The Beginning... The crowd wasn’t quite sure what to think. Donald Trump, the unlikeliest major party presidential nominee in more than a century, had drawn several thousand people to the Greater Columbus Convention Center. They laughed at his jokes, they chanted “Lock Her Up!” about Hillary Clinton, they seemed to think Mexico might pay for a border wall. They did not expect to hear that the most basic and vital element of American democracy was a sham. After suggesting that the process might be rigged, Trump declared that he had been hearing “more and more” that the election might not be contested fairly, though before elaborating further, he changed the subject to a tangent about one of his first real estate deals, in (somewhat) nearby Cincinnati. He made his incendiary accusation after suggesting that the Democrats had fixed their primary system so Clinton could defeat Bernie Sanders, making some wild link to a batch of hacked emails from the national party that appeared to indicate a preference for the former secretary of state.
But emails aside, Clinton had received 3.7 million more votes than Sanders nationwide and had established a clear lead in delegates months before her party’s convention, which had concluded just days earlier in Philadelphia. This followed Trump’s own evidence-less claim that the Republican nomination would have been stolen from him had he not won by significant margins. Part of his pitch was that he was an outsider, someone who was not from Washington and not beholden to its traditions and informal and formal rules. He wielded that status as a weapon, and at times made it appear that he was running in opposition to the Republican Party as much as representing it...
He accused the GOP of plotting against him, with claims that the system was fixed against him becoming frequent catchphrases during low-water marks of his primary campaign, months earlier, first when he lost Iowa and then when forces allied with Republican rival Ted Cruz managed to pack state delegations with supporters of the Texas senator. He claimed that the whole thing was “rigged” and also asserted that the Republican Party had changed the delegate allocation in the Florida primary to favor a native candidate, like Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio, at Trump’s expense.
The celebrity businessman had long been known to dabble in conspiracy theories, including jump-starting his political career by falsely claiming that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States and then, incredibly, that Cruz’s father was hanging out with President John F. Kennedy’s assassin (he was not). But this was the first time Trump had asserted that November’s general election might not be on the up-and-up. And it wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, a stray thought that crossed his lips, never to be uttered again. Those happened plenty. But veteran Trump watchers knew from hundreds of campaign rallies that if one of his sentiments played well with the crowd—the candidate, truly skilled in reading a room, liked to test material on the audience, like a comic workshopping a joke—it could then become part of his nightly routine. And truly, his campaign was, at its heart, just one rally to the next: outside of a few core tenets (the nation’s trade deals were bad, its immigration system worse), there was very little in the way of political philosophy to Trump. The core goal was simply to seize attention, to get the crowd to cheer, to spawn a cable news chyron, to dominate Twitter, to own the libs.
And Trump stuck to this idea, repeating the charge that night on Fox News channel’s Hannity: “I’m telling you, November eighth, we’d better be careful, because that election is going to be rigged. And I hope the Republicans are watching closely or it’s going to be taken away from us. “I’ve been hearing about it for a long time,” Trump continued. “And I just hope that there’s really—I hope the Republicans get out there and watch very closely because I think we are going to win this election.” The host did not push back. They rarely did. Trump’s lies did not remain confined to the rally stage. They needed life; they needed amplification. He did some of that himself, via his Twitter account, which was in the early stages of a five-year reign as the most potent political weapon on the planet, one that would rattle global capitals, leave political foes cowering in fear, and, at times, weigh in on pressing matters like the quality of Diet Coke. But he needed accomplices, he needed coconspirators, he needed a way to reach those who did not live their lives 140 characters at a time. He needed cable news. Every network was guilty of giving Trump too much time, including those without conservative leanings. He was a welcome guest on panel shows, even if conversations got contentious, and his rallies received wall-to-wall coverage, far more than any other Republican candidate.
His rivals cried out that it was unfair, but the networks didn’t care. Trump was compelling TV; people couldn’t look away. Trump was ratings gold. But it was conservative media, and Fox News in particular, with which Trump eventually formed a symbiotic relationship. It’s true that Rupert Murdoch, the head of News Corporation, which ran Fox News, was at first deeply skeptical of Trump. But the programming didn’t reflect that. In Fox, Trump had a huge platform: the number one cable channel in the country, and one on which he was never challenged. One that gave him free media and, often enough, regurgitated his lies. Fox News became a wing of the Trump campaign. The celebrity maybe-billionaire called in at will to its morning show Fox & Friends and then later did the same with his prime-time pal Sean Hannity. As Trump took power, stations launched and rebranded themselves, catering to those for whom Fox News just wasn’t conservative enough. Newsmax and One America News Network (OAN) each grabbed a foothold with those on the Right and showed a willingness to parrot Trump’s lies.
And he lied a lot. He lied about his wealth. He lied about his sex life. He lied about how many times he was on the cover of Time magazine, hanging a fake on the walls of his New Jersey and Florida golf courses. He repeatedly claimed things that did not happen. He said Obama was born in Kenya, then falsely claimed that Hillary Clinton’s campaign team had started the “birther” movement that questioned Obama’s origins. He said he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrate the collapse of the World Trade Center after the attacks on September 11, 2001. He said Russian president Vladimir Putin called him a “genius” when in fact Putin called him something like “colorful” or “bright.” He lived in his own world and created his own reality. He refused to accept hard truths. He appeared to think that if he just said things over and over, he could will them into reality—and persuade his followers to believe them. At times, it was hard to know whether he knew he was lying or if he had somehow convinced himself of the alternate, and incorrect, reality.
