this is a form of psychological warfare in which flyers are thrown out of planes and scattered in the air. It seems like opinion show personalities are students of this type of propaganda. They spread so much disinformation, they effectively ruin the morale of our entire country. They keep us focused on the ridiculous minutia, so we don’t see the important information.
Rose, Interesting connection. Not all opinion hosts are equal. There are some who border on betraying the public’s best interest, as was noted by a former Fox News person about her former colleagues. Keith
We saw the lies in action, applied to our recent Freedom Convoy activities. Sensationalism over essential facts.
Agreed VJ.
You’re so good at staying on top of the major issues and the impact on our nation, Keith. It gets exhausting after a while, which is exactly what the liars and manipulators hope for – that we’ll just give up. It’s amazing to me that half of US citizens prefer lies to truth.
Thanks Diana. You think folks would be frustrated by being lied to, yet there seems to be this a feedback loop that tells them the lies are not so. To me, the lies are overt. Keith
To me too, Keith. Some of them don’t even make logical sense. It’s mind-boggling.
Agreed. Some of the lies from the previous White House were to cover the inane lies or comments made by the incumbent – ingesting COVID is a hoax or will just go away or the Big Lie, eg. Keith
Will Trump ever cease to be a topic? Too much insanity happened during his era that will continue to drag a rat’s tail behind it for a long time to come.
True Erika. It may be that he believes even bad news is better than no news. If Jean Paul Sartre’s view of hell is correct, Donald Trump’s worst punishment would be no one paying attention to him. Keith
And that is exactly what I always said. He wants attention on any cost. So, you could punish him most if he only gets the most necessary attention for his stupid statements. If his followers had stagnated that would have already been terrible for him.
Erika, agreed. I do my best to ignore his comments. If I must read something it will likely be the first two paragraphs to get the gist. Keith
Reblogged this on Filosofa's Word and commented:
I have long said that Keith is the gold standard for blogging. I often think, as I’m writing a post, WWKS, or “What would Keith say?” He doesn’t rant and he doesn’t have much patience for focusing on little, irrelevant things, personality clashes, etc. His post today exemplifies this — his message is to stay focused on what’s important and tune out the b.s., of which there is plenty floating around these days. Thanks, Keith … you are the best example I know!
Jill, you are too kind. Thanks for the reblog. All the best, Keith
Not kind, just honest … you really do set a high bar, my friend, and it’s one that I know I often fail to live up to, but I do try harder now.
Of course, my wife gets the more unfiltered reaction, which I temper down for writing.
Note to Readers: Good evidence of why the focus on the news is important is with the Russian president Putin who uses the news channels as disinformation sources. Unfortunately, regular Russians pay for his untruthfulness. Facts matter. If we get it wrong here, we need to remedy any misstatements.
Interesting, isn’t it, that, as you say, this person is still considering running for president again — in spite of the “Big Lie” that the election was stolen from him.
If the “Big Lie” were just that, why would he need to run again? Hmmm?
Good post.
Thanks Nan. I like to keep it simple, if he had not intended on contesting the election, why did he engage over 1,000 attorneys as of two months before the election? The fact he made false claims was not a surprise. What was a surprise is how much acquiescence he got from so-called leaders of the party. Even today, after losing all but one court case out of 65 or so and every recount, audit and review, his fans still believe his Big Lie, because of those weak-kneed leaders. Keith
I’ve long fantasized about the entire news media just completely ignoring TFG, because he’s such a waste of everyone’s time and energy, and that would be the worst punishment he could get. Obviously, that ain’t gonna happen, ’cause he gets ratings, which is what news is all about, right? 😡
Sadly, true. A social media analyst said in an interview conspiracy stories get read 6X more frequently than the truth online. The former president has long known this, which is why he has such a long track record of being untruthful. So, do the Zuckerburgs of the world – they can sell more ads.
well said. I look forward to the day when I never hear his name in the news…
Jim, I agree. It has been so refreshing having a president who does not opine on every issue, especially those that are not impacted by a president as his predecessor did. Keith
and if that’s all he accomplishes, I’d be happy…
True
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As much as I try to pretend his presidency never happened – just for my own peace of mind – his name keeps reappearing. I’m afraid that no matter what is proven about his criminal behavior in a court of law, his followers will never believe it.
Janis, most likely you are correct. They would prefer to believe a childlike retort that people who criticize, testify under oath or criminally indict him just “don’t like him” or are “out to get him.” Some of these folks testified at great risk and yet the followers would prefer to believe a well-documented person with an untruthful bent. Keith
Note to Readers: In a very unsurprising move, the former president has fawned once again over Vladimir Putin. Since the former president is being investigated for seditious acts against America as we speak for his role leading up to and on January 6 insurrection, his fealty to Putin and applauding Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine shows how complete a hold Putin has over the former president. With Trump doing Putin’s heavy lifting with the MAGA base, Putin does not need as many PR people to disinform us. While unsurprising, this shows why this former president should never get a chance to sit in the White House again.
I would give kudos to Liz Cheney in regards to the brutal January 6 political fallout she’s suffered (though I’ve read that her Congressional-riding electorate have mostly remained behind her and therefore her seat essentially secure) — if only she’d come out and denounce her then-VP father’s part in fraudulently manufacturing American consent for the 2003-11 attack on Iraq.
Her dad, Dick Cheney, used his own BS about (non-existent) Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify a declaration of war — a ‘war’ that was closer to being a turkey shoot, considering the massive military might attacking the relatively weak country — that inevitably resulted in genuine gratuitous mass suffering and slaughter. That’s the very same Dick who then monetarily benefitted from the invasion through the vast Iraqi oil fields. And I’m not going to get into 9/11.
Not surprisingly, many people, including me, would place Dick ahead of D. Trump on the Mr. Evil scale.
Good point. Dick Cheney is more evil as he knew how to use the system to his advantage. We should not overlook that Dick Cheney wrote key parts of the 2005 Energy Act that gave more freedom to frackers by having them not have to comply with the Clean Air Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Cheney, of course, was CEO of Haliburton, a fracking company before being VP.
Yes. Thanks for the additional info. (BTW: While I don’t know what aspects are accurate, the movie “Vice” is an entertaining view of the political life of Dick Cheney, who’s played by actor Christian Bale.)
I saw that movie as well. It was entertaining, but I wonder how accurate it was, as well.