Michael Bloomberg calls 'epidemic of dishonesty' bigger threat than terrorism

[riversedge]

Source: AP





Ex-New York mayor: democracy at risk from ‘endless barrage of lies’
Bloomberg does not name Trump in Houston university speech



Sat 12 May 2018 12.42 EDT

Americans are facing an “epidemic of dishonesty” in Washington that is more dangerous than terrorism or communism, according to former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.


In a commencement speech on Saturday at Rice University in Houston, the billionaire said “an endless barrage of lies” and a trend toward “alternate realities” in national politics pose a dire threat to US democracy.

The 76-year-old, who flirted with an independent presidential run in 2016, did not call out any politicians by name. Although he derided Donald Trump as “a con” and a “dangerous demagogue” before his election, in an interview before the speech at Rice Bloomberg refused to comment specifically on the president. Fact checkers have determined that Trump has made hundreds of false and misleading statements since entering the Oval Office.


“This is bigger than any one person,” Bloomberg said. “It’s bigger than any one party.”


..................................
“When elected officials speak as though they are above the truth, they will act as though they are above the law,” Bloomberg told graduates. “And when we tolerate dishonesty, we get criminality. Sometimes, it’s in the form of corruption. Sometimes, it’s abuse of power. And sometimes, it’s both.

......................................


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/12/michael-bloomberg-epidemic-of-dishonesty-threat-democracy

[sharedvalues]

1. GOP propaganda is a big threat to our democracy.

Unless we fix the GOP lies on Fox and right-wing radio - thousands of stations repeating propaganda (hi @certainot!), we cannot fix our politics.

The GOP propaganda media is the reason we're here today.

when we tolerate dishonesty, we get criminality.

That is a Fact, Mike Bloomberg.

[Sophia4]

7. Best way to fight the GOP propaganda is to have a candidate whose integrity,

honesty, compassion and experience are unassailable.

Someone whose voice is strong and honest. That is the candidate we need to seek. It may be someone we would not have thought about in the past.

The person has to have charisma but also really impeccable character.

I say that because I expect the close of the Trump presidency to be traumatic for Americans in terms of the scandals and dishonesty that will come to light.

Our Democratic candidate has to have the character and strength to reassure America that democracy still works for the best interests of all Americans.

[sharedvalues]

20. Yes that's true

But even the best candidate is not impervious to the GOP propaganda machine.

Obama was that candidate- incredibly strong character and ethics. And the GOP propaganda machine found things to attack him over. Tan suits! Golfing! Made-up scandals!

We need both: good candidates and to defeat the propaganda machine. No democracy can survive when truth doesn’t matter.

[Sophia4]

25. True. But let's try to find a candidate who is as close to above all that as possible.

We have so many potential candidates. Let's find one like Obama in that respect. I think it will help to unify the Party.

[sharedvalues]

36. Yes. But that's not enough. We had Obama.

Obama got destroyed by right-wing propaganda. We need to fight the RW propaganda machine.

[Jedi Guy]

33. When you say "fix" the GOP propaganda...

What does that mean, exactly? Pulling Fox's license? Or those of the radio stations? Banning certain right wing personalities from the airwaves?

I don't see a way to "fix" these things without it being a huge violation of the First Amendment. I don't really like the "ends justify the means" argument because it excuses abuses by its very nature.

I'm not a fan of silencing speech because someone doesn't like it or finds it objectionable. It runs directly counter to the ideal of freedom of speech. Also, if you punch someone on the nose, you can't very well object if they punch back.

I don't know what the solution to this problem is, but I know it's not silencing people and viewpoints we disagree with.

[sharedvalues]

35. Start small. Tell everyone you know "Fox News Lies... to get votes for Republican billionaires"

Put it on a bumper sticker.

Exposing the agenda behind propaganda weakens it tremendously. We don't have to ban Fox, we just need to spread the word that Fox is propaganda pushed by right-wing billionaires to destroy the government so billionaires can cut taxes on billioniares. At the expense of working people.

[Jedi Guy]

37. I can totally get behind that.

Sorry if I misinterpreted what you meant. I've noticed that sometimes in their zeal to do something people advocate methods that are less than great, let's say.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. You got it half right Mike.

Institutional dishonesty in our government is a direct threat to us that no act of terrorism can match.