Steve Bannon, the conservative provocateur who ran Breitbart News, took over the Trump campaign for its 2016 stretch run and then spent a tumultuous seven months inside the White House as the president’s chief strategist. A firebrand whose website would run sensational and at times offensive headlines, who derided the media as the “opposition party” but happily spoke off the record to reporters to help shape their stories, Bannon was not shy about coloring or shading the truth. But even for Bannon, Trump was something new. The chief strategist told me that Trump “was not looking to win a news cycle, he was looking to win a news moment, a news second.” An at-times shell-shocked Bannon would relay to aides that “Trump would say anything, he would lie about anything to win that moment, to win whatever exchange he was having at that moment.”
Entire campaign proposals had to be written on the fly, policy plans reverse engineered, teams of aides immediately mobilized to meet whatever floated through Trump’s head in that moment to defend his record, put down a reporter, or change a chyron on CNN. A hurricane map had to be redrawn after the president made a mistake. A task force was created to fight an imaginary caravan of immigrants that was getting big play on Fox News. A commission was formed to look into whether illegal votes had cost him the popular vote. And so much of it—so, so, so much of it—was to avoid the impression that Trump was wrong. Or, more dangerously, that he was a loser.
~~~
I've read just the beginning of this book and it made me want to share the availability for your consideration... Frankly, it bothers me too much if I read about what is happening for too long, so I alternate between non-fiction and fiction these days. I've been tackling some of those that have been on my TBR list that went "waiting" as my health issues took top priority. Or, of course, grabbing anything I see that looks interesting...and getting stalled binging on a series from the beginning... Now that's what I call being truly "retired..." LOL
Right now, I am so thankful for the success of my left hip replacement. I am walking without any support, often, here at home. And am usually able to use just a cane when I'm out and about...
Sooooo, my next priority of major health issues is the potential of eye surgery to remove cataracts from both eyes. What I've done so far is relocate my care to the WVU Hospital, pending surgery. I immediately realized with just the first visit that I again made the right decision. My first appointment lasted about 3 hours! I had never had such an intensive, extensive eye exam...ever! The attendant was wonderful. She and I began to talk a little since we were spending so much time together. Lyndsey trained as a forensic CSI and worked many years until she decided she needed to return to her home area, so was learning a new job! Well, Kudos! to her. I pointed out that her previous scientific experience was obviously allowing her to move quickly into her new career... I also met my potential surgeon and enjoyed our initial interaction. Right now, I'll be going back in 3 months...
Mainly because the hip replacement surgeon has designated no further surgical procedures until he clears me...I'll be seeing him later this month...and hopefully, I'll be able to drive again. My eyes are still good for most activities, but since glaucoma is also in my family, I wanted to keep on top of my eye health... I could always switch to audio for books...but I would hate not being able to work on the computer...and I'm not sure just how well I would do in adjusting to learning how to use as a vision impaired individual... But, we'll see! Keep me in your thoughts and prayers...
Back to The Big Lie. It's getting a lot of coverage on MSNBC. In case you haven't seen any of the PR, here's a few talking about it with the author!
I Am The Way
The Truth
And The Life
John 14:6
Recently I saw an interview related to an issue that is now being targeted by the republican party... One woman said, "I think they are using God... and I cannot support it..." It was good to get at least one republican confirmation of my opinion...
The Truth is never more important than what we are facing here in America. If we cannot believe those officials who represent the republican party right now, and, who, by virtue of attempting to regain power, purely for its sake... Then, we must realize that what they say...is "probably" not true... I say "probably" because more and more I have seen some republicans realize that The Big Lie has taken on a life which is essentially not what they want to be known for. Obviously, the two republicans on the January 6th Committee are ensuring that the lies are being spotlighted and shown to have led to the first-ever attack on our Capitol!
If you are concerned about the continued split of America that is getting worse, rather than better, please take the time and do your own research. Read a book that may help you...like The Big Lie. What harm can it do? Do you really think that NOT facing the truth of another individual will hurt you? Then I have to ask, Why? Why do you feel that way? For surely God gave us Free Will for a reason! He expects us to be diligent to ensure that what America's leaders say is...TRUTH...
And, when Jesus went up into the hills to be tested, he endured... against the offers of power... We need to ensure that those who wish to lead our country are not dealing with things that do not meet the needs of all American citizens... We need to know that not only do they not lie...but they will act on behalf of the country, as opposed to their own desires, or opinions... Truth must be part of that activity... Lying seems to have become a cultural requirement for many republicans. We need to ensure it does not cause our country to go backward in meeting our needs, but go forward to continue to support us... and the good of ALL Americans!
Congratulations to Joe Biden and
Congressional Democrats
They have succeeded, in one week, accomplishing
more than the former president in his entire administration!
Although the entire program as proposed as he ran for president has not been achieved, you need to
realize
that it is only because the republican party
has strived to stop anything that Biden had run on!
When there is no hope for both parties to work together
as Joe Biden hoped to have
There is only one option...
Vote the present republican congress OUT
AND VOTE DEMOCRATIC TO KEEP NEW ONES OUT!
and allow America to Build Back Better
Moving Forward on all things to support
ALL AMERICANS!
In a major way, I resent that I'm using this blog to speak out
But I truly believe that it is up to every American to work to ensure that the basic needs that Biden sought to give us
are ultimately achieved.
I support Joe Biden in all Ways
I think it is appalling that republicans use pictures of moments of distress or concern to imply that Biden is not capably doing his job!
How I wish that Freedom of Speech did NOT allow Corrupt Publicity to be Used - In my Mind it is Slander
and LIES...
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