Can The Grifters Be Stopped?
By Thom Hartmann A...
Trump, Fox News and America's right wing billionaires, who are all working together to stoke an "Open the country!" movement, are making a huge bet.When Mike Pence was telling people in 2000 that cigarettes don't cause cancer, while many people no doubt died because of his advice, he was never held accountable for it.
When Donald Trump and the coal lobbyist who runs his EPA allowed a poisonous pesticide to go back into production and be used on our food crops, there will be an explosion in cancer and neurological disease, but he almost certainly will not be held responsible for it.
When Steve Mnuchin illegally "Robo signed" thousands of mortgage documents, throwing thousands of Californians out of their homes, he escaped any responsibility for the suffering and destroyed families he caused.
When Fox News promoted the Tea Party campaign to stop Obamacare and the expansion of Medicaid, Harvard University says tens of thousands of Americans died unnecessarily, but Fox News was never held responsible for that.
The same guys are now betting that they can successfully politicize the coronavirus and use it to get themselves reelected and lay their hands on as much of the stimulus money as possible, and they will not be held responsible for that, either.
Trump made a bet like this three months ago when he chose to ignore the coronavirus, and now over 40,000 Americans are dead, but by and large he is not being held responsible for that; instead of the networks put him on TV every night.
These grifters and political criminals are all doubling down on their bet that they can simply bullshit their way through this and succeed: do you think they'll win that bet?
-Thom
Comments
#3
To tie this in to today's program, Professor Teitelbaum spoke about war for eternity. He metioned there people who want to bring back theocratic rule, strongmen, etc. (sorry, this is just a brain dump).
This is an attempt by the rich and powerful in the world, to return us to a feudal state. Notice how for decades there has been a concerted effort, world wide, to decrease and eliminate the power of the working class. Wages aren't increasing. Unions are losing power, and education is on the decline, or you are an indentured servant due to debt from that education.
After the 2008 housing crisis, we still haven't recovered homeownership levels we used to see for three basic reasons: Wages and lack of jobs; fake housing bubbles, pricing most consumers out of the market due to inventory controls; and corporate ownership of housing. What this all means, is that there seems to be a concerted effort to make more and more citizens renters and not owners.
Finally, with the rise of the right wing supposed strongman around the world, this will foment war.
So, these corporate backed protests are just efforts to divide this great nation and weaken us. Their goal is to return us prior to the Age of Enlightenment.
Hope this was somewhat clear.
#4
SeanInSac: That was clear as hell and very well-written! Excellent points all. I was just about to post a screed I was working on earlier this morning to pass the time -- another slow day with lots of space to practice typing and ranting at God, like Lieutenant Dan in the hurricane. It pretty much compliments your points but with a lot of extra loaded words. Sorry, but this will soon be buried as Thom's Blog marches on (hopefully):
Trump, enabled by the entire Republican/Wall Street/Wingnut Swamp Party, is up to the same exact thing as always, à la Russia and Ukraine, which is to cheat to win. Everybody on planet Earth and the dog knows that Republicans don't have the votes to beat Democrats legitimately. It's reeeal simple, ain't it, Wolf? (The dog, not the CNN anchor.)
So how do NBC Chuck Todd and fellow millionaire TV anchor news sleuths slather on their slick, professional shine this time around between constant commercial interruptions? How do they normalize for the sake of the big-bucks the raving madness of a howling-at-the-moon lunatic holding daily lie-fests with his wee dick hanging out? Off the record while gossiping among themselves, the emperor has no clothes; on camera, well, just pretend it ain't so.
Is it not a profoundly shocking statement to say that a president of the United States of America is flat-out politicizing a deadly pandemic, shamelessly right out in the open for all to witness -- truly evil, off-the-chart psychotic behavior that has already sentenced to death who knows how many needless thousands, and who knows how many more?
Do you know why nobody knows? We are not testing enough to see the real numbers because his Nazi-esque political advisors do not want voters to know the horrific truth. So they are slow-walking the necessary test kits and related supplies. By now, pretty much every country in the world has figured out that testing is the key, and all Trump's gooney birds know that universal fact quite well having been forewarned by the varying experiences of every country, the advice of every scientist, and the World Health Organization.
