Monday, December 30, 2024

Crime-washing the Trump presidency: "We're finally on our own..."


I've been calling Trump's presidency "Trump 2: The Revenge Tour" and that is exactly what it will be. 
There is nothing so trivial that Trump can't feel insulted about it. 
This is a guy who insisted the National Parks Service endorse his "biggest presidential inauguration ever" claim in 2016. This is the guy who marked up a map with a felt pen then tried to get the press to report on how the National Weather Service actually HAD given him map showing Georgia would be affected by a hurricane - that was in 2018 I think. It was nuts. 
So imagine how angry he is now about the convictions for sexual assault and for his business shenanigans, the 34 felony convictions, the January 6 investigation, the Jack Smith investigation, the Georgia prosecutions, the Florida charges.  And this time, he is making sure that he will have subservient leadership in the FBI, the CIA and the Department of Justice, so he can sic them on everyone who "dissed" him over the last four years. 
So far it appears the American press is just going to go along with it. 
The reporters are likely scared too, of course. And we've already seen plenty of evidence that media ownership is terrified -- looking at you, LA Times, ABC News, the New York Times, the Washington Post...
The Washington Post actually wrote this the other day:

From the newspaper owned by Trump supporter Bezos we get this gem. Something is dying over there in broad daylight.

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— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) December 28, 2024 at 9:29 AM
Oh, come on!
Just as the media "sane-washed" Trump's craziness during the campaign, they are now going to "crime-wash" his vindictive fury, pretending that its just business as usual for the American justice system, and maybe Trump's enemies really did break the law and we just have to let the system work, after all the American justice system is the greatest in the world so nothing really unfair could possibly happen -- 
Hey, I wonder what Susan McDougal and Julie Hiatt Steele think of that naïveté? 
And here's what is happening now:
Stephen Robinson / Public Notice
The press is ignoring the real Liz Cheney scandal
It's not about her at all.
Last week, the New York Times recounted an alarming fact in a shockingly blasé fashion.
Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Alan Feuer wrote, “For years, President-elect Donald J. Trump has made it known that people he believes to be his enemies should be prosecuted.” It’s like reading from an alternate reality. Jailing dissenters is not a policy position. It’s a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.
Far too often, legacy media covers Trump as if he’s the star of a Machiavellian political drama or a reality TV competition (as he once was). The focus is on whether he’ll wiggle out of a legal scrap or succeed in his latest kooky scheme, without consideration of the impact on the nation or the individuals he seeks to harm....
The House GOP accuses Cheney of tampering with star witness Cassidy Hutchinson during the January 6 Committee investigation. The charge is objectively bogus, but that didn’t stop the mainstream media from serving as Trump’s pro bono stenographers.
In addition to the aforementioned Times piece, headlined “The Wrath of Trump: House Republicans Map a Case Against Liz Cheney,” the Associated Press reported on the news with similar framing: “After investigating Jan. 6, House GOP sides with Trump and goes after Liz Cheney.” So did ABC News: “Trump backs House GOP accusation Liz Cheney tampered with Jan. 6 committee witness.” So did NBC: “House Republicans say Liz Cheney should be investigated over Jan. 6 committee work.” And so did CNN: “After investigating January 6, House GOP sides with Trump and goes after Liz Cheney.”
None of these headlines communicate the important fact that Cheney didn’t commit an actual crime and this is all a meritless, vindictive investigation. The Times in particular plays up Trump’s desired strongman image, as if he’s the buff antagonist in a Star Trek movie. This coverage gives Trump exactly what he wants....
Based on the headlines alone, the charges against Trump and Cheney seem like “he said/she said” politics. A corrupt figure like Trump benefits from “both sides” reporting that leaves the truth in question, even when it isn’t. The real story here isn’t really about Cheney at all — it’s that Trump and his House Republican henchmen are already following through on his authoritarian campaign promise to persecute his political foes....
Beyond Trump’s thirst for vengeance, the GOP has now fully embraced a “Lost Cause” narrative about January 6, which absolves Trump and even his violent supporters of any wrongdoing while pinning the blame on Democrats. To hear them tell it, Nancy Pelosi was responsible for the “lax” security on January 6 and the FBI “infiltrated” the otherwise peaceful crowd at the Capitol. Pursuing charges against Cheney is the final piece in cementing this narrative, and the media is behaving like an all-too-willing accomplice....
The fact that Cheney could realistically face indictment and even prison under a Trump-controlled DOJ should chill Americans to their very soul. Trump, with a key boost from House Republicans, is making good on his promise to get vengeance on his foes even before he takes office. That’s the headline, but the media prefers to give us Trump’s box scores.
It is going to be crazy-bonkers: They're going to re-write history and prosecuting the unbelievers is going to be a major part of that. This is a typical X comment these days: The resistance is organizing, sort of:
And here's is a summary of what could happen next:
Marc Elias / Democracy Docket
We Are On Our Own
...We are sliding towards an illiberal democracy. The phrase, first popularized in the 1990s, took on new urgency in the United States as major figures in Donald Trump’s orbit came to view Viktor Orbán as a leadership role model. As Bill Kristol posted, “ABC’s settlement with Trump feels like it could be an inflection point in the Orbanization of our politics.”
While illiberal democracies have elected governments, they lack the guardrails to protect individual freedoms and rights. Things like rule of law, a free press, an independent judiciary and professional civil service are viewed by those in power with hostility. The ruling leader amasses power personally, rather than institutionally, and uses it to reward friends and punish political enemies.
...The guardrails of our democracy are not failing under violent contact. Rather they are being taken down in advance, by the very people who insisted they be entrusted to build them.
That is why I say we are on our own.
When the legacy media normalizes Trump’s most indefensible nominees at the same time its owners pay protection money, we are on our own. When businessmen fly their private jets to kiss the ring solely to protect their own companies from his deranged policies, we are on our own. When government officials, who know how dangerous he is, make excuses or resign in advance, we are on our own.
I wish I could say I have the solution, but this is a bigger problem than one person can solve. I have previously written about the need to build a new opposition grounded in winning elections and fighting Trumpism for the long term. I still believe that is a necessary part of the equation.
So too is rallying around those institutions that are standing tall — independent media, opposition political figures and nonprofit and for-profit groups and businesses willing to risk themselves to support democracy.
But that is unlikely to be enough. Right now, we must stop the exodus of people tuning out the political process altogether. Faced with the threats ahead, people want to look away. You can see it in the words people use and the excuses they make: “Maybe it won’t be that bad; don’t take him literally; MAGA isn’t competent enough to do everything they threaten.”
Not a day passes that someone doesn’t tell me that they are exhausted or, more candidly, afraid. It is okay to be tired and understandable to be afraid. Courage doesn’t come from being well rested and feeling safe. It is found in overcoming those emotions.
Our institutions are not going to save us. Only we can do that. We may be on our own, but together we can fight, and we must believe that when we fight, we will win.
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