Maybe, or maybe it's just a technique he uses to get what he wants.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard Driscoll
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2016 4:26 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Right on Cue, Media Begins to Normalize Trump
Miriam:
Dear Barack looks at the world through rose colored glasses and seems to me
to be barely aware of the conditions present as they actually exist.
Richard
On 11/15/2016 8:24 AM, Miriam Vieni wrote:
And most disgusting, Obama has been reassuring world leaders thatany other.
everything will be fine. Why?
Miriam
Truthdig
Right on Cue, Media Begins to Normalize Trump
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/right_on_cue_media_begins_to_norma
lize_t
rump_20161114/
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Posted on Nov 14, 2016
By Adam Johnson / AlterNet
(http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/right-cue-media-begins-normaliz
e-trum
p)
Donald Trump and his family are interviewed by 60 Minutes. (CBS
News)
Editor's update 11/14: CBS News is under fire for waiting two days
(http://thehill.com/media/305823-cbs-news-under-fire-for-holding-clip-
of-tru
mp-telling-supporters-not-to-attack) to release a clip of Donald
Trump telling his supporters not to attack minorities.
Throughout the election, critics often
(http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/magazine/the-normalization-of-trump
-and-w
hat-comes-after.html) savaged the media for "normalizing Trump,"
broadly defined as the act of treating his rank sexism, xenophobia and
fascist dog-whistles as just another policy difference against equally
valid opponents. This trend, borne largely by a combination of
cognitive dissonance and access, is being accelerated now that Trump
has won the election, and its continuation, if left unchecked, could
undermine opposition for years to come.
Oprah Winfrey, in an interview
(https://twitter.com/BroderickGreer/status/797199418101534722) with
Entertainment Tonight, said Trump's recent visit to the White House
gave her "hope" and suggested he has been "humbled" by the experience.
The Guardian's Simon Jenkins told his readers
(https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/10/donald-trump-wi
ll-not
-go-unchallenged) to "calm down" and that Trump wasn't the "worst thing."
His college, Nouriel Roubini, insisted
(https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/11/oval-office-will-tam
e-us-p
resident-donald-trump) the Oval Office will "tame" Trump. People
magazine ran a glowing profile of Trump and his wife Melania (though
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-people-cover_us_5824
bc56e4
b0c56101d5c946) a former People writer accused Trump of sexual assault).
The New York Times' Nick Kristof dubiously added
(http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/opinion/gritting-our-teeth-and-givi
ng-pre
sident-trump-a-chance.html) that we should "Grit our teeth and give
Trump a chance." The mainstays-Washington Post, New York Times and
CNN-while frequently critical, are coving Trump's transition as they would
President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have all issuedchance.
statements recognizing Trump's legitimacy and pleading we give him a
patriotism.
Overall there's a creeping sense that we're stuck with Trump and we
should make it "work" in some type of do-goody liberal appeal to
to no such charge.
But this is wrong, both tactically and ethically. Trump isn't normal
and he should never be treated as such, regardless of what President
Obama and Clinton and Sanders say. These people are politicians, bound
by a different covenant. The media, namely progressive media, is subject
The overall message of normalizing Trump is that you can steamrollmainstream.
women, LGBT people, the disabled, Muslims, and people of color, yet
everything will be okay so long as you win. Indeed, when asked
(http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-campaign-rhetoric-not-sorry-2016
-11) if he thought his rhetoric had gone too far, Trump responded,
"No, I won."
This is the logic of a fascist, and liberals are acquiescing to him by
pivoting to "Trump as our kooky uncle" normalization mode.
In addition to it working in Trump's favor in the present, it creates
a moral hazard for all future Trumps: you can go as far right as you
want and smear as many vulnerable populations you want, so long as you
surpass 270 electoral votes come fall.
Had Trump lost, he would likely have been cast out of proper company,
left to build his own Breitbart-like brand operating on the margins of
acceptable opinion. Influential and profitable to be sure, but not
Political principles, to say nothing of morality, should not shiftnew position.
based on the outcome of an election. If Trump was a vulgar racist and
sexual predator before November 8, he still is after, regardless of his
why wait?
So what to do?
Those not appealing to bromides about "working together" are staging
massive protests
(http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/09/501513889/anti-trum
p-prot
ests-break-out-in-cities-across-the-country) throughout the country,
from Austin to Portland to Kansas City to New York. As expected, the
same pundit class that neither predicted nor adequately combated
Trump's rise are concern trolling those taking to the streets to show
their revulsion. The Daily Show ran a boring segment
(https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/797144376296148992)
hand-wringing over some overturned cars. New York Magazine's Jonathan
Chait insisted
(https://twitter.com/jonathanchait/status/796698637124374528) the
people shouldn't denounce Trump the day after the election because it
was "a little soon." Too soon? Given the stakes, one is compelled to ask,
Israel has already signaled
(http://europe.newsweek.com/israel-push-ahead-settlement-building-afte
r-trum
p-victory-519998?rm=eu) it will expand settlements with the blessing
of the president-elect. The cabinet looks like it will be stuffed
(http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/7/13551988/donald-trum
p-cabi
net-cronies) with unqualified Trump cronies. Virulently anti-poor
people Paul Ryan has effectively been put in charge of budget
priorities and is floating Medicare cuts
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/11/is-paul-r
yan-al
ready-eyeing-medicare-cuts/) . A climate change denier is selecting
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/11/
meet-t
he-man-trump-is-relying-on-to-unravel-obamas-environmental-legacy/)
the head of the EPA. Why wait to use every available avenue to
undermine Trump on the altar of civility?
Instead of appealing to civility or plotting a run four years down the
road, pundits who truly want to undermine Trump as much as possible
should spend more time supporting their local anti-Trump protests and
far less time treating Trump like just another politician. The left
can only combat Trump by leveraging both its political and activist
wings, not indulging in Sorkinesque gestures of "working together."
Adam Johnson is a contributing analyst at FAIR and contributing writer
for AlterNet. Follow him on Twitter @AdamJohnsonNYC
(https://twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC) .
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