Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying

[SoCalDem]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/04/opinion/sunday/why-nobody-cares-the-president-is-lying.html?ribbon-ad-idx=7&src=trending

By CHARLES J. SYKES
FEB. 4, 2017


MILWAUKEE — If President Trump’s first tumultuous weeks have done nothing else, at least they have again made us a nation of readers.

As Americans grapple with the unreality of the new administration, George Orwell’s “1984” has enjoyed a resurgence of interest, becoming a surprise best seller and an invaluable guide to our post-factual world. On his first full day in office Mr. Trump insisted that his inaugural crowd was the largest ever, a baseless boast that will likely set a pattern for his relationship both to the media and to the truth.

At an event marking Black History Month last week, the president took a detour from a discussion of Frederick Douglass — he described the abolitionist as “an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more” — to talk about the press. “A lot of the media is actually the opposition party — they’re so biased,” he said. “So much of the media is the opposition party and knowingly saying incorrect things.”

For years, as a conservative radio talk show host, I played a role in that conditioning by hammering the mainstream media for its bias and double standards. But the price turned out to be far higher than I imagined. The cumulative effect of the attacks was to delegitimize those outlets and essentially destroy much of the right’s immunity to false information. We thought we were creating a savvier, more skeptical audience. Instead, we opened the door for President Trump, who found an audience that could be easily misled.

snip.. (a very good read)

[JHan]

1. K & R. The quote in the article from Kasparaov is very good:

""The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth."

[Midnight Writer]

6. The chaos, contradictions and confusion are themselves tools to exhaust our critical thinking

[Trust Buster]

2. I respect Charlie Sykes who lives in Iowa. He is the only right wing journalist to admit that their

decades long effort to demonize the media has created the environment of alternative truths. I can't hold a grudge against a guy who applies self reflection and remorse.

[SunSeeker]

3. K & R

[Tobin S.]

4. K&R. A frightening and sad article.

As someone alluded to above, you can hear the remorse in Sykes' tone in the article.

[uponit7771]

5. THEY don't care if he's lying... media continues to conflate his base

[deblar]

7. deblar

Interesting point that Americans is now a nation of readers considering that to many it meant risking your life to read or write. Trump's lies are truths spoken to the core of White Americans who aren't misled but guided.

[fleabiscuit]

8. Uh... what?