#tRump is not normal

[tomorrowusa]

« Unfortunately for Biden, Trump benefits from something akin to the soft bigotry of low expectations. Because no one expected Trump, in the 2016 election, to speak and behave like a normal candidate, he was held to a lower effective standard than his rivals in both parties. Because no one expected him, during his presidency, to be orderly and responsible, his endless scandals were framed as business as usual. And because no one now expects him to be a responsible political figure with a coherent vision for the country, it’s as if no one blinks an eye when he rants and raves on the campaign trail. »

— Jamelle Bouie at the New York Times.

Because Trump is an idiot, little competence or acumen is expected from him. So when he does or says something horrendous, it's not always regarded as newsworthy because idiocy and scandal are normal for him.

So Trump gets a free ride from much of the media while more responsible politicians are, by comparison, subject to nitpicking.

The "Trump being Trump" mindset needs to be identified and discredited whenever he's not being held accountable. And this should include GOP Trump apologists who don't call him out for his dictator and racist rantings.

[trmpt]

“The longer Americans wait for this question to be resolved, however, the more that hope seems to be fading. Among Democrats and independents, belief that Trump committed serious federal crimes has fallen by seven and nine percentage points, respectively, from 92 and 66 percent in December to 85 and 57 percent today, according to the Times-Siena poll. Just over half of voters still think he’s guilty, and surely that has contributed to Trump’s enduring unfavorability in poll after poll. But it’s notable that attitudes toward him have softened even though no exonerating evidence has emerged and none of the facts has changed. The shift of the past four months seems based mostly on vibes.”

[nevertrump]

[antiyourwokehomophobia2]

There's something so funny about the fn*f creator (Scott) being an openly unapologetic pro life, republican, Trump supporter while still having big YouTubers play his games AND having a movie being made, meanwhile JKR is critical (not even doesn't support) of one thing and nobody can even talk about Harry Potter anymore. She wasn't even in the fucking anniversary special of her own goddamn series. Scott literally donated money to trump's campaigns. He is an open republican. I have heard zilch against his movie. Nobody is hating on Josh hutcherson for being in it. No YouTubers is being slammed for playing his game. It may as well be like it never happened. Meanwhile there are posts on here with thousands of likes talking about how if you so much as think about Harry potter then you're a bad person and should kill yourself. Everyone is bummed about the fact M*rk*pl*er won't be in the movie, meanwhile there are people who are giving earnest pleas not to hate on the children cast in the HBO version of HP. Why does nobody care? What fucking gives? What the hell is this? Scott literally openly supports Trump and he's more beloved than a democratic woman who thinks maybeeee taking people to court for saying 'sex is real' is a bit far? Why aren't fn*f fans labeled as bad people? Why isn't their support of fn*f seen as support of Scott and his views? The fuck is this double standard.

[chrliekclly]

[ahaura]

im sure its been said already but as the election draws near more and more liberals will come out of the woodwork to shame people with a conscience to give away their vote to the democrats for free. i'm already seeing posts saying "why aren't people more concerned about a trump presidency?" you want to know why? it's because people already know he's bad. everyone already knows what he is and what he's done and what he'll do. there's nothing to discuss. he's a racist despotic worm of a man. there's nothing else to say.

biden is currently president. the genocide is happening under his watch. he's the one funding isra*l and arming them; he's sidestepped congress more than once to give them weapons. by oct. 27, the biden administration already knew that "Israel was regularly bombing buildings without solid intelligence that they were legitimate military targets." the state department/biden have engaged in atrocity propaganda, cast doubt on the legitimacy of the death toll recorded by the gaza health ministry, and so on. the united states is currently in the process of trying to pin the "war in gaza" on netanyahu (see sen. schumer's speech) after months of backing blatant genocide as a means to act as if they're "doing something" about the genocide (Instead of, say, threatening to cut off all aid to israel with the condition that all hostilities in gaza, the west bank, and occupied jerusalem are halted immediately and permanently, allowing palestinians freedom to travel, allowing aid into gaza, etc etc etc.)

the long and short of it is that liberals view their own lives as being worth more than palestinians'. that's it. they'll vote for another 4 years of the guy ushering in genocide and supporting apartheid + settler colonialism because he isn't outright attacking them (despite various laws and rulings happening both at the supreme court level and at the local level all over the country that will endanger people). they'll settle for the illusion of safety and security and shame anyone with a conscience and accuse them of "supporting the republicans" when in an actual democracy you would be able to use your vote as leverage to extract concessions from those who want to be elected. that's how it's supposed to fucking work.

democrats are not owed people's vote. if biden loses, it will be biden's fault; it will be his campaign's fault; it will be the democrats' fault. trump is bad; the republicans are bad. we already know this. this is not an endorsement of either. but if democrats are too cowardly and feckless and servile to the motivations of the american empire and never do anything for their constituents then why the fuck should anyone vote for them. you want to get mad at someone, why don't you do something useful and stop worrying about team-sports with a purely selfish basis and start hounding the people in power who are supposed to serve you, the voter.

