'Constructive'
‘We cannot trust Russia & we won’t ever trust Russia’
The head says one thing, the ass another.

 R_P wrote: 
What could possibly go wrong?

 R_P wrote: 
Illiterate fucknugget.

 R_P wrote: 

A fairly unequivocal review of Trump's performance at G20 from an Australian perspective.

 Steely_D wrote: 

Trump provided excellent ratings for the TV news shows and networks knew that all too well. Once they realized Trump was playing them for coverage, a bunch of network heads huddled together and tried to boycott some of Trump's fake press conferences during the campaign. 

But campaign coverage abandoned serious discussion of the issues and fact-checking of candidates'  statements a long time ago. That's one silver lining about Trump's campaign: the print media got a lot more aggressive about fact-checking and hasn't let up since the election.

You have to grant Trump this, I think: his popularity was not due just to the media's coverage of his spectacle. The media and pollsters consistently underrated and misunderstood his popularity with the working poor as well as the fairly well-to-do who became alienated by social progressivism (gay/transgender equality, Black Lives Matter, etc) and tolerant stances towards illegal immigration. Even if Trump had had a fatal heart attack early in the campaign, those issues would still have resonated with some voters and another Republican (Cruz, perhaps or Scott Walker  of Wisconsin) would have leaned towards those voters. 

I agree with you that the media isn't likely to focus on the nuts and bolts of our government and the policies it promotes. It's too involved and boring. A lot of citizen participation in politics comes down to how voters relate to politicians as people and symbols of larger issues (civil rights, states rights, government intervention in the economy, etc.). You need to have the personal angle to get voters' attentions.

Maybe in the future the media will place more emphasis on how laws and policies would affect specific individuals. You'd have reality-show politics and coverage, yes, but the attention would be on how (for instance) Mary Struthers, single mom of two, is going to be affected by cuts to Medicaid. The personal angle gets moved from the candidates to the voters. 

Hey, I'm for anything that gets people to wake the f%*k up and stop being the sucker for psychopathic charlatans like Trump. 

 spammer wrote: 
A one of a kind, he was. 

 SeriousLee wrote: 

Weaver credits his ability to evaluate talent with the epiphany he experienced when he realized he would never play in the majors. In Time article, he said, "Right then I started becoming a good baseball person, because when I came to recognize, and more important, accept my own deficiencies, then I could recognize other players' inabilities and learn to accept them, not for what they can’t do, but for what they can do."

http://reason.com/blog/2015/04/21/the-earl-weaver-case-for-rand-pauls-libe

Had no idea Trump coached the Orioles at one time.

 kcar wrote: 
Well, the reason eccentric ideas/people come to our attention is the media telling us about them and keeping them in our minds.

Trump isn't President because he's a good choice; he's there because the media focused on him, as an anomaly, and so he came to the public's attention.
Same with these idiots who have KKK rallies and expect opposition. If we ignore them they won't go away, but their ideas spread slower.

We need to stop giving attention to these train wrecks, these personal stories and dramatics, to get photo ops. Instead, the media needs to focus on the much more boring nuts and bolts of what's happening in our legislature. This will never happen. 

 Steely_D wrote: 
Perfect: Donnie feels the burn. Everyone should do that to Trumpers. 

“The people of Poland, the people of America, and the people of Europe still cry out ‘We want God,’’’ said Trump. “We put faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, at the center of our lives.’’

It’s an outlook fervently shared by the president’s hosts, Poland’s Law & Justice Party. Last year, Polish President Andrzei Duda took part in a religious ceremony that officially recognized Jesus as the King of Poland. (...)

Channelling obersturmbannführer Bannon...

 Steely_D wrote: 

 R_P wrote: 
#MakeAmericaGreetAgain

False flag

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 Skydog wrote: 
Very good point. Wouldn't the Secret Service be the ones to drive the conversation as to where the President, VP... etc. will be staying on any of their trips (especially overseas) to be able to scout and secure the location well in advance?

To act as if this was just an oversight shows an extreme lack of preparation. Nothing is surprising anymore with this administration.

 Steely_D wrote: 
Doesn't he OWN all the hotels?

 VV wrote: 
No argument. It's more fuel to the "America's President is a nincompoop" fire.

 Steely_D wrote: 
So the Secret Service didn't do an advance check of where the President would be staying?