Well, at least they’re not pretending anymore
Thomas Friedman instructs his fellow journalists (I use the term advisedly) on how best to hurt Trump.
It reads like unintentional parody. He thinks the way to best hurt Trump would be to cover him thoroughly, letting America (and especially the moderate Republicans) know just how awful Trump is.
It’s certainly not a bad idea for the press to do its job and cover Trump thoroughly, but for the press to do it because they wish to harm Trump politically is a bit surprising for Friedman to acknowledge. Of course, just about everyone knows that’s what they are in fact trying to do, and that they’re pretty proud of it. But of course, it’s also not as though Americans are unfamiliar with Trump, his tweets, or his rallies at this point.
But it’s nice to hear someone actually admit the motive of the press is to swing the election to the Democrats. Of course, Friedman himself is an opinion columnist (see? it says so right under his name), so he gets to take sides and to do it openly. But he’s not addressing his fellow opinion columnists; he’s addressing news reporters.
Friedman is also forgetting something. During the 2016 primaries, the strategy of news reporters in the MSM and on cable TV was all Trump all the time, almost from the start of the campaign season. Quite a few of his rallies were televised in their entirety, and his every word was reported as though it were issuing from the mouth of a sort of reverse Delphi oracle. The original idea was to hurt him—actually, to demolish him—with the GOP primary voters. When that didn’t happen (and it became clear almost immediately that it wasn’t happening), the networks and the papers switched to covering him equally assiduously in order to make sure he defeated the other GOP candidates and become the nominee of the pathetic Republican Party.
Oh, what a farce that would be, if Trump were the GOP nominee! What a guarantee of a Hillary win! We all know how that turned out. But the MSM cannot believe the result even now, and they are hoping the very same strategy as back then will do quite the opposite now.
Who knows; perhaps they’re right. I continue to fear a Democrat-controlled House in 2018, and if that happens I know one guy named Friedman who probably would love to take some credit.
I feel confident that the GOP will retain control of the Senate and even pick up seats (around 4, probably). That will make the GOP Senate less reliant on the goodwill of wobbly members, and that’s a good thing.
But control of the House is much harder to follow since there are so many races in play. After analyzing the coverage of the Senate races, I’m also much less confident in the accuracy of polling in House races, which is much more sparse anyway.
I have no idea how the House will turn out, although I prefer to hope that the public can see how unhinged the Democrats have become and will vote accordingly. Also, there’s the advantage of incumbency, and almost all of the “toss-up” races are GOP-incumbent. The GOP only has to win about half of those to retain control.
So maybe I would give a slight advantage to Republicans to hang on. Like, 55%.
Except for Fox News, what’s the difference between what we have and what Friedman is asking for?
Mexican influence, collusion. Official or mercenary?
I’m glad to see the media is becoming more honest in admitting that they are corrupt and dishonest.
Thomas Friedman, like so many of his Trump hating fellow travelers, doesn’t know anyone that supports Trump and so doesn’t know why they do. His occupancy of the Never-Trump echo chamber also ensures that he doesn’t know what Trump has actually accomplished and how, and, of course, he does not know how people who support the president feel about these terrible, horrible things Trump has done and plans to do (hint: they like them). Thus, his recommendations would produce the exact opposite result that he hopes for, i.e.; a surge in Trump support.
These people.
This attitude fits well into Einstein’s definition of insanity: to repeat the same stupid thing again and again each time expecting a different result.
By “thoroughly”, I suspect Friedman is advising his fellow propagandists to not let even the smallest opportunity to hurt Trump pass them by. Currently, 95% of the coverage of Trump is negative. Friedman wishes to increase the negative coverage, so as to reduce that 5% positive to 1% positive. In hopes that will finally convince us troglodytes that our betters truly do know better.
Just as Jefferson predicted, free to speak and write, they “declare themselves”.
The democrats will pick up house seats, but I see no reason at this point in time to fret over them gaining the majority. In general primaries have seen gop voters in higher numbers than the donkey party voters. The senate will see an increase in the gop slight majority by 4-6 seats. The nevertrumpers are actually solidifying support for djt’s agenda. The msm’s hysteria turns off all but the woke resistors.
We’ll see, but I see a potential for “happy days are here again”.
With unemployment way down, wages up, and taxes more reasonable, it seems to me that a vote for a Democrat House is self-destructive and not too bright.
To quote one of those late-night clowns:
Do it! Yes, do it! Do it! Do it!
Go ahead make a run for trying to hurt Trump as that will almost guarantee another 4 years of Trump. I’ll love it; and so will my bank account.
A little off topic, but the Senate race in Michigan is going to be interesting to watch.
The Republicans just nominated John James to oppose long time Democrat Senator Debbie Stabenow. James is a 37 year-old conservative Christian African-American. He’s a West Point graduate who has flown 400+ combat missions as an Apache helicopter pilot in Iraq. He came home to earn an MBA from the University of Michigan, then worked as CEO of his family business in Detroit. I attended one of his rallies and he is incredibly charismatic with a photogenic young family. He won Trump’s enthusiastic endorsement in the primary.
I have a feeling that the Michigan Senate seat could surprise everyone by being in play this year.
Lets him hope Hillary hires him as her campaign adviser in 2020
Shortly after the election I read a piece by the dean of the Columbia School of Journalism to the effect that Trump’s win changed the role of journalists from one of primarily reporting to making sure that the correct narrative prevailed. Not the exact words, but very much the message of the piece. It struck me as nakedly corrupt and delusional. It is also the same message Friedman is offering. Hillary supporter Jeff Jarvis of the CUNY journalism school said on the This Week in Google podcast many years before “The Disaster” that reporters still believed that they were curating information for a public that depended on them and had not realised that they were just another node on the network.
As others have said, Tom Friedman is doubling down on stupid. We tried this last time, it caused us to lose an unlosable race… so let’s try it again, good and hard this time!
Good luck, sir. Have fun.
One prediction is as safe as tomorrow’s sunrise. Sometime shortly before the election, President Trump will produce a tweet, or series of tweets, that will drive the American Left into utter moonbat mouth-foaming insanity… and as they froth about it, Trump will fan the flames, driving them to ever greater heights of red-faced screaming. Trump will then drop another detail, or produce new actions on the ground, that completely undercut his critics, leaving him looking moderately reasonable and the critics refusing to be ashamed of themselves. This will have a pronounced effect on the 2018 midterm elections.
President Trump has polished this technique to a fine glow… and they fall for it, every single time.
Who the heck is T Friedman? He sounds familiar.
Daniel Schwartz:
Lucy and the football. Inconceivable!
Most of it stems from revenge butthurt cause they foolishly mocked his candidacy and miscalled his chances of election, turning themselves into foolish assclowns.
“…to the effect that Trump’s win changed the role of journalists from one of primarily reporting to making sure that the correct narrative prevailed.”
Funny. Could’ve sworn that’s the way “journalism” was operating way, way before Trump even decided to run….
Here’s some dumpster diving courtesy ‘investigative reporters”
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/08/dem-desperation-dialed-to-11.php