But this is BS -

“It’s bigger than any one party.” There is one party that motivates you to write this opinion piece. The one that controls all facets of our government. If they are neutralized, the bad actors in the Democratic Party can be easily identified and eliminated.

[sandensea]

3. Well said, Mayor Bloomberg.

If Post-Truth is the new Terrorism, the GOP is al-Qaeda, ISIS, and P-2 rolled into one.

[Hamlette]

4. I hate this "both sides do it" shit. Ruins the WHOLE thing for me. F U Bloomer

“This is bigger than any one person,” Bloomberg said. “It’s bigger than any one party.”

[ancianita]

31. I took him to mean that it's seeping across borders. I'm for science and truth no matter who else is

[democratisphere]

5. We have become a country that is being run by a wannabe Russian Mafia Family.

[True Blue American]

9. Best post in the thread.

[democratisphere]

15. .

[Yavin4]

6. Fuck you Mike Bloomberg. It's Trump and the Republicans. Not the Democrats.

For example, he noted that Democrats spent much of the 1990s defending President Bill Clinton against charges of lying and personal immorality, just as Republicans attacked the lack of ethics and honesty in the White House. The reverse is happening today, he said.

FALSE EQUIVALENCY. First, there were several Democrats that criticized Clinton. Second, the only "crime" that Ken Starr found was that Clinton lied about an affair during a deposition. That's NOTHING compared to what Trump and the Republicans are doing. This "both sides are wrong bullshit" is nothing more than currying favor with the media to get better press for yourself.

Again, I say, Fuck you Mike Bloomberg.

[Squinch]

19. I second that. It nullifies the entire benefit of his argument. It lets the crooks and criminals

and morons keep saying, "Both sides do it."

Both sides don't. It's republicans.

[csziggy]

34. It nullifies his argument and makes it essentially dishonest

By saying both sides do it Bloomberg is lying.

If he had gone on to say that the dishonesty has bled over to third parties such as the Green Party under Jill Stein or to independents (I won't name who I am thinking of), he would be correct. It has also bled over to over parts of life than politics - people seem to be more willing to steal from others, especially from the powerless and those viewed as "other."

By saying all parties without designating more than political parties, Bloomberg damages his own argument.

[Major Nikon]

27. And the horse he rode in on

Clinton lied about something that was nobody's business but those involved. Lying under oath in a civil case deposition isn't a crime if it isn't material to the case. That's why Ken Starr never could bring criminal charges.

Trump lies about the people's business and relies on an astounding level of naiveté and/or delusion not to call bullshit. Comparing those two things negates any point he's trying to make.

[Beartracks]

28. Clarifying post. Thanks. n/t

[SkatmanRoth]

8. Donald Trump is the biggest threat

He lied his way into office. He lies everyday to stay in office. He lied for a living in the real estate business. Everyone in his administration lies to protect him. AM Talk Radio spews continuous lies to cover for him. FOX News lies about every progressive to make Trump look good.

When dishonesty keeps Trump in office, it is a bigger threat than the terrorists.

[True Blue American]

10. Do not forget

Those who back Trump, no matter what he does, including those in Congress.

Remember, Trump promised to concentrate on this country, infrastructure, the best Health care. This Country first.

Now it is Israel first, Iran in danger of war. North Korea, broke, their Nuclear site caved in. Trump is promising them money.

He has done nothing to end the 17 year war.

Now,we are seeing the effects os his misguided Trariff war.

What next? An attack on Iran?

[SkatmanRoth]

12. American imperial military adventurism is going to be taken up a notch

Expect military operations in both Iran and Venezuela to fulfill Trump's ambition for United States domination in the oil markets.

Expect military operations in both Syria and the South China Sea to fulfill Trump's ambition to control the Russian and Chinese markets. China is the big one because they have the means of production. With Russia fully engaged in Syria, they will have no influence in European markets.

Expect the environmental policies of the United States to be decimated. Trump will tell big lies about OIL PRODUCTION! "United States must me #1 as a matter of National Security." Trump will tell big lies about industrial production. "With no imports from China, we must make our own." He will use those excuses to allow his rich capitalists buddies pollute the environment.

