The mainstream media..

[Admin]

Are they really all that 'liberal?' Here is Krugman, with some choice observations:

Because they are, at this point. It’s not even false equivalence: compare the amount of attention given to the Clinton Foundation despite absence of any evidence of wrongdoing, and attention given to Trump Foundation, which engaged in more or less open bribery — but barely made a dent in news coverage.

Clinton was harassed endlessly over failure to give press conferences, even though she was doing lots of interviews; Trump violated decades of tradition by refusing to release his taxes, amid strong suspicion that he is hiding something; the press simply dropped the subject. 

Brian Beutler argues that it’s about protecting the media’s own concerns, namely access. But I don’t think that works. It doesn’t explain why the Clinton emails were a never-ending story but the disappearance of millions of George W. Bush emails wasn’t, or for that matter Jeb Bush’s deletion of records; the revelation that Colin Powell did, indeed, offer HRC advice on how to have private email the way he did hasn’t even been reported by some major news organizations. 

And I don’t see how the huffing and puffing about the foundation — which “raised questions”, but where the media were completely unwilling to accept the answers they found — fits into this at all. 

No, it’s something special about Clinton Rules. I don’t really understand it. But it has the feeling of a high school clique bullying a nerdy classmate because it’s the cool thing to do. And as I feared, it looks as if people who cried wolf about non-scandals are now engaged in an all-out effort to dig up or invent dirt to justify their previous Clinton hostility. Hard to believe that such pettiness could have horrifying consequences. But I am very scared.

Economics and Politics by Paul Krugman - The Conscience of a Liberal - The New York Times

[Admin]

Indeed, this has supposedly been a terrible week for Clinton, but that's because the media largely look the other way when Trump is involved..

This may have been the most absurd week in U.S. politics in recent history. Here is a list of gaffes, mistakes, or scandals that came out of the Trump campaign, just in the last seven days, just off the top of my head:

Let’s begin with the Commander and Chief Forum. Trump lavished praise on the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. He then made the unprecedented error of discussing his classified intelligence briefings and claiming his briefers were unhappy with the current President. After that, Trump lied, yet again, that back in 2003 he opposed the Iraq War.

It was then revealed by the Washington Post that Trump had taken credit for charitable giving by others. It reported he lied to the IRS, claiming donations he never made. What’s more, he illegally used $20,000 earmarked for his charity to buy a six-foot portrait of himself. Trump then gave a TV interview to the Kremlin’s propaganda network RT, and afterwards claimed he only did it because he was “tricked” by Larry King.

In another appearance he gave an incoherent monologue about something he called “nuclear warming,” which included false accusations against Clinton and sentences like, “Uranium is big, big stuff because it means the ultimate.” Next, as the terror attacks of 9/11 were remembered, a radio clip emerged of Trump (on the very day of the attacks!) boasting that his building was now the highest in New York.

Then it was reported Trump has publicly lied about helping to recover bodies at Ground Zero. He also claimed he personally had “hundreds” of friends who died in the attack, not one of whom his campaign was able to name.

While all of this was going on, he made an unprecedented personal attack on the chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen. He renewed his attacks on Elizabeth Warren, once again calling her “Pocahontas.” He promised he would start a war with Iran if its sailors made inappropriate gestures. After his VP released his own tax returns, Trump once again refused to do the same. His son tweeted a neo-Nazi meme. And one of his chief surrogates disavowed the Geneva Conventions.

By comparison, how was Hillary Clinton’s week? She failed to smile at Matt Lauer. She echoed numerous polls by asserting half of Trump’s supporters are racist. And she almost fainted while suffering from pneumonia. Which is all to say, the media consensus as delivered by the pundits and the headlines is that Clinton had a really bad week. This is absolutely, unequivocally, insane.

An absurd week in America's two-tier election - Macleans.ca

[Admin]

It is ok for Trump to lie.., about not being invested in stocks, calling a senator Pocahontas, and accuding the Fed of being a political instrument..

A few observations about all this: In a normal election cycle, a candidate making an offhand racist remark about a sitting US senator would be a big news story. In a normal election cycle, a candidate making an offhanded lie about the state of his personal finances would be a big news story. To be totally honest, even in a normal election cycle a candidate exhibiting total confusion about the mechanics and merits of monetary policy probably wouldn’t be that big of a news story but it would at least get some attention.

Donald Trump gave an interview this morning that should be shocking — but we’re numb - Vox

[Admin]

Ezra Klein is onto something..

The unemployment rate is 4.9 percent. Consumer sentiment is back at its 1996 level. The Census Bureau says median incomes jumped by more in 2015 than in any year on record. Poverty is down. Inequality is declining. Health insurance coverage is up. We are far, far outpacing our peer nations.

