Author Topic: Donald Trump Thinks a Lot of Things Are Phony, Rigged, Politically Motivated Hoaxes (Read 1778 times)

sinkspur · « **on:** October 13, 2016, 02:37:41 am »

Donald Trump Thinks a Lot of Things Are Phony, Rigged, Politically Motivated Hoaxes

Ryan Teague Beckwith @ryanbeckwith
Oct. 11, 2016

It’s a common moment in a Donald Trump speech. The Republican presidential nominee mentions a nonpartisan institution in passing, then notes that it should not be trusted. Their research is phony. Maybe even a hoax. They are acting politically, maybe at the behest of President Obama.

Since he began his campaign last year, Trump has used that language to sow doubt about the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Reserve, the Commission on Presidential Debates, scientists studying climate change, the news media and election officials.

Individually, these complaints have some precedent, especially in conservative political circles. Many Republican politicians have questioned climate change research, and some supporters of Republican nominee Mitt Romney argued that the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers were cooked somehow in 2012. Then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the Federal Reserve was playing politics in 2011, even suggesting they were being “treasonous.” Many in the conservative grassroots have questioned the news media and argued that polls are skewed.

But Trump is unique in tying these critiques together into what amounts to a cohesive world view. It’s a world in which everything is political and institutions are not to be trusted. It’s also a vision that is at odds with the painstaking measures these organizations go through to ensure they are not unduly affected by politics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics starts with raw data from surveys of tens of thousands of households and hundreds of thousands of businesses overseen by a team of economists who sign confidentiality agreements every morning and lock data in a safe every time they go to the bathroom, as the Washington Post noted in 2012.

Trump is suspicious, however. He’s argued that the unemployment rate is “one of the biggest hoaxes in American modern politics” and “just a phony number to make the politicians look good.” “If we had five percent unemployment,” he asked the crowd at an event once, “do you really think we’d have these gatherings?”

The FBI, which reports to the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence, is overseen by Director James Comey, a former appointee of the George W. Bush Administration who has been praised in the past for his independence.

More: https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-thinks-lot-things-161758404.html

corbe · « **Reply #1 on:** October 13, 2016, 02:39:41 am »

montanajoe · « **Reply #2 on:** October 13, 2016, 02:42:58 am »

He spends to much time late at night at TOS...

Oceander · « **Reply #3 on:** October 13, 2016, 02:44:16 am »

Maybe because Trump's campaign is a phony, rigged, politically motivated hoax?

endicom · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2016, 02:57:21 am »

Taking whole a senior editor at Time. Amazing.

guitar4jesus · « **Reply #5 on:** October 13, 2016, 12:25:56 pm »

Quote from: montanajoe on October 13, 2016, 02:42:58 am

He spends to much time late at night at TOS...

What's his username at TOS?

Norm Lenhart · « **Reply #6 on:** October 13, 2016, 12:27:21 pm »

Trump does not think. Trump 'emotes'. Likewise, his apologists, living vicariously through him, do likewise.

montanajoe · « **Reply #7 on:** October 13, 2016, 12:30:45 pm »

Quote from: guitar4jesus on October 13, 2016, 12:25:56 pm

What's his username at TOS?

Trumpzmataz...

He'd hit that.

guitar4jesus · « **Reply #8 on:** October 13, 2016, 12:56:24 pm »

Quote from: montanajoe on October 13, 2016, 12:30:45 pm

Trumpzmataz...

He'd hit that.

Maj. Bill Martin · « **Reply #9 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:06:51 pm »

Can't you guys see what this author is doing?? There is something bigger than Trump at stake here.

Quote from: sinkspur on October 13, 2016, 02:37:41 am

Donald Trump Thinks a Lot of Things Are Phony, Rigged, Politically Motivated Hoaxes

Ryan Teague Beckwith @ryanbeckwith
Oct. 11, 2016

It’s a common moment in a Donald Trump speech. The Republican presidential nominee mentions a nonpartisan institution in passing, then notes that it should not be trusted. Their research is phony. Maybe even a hoax. They are acting politically, maybe at the behest of President Obama.

Since he began his campaign last year, Trump has used that language to sow doubt about the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Reserve, the Commission on Presidential Debates, scientists studying climate change, the news media and election officials.

There is no question that Trump can go off the deep end. But this author is essentially arguing that we should simply accept as true/unbiased everything out of those entities. Including climate change scientists, the news media, election officials. Really? Do we all really trust them so implicitly?

And is everyone sure there was no political influence/motivation behind how the FBI handled Hillary, the strange coincidence of the most damaging document dumps coming on Fridays? The Fed never tries to help a favored candidate?

There are two agendas at work here. One is a desire to defeat Trump and elect Hillary, which is at least obvious at this point. But the second, more nefarious agenda is to discredit anyone who challenges leftist orthodoxy in terms of allegedly "unbiased", "nonpartisan" institutions. And we shouldn't let that pass so easily.

LMAO · « **Reply #10 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:31:27 pm »

Quote from: Maj. Bill Martin on October 13, 2016, 01:06:51 pm

Can't you guys see what this author is doing?? There is something bigger than Trump at stake here.

There is no question that Trump can go off the deep end. But this author is essentially arguing that we should simply accept as true/unbiased everything out of those entities. Including climate change scientists, the news media, election officials. Really? Do we all really trust them so implicitly?