[anotherpapercut]

the abolitionism leaving my body when I think about trump dying in federal prison

[timeisacephalopod]

If American politics wants to be the funniest 2 weeks to a month before the election both Donald Trump and Joe biden would die of natural causes

[contemplatingoutlander]

How to cover an abnormal presidential race

Could the media coverage adhere closer to reality? Hard questions must be asked.

Jennifer Rubin offers a much needed road map as to how journalists should be covering an election between a politician who upholds democratic values (Biden) vs. a politician who is determined to undermine the Constitution and create a dictatorship (Trump). I wish mainstream journalists would follow her advice. Below are some excerpts, but you can use the gift🎁link to read the entire article.

The United States has never had an election in which: a felon runs for president on a major party ticket; a presidential candidate lays out a detailed plan for authoritarian rule; an entire party gaslights the public (e.g., claiming the president was behind their candidate’s state prosecution; pretending they won the last election); and, prominent leaders of one party signal they will not accept an adverse outcome in the next election. Yet, the coverage of the 2024 campaign is remarkably anodyne, if not oblivious, to the unprecedented nature of this election and its implications. [...] How could the coverage stick more closely to reality? Obsession with early polling that inevitably becomes meaningless after big events such as Trump’s conviction (stuff happens!) and that cannot yet gauge who is likely to vote should go by the wayside — or at least come with caveats and not drive coverage. What would be informative: A minute or two of unedited video showing Trump’s rambling, incoherent and deranged rants. Rather than merely “fact check” the nonsense blizzard, reports can explore the unprecedented nature of his rhetoric, illustrate the deterioration in his thinking and speech, and discuss how an obviously irrational and unhinged leader casts a spell over his devoted following. The media also can refuse to entertain laughable MAGA spin, such as claiming that Trump’s conviction will help him win the election.... When such incidents pop up, informative journalism would examine what else MAGA forces lie about (e.g., crowd size) and how authoritarians depend on creating a false aura of invincibility. When supposedly normal Republican officials parrot Trump’s obvious falsehoods and baseless accusations, interviewers must come prepared to debunk them. Republicans cannot be allowed to slide past hard questions about their election denial, false data points, baseless attacks on the courts and hypocrisy (the law and order party?). Treating Republicans as innocent bystanders in the democracy train wreck distorts reality. And instead of endless harping on President Biden’s age, some honest comparison between the disjointed, frightful interview responses from Trump and the detailed, policy-laden answers from Biden in Time magazine’s two interviews might illuminate the obvious disparity in acuity....There is simply no comparison between Biden, who talks in detail about policy, and Trump, who cannot get through a Newsmax(!) interview without sounding nuts. Likewise, treating Hunter Biden’s case (having nothing to do with the president) as though it were as significant as Trump’s criminal conviction betrays a lack of perspective and a hunger for clicks. Insisting this poses a problem or embarrassment for Biden amounts to amplifying MAGA spin. Finally, given voters’ misunderstanding of the economy, news outlets should focus on the results of Biden’s policies and the likely effect of his opponent’s shockingly inflationary plan. Focusing on the gap between public opinion and economic reality (to which coverage contributes) unwittingly reveals the media’s own shortcomings in educating voters. [emphasis added]

[tomorrowusa]

« An actual fascist has shown up. »

— Tom Nichols, writer on international affairs and retired academic at the US Naval War College, describing Donald Trump on Amanpour and Company at PBS.

He tells Michel Martin that he had previously been reluctant to use the word fascist because he's an academic who can be very picky about words. But over the past couple of months Trump has been using different vocabulary than before and that vocabulary has been lifted almost directly from fascists in the 1930s.

An excellent conversation.

What he says about the "normalcy bias" in the media should particularly be taken seriously.

We need to be more activist in calling out the media on their normalization of Trump.

[qsmp-where-they-shouldnt-be]

put the eggs near by the DSMP egg. >:3

Thank you anon for the request! :]

[thashining]

Trump STRICKEN by Worst News..Americans ARE UNITING

[sher-ee]

[theriu]

Tis wooing time once again, a time when the doves are reduced to sharing one (1) single braincell.

[hey-its-sybarite]

1. Why is Donald Trump talking about Hannibal Lecter?

2. Why does Donald Trump think Hannibal Lecter is dead?

3. Is the fact that Donald Trump seems fond of Hannibal Lecter the most human thing about him?

Liking Hannibal Lecter is relatable. Thinking he’s dead kind of implies Trump believes he was once alive and therefore real. Which is unhinged.

The Lithuanian Count Hannibal “the cannibal” Lecter is the LEAST believable fictional character EVER. Glowing maroon eyes? Widows peak? RAREST form of polydactyly on his LEFT hand? Rich and cultured. Gifted artist, composer, musician, chef, surgeon, psychiatrist, MURDERER and polyglot? Does complex equations? Eats the rude? So perceptive he comes across as a mind reader? THAT GUY? Trump thinks THAT GUY was REAL??? Hannibal is so deliberately gothic main character he is inconceivable as a real person. I, for one, would like to cut to a live Thomas Harris reaction. Whatever the writer’s intention, it could never have been this.