Here’s a thought experiment. What if Mitt Romney had won in 2012? What if it was his economy that was seeing sub–5 percent unemployment, falling poverty, and the largest median wage gains since the Census Bureau began keeping records? There would be parades in the streets. President Romney would be hailed as the second coming of Ronald Reagan — or maybe even better!

Progressivism would be discredited. The fundamental wisdom of conservatism would be affirmed. Remember, Romney merely promised he would cut unemployment below 6 percentage points by the end of his first term. "I can tell you that over a period of four years, by virtue of the policies that we’d put in place, we’d get the unemployment rate down to six percent, and perhaps a little lower," he told Time during the campaign. Reality, as we are living in it, has outpaced even his campaign promises.

Imagine if Mitt Romney were president amid this economic news - Vox

[Admin]

Amazing stuff. Megyn Kelly asks whether the investigation into Trump's foundation can't wait until after the election and suggests it's a political hit job..

KRYSTAL BALL: I think it matters greatly whether Mr. Trump's words match his deeds and, based on the reporting here, they certainly don't. There is obviously an answer here, if he would just release his tax returns we could all know exactly how much he has given charitably. But look, we know very little about Mr. Trump. He doesn't have a record of public service. He won't release those tax returns. We know very little about his financial dealings. So all of this reporting into what is actually going on with the foundation, what kind of charitable donations has he given and to whom, is incredibly important information for voters to be able to take into the voting booth. 

MEGYN KELLY (HOST): What if he hasn't given any? Why should we care? 

BALL: We should care because he said that he has. And also you would think that someone who is as wealthy as he is, who talks about how wealthy he is and how great he has been for people -- you would think he would have some inclination to give back to this great country and the people in it that have done so much to buoy him. 

KELLY: Alright, David. What about Eric Schneiderman? This is making a bunch of headlines, that the New York attorney general is now looking into the Trump Foundation, this family charity, to see whether any funny business is afoot. Is this a political hit job? 

DAVID WOHL: Well, Schneiderman not only supports Hillary Clinton, he’s formally endorsed Hillary Clinton and he’s been named by her to her campaign's leadership council. Are you kidding me, Megyn? He’s a politician, not a prosecutor. When she’s down for an eight-count, he says, “Ooh, what can I do politically to try to salvage her campaign,” and he jumps in with something like this. It’s absolutely outrageous, especially in light of the fact that when the Clinton Foundation scandal came around with respect to issues of foreign donations, she had to disclose those hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign donations. She failed to do so. And what did Schneiderman do? Crickets.

KELLY: He wasn't as interested. 

WOHL: And what did Schneiderman do? Crickets.

KELLY: I’ve got to go, but I have to get Krystal in on this. Quickly, Krystal, question for you: Couldn't he have waited? If this is not political, couldn't he have waited and shouldn't he have waited until November ninth?

Megyn Kelly Says NY Attorney General’s Inquiry Into Trump Foundation Should Wait Until After Election

Soo, we should investigate everything surrounding Hillary ASAP but when Trump is taken on, on fairly interesting evidence, it's a hit job and should wait until after the election?

And even some Republicans agree:

Richard Painter, the former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, says if Republican nominee Donald Trump becomes president, the only way to avoid serious conflicts of interest would be for Trump and his family to sell all of their holdings in the Trump Organization. Painter also stressed that the issue was a “serious problem” that warrants increased media attention.

The ethical mess presented by the Trump Organization is back in the news thanks to a Newsweek piece by reporter Kurt Eichenwald, who explained that if Trump and his family don’t cut ties to the family’s business conglomerate, Trump would “be the most conflicted president in American history, one whose business interests will constantly jeopardize the security of the United States” due to the Trump Organization’s relationships and financial entanglements with foreign interests.

Former George W. Bush Ethics Lawyer: Trump And His Family Need To Cut Ties With The Trump Organization If Trump Wins

[Admin]

In addition to a previous entry on how economic data would be received if Mitt Romney had been president..

A Fox Business panel attempting to downplay the latest round of positive economic indicators devolved into self-parody. The host and guests misleadingly framed median income data to omit the economic calamities of the Bush administration while accusing President Obama of “cherry-picking the time frame” and “playing with the numbers” related to other examples of economic improvement.

On the September 14 edition of Fox Business’ Varney & Co., host Stuart Varney and guests Elizabeth MacDonald and Tammy Bruce slammed President Obama for defending his economic legacy during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. The segment began with Varney and MacDonald lamenting that new median household income data released yesterday by the Census Bureau is “still below the peak back in 1999,” with MacDonald mockingly adding, “You’re nearly [as] rich as you were 17 years ago.”

