Derelict Media Still Can't Handle Trump's Madness - The Wednesday AM Quickie 10/16/24
This is the plot to the Sylvester Stallone disaster-action movie "Daylight," isn't it? -Jacob
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THE BIG NEWS
Derelict Media Still Can't Handle Trump's Madness
With three weeks left until election day, the mainstream media continues to demonstrate its inability to accurately report on the deranged, bizarre behavior of Donald Trump. "Trump’s Remarks on Migrants Illustrate His Obsession With Genes," read a recent New York Times headline about a Trump rally during which he "[invoked] his long-held fascination with genes and genetics."
Trump wasn't riffing on a pet intellectual theory. He was being floridly racist, saying that migrants had "bad genes" that made them violent. This was Nazi rhetoric – the kind that ungirds Trump's promise to unleash the military to violently cleanse the country of migrants – but the New York Times could only manage to note, deep into the article, that Trump had been "criticized by many for evoking the ideology of eugenics promulgated by Nazis in Germany and white supremacists in the United States."
The same New York Times reporter described Trump's deranged 30-minute DJ set at his Monday rally as one of his characteristic "improvisational departures." It was an "odd town hall detour," "a strange conclusion to a political event," and "an indication of how his supporters flock to his rallies to be in his presence as much as to hear him make political points with which they are intimately familiar."
The sanitized language of the Times' view-from-nowhere doesn't do justice to the total weirdness of Trump's musical episode earlier this week. If you haven't seen the video, it shows a doddering old guy, possibly medicated, swaying, dancing, wandering around the stage, and otherwise spacing out – when he's not rambling about the loyal MAGA cultists who collapsed in the overheated auditorium. The man isn't just a fascist; he's out of his gourd.
The Washington Post got it pretty much right, depicting the event as a strange nostalgia trip for a confused, tired man:
As Trump stood onstage in his oversize suit and bright red tie, swaying back and forth, it was almost as if he were taking a trip back to decades past. Trump’s decision to cut short the question-and-answer portion of the town hall and instead have the crowd stay to listen to his favorite songs was a somewhat bizarre move, given that the election was only 22 days away. Vice President Kamala Harris has called Trump, 78, unstable and questioned his mental acuity.
The next day, under the headline "Trump’s erratic endgame: Dark threats, personal insults and some dancing," the Post listed some of Trump's recent threats against migrants and his nonsensical stories about acing cognitive tests. Still, the post included some cardboard phrases, like referring to Trump's unhinged rants as "norm-breaking behavior."
If the media wants to recuperate itself with an understandably cynical public, it could start by describing Trump without euphemism or cant. Call him what he is: an unstable, mentally unsound aspiring dictator. It shouldn't be so hard.
MORE STORIES TO WATCH
Biden Admin Kinda Sorta Threatens To Cut Off Arms To Israel
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israel's Minister of Defense and its Minister of Strategic Affairs "to underscore the U.S. government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza." The letters warns that "the humanitarian situation for over two million civilians in Gaza is increasingly dire" and that Israeli limitations on the movement of aid and commercial goods is making the situation far worse. The letter goes on to tell the Israeli government that it must "surge all forms of humanitarian assistance," allowing in more aid trucks and commercial goods, and "end [the] isolation of northern Gaza." If Israel fails to comply within 30 days, it may face consequences under U.S. law.
The unspoken implication is that those consequences may include cutting off U.S. arms transfers to Israel. The Biden administration has long ignored, or found ways around, existing U.S. regulations like the Leahy Law, which is supposed to prevent the sale of weapons to states committing human rights violations. It's been clear for the last year that Israel has been committing war crimes and other atrocities with U.S. weapons (and U.S. logistical support). The Biden administration has done nothing beyond writing a sternly worded letter.
Trump Launches Scammy Crypto Token While Its Website Crashes
Donald Trump, who has attached his name to dozens of greasy schemes over the years, has launched his latest con: a cryptocurrency token called World Liberty Financial, which trades under the ticker symbol WLFI. The crypto project, which is run by a laughably sketchy group of crypto lifers, experienced a troubled debut, with its website offline for much of the day. While offering the typical crypto hype about revolutionizing the financial system, WLFI is basically a rebrand of a previously hacked crypto project. And despite claims of overwhelming investor interest, the company only managed to sell 3 percent of its tokens – which were priced at about 1.5 cents – to slightly more than 5,000 wallets. Given that a single person could control many wallets, it doesn't seem like there's much appetite for Donny's tired retread of a failed crypto token. But for Trump, who World Liberty Financial calls their "chief crypto associate," it's still free money. At least until the SEC calls.
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Lame-Duck Kyrsten Sinema Is Still Spending Donor Cash Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has spent more than $216,000 on travel since she announced she wouldn't seek re-election. The flighty former Democrat has used campaign cash to attend the Olympics in Paris, visit a space company in Tokyo, and dine out in London. via AZ Central.
- Creepy Columbia Prof Harassing Students Banned From Campus Columbia Business School Professor Shai Davidai, who has made it his second job to dox and demonize pro-Palestinian students on social media, has been banned from the school's campus. For Davidai, who doesn't have tenure, it is another step on his road to self-promoting martyrdom. via X/Layla and X/Shai Davidai.
- Early Voting Begins in Georgia, As Jimmy Carter Casts His Ballot for Harris More than 300,000 ballots were cast yesterday as early voting began in Georgia. One of them was from 100-year-old former president Jimmy Carter, who voted for Kamala Harris. Also on Tuesday, a Georgia state judge ruled that county election boards must certify election results. via CNN and NBC News.
- Right-Wing Cat-Eating Hysteria Proven Fake – Of Course Anti-immigrant grifter Christopher Rufo's report that a Rwandan family in Ohio ate cats is apparently as fake as all the debunked stories about Haitian immigrants consuming house pets. The family that served as Rufo's source deny that they ever said their neighbors were grilling cats. via Drop Site.
SOME NUMBER
73 percent
That's how much wildlife populations have shrunk in the last 50 years due to human activity, according to the Living Planet Report 2024, which is produced by the World Wildlife Fund. The species die-off was described as "catastrophic," pushing some ecosystems to the brink of collapse.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
10/16: It's Hump Day! Sam speaks with David Dayen, executive editor at The American Prospect, & Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project and author of the BIG newsletter on Substack, to discuss their new podcast endeavor.
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Donald Trump Goes Full Demented Weirdo During Insane MAGA Rally
We really would've been saved a lot of trouble if Trump had achieved his dream of being a Broadway producer.
Pelosi Previews Blame-Game Plan If Harris Loses To Trump
Not reassuring!
PARTING WORDS
"The situation is bleak, black and bloody. There are people who want Gaza to be the graveyard of international law. In whose interest is that? Either you have the rule of law or you have the rule of the jungle. There is no in-between. At present it is the powerful and mighty that are winning."
-- Palestinian lawyer Raji Soujani, speaking to The Guardian. After Soujani gave an interview to Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, Israeli forces destroyed his home in an airstrike. Fearing he was being directly targeted, he fled to Egypt.
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