Further down the road will come the lies to control the citizens. Trump will lie and say "to combat illegal immigration every citizen must be identified for the purposes of travel, monetary transaction, and communications on the internet." The Fourth amendment will become non existent. Paper money will become non existent and only electronic transfers will be permitted. Within a decade of Trump leaving office, expect every baby to be 'chipped' at birth to identify them as 'true' American Citizens.

He will have unlimited support from people chanting:

USA! USA! USA!

[True Blue American]

13. I hope better

Minds will prevail, but you post really scares me, because I have been thinking these thoughts since November, 2016.

[Hortensis]

11. Completely agree, but Bloomberg needs to look outward too.

This national dishonesty was fostered top to bottom, but now the pervasive mental corruption of the electorate, that denies truth and abandons duties in favor of partisan deceptions, is by far our nation's biggest problem. The massive dishonesty needed to turn voters against each other has of course been far strongly developed on the right, but the efforts to corrupt the electorate continue on the left.

After all, united we stand, divided we fall. And that's the plan.

[True Blue American]

14. I wish we had Thank you

Buttons.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. "bigger than any one party"???

He can't be serious. While we Democrats have ideology, it's far more transparent than the GOP. And every time we try to get some truth going, we're firebombed: "class warfare!!" "Coastal elites!" "Privileged!" "Big City 'burbanites!"

[Squinch]

18. Right. They always fall back on the same bullshit, which makes the observation ridiculous.

It's NOT both sides. It is only republicans and their idiot criminal of a president.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

17. Bloomberg correct: Truth and Law are tightly allied. . . . nt

[heaven05]

21. yeah and when

the fascists start applying their brand of terrorism to ALL americans who oppose them we will find out how much of a terrorist our 'leadership', ryan, trump, mcconnell, sessions et al; are. Their 'army' is already creating terror with bullets and racist behaviour all over ameriKKKa. MSM, the MAJOR enablers of this forming dictatorship is still trying to normalize this lunatic racist administration. Will my vote count in November? I have my serious doubts. The wypipo in charge now are serious about returning this country to it's original state where the can slaughter any POC with impunity. That's First-american, AA, POC-american, immigrant-american. And that is man, woman and child of all these groups. .

[Beartracks]

29. I'm no expert, but I think you misuse "wypipo" here.

As I understand it, wypipo is not just a synonym for white people; rather, it refers to those whites who, through ignorance and/or privilege, participate in sustaining systemic racism. The overtly dangerous, racist assholes in the Republican party aren't wypipo; they're just racists and assholes.

=========

[heaven05]

32. thank you, helpful nt

[relogic]

22. Too Late for great reform or Constitutional relief

The former intact tools have been turned into dust. I and many others knew on November 9th, 2015 our relief would never be relied upon.

The media did what they are paid to do with glee-they normalized everything about the criminal, treasoness, usurper-in-chief. There is nothing normal of course about what he and the repub party are doing. Yet, this drooling acceptance by even some intuitive people demonstrates this dismissal of truth, reality of the facts and all decency by trumpistas.

Yeah, Michael you are a entitled billionaire-such tepid critiques come way too easily and without much punch.

[McKim]

23. Where Were You, Mike?

Where were you Mike, when this country needed you to run for president? We deserved two rational candidates. Some of your ideas were good, though I would not have voted for you,
We needed you as an alternative to the destructive resident that we have in the White House now!

[Sunlei]

24. Remember, everything Republicans do is legal. Sunlei, 5/2018

lifted quote from MLKing.

Remember, everything hitler did was legal.

MLKing

[lark]

26. It's not bigger than one party.

This was fostered over decades by repugs, they are the ones who have pushed their hurtful lies on us for their own personal benefit and to hurt us.

[Power 2 the People]

30. Enough with the speeches Mike,you can solve it tomorrow.

C'mon Mike,Warren,Tom,George,use your money for good.

Buy Comcast,Charter,Cox and AT&T and remove Fox News from their offerings. Not renewing Fox's contract wouldn't be a free speech issue, it would be a business decision.

If honorable billionaires like Buffet,Bloomberg,Steyer and Soros choked off the distribution channels of the propaganda, democracy might have a fighting chance.

The right wing believes and encourages monopolies so they should have no problem with this.

Ralph Nader may be a pain in the ass at times but he was right when he said "only the super rich can save us."

[Duppers]

39. +100

[orangecrush]

38. K&R!