And is everyone sure there was no political influence/motivation behind how the FBI handled Hillary, the strange coincidence of the most damaging document dumps coming on Fridays? The Fed never tries to help a favored candidate?

There are two agendas at work here. One is a desire to defeat Trump and elect Hillary, which is at least obvious at this point. But the second, more nefarious agenda is to discredit anyone who challenges leftist orthodoxy in terms of allegedly "unbiased", "nonpartisan" institutions. And we shouldn't let that pass so easily.

There seems to be a trend of too many to adopt, or at least to accept, leftist orthodoxy in order to pile on Mr. Trump. I first started noticing it here when Donald Trump came out for school choice and more than one poster piled on him for it. I never thought I would see the day when conservatives were critical of a candidate for supporting school choice, never mind that Trump probably doesn't mean it anyways isn't the point

There is more than enough to oppose Donald Trump from simply a conservative perspective. But that does not mean I will adopt the talking points and the worldview of the left to boost my opposition

Some of the things that Donald Trump has been saying about the media and the government are things a lot of us conservatives know and have said in the past although admittedly,with less paranoia than Donald Trump.

Maj. Bill Martin · « **Reply #11 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:36:09 pm »

Quote from: LMAO on October 13, 2016, 01:31:27 pm

There seems to be a trend of too many to adopt, or at least to accept, leftist orthodoxy in order to pile on Mr. Trump. I first started noticing it here when Donald Trump came out for school choice and more than one poster piled on him for it. I never thought I would see the day when conservatives were critical of a candidate for supporting school choice, never mind that Trump probably doesn't mean it anyways isn't the point

There is more than enough to a polls Donald Trump from simply a conservative perspective. But that does not mean I will adopt the talking points and the worldview of the left to boost my opposition

Yup. They're playing the tune, and too many are dancing to it.

You almost have to admire how good the left is at playing us.

Norm Lenhart · « **Reply #12 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:38:39 pm »

Quote from: LMAO on October 13, 2016, 01:31:27 pm

There seems to be a trend of too many to adopt, or at least to accept, leftist orthodoxy in order to pile on Mr. Trump. I first started noticing it here when Donald Trump came out for school choice and more than one poster piled on him for it. I never thought I would see the day when conservatives were critical of a candidate for supporting school choice, never mind that Trump probably doesn't mean it anyways isn't the point

There is more than enough to a polls Donald Trump from simply a conservative perspective. But that does not mean I will adopt the talking points and the worldview of the left to boost my opposition

There's no need to accept anything the media says about trump at all. Donald has said more than enough himself to disqualify him from consideration. If the media wants to pile on, I consider it entertainment as I believe nothing they say to begin with. Thats why I left my career as a media guy. I know how it works now from the inside and wanted no part of the propaganda brigade they have become.

LMAO · « **Reply #13 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:44:46 pm »

Quote from: Maj. Bill Martin on October 13, 2016, 01:36:09 pm

Yup. They're playing the tune, and too many are dancing to it.

You almost have to admire how good the left is at playing us.

They are adopting the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" mindset. Yet the same news sources that normally trend to the left of center would be doing this stuff no matter who the Republican candidate was. The good news for them now is Donald Trump provides a target rich environment. But if anybody believes that the media would not be doing this if Ted Cruz was the nominee is deluding themselves

Maj. Bill Martin · « **Reply #14 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:45:47 pm »

Quote from: Norm Lenhart on October 13, 2016, 01:38:39 pm

If the media wants to pile on, I consider it entertainment as I believe nothing they say to begin with.

You may not believe what they say, but a couple of hundred million others do. That's the problem.

The Dan Rather thing was a win for conservatism because it helped increase popular skepticism of the media. But damn if this isn't their pushback. They're re-establishing the power of the unverified media leak, and too many are willing to accept that tactic just because they don't like the target. The problem is that after that target is gone, the revived tactic will remain.

LMAO · « **Reply #15 on:** October 13, 2016, 02:12:45 pm »

Quote from: Maj. Bill Martin on October 13, 2016, 01:45:47 pm

You may not believe what they say, but a couple of hundred million others do. That's the problem.

The Dan Rather thing was a win for conservatism because it helped increase popular skepticism of the media. But damn if this isn't their pushback. They're re-establishing the power of the unverified media leak, and too many are willing to accept that tactic just because they don't like the target. The problem is that after that target is gone, the revived tactic will remain.

And that's what people are forgetting. For all practical purposes Donald Trump is already dead on the water. When a hunter shoots game, he doesn't keep shooting it. He moves on. So when Donald Trump gets sent home after November, the problems this country faces,including the problem of an abusively biased media towards Conservatives will remain. It may be fun right now to use left of center media outlets the poke at Donald Trump. But Donald Trump is gone after November. The media will still remain. When was the last time anybody heard the media discuss our deteriorating fiscal situation or how Obamacare is collapsing? In their world Obamacare is the routing success and the economy is booming. Aren't both issues at least as serious as of what Donald Trump did with women or didn't do?

Conservatives are going to have to get tough now for the next four years and move beyond the Donald Trump fiasco. And we are going to have to find a way to grow our numbers without alienating half the country.

I am not advocating suing the media or silencing them . But they are going to be a challenge for conservatism in the next several years