Varney complained that Obama was “cherry-picking” data to claim his administration has created nearly 15 million net new jobs, and MacDonald added, “He’s not factoring in 2009, … so he’s playing with the numbers.” MacDonald further claimed that a “majority of net new jobs” during the Obama administration have been in “low-paying fast-food or health sector” industries. Bruce concluded the segment by lamenting the administration’s so-called “spin” and “theater” while citing evidence from outside sources that she claimed contradicts the significant increase in median household income from 2014 to 2015..

Fox Business Cherry-Picks Economic Data To Accuse Obama Of "Cherry-Picking" Economic Data

[BobL]

The Effects of False Equivalency:

http://wisewomenforclinton.com/wise-wome...uivalency/

[stpioc]

The Effects of False Equivalency:

http://wisewomenforclinton.com/wise-wome...uivalency/

That's funny, although it isn't, but to quote Tony Soprano, wadda ya goingtodo..

[Admin]

This time the mainstream media handled it pretty well, except one. No surprise there..

The major cable news networks provided wall-to-wall coverage of Trump’s event, in which his seconds-longstatement that “President Obama was born in the United States” came at the very end of a lengthy campaign event featuring military members endorsing Trump, and it included the false claims that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton started the birther conspiracy and that he ended it. Immediately after the statement, anchors on CNN and MSNBC called the candidate out for manipulating the press and for pushing falsehoods.

On CNN, Ashleigh Banfield slammed the stunt and excoriated Trump’s “birther crap.” John King on At This Hour with Berman and Bolduan acknowledged the media “got played,” debunked Trump’s false accusation against Clinton, and condemned Trump for the “four or five years of leading a fraudulent, reckless campaign against the legitimacy of the United States president.”

MSNBC used an on-screen graphic to single outTrump’s lie that Clinton started the birther movement, and during The Place for Politics, host Peter Alexanderpointed out that Trump continued to give oxygen to birtherism even after President Obama released his birth certificate, saying “it’s not like he put this thing to rest” in 2011.

In contrast, Fox News dove head first into the trap set by the Trump campaign. Happening Now host Jenna Lee declared Trump gave “the media what everyone was waiting for, his definitive comments about the quote, unquote ‘birther issue.’” Lee’s co-host Gregg Jarrett commended Trump for being “very precise, and direct and disciplined.” Fox guest Glenn Hall, a Wall Street Journal editor who set the stage before the event by praising Trump for “pivoting” away from birtherism, added that Trump “handled that pretty well.”

Later, an Outnumbered on-screen graphic drew false equivalences claiming that Trump and Clinton were “blam[ing] each other” on the matter. Co-host Melissa Francis opined “nobody cares about these issues” and raved that Trump’s stunt was “political media genius,” while co-host Harris Faulkner dismissed the racist nature of birtherism by questioning “why is it racist” to question legitimacy “with Barack Obama and not with Ted Cruz?”::

And on Shepard Smith Reporting, Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday who was tapped to moderate the third presidential debate, said that unlike with some of his other outrageous incidents, “This one, in less than 24 hours, he cut it off.” Wallace’s determination that Trump’s statement shut the door on the birther issue flatly omitted any mention of Trump’s years of leading the charge in promoting such conspiracy theories.

By declaring that Trump can put years of birtherism to rest by just saying he believes Obama is American, Fox News comes full circle. The network enthusiastically echoed Trump’s years-long, racist crusade to raise doubts about President Obama’s legitimacy, and provided Trump with a friendly platform to promote his birther beliefs. The press cannot allow the Trump campaign to play revisionist history with its candidate’s embrace of birtherism despite his intentions to put it behind him before the presidential debates.

Fox News’ Reaction To Trump’s Birtherism Was Predictably Terrible

[Martin K]

Just imagine how big the media outburst would be if we would replace 'Trump' with 'Clinton' in the story below (or basically any other story..)

The Washington Post's David Fahrenthold on Tuesday published a series of stunning revelations about Donald Trump's charitable foundation, reporting that the Republican presidential nominee used money from the Trump Foundation to pay legal fees related to his businesses.

The report, citing tax records, said Trump had not made a single donation to his charity since 2008 and sometimes used money from others through the foundation to pay off legal expenses.

The money relating to those expenses, which reportedly amounted to $258,000 from the Trump Foundation, may have violated "self-dealing" laws that prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money for self-benefit or the benefit of their for-profit businesses, according to The Post.

"I represent 700 nonprofits a year, and I've never encountered anything so brazen," Jeffrey Tenenbaum, who advises charities at the Venable law firm in Washington, told The Post, later describing the details as "really shocking."

Trump used foundation money to pay legal fees, report says - Business Insider