Oh yeah? No soup for WHO! The more the pandemic numbers go up, the more Trump's sick calculations for re-election go down. In the swamp, a lizard brain only thinks about gorging on prey and its own survival. To those bulging black eyes, windows into a troubled soul, we're the prey.
These slithering demons from Hell nesting in the bowels of the White House are making a crass political bet with our lives that the economy will magically rebound before November -- Trump's only hope, which defies the rising coronavirus numbers, most medical and economic experts, and the certain odds against him. These gawddamn fools are not just drawing to any inside straight like in the last general election, they're going for a straight flush to beat four of a kind. It ain't gonna happen; people are gonna die; the economy's still gonna suck; Trump's still gonna lose ...unless he cheats like 2016. Did you get the part where people are gonna die ...in droves?
All the glorified, overpaid mouthpieces know full well what a very simple but repulsive story this actually is by any criterion of analysis. Every single American on every single device needs to have the brutal truth drilled into his or her human brain:
We have a genocidal maniac, certifiably nuts, hugely profiting from his hostile takeover of the White House at the same time that he is, by and large, solely responsible for failing to provide responsible leadership as untold sickness and suffering spreads like wildfire across his fantasy kingdom once known as our democracy.
All this carnage -- It didn't have to be! And this daily news-cycle charade of insanity and denial needs to stop right f*cking now! The rest of the world is looking with both awe and horror as the beacon of the free world, a Shining City Upon a Hill is barely visible and dimming fast as corporate fascism once again pounds its golden fist, bidding up prices of medical supplies as people are dying.
How many more have to die before big corporate media gets it? This feckin ballsack needs to be called out every outrageous moment for every craven lie as he hurls them at our faces. Don't let Trump slide on his shite. We all know it's a tough job keeping abreast of multifaceted, fast-paced stories. And intrepid investigative journalists unquestionably are the other unsung heroes of the day for entering the political maelstrom to expose a monster.
But why the endless loop of reactive-only analyses day after mind-numbing day, a galaxy of minutia circling around a supermassive black hole where the timid never venture? Of all the important issues the media is trying to cover in these fraught times ...HEY!... this is the big one! We're living, and dying, at the precise moment in history that needs to be meticulously covered and recorded but also with a very loud, distinct, and simple message for posterity never to forget.
Whether our cloistered nation and fat-cat advertisers like it or not, the hard, ugly, spiritually-draining truth has to be shouted from the rooftops for all to hear every day, every night. This is just so wrong on so many levels, and the whole nation needs a rude awakening, as if COVID-19 was not enough.
This time, the media cannot let this basket of deplorable, despicable, demented liars led by a madman get away with crimes against humanity. Jaysus, talk about violating the oath of office and the trust of the People! Does Trump really have to shoot someone on 5th Avenue to get your attention when he is telling you who he is every waking moment of his miserable life? The goofy bastard has already shot thousands on Mudville Mainstreets across America and is still on a bloody rampage ...to use his own psychopathic metaphor against him.
This is a real emergency, folks, not a fake one to build a stupid, racist wall. C'mon; let's go; time is short! Otherwise, what good is our overly spendy news organizations when it really counts? What are we paying for exactly? Thin soup and watered-down whiskey? The boys and girls on the splashy sets are still playing fantasy games of ratings and money like in the "beforetimes."
Jane Coaston over at Vox shows 'em how it should be done:
"For some on the right, the plan seems simple: vilify Democratic governors and agitate for the end of shutdown orders. Then, “reopen the economy” and spur a massive turnaround in the nation’s economic prospects just in time for Trump to be reelected in November. If the pandemic recedes, he can claim he was entirely responsible; but if people continue to die, he can place the blame on Democratic governors."
BTW, Thom is right: Open that Windows 10 and clear your head with some of that fresh northern air, eh? CBC News is a great source for straight reporting. (My God, what a tragedy in Nova Scotia!)
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Not sure I consider this postulate some sort of a bet Thom
If a bet then grifters et al will win
There are no punters or gamers